The Golden Lotus, Volume 2

by Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng

  “First, whatever happens in your mistress’s room, whether important or unimportant, you must tell me all about it. If I hear it from anybody else, and you have not told me, I will never forgive you. Secondly, you must get anything I want. Thirdly, I wish to know how it is that your mistress, who was never with child before, is now going to have a baby.”

  “The truth is,” Yuxiao told her, “that my mother took some medicine made out of an afterbirth that Nun Xue brought for her.”

  Jinlian did not forget this, but she did not say anything to Ximen Qing.

  When Shutong saw that Jinlian took Yuxiao away with her, smiling in a manner that boded ill, he decided that the matter was going to have unpleasant consequences. He went to the study, opened the cabinet, and took a number of handkerchiefs, kerchiefs and pins, together with some of the presents that had come from relatives. He had about ten taels of silver of his own and he went to the shop and got another twenty by deceiving Clerk Fu, telling him that he had to buy some silk. He went outside the city, hired a mule for a long journey, and went to the river. There he took boat and went to Suzhou, his native place.

  This day Li Guijie, Wu Yin’er, and Zheng Aiyue went away. The two eunuchs, Xue and Liu, sent food and paper offerings as offerings for the dead, and a tael of silver. They also sent two storytellers to discourse upon a religious theme, and announced that they would come in person to visit Ximen Qing. Ximen wished to send some silk to the eunuchs and looked about for Shutong who kept the keys. He could not find the boy. Clerk Fu told him: “This morning he asked me for twenty taels and said you had given him orders to buy some silk. He may have gone outside the city for it.”

  “I never gave him any such orders,” Ximen Qing said. “How dared he ask you for the money?” He sent people to look for the boy in all the silk shops, but in vain.

  “I always believed there was something crooked about that slave,” Wu Yueniang said to Ximen. “He has got into a scrape of some sort, stolen the money and made off. Go and look around your study. Then we shall know if he has taken anything else.”

  Ximen Qing went to the study. The key was hanging on the wall. Handkerchiefs, presents, and pins had disappeared from the great cabinet. He was very angry and gave orders to the police to arrest the boy wherever they found him. But they never found him.

  About noon, Eunuch Xue came in his sedan chair. Ximen Qing had invited Uncle Wu, Ying Bojueand Master Wen to meet him. The eunuch came to the coffin and made reverence. “I deeply sympathize with you,” he said to Ximen Qing. “What was the cause of your lady’s death?”

  “She suffered, unfortunately, from an issue of blood,” Ximen Qing said. “It is good of you to come.”

  “I had nothing worthy to offer,” Xue said, “and such things as I have sent are merely to indicate something of what is in my mind.” He looked at the portrait that hung before the coffin. “How beautiful she was. And how sad that, when she was still so young and seemed to have such a happy life before her, she should have died.”

  “Such are the changes and chances of life,” said Master Wen, who was standing beside them. “Such is the inevitability of fate. Some are poor, others rich. Some live long; others only for a short while. Yet all are governed by their destiny. Even the sages must submit to fate.”

  Eunuch Xue turned and looked at the speaker. He noticed that Master Wen was wearing academic robes and said: “Brother, may I ask to which academy you belong?”

  Master Wen bowed low. “I am a man of very small learning,” he said, “and my name is inscribed only in the records of the academy of our prefecture.”

  Xue asked if he might look at the coffin. Ximen bade a servant draw back the curtains and the eunuch examined the coffin closely. “What a magnificent coffin!” he said. “How much did it cost?”

  “I bought it from a relative,” Ximen Qing said.

  “Venerable Sir,” Ying Bojue said, “guess how much it cost, and tell us where it came from and what the wood is called.”

  Xue again examined it very carefully. “I should say it came from Jian-chang or, if not, from Zhenyuan,” he said.

  “If it had come from Zhenyuan,” Bojue said, “it would not be so fine.”

  “I believe the best elm comes from Yangxuan,” the eunuch said.

