Song was delighted. He said to Ximen Qing: “What a charming boy!”
“Ximen said: “He is one of my household, and comes from Yangzhou.” Song took the boy’s hand, and asked him to pour wine for him. Then he gave him three qian of silver, and the boy kowtowed to thank him.
The sun was going down. Cai saw that it was getting late, and told his servant to bring his clothes. He made ready to go. The others tried to persuade him to stay, but in vain. They went with him to the gate. Two officials were bidden to take presents to the wharf. As Song was going, he said to Ximen Qing: “I will not thank you today, since I am putting you to still further trouble.” Then they all went away.
Ximen Qing went back and dismissed the actors. “I shall want you again the day after tomorrow,” he said to them. “Be sure to bring some especially good singers. His Excellency is going to invite Governor Hou.”
He called for wine and sent Daian for Scholar Wen. He sent Laian for Ying Bojue. The two men came almost at the same moment, made a reverence to their host, and sat down. The three boys sang and wine was served.
“The ladies are all coming to see you tomorrow,” Ximen Qing said to Ying Bojue. “Have you engaged any singers or entertainers for them?”
“That’s a nice thing to ask!” Bojue said. “How can you expect me to do all that, when I’m so poor? I’ve engaged a couple of singers, and I hope my sisters-in-law will come early.”
In the inner court, the two Mistresses Meng were the first to go away. Aunt Yang was about to follow them, but Wu Yueniang asked her to stay longer. “Nun Xue has sent her novices to fetch the sacred texts,” she said, “and you might as well stay and hear them read this evening.”
“I should very much like to stay,” Aunt Yang said, “but I have been asked to go to my nephew’s betrothal party tomorrow. I cannot very well fail to go.”
When she had gone, the ladies drank together. When the lamps were brought, the wives of the three clerks went away. Miss Duan stayed, and old woman Pan went to Jinlian’s room. Aunt Wu, L Guijie, Miss Shen, Miss Yu, the nuns, Meng Yulou, Li Jiao’er, and Pan Jinlian, were left in Wu Yueniang’s room.
When the boys began to bring in the things, they knew that the party in the outer court had broken up. Jinlian hurriedly went out and stood silently at the corner door. Ximen Qing, supported by Laian with a lantern, came rolling by. He had meant to go and see Ruyi’er, but, seeing Jinlian, he took her hand and went to her room. Laian went on to Yueniang’s room to give her the cups and chopsticks.
Yueniang thought Ximen Qing was coming to her room, and she had sent Miss Shen, Miss Yu, and Guijie to stay with Li Jiao’er. “Is your father coming?” she said to Laian.
“He has gone to the Fifth Lady’s room,” Laian told her. Yueniang was annoyed.
“The fellow doesn’t know what he’s doing,” she said to Yulou. “I was sure he would come here and go with you. I can’t imagine why he has gone to her again. But, now I come to think of it, she has been looking lovesick these last few days. She doesn’t seem able to leave him for a moment.”
“Oh, never mind, Sister,” Yulou said, “if we talk like this, it will look as though we wished to beat her at her own game. Didn’t you notice how the nun poked fun at us, saying that, no matter where he went, he could not go beyond these six rooms? Let him do what he likes. We cannot control him.”
“They must have arranged it beforehand,” Yueniang said. “When she heard that the party in the outer court was over, she dashed out as though her life depended on it.” She said to Xiaoyu: “There is no one in the kitchen. Shut the second door and tell the nuns to come. We will listen to their preaching.” She asked Li Jiao’er, Miss Shen, Miss Duan, and Miss Yu to come back again.
“I have sent one of the young nuns to fetch the True History of the Lady Huang,” she said. “Unfortunately, Aunt Yang has left us.”
She told Yuxiao to make some good tea.
