‘No, not yet. Under normal circumstances, after a murder suspect such as Xuanji pleads guilty, it’s just a matter of time for the approval of execution to come from the higher authorities. But you may have heard of the way she pleaded guilty, and then of the outcries about it from a group of men of letters – some of them quite well known and influential – declaring that she was tortured into the confession. So it’s understandable for Minister Wu to seek your help. After all, the case should not drag on like this for such a long time.’

‘That’s true.’ Judge Dee took a sip of the tea, waiting for Pei to go on.

Without beating around the bush, Pei began by defending the way he had conducted the recent trial.

‘Let me say something first, Your Honor. When Xuanji was initially brought into the courtroom, she was so defiant, so uncooperative. She kept declaring she did not know anything about the death of her maidservant Ning. There was no accepting her statement just like that, as you understand. You have done quite a number of trials yourself. In the courtroom, I had to subject her to a beating, as is conventional. Obviously, most of the Tang officials are not that qualified as judges, not as experienced, resourceful as you. But that’s as much as I could possibly do to fulfill my judicial responsibility. People may have all sorts of speculations about the trial, but they’re not true.’

‘No, I’m not that experienced or resourceful as a judge. The civil service examination requires nothing but our studies of the Confucian classics. There’s not a single book about the judicial system requested in school. I have been trying to maneuver the best I could in the gray area all these years.’

‘You are just so extraordinary. No one will argue about it, Judge Dee. But back to people’s speculations about the case – there’s something I have to say. Months before the murder case, I had tried to invite Xuanji to one of my parties. It’s because Zi’an’s wife is a distant cousin of mine, and I had heard about her harshness toward Xuanji. So I merely wanted to do something for her – by way of compensation. For a courtesan like Xuanji, the larger her network, the better. She might have met some interesting, influential people at the party at my place. But she responded with a flat no, which I could understand. She is a proud woman in her way, and I bore her no grudge. Period.

‘But because of it, others may have seen me as a man going after her, and even as one rejected by her in the light of her refusal of my party invitation. That led to the false assumption that the trial was done in an unfair way, even a matter of retaliation by torturing her into confession in prison.’