  “The Yangxuan elm is short and thin. It is not to be compared with this. This is made of much finer wood called Peach Flower Cavern. The tree grows in Wuling in Huguang. Long, long ago an old fisherman came to that cavern and saw some maidens of the Qin dynasty who had gone there to escape the soldiery. It is a place to which travelers seldom go. The boards of which this coffin is made were seven feet long, four inches thick, and two feet five inches broad. His Lordship paid three hundred and seventy taels for them, although he is a kinsman of the owner. Ah, Venerable Sir, you should have seen it before it was made up. Such fragrance! Such exquisite markings on both sides of the wood!”

  “Fate was generous in allowing this lady to enjoy so wonderful a coffin,” the eunuch said. “We court chamberlains can hardly hope for such a funeral when our time comes.”

  “It is very kind of you to say so,” Uncle Wu said, “but, Sir, you are in the closest relations with the Imperial Court, and we, who are merely officers of the external administration, can in no way approach you. You, Sir, were but lately basking in the favor of the Son of Heaven. To us, you represent His Majesty’s precious words. His Excellency Tong has been given the title of Duke, and those who follow after him will wear ceremonial dress. There is, I am sure, a glorious future before you.”

  “May I ask your name?” the eunuch said, “you speak with great discretion.”

  “This is Wu, my wife’s brother,” Ximen said. “He is a captain in our district.”

  “Is he the dead lady’s brother?” Xue asked.

  Ximen Qing explained that Uncle Wu was his first wife’s eldest brother.

  “You must please excuse me, worthy Sir,” Eunuch Xue said to Uncle Wu, bowing. Ximen Qing then took them all to the temporary hall. He offered a chair to the eunuch and the servants brought tea.

  “I wonder why Liu has not come yet,” Xue said. “I must send one of my servants for him.” One of the eunuch’s servants knelt down.

  “I did go to bring His Worship,” he said, “and his sedan chair was waiting for him. I am sure he will be here soon.” Xue asked if the two storytellers had come. Ximen Qing told him that they had. They were summoned, and came to kowtow. Xue asked them if they had had anything to eat, and, when they told him that they had, bade them do what they had been sent to do with all due care, promising them a good reward.

  “Venerable Sir,” Ximen Qing said, “I have engaged some actors. Perhaps you would like to hear them.”

  “Where are they from?” the eunuch asked.

  “They are a company from Haiyan,” Ximen told him.

  “These barbarous dialects sound so impossible,” Xue said, “I can’t understand a word they say. Poor devils of students, who put their noses to the grindstone for three years, and then wander all over the place for another nine, carrying a zither, a sword, and a box of books, then come to the capital for the examination, and, when they have got a job, have to leave their wife and children behind—they are the people to enjoy actors of this sort. I’m just a single old chamberlain. Why should I bother about them?”

  Master Wen smiled. “Venerable Sir,” he said, “I am afraid I cannot agree with you. When in Qi, do as the Qi people do. Even though you occupy such an exalted position, there is a possibility that these actors may amuse you.”

  Xue laughed and clapped his hands. “Ah,” he said, “I had forgotten Master Wen. Of course he takes the part of the officers who serve away from the court.”

  “Scholars and officers stand or fall together,” Master Wen said. “If you cut down a branch, you injure a hundred forests. When anything happens to the hare, the fox grieves. If you disapprove of one, you disapprove of all.”

  “Not at all,” Xue said. “In the s
ame place you find both fools and wise men.”

  At that moment a servant came and told them that Liu had come. Uncle Wu went out to welcome him. After making a reverence before the coffin, he greeted the others.

  “What has made you so late?” Xue asked.

  “Xu came to call on me. I could not get away without sitting down with him for a while.”

  They sat down, and the servants brought tea. Liu asked his attendants if the food to be offered to the dead was ready. The servant told him that everything was arranged. “Let us go and burn some paper offerings,” Liu said.

  “Venerable Sir,” Ximen said, “do not disturb yourself to such an extent. You have already made reverence to her.”

  “I came for that purpose,” Liu said. “I must offer something to her with my own hands.”

  A servant brought incense. The two eunuchs together offered it and three cups of wine to Li Ping’er. They made reverence again to the dead lady. Then Ximen prayed them to stand up. They made only two reverences, and Ximen Qing made reverence to them in return. Then they went back to the arbor. A table was set.

