The Golden Lotus, Volume 2

by Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng

  While Ximen Qing was away, Yueniang and the others stayed in their own rooms doing needlework, and none of them went out to play. So they waited for his return, all except Jinlian, who dressed herself exquisitely and mingled with the maids, sometimes playing at guessing fingers and sometimes at dominoes. She laughed and talked merrily, not caring what anybody thought about her. She was anxious to meet Chen Jingji, and every day went to the garden and many times to the cavern, hoping to find him there. Jingji was always thinking about her, and he went there frequently. Whenever they met they would play and kiss. But they were afraid of someone seeing them and dared not fully satisfy their longing for each other.

  One day Yueniang, Yulou, and Li Ping’er were sitting together when, suddenly, Daian came in and kowtowed. “Father is nearly here,” he told them.

  “Where is he now?” Yueniang asked.

  “I came first with the passports,” Daian said. “He must still be twenty li away.”

  “Have you had anything to eat?” Yueniang asked.

  “I have had breakfast but not lunch.”

  Yueniang ordered food to be prepared, then she, with the other ladies, went to the great hall to await her husband. They waited a long time.

  At last Ximen Qing arrived. The ladies went out to welcome him. He made a reverence to Yueniang, then greeted all the others. Shutong, Qintong and Huatong kowtowed and went to the kitchen for something to eat. Ximen Qing told the ladies about the hardships of his journey, how he had stayed with Zhai, how the Imperial Tutor had invited him, and how he had gone to many parties with the eunuchs and other officials. Then he asked Li Ping’er about his baby. “And how do you feel,” he said, “after taking Doctor Ren’s medicine? Was it any good? Though my body went to the Eastern Capital, my heart was always here with you.”

  “The baby is well, and I am better than I was,” Li Ping’er assured him.

  Yueniang saw that all the luggage was brought in and the presents that Ximen Qing had been given. She gave orders for a meal to be made ready for her husband.

  That night the ladies gave a feast to celebrate his return. He went to Yueniang’s room to sleep, and it seemed to them like a refreshing rain after a long period of drought, or the meeting of old friends in a strange land. They took extreme delight in one another.

  The next day, Chen Jingji and his wife came to pay their respects to Ximen Qing and discussed business matters. Ying Bojue and Chang Zhijie heard that Ximen had returned, and they came to call. Ximen greeted them. “So long a journey must have been very trying,” they said. Ximen told them about the beauty and greatness of the Eastern Capital and how the Imperial Tutor had accepted him as a ward. They congratulated him. Ximen asked them to stay and have some wine.

  When Chang Zhijie was about to leave, he said to his host: “There is something I should like to ask you, but I don’t know whether I should or not.” He bent his head and seemed embarrassed.

  “Please tell me what it is,” Ximen said.

  “Well,” Chang Zhijie said, “my house is not so convenient as it might be. I should like to find another, but I have no money. Perhaps you will lend me some and let me pay you back with interest.”

  “Why talk about interest?” Ximen Qing said. “We are too good friends for that. But, at the moment, I simply haven’t any ready money. You must wait till Han comes back, and I will certainly do what you wish.” Ying Bojue and Chang Zhijie thanked him and went away.

  Master Miao had promised to give two singing boys to Ximen Qing. But Ximen Qing had been so anxious to get home that he did not stay to say good-bye to Miao. Miao thought he was still at the Capital and sent his servants to Zhai’s place to make inquiries. So he learned that Ximen Qing had gone. “A gentleman’s word,” he thought, “is like a whip on a mettlesome horse, I must do what I promised.” He sent for the two singing boys and said to them: “I promised to give you to his Lordship Ximen Qing, and now I am going to send you to his place. You must pack your things.”

  The two boys knelt down. “We have been with you many years,” they said. “You have done much for us and taught us to sing. Now you don’t want us any longer: you are going to send us away.” They wept.

  Miao himself was not at all happy about it. “Don’t think I wish to get rid of you,” he said, “but a man must keep his word. We must observe the teaching of Confucius. He says: A man who does not keep his word is a man no longer. There is no help for it. We cannot disobey these precepts, and I must not take your point of view into account. I am going to write a letter and send you to him. I will ask him to treat you kindly.”

