The Golden Lotus, Volume 2

by Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng

  Daian brought in Zhang the Second’s card and the tael of silver. “Chunhong has gone to Zhang’s place, and they have come to ask for his clothes.”

  Yueniang knew that Zhang the Second was now an officer, and she did not dare refuse to give up the boy. She would not take the money, and gave the boy’s things to the messenger.

  Sometime before all this, Ying Bojue had told Zhang the Second about Jinlian. “She is very beautiful,” he said. “She plays the lute excellently, and she knows all about such things as poetry and games, and she can write. She is quite young and she won’t like being a widow. Now I hear she has come out, after a quarrel with Ximen’s first wife. She is at old woman Wang’s place now.”

  One after another, Zhang the Second sent men to old woman Wang with money in their hands, but old woman Wang told them that Mistress Ximen would not take less than a hundred taels. They came again and offered eighty taels. Still old woman Wang would not agree. Then Chunhong came to Zhang’s house and told his new master that Jinlian had been sent away because she had been carrying on an intrigue with her son-in-law. Zhang the Second gave up the idea of marrying Jinlian.

  “I have a fifteen-year-old son,” he said to Ying Bojue. “He is at school now. I couldn’t do with a woman like that in the house.”

  Then Li Jiao’er told him that Jinlian had poisoned her first husband before she went to Ximen Qing, that she had misconducted herself with the boys, and murdered another lady and her child. Zhang the Second was even more determined not to marry Jinlian.

  Major Zhou was delighted with Chunmei. He found her pretty, intelligent, and attractive. He gave her three rooms and a young maid, and stayed with her for three whole days. He had two dresses made for her. When old woman Xue went to see him, he gave her five qian of silver. He bought a maid for Chunmei and established her as his third wife. His first wife was blind. She ate vegetarian food, devoted herself to religion, and did not concern herself with household affairs at all. Chunmei lived in the western wing and Major Zhou, who was very fond of her, gave her all the keys.

  One day, old woman Xue came and told Chunmei that Jinlian had left Ximen’s house and was at old woman Wang’s place. That night, Chunmei wept and said to Major Zhou: “My old mistress and I were together all those years and she never spoke a harsh word to me. I might have been her daughter. I believed that she and I would never see one another again, but now she too has left Ximen’s house. If you marry her, we can live together most happily. She is very beautiful. She knows all about poetry and music, and she is clever and charming in every way. Her animal is the Dragon, so she is now thirty-two years old. If she comes, I will gladly take rank below her.”

  Major Zhou was impressed. He sent his servants, Zhang Sheng and Li An, with two handkerchiefs and two qian of silver, to old woman Wang’s house to see Jinlian. They told him that she really was extraordinarily beautiful. The old woman still demanded a hundred taels, and Zhang Sheng and Li An discussed the matter with her for a long time. They offered eighty taels, but old woman Wang would not accept it. She declared that Mistress Ximen insisted upon a hundred taels. “You will have to pay the hundred,” she said, “but you need not bother about my fee. Heaven will not allow me to go unrewarded for my pains.”

  Zhang Sheng and Li An took back the money to the Major, and he decided to let the matter rest for a day or two. But Chunmei cried every evening. “You must give a few more taels,” she said. “If she comes here to live with me, I shall die happy.”

  So this time the Major sent his bailiff, Zhou Zhong, with Zhang Sheng and Li An. They offered the old woman ninety taels. This made her still more grasping.

  “If ninety taels would have done, I could have sold her long ago,” she said. “His Lordship Chang would have paid that.”

  This made Zhou Zhong angry. He told Li An to wrap up the money again. “Do you think that I, a three-legged frog, am not able to find a two-legged woman?” he said. “You old whore! You don’t seem to realize whom you are dealing with. Would you talk about Zhang the Second to me? Do you imagine that my master cannot do what he likes with you? It is simply because his new wife has asked him to do this. He doesn’t want the woman so much as all that.”

  “We have been here several times,” Li An said, “and that seems to have made you get rather above yourself, you old whore.”