  When the two eunuchs had taken their places, Master Wen, Uncle Wu and Ying Bojue sat down, Ximen Qing sat in the seat of the host. The music began and the actors brought out their list of plays. The two eunuchs went through the list and bade them play the Story of the White Rabbit. But before the play had proceeded very far, the two eunuchs were tired of it. They sent for the two storytellers, who played and told the story of how the snow stopped Han Wengong in Languan.

  Eunuch Xue began to talk to his colleague. “Brother Liu,” he said, “I don’t suppose you have heard, but the other day, the tenth day of the eighth month, there was a terrible rainstorm, and the roof figures at the palace were struck by lightning. A number of people at the court died of fright. Even His Majesty was alarmed. He admonished all the officials to take the greatest care in the performance of their duties, ordered the Lingshujing to be read every day in Shangqing Palace, and forbade the killing of animals for sacrificial purposes for ten days. For the same space of time, the courts were not permitted to give sentence and no reports might be made to the Emperor.

  “Then an ambassador came from the people of Jin and demanded the surrender of three of our towns. The old villain Cai Jing suggested that this should be agreed to. As for the troops that had been under Tong’s command, the Censor Tan Ji, Huang An and others were to take them over. Tong was to withdraw from the three districts in question, but he refused to come back and the case has been referred to a council of ministers.

  “The other day was the Winter Festival, and his Majesty went to the Temple of His Ancestors to offer sacrifice. There is a certain doctor in the Department of Imperial Ceremonies called Fang Zhen, and, in the morning, when he went to inspect the temple, he discovered blood issuing from the courses between the bricks. At the northeastern corner, the floor had given way. He told the Emperor about this, and one of the censors told His Majesty that this was a sign that Tong had assumed a power beyond his due, there being no justification for the appointment of a eunuch as a duke. After this, the Emperor at once sent an envoy with his Golden Decree summoning Tong to return.”

  “Well,” Liu said, “you and I do our duty here. What happens at the Court is no concern of ours. Let us enjoy whatever the day brings forth. Even if the sky seems about to fall, still, as the proverb says, there are four giants to hold it up. It looks to me as if this Empire of Song would be ruined by busybody ministers. Let us drink.”

  He told the storytellers to sing the story of Li Bo and his fondness for wine. This they did. About sunset, the two eunuchs called for their sedan chairs. Ximen Qing could not persuade them to stay longer and went with them to the gate. When he returned, he gave orders for the candles to be lighted and sat down again with Uncle Wu, Ying Bojue and Master Wen. He sent boys to bring Clerk Fu, Clerk Gan, Han Daoguo, Ben the Fourth, Cui Ben and Chen Jingji. Then he bade the actors perform the play of the Jade Ring that they had played the day before.

  “The eunuchs do not understand these Southern plays,” he said to Ying Bojue. “If I had realized that, I would not have asked them to stay.”

  “Brother,” Ying Bojue said, “they did not appreciate the compliment you were paying them. Eunuchs are very ignorant. They like such things as the story of Languan, simple tales, folk songs and all that sort of thing, but the higher forms of art, compositions of a really great order, are completely beyond them.”

  The music began, and the actors played that part of the Jade Ring that had not been finished the day before. Ximen Qing called for good wine to be brought.

  Ying Bojue, sitting at Ximen’s table, asked if the three singing girls were still there. “Why don’t you send for them and make them serve the wine?” he said. But Ximen said: “You must be dreaming. They have been gone a long time.”

  “Then they only stayed a day or two,” Bojue said.

  “Wu Yin’er was here longest,” Ximen Qing told him.

  It was the third night watch before the party broke up. The play was finished. Ximen asked Uncle Wu to come early the following day to welcome the guests for him. Then he gave the actors four taels of silver and dismissed them.

