Shifting his glance to a long silk scroll hung on the wall with a high price tag, Yang inquired whether Xuanji too had scrolls of calligraphies or paintings for sale in the store, either by herself or from other celebrities given to her as gifts.

Sure enough, the owner produced a silk scroll in Xuanji’s own handwriting – a poem composed for a girl in the neighborhood, but toward the bottom left-hand corner of the scroll, there was a line written in smaller characters: Copied out for Wei Hua as well. Yang was no judge of poetry, but the silk scroll was marked with a fairly low price. He wondered who Wei Hua was, given they were willing to sell it so cheap to the shop.

‘Wei Hua, one of her good-for-nothing lovers,’ the store owner said disparagingly in response to Yang’s inquiry. ‘Wei sold everything practically the moment he got it from her. What an impossible, insatiable leech!’

Yang made a mental note, which might turn out to be a clue worth exploring, although he had no idea who Wei really was, or, for that matter, how many lovers Xuanji might have had. Still, he went on playing the role of a diligent assistant in the presence of a curiosity dealer, purchasing the silk scroll after pretending to bargain for a short while. He also asked about Wei’s address, as Xuanji might have left some other valuable things for the antique business.

‘You really have an eye for the potential,’ the store owner said approvingly. ‘The price of her writing or paintings could soon go through the roof.’

‘You mean after she is beheaded at the conclusion of the case?’

‘Yes, she’s doomed. It’s obvious.’

‘Well, is there anything else you’ve heard or learned about her?’

‘You mean the murder case?’

‘Yes. It’s unimaginable for a talented young woman like her – only in her mid-twenties. My master has told me something about her.’

‘I will ask around for you if you plan to come back. I may learn something about the poetess. Possibly get some more writing from her, too.’

‘Of course I will come back here. Now, another curious question: in addition to those visitors or lovers to the nunnery, what kind of people did she mix with?’

‘The nunnery is close to a village called Jiangling, so most of her neighbors there are ordinary villagers. She was not interested in mixing with them. Nor they with her – with one or two exceptions. One is a stationery dealer named Xiahou living in the village, with a small shop in town. He supplied her with things like paper, ink sticks, and brush pens. He once told me about her favorite fox-tail brush pen, which is obscenely expensive, as it is made of the hair from a rare scarlet fox tail.’

‘Fox tail?’