The Golden Lotus, Volume 2

by Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng

  This day, Meng Yulou gave up the housekeeping accounts. She handed them over to Ximen Qing and told him to give them to Pan Jinlian. Then she went to see Wu Yueniang.

  “Do you feel better, Mother, now you have taken the medicine?” she said.

  “Yes,” Yueniang said, “people say that women always get better when they have a man doctor to attend them, and it seems to be true. I am certainly better. My headache has gone, and my stomach feels much easier.”

  “Ah!” Yulou said, “it looks to me as if all you wanted was a man to hold your hand.”

  Even Aunt Wu laughed at this.

  Then Ximen Qing came with the accounts. “You must attend to the matter yourself,” Yueniang told him. “I don’t know whose turn it is, and I can’t imagine whom to give the accounts to. Nobody wants to be bothered with them.”

  Ximen took thirty taels of silver and thirty strings of coppers and gave them to Jinlian.

  When Qiao came, Ximen took him to the great hall and showed him the document that Prefect Hu had sent. It said: “Honorary Lieutenant Qiao Hong has made a contribution of thirty measures of fine rice to the quartermaster’s department, in accordance with regulations.” Qiao was very pleased and bowed his thanks to Ximen Qing. He told Qiao Tong to take the paper home with the greatest care. “Now I can wear ceremonial dress,” he said to Ximen, “and, when you have a party here, I shall be able to come.”

  “You must come early on the third,” Ximen said to him.

  When they had had tea, Ximen Qing told Qintong to set a table in the side room. “Kinsman,” he said to Qiao, “let us go to the west room. It is warmer there.” They went together to the study.

  Then Ying Bojue came with a few presents. “The brothers have sent them,” he said. Ximen looked at them. Abbot Wu’s name was the first on the list: then came Ying Bojue, Xie Xida, Zhu Shinian, Sun Guazui, Chang Zhijie, Bai Laiguang, Li the Third, Huang the Fourth and Du the Third.

  “I still have some more people to invite,” Ximen said. “There are the younger Uncle Wu, Uncle Shen, Doctor Ren, Hua, Scholar Wen and the three clerks, more than twenty altogether. I must ask them all on the fourth.” He gave the presents to a servant and told Qintong to go to Uncle Wu and tell him that Master Qiao was there. Then he asked if Scholar Wen was at home.

  “No,” Laian said, “he has gone out to see a friend.

  After a while, Uncle Wu arrived and, with Chen Jingji they sat down to drink. While they were drinking, Ximen said to Uncle Wu: “We have to congratulate Kinsman Qiao here. He has got his papers today. We must buy some presents and give a party for him.”

  “It is a very insignificant matter,” Qiao said. “You must not trouble to do anything of the sort.”

  Then a man came from the Town Hall with two hundred and fifty copies of the new calendar. Ximen gave the man a return card and sent him away.

  “We haven’t seen the new calendar yet,” Ying Bojue said.

  Ximen gave fifty copies to Uncle Wu, Qiao, and Ying Bojue. Bojue noticed that the new year was described as the first year of the reign of Chonghe, and that it would have an intercalary month.

  They went on playing games, guessing fingers, and drinking until it was late. Qiao went away first, but Uncle Wu and Ying Bojue did not go until the first night watch. Ximen Qing told a servant to get a horse ready early the next morning and ask Captain He to come that they might go together to take leave of Governor Hou. Then he told Laian and Chunhong that they must accompany Yueniang when she went to Mistress Xia. Four soldiers were to go with them.

  He went to Jinlian’s room. She had taken off her headdress; her hair was disarranged; there was no powder on her face, and she was lying, with all her clothes on, on the bed. There was no light in the room and everything was very still. Ximen called Chunmei, but there was no answer. Then he saw Jinlian on the bed and spoke to her. There was no answer. He sat down on the bed.

  “Little oily mouth, why are you treating me like this? Why don’t you answer me?”

  He lifted her in his arms and asked what was the matter. Jinlian turned her face away. Fragrant tears rolled down her cheeks, one after another. If Ximen Qing had been made of iron or stone, he would have melted. He put his arms around her neck.

  “Funny little oily mouth. Why did you quarrel with her?”