“You and I will take our turn with the tea,” Yulou said to Li Jiao’er. “We must not trouble the Great Lady all the time.” So they gave orders for tea. The table was set. The three nuns came and sat on the bed with their legs crossed, and the other ladies sat down and disposed themselves to listen. Yueniang washed her hands and burned incense. Then Nun Xue opened the text of the True Story of the Lady Huang and read:
We know that the Law never perisheth. It proceedeth into the void. The DAO is without life, and, when it giveth life, it advantageth us in no way. From the Holy Body are manifested the Eight Incarnations, and from the Eight Incarnations is manifested the Holy Body. Such is the brightness of the Lamp of Wisdom that it openeth a window to the world: so clear is the Mirror of Buddha that it shineth to the bottom of the dark way.
A hundred years is as the twinkling of an eye.
The four bodies of illusion are but shadows.
Yet, every day, people busy themselves in the dust; they make haste all day to compass their own ends. They know not what they do.
Only Nature is glorious and perfect.
As for them, they pursue the six roots of vanity and concupiscence. Though their achievements and their renown are known to all the world, yet they are but a dream. Though their dignity and their wealth make men amazed, they cannot escape a sudden end. As wind and fire they die away, and there is no exception either for old or young. The water wears away many a mountain.
After this, the nun read some short homilies and sang hymns. Then she began to tell the story of the Lady Huang, whence she sprang, how she read the sacred books and gave alms. How she died and was born again as a man, and how five men and women went up to Heaven at the same moment. She did not end her story before the second night watch.
Li Jiao’er’s maid brought tea for the ladies, and Yulou’s maid brought fruit and food, a large jar of wine, and a big pot of tea. Yueniang told Yuxiao to give the nuns cakes and dainties to eat with the tea.
“Now that the teachers have done,” Guijie said, “it is my turn to offer you a song.”
“You are very kind,” Yueniang said.
“I will sing first,” Miss Yu said.
“Very well,” said Yueniang.
Then Miss Shen said: “When she has finished, I will sing.”
Guijie would not have this. “What song would you like, Mother?” she asked. Yueniang asked her to sing “The Stillness of the Late Night Watch.” Guijie offered wine to all the ladies, then took her lute and sang to them. When she had finished, Miss Yu was about to take the lute, but Miss Shen took it from her.
“I will sing ‘The Hanging of the Portraits in the Twelfth Month.’ She began: “The fifteenth day of the first month is the merry Feast of Lanterns. We take handfuls of incense and do homage to Heaven and Earth.”
Aunt Wu was sleepy. Before Miss Shen had finished, she drank her tea and went to Yueniang’s bedroom to sleep. Afterwards, Guijie went to sleep with Li Jiao’er, Miss Duan with Yulou. The nuns went to Xue’e and Miss Yu and Miss Shen to Yuxiao. Yueniang herself slept with her sister-in-law.
There is an ancient tradition that when a woman is with child she should never sit down on one side, or lie on one side. She should never listen to exciting music or look upon any immodest color. She should occupy all her time with poetry and books, with gold and jade. If she does this, she will give birth to a boy or a girl who will be intelligent and good. This we call the education of the child in the womb. Now that Yueniang was with child, she should not have allowed the nuns to tell these stories of life, death and reincarnation. In consequence of this, one of the Holy Ones came to her and, afterwards, her son mysteriously disappeared, so that the family of Ximen came to an end. It was very sad.
CHAPTER 75
Pan Jinlian Quarrels with Wu Yueniang
Butterflies hover in couples among the flowers beside the stream
South of the hills and west of the river.
The wind and the moon are distraught with love.
In the ancient palace
The beautiful woman is fille
d with discontent
Clouds and rain are in wild confusion.
She opens her fragrant mouth, and the words flow from her lips
She presses her delicate cheeks in wild abandon.
Say not that the life of love is without substance
When one oriole has finished its song,
Another takes up the melody.
Pan Jinlian met Ximen at the corner door and went with him to her room. He sat down on the bed. “Why don’t you undress?” she said to him.
He smiled and kissed her. “I came to tell you I am going somewhere else tonight. Please give me my love instruments.”
“You rascal,” Jinlian said, “do you think you can get around me with soft words like these? If I had not been standing at the door, you would have been with her already. You would never have come near me. I know. This morning you arranged everything with that evil slut. That was why she brought me the fur coat and kowtowed to me. What do you take me for? You won’t get over me in that sort of way. When Li Ping’er was alive, I counted for nothing. But that bird is no longer in the nest. I’m not going to make the same mistake a second time.”