  The two boys could only submit. They stood up. Miao told his family tutor to write a letter for them to take to Ximen Qing. He also wrote a card to go with a present of silk, books and handkerchiefs. Then he ordered his servant Miao Shi to take the letter and the two boys to Ximen Qing. The boys said good-bye to their old master, shed many tears, then mounted their horses and set off for Shandong. When they reached Qinghe district, they dismounted and inquired where Ximen lived. Then they went to the house.

  After Ximen’s return from the Eastern Capital, he was very busy. Many people sent him presents and many sent him invitations. Every day three or four friends came to see him, and he could not even attend to his duties at the office. But this day things were easier and he had gone to the office. He went to the Great Hall and, with Magistrate Xia, examined some of the prisoners. After this, he got into his sedan chair and, with several policemen to clear his way, went home. When he reached home, Miao Shi and the two boys had been waiting for some time. They followed him into the hall. Miao Shi knelt down.

  “I come from Master Miao of Yangzhou,” he said. “This is his letter.” He took out the letter and the list of presents.

  “Please stand up,” Ximen Qing said to him. He opened the letter and read it carefully, pleased that Master Miao had sent him the two boys. “It was quite by chance I met your master,” he said. “We were very friendly and when we were drinking together he was good enough to promise me you two boys. Now he has sent you to me even all this long way. Your master is certainly a man whose words are worth a thousand gold pieces. It is most unusual.”

  The two boys came forward and kowtowed. “Our master bade us come and serve you,” they said. “He asks that you will be kind to us.”

  Ximen Qing told them to rise. “I will see that you are given a worthy task,” he said. He called for food and wine to be given them and Miao Shi, prepared some valuable presents for Master Miao, and had a letter written to accompany them. He told the two boys that they should serve him in his study.

  * * *

  Han Daoguo’s wife, Wang Liu’er, knew that Ximen was very busy and was anxious to find someone to take a message to him. Her young brother, Wang Jing, was a fine-looking lad about sixteen years old and, that same day, she decided to send him to Ximen Qing. Ximen accepted him and sent him to work in his study.

  While Ximen Qing was making arrangements about these boys, Ying Bojue came to see him. Ximen told him how Master Miao had sent the two boys. He told Daian to bring refreshments and invite Bojue to dine. Then he asked the boys to sing some songs of the South. They came in and stood side by side with castanets in their hands. They sang “Last Night the Plums in the Garden Blossomed.” Their voices were sweet, and the melody they sang was exquisite. Bojue was delighted. He jumped out of his chair. “Brother,” he said, “what extraordinary luck to get two boys like this. It was indeed kind of Master Miao.”

  “I shall have to give him something in return,” Ximen Qing said. He gave the two boys new names. One he called Chunhong and the other Chunyan. He told them to sing two or three short songs. The two men drank their wine after a while, and Ying Bojue went away.

  CHAPTER 56

  Chang Zhijie Buys a New House

  Ximen Qing kept the two boys. He gave a letter of thanks to Miao Shi to take to his master with some presents, and some silver to Miao Shi himself. Then Miao Shi went home. Not long afterwards Chu
nyan died, and Chunhong was left alone.

  Though Chang Zhijie had asked for Ximen Qing’s help, the days passed and he was still without money. His landlord pressed him continually. Unfortunately for him, Ximen Qing, after coming back from the Eastern Capital, was kept busy going to one party after another. Chang Zhijie could not get hold of him. The proverb says: If friends meet, they cannot fail to help each other; but, when they do not meet, nothing is done. Chang Zhijie asked Ying Bojue to go to Ximen for him. Ximen was not at home. Chang Zhijie went mournfully home and his wife told him what she thought about him. “You call yourself a man,” she said, “yet you can’t get a house fit to live in, and here we are in utter misery. You have always bragged about your friendship with Master Ximen, but it doesn’t look as though he would do much for you.”