  For a long time, Jinlian did not answer. Then she said: “Who says I quarreled with her? It was she who began by finding fault with me, insulting me before a host of people. She said I was one of the husband-hunting devils, and that was how I got you. She said she was a real wife, properly married to you. Who told you to come here again? Go to her. If you go to her, perhaps I shall not be accused of monopolizing you. She said you always came to me. You know quite well you haven’t been near the place these last few nights. And she tells lies. She said I asked you for the fur coat and never said anything to her about it. I am not her slave. Why should I go and kowtow to her and ask her to give me a fur coat? Chunmei scolded that scamp of a blind woman, and she said I didn’t train her properly. She talked a lot of nonsense. If you were a real man, you would settle this sort of thing with your fist, and there wouldn’t be all these rows and troubles. I suppose we must keep ourselves in our proper places. The proverb says: Things that are bought cheap are sold cheap; and things that are easily come by are easily forgotten. I came here as a second wife and now I am not to be allowed to breathe. Yesterday, she flew into a temper. Who was in her room all the time? Who sent for Doctor Ren? Who offered to do everything she wanted? Poor me! I was left in this miserable hole and nobody cared what happened to me. Oh, I know you! Then people come and ask me to go and apologize to her!”

  Tears rolled down her flower-like face. She lay on Ximen Qing’s breast and sobbed. She wiped her nose and dried her tears continually. Ximen kept his arms about her and comforted her.

  “It is all right, my child,” he said, “I have been very busy. You must forgive one another. I’m not going to say who is to blame. I was coming to see you yesterday but she said I was coming to apologize to you and would not let me come. So I went to Li Jiao’er, but all the time I was there, I was thinking of you.”

  “I know you now,” the woman said. “You pretend to love me but, really, you love her. She is going to have a baby, and I am only a straw and cannot compare with her in any sort of way.”

  Ximen Qing hugged her. “Don’t talk such nonsense, little oily mouth,” he said.

  Qiuju brought tea. “Ha!” said Ximen “here’s a nice clean little slave! Who told her to bring the tea? Where is Chunmei?”

  “You do well to ask for Chunmei?” Jinlian said “I shouldn’t be surprised if she were dying by now. She has had nothing to eat for three or four days. She is in bed in the other room. She only wants to die. She thinks that’s the best thing she can do now that your first wife has insulted her before everybody. She has done nothing but cry ever since.”

  “Is that true?” Ximen Qing said.

  “Go and see for yourself.”

  Ximen got up and went to the other room. Chunmei was lying on the bed, her face unpowdered and her hair falling down.

  “Get up, little oily mouth,” he said. He called her by name, but she did not answer and pretended to be asleep. He tried to lift her in his arms but she struggled and stiffened herself till her back was like the backbone of a carp. She nearly knocked Ximen Qing onto the floor. Fortunately, he had firm hold of her and the bed prevented him from falling.

  “Let me go,” Chunmei cried. “Why do you come here to see a slave? You will soil your hands.”

  “Because the Great Lady scolded you a little,” Ximen Qing said, “that’s no reason why you should be so angry and refuse to eat anything.”

  “It doesn’t matter to you whether I eat or not, Chunmei said. “I am a slave, and if I die, I die. But slave though I may be, I have done nothing wrong. Why should I be insulted because I told that blind vagabond what I thought about her? And the Great Lady found fault with my mother too, and said that
she didn’t keep me in order. Is it right that I should be punished because I cursed that blind scamp? Wait and see whether I don’t point my finger at Han Daoguo’s wife and insult her, when she comes here. She is responsible for all this trouble. It was she who introduced that blind creature.”

  “Yes, she introduced Miss Shen, it is true,” Ximen said, “but there was no harm in that. How was she going to know that you would quarrel?”

  “I should not have insulted her if she had been reasonable,” Chunmei said, “but she was so obstinate.”

  “Well,” Ximen said, “now that I’m here, won’t you give me a cup of tea? I can’t drink the tea Qiuju brought. Her hands are too dirty.”

  “You will have to drink it. When the butcher is dead, you must eat your pork with the bristles on it. I can’t get up. How can I make tea for you?”

  “Who told you to stop eating?” Ximen Qing said. “Come into the other room and let us eat and drink. Qiuju shall go for dishes and wine and cakes and fruit and soup.”

