by C. T. Hsia
Kin and kith—all three hundred have been erased,
Leaving behind Zhao Shuo, the lone survivor.
No matter now which gift of death he is to taste,
The root will be with the grasses laid waste. (Exits.)
(OPENING MALE dressed as ZHAO SHUO and FEMALE LEAD dressed as the PRINCESS enter.)
ZHAO SHUO: This humble official is Zhao Shuo, by rank an assistant commander. Who would have thought that just because Tu Angu opposed my father he would have slandered him and manipulated the lord to have all three hundred members of our clan executed! My princess, please hear my last words. You are now pregnant. If the baby turns out to be a girl, there is nothing to be said. If it is a boy, I will now name him, while he is still in your womb, the Zhao Orphan, hoping he will avenge my parents when he grows up to be a man.
PRINCESS (weeping:) How can I bear this!
(EXTRA MALE dressed as the MESSENGER enters with GUARDS.)
MESSENGER: By order of His Lordship, I am to present Prince Consort Zhao Shuo with the three gifts of death, a bowstring, some poisoned wine, and a dagger. He is to choose a speedy death with one of them. Then we are to confine the princess to the palace. I must convey the order at once and without delay. Now, here I am, already at the gate of the palace. (Greets ZHAO SHUO.) On your knees, Zhao Shuo, and hear the lord’s decree:
You of the Zhao lineage are disloyal and unfilial, lawless and treacherous. Putting your whole clan to death would scarce be punishment enough. But because you, Zhao Shuo, are related to the lord’s family, we cannot bear to put you to the sword. We hereby bestow on you the three gifts of death. You can choose to die by one of them. As for the princess, she is to be confined to the palace, entirely cut off from kith and kin.
Now, Zhao Shuo, the lord’s decree brooks no delay. You must kill yourself quickly.
ZHAO SHUO: Oh, Princess, what is to be done! (Sings:)
[Xianlü mode: Time to Appreciate Flowers]
How unjust that one loyal like me should come to this abrupt end,
While the traitor, a vermin of the domain, holds power in his hands!
With trumped-up charges he plotted
To have me cut down at the Yunyang execution ground.20
Is this then how loyal exertion comes to its final round!
PRINCESS: Oh, heavens! Woe betides us—we’ll die violent deaths with no place of burial!
ZHAO SHUO (sings:)
[Same tune as above]
I will not even get to be buried in the ancestral mound!21
Princess, do not forget what I’ve told you.
PRINCESS: I understand.
ZHAO SHUO (sings:)
I have given final counsel, and tears stream down my cheeks like rain.
Every word is uttered with pain:
Wait till the child is grown—
Be sure to have him avenge the unjust deaths of the three hundred!
(Stabs himself and dies. Exits.)
PRINCESS: My lord! This grief is killing me! (Exits.)
MESSENGER: Zhao Shuo stabbed himself and died. The princess is imprisoned in the palace. I must go back to report to my master. (Recites:)
When the Western Rong presented the divine hound,
Hundreds in the Zhao line suffered woes profound.
Pitiable indeed, even the princess is in prison;
How could Zhao Shuo not to swift death be bound! (Exits.)
ACT 1
(TU ANGU enters.)
TU ANGU: This is Tu Angu. I fear that the princess might have given birth to a son. When he grows up, will he not be my enemy? I already have the princess confined to the palace. By now she should have already given birth. Why has the man I sent over not come back to report to me?
(SOLDIER enters and reports.)
SOLDIER: Reporting to the marshal: the princess, imprisoned in the palace, has given birth to a son; he is named the Zhao Orphan.
TU ANGU: The Zhao Orphan indeed! It wouldn’t be too late to put an end to the brat when it is a full month old. Convey my orders to Han Jue, general of the lower army:22 tell him to guard the gates of the princess’s palace. No need to search anyone who enters but search everyone who comes out. If anyone tries to smuggle out the orphan, his whole family will be executed, all his nine sets of relations23 will be put to death. In the meantime, put up notices everywhere and make it known to all the officers that no one is to take these orders lightly on pain of punishment. (Recites:)
I didn’t bargain for the princess’s being in a family way—
That she should give birth to the orphan, my enemy someday!
Let him live another month—with a knife I’ll have him killed.
Only then will my wish to root out the whole clan be fulfilled. (Exits.)