  Chang Zhijie had a mouth but, after this, he dared not open it. He seemed dazed and did not utter a single word. The next day he got up very early in the morning and went to see Ying Bojue. He took him to a wine house and invited him to drink. “I do not wish to cause you any expense,” Ying Bojue said, but Chang Zhijie pushed him into a chair. He ordered wine, a plate of smoked meat and another of fish. When they had drunk a few cups, Chang Zhijie said:

  “I have bothered you several times to speak to his Lordship about my affairs, but, so far, we have not been able to see him and this business of my house is getting desperate. Last night my wife kept at me all night about it. I could not bear it. That is why I am up so early this morning. Now, Brother, won’t you go to his Lordship again? I don’t suppose he has gone out yet.”

  “Since you ask me,” Bojue said, “I will certainly go, and I have no doubt we shall manage it today.”

  They drank more wine, then Ying Bojue said he must not drink too much so early in the day. Chang Zhijie pressed him to drink still one more cup, then he paid for the wine and they came out together and went to Ximen’s house.

  It was the beginning of autumn, and a pleasant wind was blowing from the west. Ximen Qing had been going to one party after another and was beginning to feel the strain. This day he had been invited by Eunuch Zhou, but he excused himself and did not go. Instead, he went to the garden with Wu Yueniang, Meng Yulou, Pan Jinlian, and Li Ping’er. They enjoyed the flowers and were all very happy together.

  Chang Zhijie and Ying Bojue were delighted to find Ximen at home. They went to the hall and sat there for a long time, but there was no sign of Ximen Qing. Shutong and Huatong came in with a large chest filled with silken clothes. As they passed, they shouted: “We’ve been carrying these things half a day, and we’re nowhere near finished yet.” Bojue asked them where Ximen Qing was.

  “He is amusing himself in the garden,” Shutong said.

  “Then may I trouble you to tell him we are here?”

  The two boys went on with their chest. After a while Shutong came out again and said: “Father says, will you wait a moment and he will be with you.” They waited and, at last, Ximen came to them. They bowed to him and sat down.

  “Brother,” Bojue said, “you have been drinking much wine these last few days, and you must be very busy. What are you doing at home today?”

  “Since I saw you last,” Ximen Qing said, “I have had invitations every day. I have been drinking too much, and I’m tired of it. Today I ought to have gone to another party, but I made some excuse for not going.”

  “I have just seen a chest full of clothes,” Bojue said. “Where have they come from?”

  “It is nearly autumn,” Ximen Qing said, “and we must have autumn clothes, you know. Those you saw are my first wife’s, but that was only half of them. We haven’t finished them all yet.”

  Chang Zhijie put out his tongue. “With six wives you must have to have six chests. What a nuisance! We poor people find it bad enough even to get a roll of cloth. You must be a rich man, Brother.” Ying Bojue and Ximen Qing laughed.

  “How is it that the things from Yangzhou have not arrived yet?” Bojue said. “We know nothing of the way business has been going or whether Li and Huang have let you have their money yet.”

  “Perhaps the boat is delayed,” Ximen said, “I have not heard a word, and I am rather worried. Li and Huang have told me that they will not get their money till next month.”

  Bojue drew nearer to Ximen Qing. “You may remember,” he said, “that the other day Brother Chang asked your help. The last few days you have been very busy, and we have not had an opportunity of mentioning the matter to you. Brother Chang’s landlord is being very harsh, his wife grumbles every day, and he is at his wits’ end. The weather is getting colder and colder and his fur coat is still in the pawnshop. Brother, you must show your kindness to him. You can’t have forgotten the proverb: If we would help a man, let it be when he most needs help. If you help him so that his wife ceases to nag at him and he can find a house to live in, all the more credit to you. Brother Chang has asked me to come and beg you to help him at once.”

  “I certainly did promise to help him,” Ximen Qing said, “but I spent a great deal of money on my visit to the Eastern Capital and I shall have to wait until Han comes back. Why is Brother Chang in such a hurry?”

  “It isn’t Brother Chang: it’s his wife. She is the one who grumbles. You must do something for him without delay.”

  Ximen Qing thought for a while. Then he said: “Well, perhaps I may just be able to manage it. How many rooms will they need?”

  “They are only husband and wife,” Bojue said. “They will need an outer room, a reception room, a bedroom and a kitchen. They can’t do with less than four rooms. They must have three or four pieces of silver. Brother, do this for them. Help them to get a house at once.”