  He did not wait for further argument but took Chunmei’s hand and went with her to Jinlian. He told Qiuju to take a box and go to the kitchen. When she came back, he bade Chunmei put slices of chicken with meat and fish, together with pickled bamboo shoots and radishes, and make a large bowl of soup. The dishes were set on the table with rice and warm buns.

  Ximen Qing sat down beside Jinlian, and Chunmei sat facing them. They encouraged one another to drink and did not make an end for a long time. Then they went to bed.

  Ximen rose early next morning. Captain He came in good time, and, after drinking a cup of wine, they set out beyond the walls to pay their respects to Governor Hou. Yueniang sent presents to Mistress Xia, then dressed and went in a large sedan chair to see her. Laian and Chunhong went with her, and four soldiers cleared the way. Daian and Wang Jing were left at home. About midday, old woman Wang, the tea seller, came with He the Ninth, and asked if Ximen Qing was at home.

  “What wind has blown you here?” Daian said to them. “We don’t see you very often.”

  “Old He wishes to see your master about a matter concerning his younger brother,” old woman Wang said. “We should not have come otherwise.”

  “His Lordship has gone to say good-bye to Governor Hou,” Daian said, “and the Great Lady has gone out too. But wait a moment, and I will tell the Fifth Lady.”

  When he came back, he said: “The Fifth Lady would like to see you.”

  “I will go and see her,” old woman Wang said, “but you must take me in. I am afraid of the dogs.”

  Daian took the old woman to the garden, pulled aside the lattice and showed her into Jinlian’s room. Jinlian was wearing a fur cap and silken clothes and looked very pretty. She was sitting on the bed with her feet on a footstool. Old woman Wang knelt down before her. Jinlian returned her greeting, and old woman Wang sat down beside her on the bed.

  “It is a very long time since I saw you last,” Jinlian said.

  “I have wished to see you for a long time,” the old woman said, “but I didn’t venture to come. Have you any children?”

  “I wish I had,” Jinlian said, “but I have only had two miscarriages. Is your son married?”

  “No,” the old woman said, “I have not arranged a marriage for him yet. He has just come back from Huai. He made some money, and now he has bought a donkey and started a flour mill. I understand his Lordship is not at home.”

  “No, he has had to go outside the city today. The Great Lady is out, too. What did you want with him?”

  “He the Ninth asked me to come and see his Lordship,” old woman Wang said. “His brother, He the Tenth, has got mixed up in a case of theft. He has been taken to the courts and charged with being a receiver of stolen property. But he had nothing whatever to do with the matter, and we have come to ask his Lordship to get him off. He must not believe what the thieves say. When He the Tenth gets out of prison, he will come, with presents, to kowtow to his Lordship. Here is the paper.”

  Jinlian looked at it. “Give it to me,” she said, “I will give it to my husband, with my own hands.”

  “He the Ninth is waiting outside,” old woman Wang said. “I will tell him to come again tomorrow.”

  Qiuju brought the old woman a cup of tea. “Are you happy here, lady?” old woman Wang said. “Happy!” Jinlian said. “If there were not so many squabbles, I should be happy enough. But I have trouble of some sort every day.”

  “You have only to open your mouth when the food is brought to you, and to dip your hand when water is poured out for you. You have ornaments of gold and silver, and maids to wait upon you. What possible trouble can you have?”

  “The proverb says, that where there is more than one wife, the first wife is the only one who counts for anything. The others do not matter. When you have more than one spoon in a bowl, they are bound to clash. What can one expect but difficulties of one sort or another?”

  “My good Lady,” old woman Wang said, “you are cleverer than anyone I know. Your husband is prosperous, and you must have a splendid life. Well, I will tell He the Ninth to come again tomorrow.” She got up to go away.

  “Don’t be in such a hurry,” Jinlian said. “Stay a while.”

  “I mustn’t keep old He waiting too long,” the old woman said, “I will come and see you some other day.”

  She went out. When she came to the gate, she spoke to Daian. The boy promised to speak to his master as soon as he came in. “Brother An,” old He said, “I will come back tomorrow morning.” Then he went off with old woman Wang.

  In the evening, Ximen Qing returned. He went to Jinlian’s room, and she gave him the paper. He handed it to a servant and said that it was to be given to him next day at the office.

