‘You don’t have to say that, Master. The new post may not appear to be as high as before, but the empress trusts you more than anybody else under the sun. Her Majesty may simply want you to enjoy a much-needed break and travel around for a short while, before some more important work is assigned to you.’

‘Come on, Yang. For a man of my age, I want nothing more than a book with a cup of hot tea at home for a peaceful night. But you don’t have to worry about the note. Go back to your room, Yang. It’s past midnight.’

Instead, Yang scooped up a blanket draped over the arm of the other chair, wrapped himself in it, staring at the knife note, and kept on shaking his head like a rattle drum.

‘No, the knife thrower – whoever or whatever he might be – did not want you to have a quiet night here. It must have come as a dire message for you, Master.’

As always, Yang was worrying – probably too much – for his master. Yang had been like that from the day he became Judge Dee’s attendant/assistant and self-styled bodyguard.

Judge Dee was no less disturbed by the knife message; however, he tried to dispel Yang’s uneasiness.

‘We left just this morning. I decided to stay at this hostel on the spur of the moment, and we did not even register under our real names. How could the knife thrower possibly have known our whereabouts for the night? Perhaps it’s simply a case of mistaken identity.’

Judge Dee chose not to discuss with Yang the possibility that they had been followed from their residence in the center of the capital all the way to the shabby hostel on its outskirts. He failed to figure out why people would have shadowed him like that and then thrown the ominous knife note. It did not add up. Still, he could not rule out the possibility.

‘But it’s a knife thrown with such accuracy – straight to the pillar beside you. And such a gem-decked knife, too. It’s definitely a job done by a pro,’ Yang said stubbornly. ‘How could he have been wrong about the recipient of the message?’

‘As I’ve mentioned, such a message is commonly given in terms of divination. As an ancient classic, the Book of Changes is a philosophical book of profound depth in its miraculous exploration of changes in the universal yin/yang system, but I do not believe in its application for fortune telling. So why bother?’

‘How does that work for divination, Master?’