“Rubbish!” Ximen Qing said, laughing. “If she hadn’t come and kowtowed to you, you would have had just as much to say.”
Jinlian was silent for a long time. “I will let you go, but you shall not have the instruments,” she said at last. “You want to use them for your dirty work with that bad bone. When you come back to me, they will be filthy.”
“But I am so accustomed to them I don’t know what to do without them.”
He badgered her for a long time, and she gave him the silver clasp. “Take it, if you must have it,” she said. Ximen Qing put it into his sleeve and went out staggering.
Jinlian called him back. “Tell me. Are you going to spend all night with her? If you do, you’ll have all the maids laughing at you. You’d better stay a little while and then send her packing.”
“I shall not stay very long,” Ximen Qing said. He went out again.
Again Jinlian called him back. “Come here,” she said, “I am talking to you. Why are you in such a hurry?”
“What do you want now?” Ximen Qing said.
“I am allowing you to go and sleep with her, but I forbid you to talk a lot of nonsense. If you do, she will give herself airs in front of me again. If I find out you have done anything of the sort, I will bite off your weapon the next time you come to me.”
“Oh, you funny little whore,” Ximen Qing said, “you talk enough to kill anybody.” He went out.
“Let him go,” Chunmei said. “Why do you try to keep him in order? You know the old saying: if a mother-in-law has too much to say, the daughter-in-law will become deaf. If you go on like that, people will only hate you more. Let us have a game of chess.”
She told Qiuju to shut the corner door. Then they sat at the table and played chess.
Ximen Qing went to Li Ping’er’s room and pulled aside the shutter. Ruyi’er, Yingchun, and Xiuchun were having supper on the bed. When Ximen came in, they all got up.
“Don’t mind me,” Ximen Qing said. He went to the inner room and sat down in a chair before the tablet of his dead wife. After a while, Ruyi’er came out to him.
“It is cold here, Father,” she said, smiling, “come into the other room.”
Ximen Qing put his arms around her and kissed her. They went into the other room together. Tea was boiling on the fire and Yingchun offered him some. Ruyi’er stood before the bed, near the fire.
“You have had no wine,” she said. “We have had a pot of Jinhua wine and some food for my dead lady and we kept some for you.”
“You take the food and give me some of the fruit,” Ximen Qing said. “I don’t want any Jinhua wine.” Then he said to Xiuchun: “Take a lantern and go to my study. There is a jar of grape wine there. Ask Wang Jing for it and warm some for me.”
Yingchun set the table. “Sister,” Ruyi’er said to her, “open the boxes and let me find something for Father to eat with his wine.” She picked out some special dainties and fruits and put them on the table. Then Xiuchun came with the wine, opened the jar and warmed some. Ruyi’er poured out a cup and offered it to Ximen Qing. He tasted it and found it very good. Ruyi’er stood beside the table to wait on him. She gave him some chestnuts.
Yingchun knew why he had come and went to spend the night with Xiuchun. When she had gone away and there was no one else in the room, he made the woman sit on his knee and they drank wine from mouth to mouth. He unfastened her dress and uncovered her tender white bosom. He touched her nipples. “My child,” he said, “I know nothing so sweet as your lovely white skin. It is as beautiful as your lady’s, and when I hold you in my arms I feel as if I held her.”
Ruyi’er smiled. “No, Father, hers was whiter than mine. The Fifth Lady is beautiful, but her skin is not so pure. It is not so white as the Third Lady’s. But the Third Lady, unfortunately, has a few pock marks on her face. Sun Xue’e is white and pretty.” Then she said: “Yingchun is going to give me one of her ornaments. I wish you would give me the golden tiger that belonged to my dead lady. It is something to be worn in the new year, and I would like her to have it.”
“If you have nothing to wear, I will give the silversmith some gold and get him to make something for you. The Great Lady has all your lady’s ornaments. I can hardly ask her for them.”
“I should like a gold tiger,” Ruyi’er said. She stood up and kowtowed to him.
When they had been drinking for some time, she said: “Father, will you ask my sisters to come and have some wine with us? They will be unhappy if you don’t.”