  When he had told Chen Jingji to send out the invitations, he gave Qintong a tael of silver and a box of cakes to take to Han Daoguo’s house for Miss Shen. He was careful not to let Chunmei know what he was doing.

  Wang Liu’er smiled and accepted the things. “Miss Shen will not be angry any more now,” she said. “Tell your father and mother she is sorry if she annoyed Chunmei.”

  When Yueniang came back, she greeted Aunt Wu and the other ladies. Then Ximen Qing came and she made a reverence to him.

  “Mistress Xia was very cordial indeed,” she said. “There were a number of neighbors and relatives there, all ladies. Magistrate Xia has written to them and enclosed a letter for you that they are going to send tomorrow. They propose to start for the capital on the sixth or seventh of this month. Mistress Xia is very anxious that Ben the Fourth should go to the Capital with them. She will send him back immediately. By the way, Ben the Fourth’s daughter is quite grown up now. I didn’t know her. I thought she looked at me peculiarly when she gave me tea. Mistress Xia calls her Happy Cloud. She bade her kowtow to me, and the girl set down her tray and kowtowed four times. I gave her two gold flowers. Mistress Xia was pleased that I treated her maid so kindly. She is very fond of the girl and has regarded her rather as a daughter than as a maid.”

  “She is a lucky girl to have found such a comfortable place,” Ximen Qing said. “In some places, she would have been more likely to be scolded.”

  Yueniang looked at him. “You mean I scold that beloved maid of yours, I suppose?”

  Ximen Qing laughed. “If she takes Ben the Fourth, who is going to look after the shop?”

  “Oh, close it for a few days,” Yueniang said.

  “No, I won’t close it. This is the New Year season and there is a good deal of trade about. But we’ll talk about that tomorrow.”

  Yueniang went to change her dress and then sat down with Aunt Wu. Her maids and women came to kowtow to her. That night, Ximen Qing slept with Sun Xue’e.

  The next morning he went to the office. He the Ninth came again to the house and gave Daian a tael of silver. “I told my master about the matter,” Daian said, “and I think there is no doubt your brother will be set free. You had better go to the office and see.” He the Ninth
went away at once.

  When Ximen Qing reached his office, he had the thieves brought before him, put their legs in the press, and ordered each of them to be given twenty severe blows. He let He the Tenth go free and put a monk of the Temple of the Mighty Blossom in his place, on the score that the thieves had passed a night in that temple. It was as though Master Zhang drank the wine and Master Li got tipsy, and like people complaining of the willow, when the branches fall from the mulberry tree.

  That day, when Ximen Qing was home again, he sent for the four singing girls, Wu Yin’er, Zheng Aiyue, Hong Si’er and Qi Xiang’er. They came about midday, and went at once to kowtow to Yueniang and Aunt Wu. Yueniang gave them tea, and they played and sang for the ladies. Then Ximen Qing came, and the four girls put down their instruments and kowtowed to him.

  “You are late today,” Yueniang said.

  “Yes, I had several cases to deal with. There was the one old woman Wang came about yesterday. I let He the Ninth’s brother go, though the thieves insisted that what they had said was true. Anyhow, I put them on the rack and ordered them twenty blows. I put a monk in He the Tenth’s place, and, tomorrow, I shall send the documents in the case to Dongpingfu. Then there was another bad case, one of a woman carrying on with her daughter’s husband. The man is only just over twenty and his name is Zong Deyuan. He was living with his wife’s people. The mother died, and the father married again, a woman called Zhou. A year after this marriage, the father died too. Zhou was young and could not control herself and she began to carry on with the young man. They punished one of their maids, and the maid told everybody what was going on. The neighbors accused them and, today, I have extracted a confession from them and sent them to Dongpingfu. It is a very near relationship, and I’m afraid they will both be hanged.”

  “In my opinion,” Jinlian said, “the maid who spread the scandal ought to be beaten to death. It was her duty as a maid to be loyal to her employers. Instead, her chattering will have caused the death of two human beings.”

  “I don’t agree,” Yueniang said, “the lower classes will never respect their betters when these do not behave properly. If a bitch will not have it, the dog cannot get his way. It was the woman’s fault. If she had behaved with decorum, no one would have dared approach her.”