(PRINCESS enters carrying a BABY.)
PRINCESS (recites:)
The troubles of all under heaven
Have converged as my heart’s sorrow.
Like rain on an autumn night,
Each drop carries a sound of plight!
I am a princess of the House of Jin. The treacherous Tu Angu has killed our entire Zhao family. Today I gave birth to a son. I recall my husband’s final words: he bade me, if we should have a boy, to name him the Zhao Orphan and have him avenge his parents when he grows up. O heavens! How can I get the child out of the palace! If only that could be done! Ah, yes, it’s just occurred to me. Though we no longer have any kinsmen left, there is still the old retainer Cheng Ying, who is not listed as a member of the family. Now I’ll just wait for Cheng Ying to come—I shall know what to do.
(EXTRA MALE dressed as CHENG YING enters with a medicine chest on his back.)
CHENG YING: I am Cheng Ying, a commoner physician. I was a retainer in the household of the lord’s son-in-law, who treated me with extraordinary regard, much better than he did others. But the perfidious Tu Angu has had all members of the Zhao clan killed. Fortunately, my name was not included on the list. At present the princess is imprisoned in the palace, and I have been delivering meals to her every day. Though the princess has just given birth to a son—the Zhao Orphan—who may someday grow up to avenge the wrongs done to his family, I fear it will all be in vain if he cannot elude the treacherous Tu Angu. I heard that the princess has sent for me—I figure she needs some medicine after childbirth. I have to make my way there. Here I am at the gate already. No need to bother the guard to announce me. I’ll go straight in. (Presents himself to the PRINCESS.) Princess, why have you sent for me?
PRINCESS: What a bitter end for our Zhao clan! Cheng Ying, I have summoned you for no other business but this: I have now given birth to a son. As his father lay dying, he gave him the informal name of the Zhao Orphan. Cheng Ying, you have been serving the Zhao clan for some time and we have never treated you ill. Do what you can to smuggle the child out so that when he grows up, he can avenge the Zhao line.
CHENG YING: Princess, haven’t you heard? After the perfidious Tu Angu got news that you gave birth to a child, he had notices posted on the four city gates announcing that if anyone attempts to hide the child, his whole family will be executed, none among his nine relations will be spared. How can I possibly get the baby out?
PRINCESS: Cheng Ying! (Recites:)
Isn’t it said, “Think of your kin in face of crisis,
Seek out an old friend when danger arises.”
If you can smuggle out this son of mine,
You will have preserved the last hope of the Zhao line. (Kneels.)
Have pity, Cheng Ying! Revenge for the three hundred all depends on this child.
CHENG YING: Princess, please rise. What if I smuggle out the young master and Tu Angu gets word of it? He will then ask you for the Zhao Orphan, and if you say, “I gave him to Cheng Ying,” then not only will my entire family be put to death—that will also be the end of the young master.
PRINCESS: Alas! The end! In that case, I will let you go with peace of mind. (Recites:)
Cheng Ying, have no fear in your
heart.
As tears stream down, listen to my part:
His father killed himself with a dagger.
(Hangs herself with a sash from her skirt and speaks:) Alas! The end!
His mother will now follow suit and expire! (Exits.)
CHENG YING: Who would have expected the princess to hang herself! I dare not tarry. Let me open the medicine chest, put the young master in, and cover him with some herbs. Heavens! Take pity on this little one—the only one left after three hundred of the Zhao clan have been killed! If I can save you, child, it will be your good fortune, and my mission will be accomplished. It you are found out, not only will you die, my whole family will also be wiped out. (Recites:)
In my heart I weigh plans and deliberation:
The fate of the Zhao house indeed calls for lamentation!
If only you can escape this impossible gate,
You will have been saved from the most horrible fate! (Exits.)
(MALE LEAD dressed as HAN JUE enters with SOLDIERS.)
HAN JUE: I am Commander of the Lower Army Han Jue, serving under Marshal Tu Angu. Do you know why he ordered me to guard the palace of the princess? It’s because she gave birth to a son, named the Zhao Orphan. He fears that someone may attempt to smuggle the baby out. He has sent me to guard the gate: if I find someone hiding the child, I am to put his whole family to death, not sparing any of his all nine sets of relations. Soldiers, guard the gates of the palace closely! Alas! Tu Angu, as you persist in your persecution of the just, what will be the end of it all! (Sings:)
[Xianlü mode: Touching Up Red Lips]
Among the domains vying for dominance,
Jin has risen to prominence.
