Free A Deadly Injustice by Ian Morson Page A

ignored my querulous look, and fixed the other Chinee with his cool gaze. The man blushed.
    â€˜I am sorry our hamlet displeases you, your honour. You are correct though; the place smells of unwashed bodies and old meat. But what can poor people like us do? I am sure the prefect will ensure your stay is as pleasant and as brief as possible.’
    He raised an arm, covered down to the fingertips in a silken sleeve, and pointed in the direction we were already travelling.
    â€˜The prefect’s house is on the southern edge of town, close to the river. It is a fine house with a red tiled and prettily gabled roof. You cannot miss it.’
    Lin waved a desultory hand, also hidden in his opulent sleeve, and the humiliated merchant scurried away. Po Ku urged the carriage horse on, and we proceeded along the wide but bustling avenue. I rode my horse close up beside Lin’s carriage again, and glanced his way.
    â€˜I have never heard you be so authoritarian, Chu-Tsai. It was quite a revelation.’
    I could see a blush forming on Lin’s neck, and he sighed.
    â€˜You have only seen me in either the summer or winter capital until now. There is no need to assert my authority where I am already known. If I was not respected for my very position at the court of Kubilai, I would not be able to do my job. This may be a big city, but it is still in the provinces – the back of beyond as far as such high officials as we are concerned. And if I do not make myself known immediately as someone who will not stand any nonsense, I might as well sneak back north. Or kill myself.’
    He nodded back down the avenue to where the merchant was already in a huddle with several other well-dressed individuals. They were staring in our direction.
    â€˜The story is already spreading that someone of importance is in town, and that he is not impressed by the show of wealth that is so evident to the locals. I will be well respected, and many will try to find out about me and my entourage. It should help our enquiries, don’t you think?’
    I laughed at Lin’s ingenuity, and pulled a ferocious face.
    â€˜Especially if the rumour includes the fact that Zhong Kui is on their tail.’
    We made our way through the suburbs of Pianfu, and in the final square we passed on the way a large building with a familiar smell to it. I spurred my horse towards a set of large doors that stood partially open. Inside I could see stacks of wooden barrels, and at the back of the shed large copper urns. The smell was unmistakeably that of a winery. I licked my lips, and urged the horse back level with Lin’s carriage.
    â€˜Perhaps you can arrange for the winery we just passed to provide some of its produce to the great and important official from Tatu.’
    Lin gave me a hard look.
    â€˜You should not risk getting drunk before you have solved this case. We require our wits about us. Besides, you do yourself a disservice to imagine only I can command the respect of the local dignitaries. Me a mere human and all. You are the great and mysterious demon appointed by Kubilai as his Investigator of Crimes. They will hold you in awe and fear. Your paizah will be enough to see you drowned in free wine.’
    He was referring to the small gold tablet that both he and I held as a badge of authority from the Great Khan. I touched the front of my jacket, and felt the tablet nestling inside it. It was about fifteen inches long and five fingers wide, with a hole at the top end. Mine and Lin’s had a lion’s head stamped on it, which made us more important than a commander of the Mongol army, but less so than one of Kubilai’s great barons. Their paizah had a gerfalcon on it. All tablets were printed with an inscription which read as follows – ‘ By the strength of the great God, and of the great grace which He hath accorded to our Emperor, may the name of the Khan be blessed; and let all such as will not obey him be slain