  He took Zhou Zhong’s hand. “Come, let us go and tell our master,” he said. “Let him get this old whore to his office and give her a beating.”

  But the old woman was still thinking of what Chen Jingji had promised and, in spite of all their abuse, she would not budge. The men went back to Major Zhou. “We offered her ninety taels,” they said, “but she would not agree.”

  “Take a hundred taels and a sedan chair tomorrow,” Major Zhou said, “and bring the woman here.”

  “Master,” Zhou Chung said, “if you give her a hundred taels, she will certainly demand another five for herself. Leave her alone for a few days and we shall see if she is still so stupid. If she is, have her brought to your office and try the effect of the thumbscrews. Then she will be afraid of you.”

  We know not what life has in store for us

  No one can tell what brings good fortune

  And what brings evil.

  But at last comes the reward alike of good and evil

  Sometimes at once and sometimes long delayed.

  We have now to speak again of Wu Song. When he reached Mengzhou, the place to which he had been banished, he was fortunate enough to come under the charge of Shi En, the son of the Chief Jailer. On a certain occasion this Shi En and a man called Jiang Menshen had trouble at a drinking house. Shi En was hurt, but Wu Song came to his aid and Jiang Menshen was beaten. Later, Jiang’s sister became a concubine of General Zhang, and, when Wu Song was working for the general, he was accused of stealing and sentenced to serve as a soldier. On his way into this further banishment, Wu Song killed two officials at Feiyunpu. Then he went back and killed all General Zhang’s and Jiang Menshen’s people, and afterwards took refuge at Shi En’s house. Shi En gave him a letter and a leather trunk containing a hundred taels of silver and told him to go to Anping fortress, and see the officer in command there, a certain Liu Gao. On his way, he heard that the Emperor’s successor had been proclaimed at the Imperial Palace, and that the Emperor, besides making sacrifice to Heaven, had declared a general amnesty. So Wu Song came home.

  When he came to Qinghe, he gave the officers his papers and was reinstated in his old position at the Town Hall. He went to see his neighbor Yao, who had been looking after Ying’er. The girl was now about nineteen years old. Wu Song took her and settled down. He heard that Ximen Qing was dead and that Jinlian was no longer living in that household, but had gone to old woman Wang’s house, and was trying to find a new husband. Then Wu Song determined upon revenge.

  He put on a hat, and dressed himself well, and went to see what he could see at old woman Wang’s house. Jinlian was standing behind the lattice and, when she saw Wu Song, went at once to the inner room. Wu Song pulled aside the lattice and said: “Is old woman Wang at home?”

  The old woman was busy preparing dinner. “Who is there?” she said. But, as soon as she had spoken, she recognized Wu Song and made a reverence to him. Wu Song bowed low in return.

  “Brother Wu, when did you get back?” the old woman said. “I am delighted to see you.”

  “My offense has been pardoned,” Wu Song said, “so I was able to come home again. I got here yesterday. Thank you for having looked after my brother’s house. I will reward you later.”

  The old woman smiled. “Brother,” she said, “you are even better looking than you used to be. There is hair on your lip; you have become quite stout, and you have acquired most elegant manners.” She took him into the house and offered him tea.

  “There is something I want to talk to you about,” Wu Song said.

  “What is it?”

  “I hear that Ximen Qing is dead and that my sister-in-law
is back with you again. Will you let her know that I should like to marry her? Ying’er is grown up now and needs somebody to look after her and find her a husband. So we shall avoid people’s rude remarks.”

  At first, old woman Wang decided she would not tell Wu Song the true story. “She is here,” she said, “but I am not at all sure that she feels inclined to marry again.” But when she found that Wu Song was ready enough to pay, she said: “I will broach the matter to her gradually.”

  On the other side of the lattice, Jinlian heard all that was said. She heard Wu Song say that he wanted to marry her in order to have someone to lock after Ying’er. She noticed that, after these years of absence, Wu Song seemed a more powerful man than ever. He spoke very agreeably. He seems to have given up his old ideas, she thought, and now is ready for marriage. So she did not wait for old woman Wang to call her, but came out of her own accord. She made a reverence to Wu Song.