Peace and order we have enjoyed.
How did it happen that by the treacherous Tu Angu
Are the loyal and filial ministers destroyed!
[River Churning Dragon]
Just when there are years of peace and bounty ripe,
The court favors people of this stripe!
The loyal and filial are beheaded in the marketplace
While the wicked and perfidious are secure in their official base.
Now it is he that holds complete sway over our domain—
What room is there for sharing power, even with the lord!
He places his minions all over the court—
Those opposing him have long been eliminated one by one.
I fear he can only be called a scourge of the human realm,
Why bother with the pretense of being a general at the helm?24
I wonder when the deep-rooted hatred between the clans of Tu Angu and Zhao Dun will ever end?
[Oily Gourd]
He wants to exterminate the seeds of all future troubles,
And so has ordered me to keep guard at the palace gates.
I too have served the country for long as a loyal subject.
The one who hides the orphan should not have hidden him,
But the one who kills the orphan—how ruthless and grim!
Tu Angu, how cruel you are!
Someday you’ll enrage heaven on high
And draw the fury of the people nigh.
How can you not fear myriad mouths with censure brimming?
Even heaven will turn on you its blue face, unforgiving!
[Joy for All Under Heaven]
Don’t they say retribution will come sooner or later, befalling on your progeny or yourself?
Alas, you villain! Along with Zhao Dun
You have served these twenty years, how can you be void of empathy?
Your heart plots, your heart goodness blots,
Branding a worthy man a worthless man.
Which of you two is the ruthless one, when all is said and done?
Guards, keep watch at the gate! If anyone comes out of the palace, report to me.
SOLDIERS: Yes sir.
(CHENG YING enters nervously.)
CHENG YING: The Zhao Orphan is in the medicine chest I am clutching. Merciful heavens! Fortunately, it’s General Han who is guarding the gate. Our old master raised him to high office.25 If I can get through, both the young master and I will be safe. (He goes out the gate.)
HAN JUE: Captain, bring back the man clutching the medicine chest. (To CHENG YING:) Who are you?
CHENG YING: I am a commoner physician, surnamed Cheng—I am Cheng Ying.
HAN JUE: Where did you come from?
CHENG YING: I’ve been preparing some medicine in the princess’s palace.
HAN JUE: What did you prepare?
CHENG YING: A restorative potion for the mother.
HAN JUE: What’s in the chest?
CHENG YING: Medicinal herbs.
HAN JUE: What sort of herbs?
CHENG YING: Nothing but balloon flower root, licorice, and mint.
HAN JUE: Anything concealed?
CHENG YING: No sir.
HAN JUE: You may go then.
(CHENG YING takes leave. HAN JUE calls out to him.)
Come back, Cheng Ying, what do you have in the chest?
CHENG YING: Nothing but herbal medicine.
HAN JUE: Anything hidden in it?
CHENG YING: Nothing, sir.
HAN JUE: In that case, go along.
(CHENG YING walks away. HAN JUE calls out to him.)
Come back, Cheng Ying. You must be hiding something from me. When I let you leave, you went like an arrow flying from a crossbow; but when I called you back, you sidled back like a piece of fur dragged over a rug. Cheng Ying, you think I don’t know you? (Sings:)
[West of the River version of Flowers in the Rear Courtyard]
You were originally Zhao Dun’s honored guest,
But I am now a retainer who acts at Tu Angu’s behest.
Even if you’re hiding the scarcely month-old precious young heir, (speaks:)
Look, Cheng Ying, (sings:)
How can you escape from this impregnable tiger’s lair?
If I were not the commander of the lower army,
I would not be interrogating you. (Speaks:)
Cheng Ying, I think you must have received many favors from the Zhao house.
CHENG YING: Yes. To know kindness is to pay back with kindness; what more is there to be said?
HAN JUE (sings:)
You said that to know kindness is to pay back with kindness.
But I am afraid the desire to escape does not mean escape.
In front of you and behind you are guarded gates,
Between heaven and earth, where can you flee?
If we arrest you and by cross-examination get to the truth
And report the case about the orphan,
You will not live;
Death is certain. (Speaks:)
Captain, stay back there. Come only if I call you. Otherwise, don’t come.