  The next day, Major Zhou, General Jing, Captain Zhang of the militia, and Magistrate Xia came with other officers to make their offering to the dead lady. They made a reverence before the coffin, and someone was appointed to read their panegyric. Ximen Qing offered them refreshment. Li Ming and the other three young actors were in attendance. It was about noon when the offerings were brought. Uncle Wu, Ying Bojue and Master Wen stood at the gate to welcome the officers. They came in and changed their clothes in the great hall. Then the offerings of food were set out, and they came together to make reverence before the coffin. Ximen Qing and Chen Jingji were there to return their salutation. The Master of Ceremonies conducted the appropriate ceremonies and, when the triple offering had been made, knelt down to read the panegyric. When it was done, Ximen Qing thanked his visitors, and the officers were taken to the temporary hall. They took off their robes and had tea. Tables were set, and they sat down to enjoy themselves. The young actors played and sang to them. About sunset they went away. Ximen Qing would have liked Uncle Wu and the others to stay, but Uncle Wu said: “It seems to me that we are all rather tired, especially you, and we must have a rest.” He went away with the rest.

  CHAPTER 65

  The Burial of Li Ping’er

  The twenty-eighth day of the tenth month was the fourteenth day after the death of Li Ping’er. This was the second week’s mind, and Abbot Wu with sixteen monks from the Daoist Temple of the Jade King came to make sacrifice. They brought banners and set up an altar in the house. A letter came from Secretary An. Ximen Qing entertained the messenger and dismissed him.

  Abbot Wu brought a table of food and a roll of silk as his personal offering. The monks sang dirges, and the abbot solemnly made reverence before the coffin. Ximen Qing and Chen Jingji returned the reverence.

  “Teacher,” Ximen said, “you should not have done so much. We really do not know how we can accept this offering.”

  “I am ashamed of my unworthiness to offer sacrifice for your lady,” Abbot Wu said. “These little things are no more than a trifling indication of my regard for her.” Ximen Qing accepted the offerings and the men who had brought the boxes were sent away. The monks busied themselves most diligently with their ceremonies. They sought the dead lady in the nine dungeons of Hell; they summoned her spirit; they prayed for her relief.

  The next day, the first to arrive was Uncle Han, who lived outside the city gates. With him came Meng Yulou’s brother, Meng Rui, who had returned from his business abroad. Hearing that there was a bereavement in Ximen Qing’s household, he came with Uncle Han, brought an offering of his own, and asked to be permitted to wear mourning. After paying his respects to Ximen Qing, he went to see his sister. Later, Ximen Qing entertained him.

  About noon, a number of civil o
fficers came. There were Li Gongji, the District Magistrate; Qian Sicheng, the Assistant Magistrate; Ren Lianggui, the Deputy Assistant Magistrate; and the Jail Warden, Xia Gongji. The District Magistrate of Yanggu, Di Sixiu, came with them. The five gentlemen were all wearing mourning and brought with them presents and paper offerings. Ximen Qing, with Uncle Wu and Scholar Wen, entertained them, and three young actors sang for them.

  While they were drinking, Ximen Qing was told that his Excellency, Huang, the Controller of the Brickfields, had come to offer his condolences. He hastily put on his mourning robes again and went to the coffin. Master Wen went out to the gate to welcome his Excellency. Servants came bringing incense, paper offerings, and silk, and they walked in procession to the coffin. Huang burned incense and made a reverence to the dead. Ximen Qing and Chen Jingji returned the reverence.

  “I did not know that your lady was dead,” Huang said, “or I should have been here sooner. I am sorry to be so late.”

  “It is a long time since I have been to see your Excellency,” Ximen Qing said, “and now you come to me with such gifts. I don’t know how to thank you.” He took Huang to the hall. There Ximen Qing and Master Wen sat down with him, and the servants brought tea.

  “Song Songyuan sends his love to you,” Huang said. “He has heard of your lady’s death and would have liked to come and see you, but he is very busy at the moment and has had to go to Jizhou. You may not have heard that His Majesty is going to set up an artificial mountain on the north of the imperial city. He has appointed Grand Marshal Zhu Mian to proceed south of the Yangzi River to collect the Taihu stones. The boats have been coming down one after another, and the first of them has now reached the Huai and will come down the river into Shandong. The stones are beautifully marked and in pieces about twenty feet long and several feet wide. Each piece is covered in yellow wrappings, and the boats, which are very many, all carry yellow flags. The river is shallow just now and people have been brought together from all around to tow the boats. It has been a most unpleasant time for officials and people alike, and the people, especially, are finding life very hard. Our friend Song has to see to everything himself and direct all the underlings in his district. There are so many orders and instructions that they would make a mountain. Song is busy all day and all night, and never has a moment to himself.