  “Am I right, Uncle, in understanding that you wish to take me to look after Ying’er and see about her marriage?”

  “You must know,” old woman Wang interrupted, “that Mistress Ximen wants a hundred taels.”

  “That seems a great deal,” Wu Song suggested.

  “Ximen spent so much money on her that he could have made a woman of silver with it,” old woman Wang said.

  “Well, we won’t haggle,” Wu Song said. “I want my sister-in-law, and I don’t mind spending the money. And you shall have five taels for yourself.”

  This made the old woman so pleased that she farted and piddled with delight. “Brother Wu,” she said, “I know no other man who has such intelligence as yours. You are a man, and you have been abroad a few years and seen the world.”

  Jinlian went to the inner room, made some strong tea, and offered it to Wu Song with both hands.

  “Ximen’s people are anxious to have the matter settled as soon as possible,” the old woman said, “and there are four or five people falling over themselves to marry her. I refused them all because they would not pay the price. If you want her, you must let me have your money at once. As you know, the first man to cook the rice is the first to eat it. Heaven brings you together, so don’t let anybody else do you out of such a good match.”

  “Yes,” Jinlian said, “if you want me, you must not waste any time.”

  “I will bring the money tomorrow and take you away tomorrow night,” Wu Song said.

  Old woman Wang could not believe Wu Song had so much money. The next day he opened the leather trunk and took out the hundred taels that Shi En had given him. He added to it another five taels of his own and went to see old woman Wang. He asked for scales to measure the silver. When the old woman saw the table piled up with white silver, she said to herself: “That Chen Jingji promised me a hundred taels. But he has had to go to the Eastern Capital for it, and there is no telling when he will be back. Why should I not take the chance while I have it?” When the five taels for herself was produced, she accepted it and thanked Wu Song most profusely.

  “Brother Wu,” she said, “you know how to deal with me.”

  “Mother,” Wu Song said, “take the money. I will take my sister-in-law today.”

  “Don’t be in too much of a hurry, Brother,” the old woman said. “You are like a man who lets off fireworks in some dark corner because he hasn’t patience enough to wait for the evening. You must wait until I have paid the money to Ximen’s people. Then you may take her. And what a fine bridegroom you are, with that smart hat!”

  Wu Song grew impatient. Jinlian joked with him. When he had gone away, the old woman thought: “Mistress Ximen said I was to get rid of this woman and never said a word about the price. Now is my chance. I will give her twenty taels and keep the rest for myself.”

  She took twenty taels to Yueniang, who asked the name of the purchaser.

  “Lady,” old woman Wang said, “the hares scamper about over the hills but in the end they go back to their own holes. She is going back to the old food she used to eat: she is going to marry her husband’s brother.”

  When Wu Yueniang heard this, she was sorry. She knew that when an enemy meets an enemy, they look closely one at the other. Afterwards, she said to Meng Yulou: “Jinlian will die at this man’s hands. He is a man ready to kill for no reason whatever, and he will not spare her.”

  Old woman Wang went home and told her son Wang Chao to take Jinlian’s belongings to Wu Song. The bridegroom had prepared a feast for them. In the evening, the old woman took Jinlian to him. She was no longer in mourning. She wore a new headdress, red clothes, and there was a veil on her head. When they came into the middle room, the candles were burning brightly.

  Then they saw Wu Da’s tablet on the table. This made them wonder. They felt as though someone were pulling out their hair and sticking knives into their flesh. When they had gone to the inner room, Wu Song told Ying’er to fasten all the doors.

  “I must be going now,” the old woman said. “There is nobody to look after my house.”

  “Stay and have something to drink, old Mother,” Wu Song said. He told Ying’er to set the dishes on the table and heat some wine. Yet, when the wine was brought, he did not ask them to drink, but poured himself cup after cup and drank them all down.

  “I have had quite enough to eat, Brother Wu,” the old woman said, “I must go now and leave you two to enjoy yourselves.”