Ximen Qing called Yingchun, but there was no answer. Ruyi’er went to the kitchen and told the two girls that their master wanted them. Yingchun came. Ximen Qing asked Ruyi’er to give her some wine and a plate of food. Yingchun took them, standing. “Please make Xiuchun come,” Ruyi’er said, “I should like to offer her something.” The maid went away but returned and said Xiuchun would not come. Then she took her bed-clothes and went to the kitchen to sleep with Xiuchun.
Ximen Qing drank more wine. Then Ruyi’er cleared everything away and gave him some tea. She found fresh silken bedclothes, and an embroidered pillow. She warmed them and asked him whether he would rather sleep on the large bed or the small one. “I prefer the small one,” he said. Ruyi’er put the bedclothes on the small bed and helped him to undress. She went to the other room to wash, came back, and fastened the door. When she had put the lamp beside the bed, she undressed and got into bed with him.
The woman touched the warrior. The clasp was already in position. It was very hard and frisky and she felt pleased and terrified at the same time. They kissed each other and set to. Ximen, seeing her lying on the bed without any clothes on, was afraid she might catch cold. He picked up her vest and covered her breast with it. Then he took her by the legs and thrust forward violently. Ruyi’er gasped for breath and her face became very red.
“Mother gave me that vest,” she said.
“My dear,” said Ximen, “never mind about that. Tomorrow, I will give you half a roll of red silk to make underwear, and you shall wear that when you wait on me.”
“Thank you,” Ruyi’er said.
“I have forgotten how old you are,” Ximen Qing said. “What is your surname, and your place in the family? I only remember that your husband’s name was Xiong.”
“Yes,” Ruyi’er said, “his name was Xiong Wang’er. My own name is Zhang, and I am the fourth child. I am thirty-two years old.”
“A year older than I am,” he said.
They went on with their lovemaking, and he called her Zhang the Fourth. “My daughter,” he said, “serve me well, and, when the Great Lady’s baby is born, you shall have charge of it. And, if you yourself bear a son to me, I will make you one of my ladies and you shall take the dead lady’s place.”
“My husband is dead, and I have no relatives of my own,” Ruyi’er said. “I have no othe
r wish than to serve you, and I never want to leave you. If you take pity on me, I shall always be grateful.”
Ximen Qing was very pleased with the way she spoke. He grasped her white legs firmly and plunged forward violently again. She murmured softly and her starry eyes grew dim. Soon he asked her to lie down with legs spread-eagled like a mare’s, and, covered with a red blanket, he rode her. He thrust with his prick, pressing on as he fondled her white buttocks in the candlelight. “Call me your darling without stopping,” he said. “Let me bury myself in you.” She rose to receive him, and called him her darling in a trembling voice. They played for a whole hour before Ximen wished to yield. At last he withdrew his prick, and she wiped it with a handkerchief. They slept in each other’s arms. Before dawn she woke up excited and put his prick in her mouth. “Your Fifth Mother,” said Ximen, “sucks all night. She does not let me get up if I want to piss because she is afraid that I’ll catch cold, and she drinks my water.”
“What does that matter?” she cried. “I’m also thirsty”; and Ximen made water in her mouth. They made love in every possible way.
The next day, she rose first, opened the door and lit a fire. Then she helped Ximen Qing to dress. He went to the front court and told Daian to send Ben the Fourth with two soldiers to take the golden tripod with his card to Censor Song’s place. “When they have delivered it,” he said, “they must wait for a return card.” He told Chen Jingji to pack up a roll of gold silk and a roll of colored satin. He bade Qintong get a horse ready and take them to his Excellency Cai. Then he took breakfast in Yueniang’s room.
“I don’t see how we can all go to see Mistress Ying,” Yueniang said, “Somebody must stay at home to keep Aunt Wu company.”
“But I have got five presents ready,” Ximen Qing said. “Of course, you must all go. My daughter is here. She can stay with Aunt Wu. I have promised Brother Ying.” Yueniang said no more.
Guijie came and kowtowed to them. “I am going home today, Mother,” she said.
The Golden Lotus, Volume 2 Page 40