  “I can only let him have a few taels today,” Ximen Qing said. “With them he can buy clothes and furniture. When he has got his house, he shall have some more.”

  Ying Bojue and Chang Zhijie stood up together and thanked him. Ximen Qing said to Shutong: “Go and ask the Great Lady to give you the silver that I have in a leather case.” The boy went away and soon returned with the silver. “This is the money—about ten taels, I think— that I had at the Eastern Capital to give to the servants at his Eminence’s Palace,” Ximen Qing said. “Take it and buy a few things with it.” He opened one of the packets and showed it to Chang Zhijie. “The silver is in packets of three or five qian,” he said.

  Chang Zhijie took them and put them in his pocket. He thanked Ximen Qing.

  “Don’t think I have deliberately kept you waiting,” Ximen said. “But you hadn’t fixed upon your house and I didn’t have the money. When I do get some, you shall have more.”

  Chang Zhijie thanked him. They all sat down again.

  “I have heard of men of past generations who were generous and open-handed,” Bojue said. “The consequence was that their sons and grandsons were an honor to their family, and improved and extended their patrimony. On the other hand, I have heard of others, mean men who hoarded away their gold and treasure, whose sons and grandsons were anything but desirable. Sometimes they failed to preserve even the tombs of their ancestors. The justice of Heaven is unfailing.”

  “Yes,” Ximen Qing said, “money should be made to circulate. It ought not to be buried away in one place. It is given us to use. If one man keeps a huge store of it for himself, someone else must go short. It is a crime to hoard away money and treasure.”

  Shutong brought food for them and the three men ate it. Chang Zhijie stood up, the money in his pocket, and went away in great delight. When he got home, his wife came out shouting and scolding as usual. “Now you barren fig tree! you impecunious rascal!” she cried. “Would you go away and leave your wife to starve? You seem quite pleased with yourself, but you ought to be ashamed. Here we are with no house to live in and the landlord always badgering us. I suppose you think I like to hear the sort of thing he says.”

  Chang Zhijie did not open his mouth. He waited until his wife had finished, then quietly took the silver from his pocket and put it on
the table. He opened the packet. “Hullo, my square-holed brother, my dear square-holed brother! How bright and good you look! You make my body tingle all over. What a pity I can’t swallow you down with a drop of water. If only you’d come to me earlier, that whore would not have been so rude to me.”

  His wife saw him set down twelve or thirteen taels of silver. She dashed to the table and tried to grab them.

  “Ah,” said Chang, “you have been nagging at me all this time, yet, the moment you set eyes on the silver, you seem to have become quite friendly. Tomorrow I am going to buy some clothes and get a place to live by myself. I’m tired of putting up with your tricks.”

  Mistress Chang smiled sweetly at him. “Brother,” she said, “where did you get this silver?”

  But Chang had nothing to say to her.

  “Are you angry with me, Brother? I only want us to get a home. Now the money is here we must talk the matter over. We will buy a house and settle down. Why are you so angry? I have been a good wife to you. If you are angry with me, you are unjust.”

  Chang did not speak.

  The woman continued, but he paid not the slightest attention. She began to feel abashed and started to cry. Chang sighed.

  “You woman,” he said, “you do no work in the fields. You do not weave. All you do is nag at me.”

  Mistress Chang shed more tears. Then they both shut their mouths tight and sat there silently, for there was no one to make peace between them. But Chang began to reflect. “The woman,” he said to himself, “is in a very difficult position. Perhaps I ought not to be angry with her even if she does grumble about everything. It seems hardly kind not to speak to her. If Ximen Qing got to know about it, he would undoubtedly say that I am to blame.” He smiled and said to his wife: “I am joking with you. I am not angry really. But you so often talk to me in this horrible strain, and I have never complained. I have just gone out of your way. Now I’ll tell you all about this money. This morning you were so cantankerous that I could stand it no longer. I went to Brother Ying, gave him a drink and then we went to see his Lordship. By a stroke of luck, his Lordship happened to be at home. He had not gone to a party. Brother Ying was most kind. He did his utmost with his Lordship, and I got this money. He has promised that, when we find a house, he will give me some more. These twelve taels are for expenses and buying the things we need immediately.”