  “Old woman,” Wu Song said, “don’t be a fool. I, Wu the Second, have something to say to you.” With a crash Wu Song drew out a knife, two feet long, with a very sharp blade. Grasping the knife in one hand, he seized the old woman with the other. His eyes were wide open and his hair stood on end.

  “Old woman,” he said, “you need not be surprised. Just as a debt finds out those who owe it, so hatred never fails to meet its object. Don’t pretend to be a fool. It was your hand that ended my brother’s life.”

  “Brother Wu,” the old woman said, “it is getting late, and you are drunk. You shouldn’t play with knives. It isn’t funny.”

  “Be silent, old woman,” Wu Song said. “I, Wu the Second, am not afraid of death. I will deal with that creature first, and with you, you old sow, later. Move a single inch, and you shall feel my knife.”

  Then he turned to Jinlian. “Listen, you whore,” he said. “How did you murder my brother? Tell me the truth and I will forgive you.”

  “Uncle, don’t be silly,” Jinlian said. “How can you fry beans in a cold pan? Your brother died from heart trouble. I had nothing to do with it.”

  Almost before the words were out of her mouth, there was a crash. Wu Song banged the knife upon the table, seized the woman by her hair with his left hand, and grasped her breasts with his right. Then he kicked over the table. Dishes and cups crashed to the ground. Jinlian was not very strong. He lifted her like a feather from the other side of the table. Then he dragged her to the middle room, before the table on which Wu Da’s tablet stood. Old woman Wang saw that he was in a mad rage and would have run away, but the door had been locked and Wu Song, striding after her, caught her. He threw her to the floor and, with his girdle, tied her up till she looked like a monkey offering a fruit. She could not get away.

  “Oh, Sir,” she cried, “don’t be angry with me. This lady is responsible for the murder. It was all her doing. My hands are clean.”

  “You old bitch,” Wu Song cried. “I know everything, and it is no use your lying to me. It was you who told Ximen Qing to have me banished. But I am here, and where is Ximen Qing?”

  “I will kill you first,” he said to Jinlian, “and then this old bitch.”

  He picked up the knife and brandished it twice before her face.

  “Uncle, forgive me, and let me get up,” she cried. “I promise I will tell you.”

  Wu Song picked her up. He stripped her of her clothes and made her kneel down before the tablet.

  “Speak quickly, whore!” he shouted at her.

  Now her spirit had left her. She told Wu Song everything; how, when she
had been pulling up the lattice, the pole had struck Ximen Qing, how she had made clothes, and how the intrigue between them had begun. Then she said how Ximen Qing had kicked Wu Da in the chest, and old woman Wang had shown her how to poison him. Then, how they had burned his body, and Ximen Qing had married her. Meanwhile old woman Wang was sobbing. “Oh, you fool,” she cried, “you have told him the truth. What can I do now?”

  Wu Song, before the tablet, grasped the woman by the hair. With his other hand, he sprinkled wine upon the ground and set fire to some paper money.

  “Brother,” he said, “your spirit cannot be far away. This day Wu Song avenges you.”

  When Jinlian heard this, she was desperate and began to shriek. Wu Song took a handful of dust from the incense burner and threw it into her mouth so that she could not make any more noise. He tugged at her hair and threw her down upon the ground again. As she struggled with him, her hair was disordered and the pins and earrings fell out. Wu Song thought it possible that she might try to run away, and kicked her in the ribs. Then he stamped upon her arms with both his feet.

  “You whore,” he cried, “you make yourself out to be a very clever woman. I would like to know what sort of heart you have, and I will see.”

  He tore her arms apart, and thrust the knife deep into her soft white bosom. One slash, and there was a bleeding hole in her breast. Blood gushed forth. Now the woman’s starry eyes were almost closed and her feet seemed to tremble. Wu Song took the knife in his teeth, tore open her breast with both hands, and dragged the heart and entrails from her body. The blood streamed from them as he set them on the table before the tablet. Then, with a single stroke, he cut off her head. The blood flowed over the floor.