Judge Dee is a magistrate in the fictional Poo-yang district, its a wealthy area through which the Grand Canal of China runs (part of modern-day Jiangsu province). During the mid-autumn festival in the city of Chin-hwa, Judge Dee is a guest of a small group of distinguished scholars. However, he learns during diner that a young girl has been murdered and the accused is a beautiful poetess. She is thought to have whiped her maidservant to death, but why? Then the body of a student is also discovered.