The Golden Lotus, Volume 2

by Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng

  CHAPTER 94

  Sun Xue’e Is Sold to a Brothel

  Those of her kin are dead, and all is lost

  Unwillingly she must become again

  A light of love.

  Her tears fall like great drops of jade

  She leaves her home and with her dainty feet

  Walks to the brothel.

  Before the mirror she sighs

  Laments the fate of her most perfect beauty

  And before men begins to play the whore.

  Rain and dew in springtime are like the waters of the sea.

  She mates with Master Liu

  Whom she finds better than Master Yuan.

  Chen Jingji and Feng Jinbao met at the wine house every two or three days. If he failed to come, the girl would send him a message by Chen the Third. And every time he came he gave her a tael of silver or five qian. He also gave her rice and firewood, and paid her rent. When he went back to the temple, his face was always red. The Abbot would ask him where he had been drinking, and Jingji would say that he had drunk two or three cups with customers at the rice shop because he was so tired and worn out. Jin Zongming supported him in everything he said, to make sure of his companionship during the night. So things went on for a long time, and Jingji robbed the Abbot of nearly half his takings.

  Liu the Second of the wine house was a famous tiger in this neighborhood. He was the younger brother of the wife of that Zhang Sheng who was the trusted servant of Major Zhou. He set up a number of houses for singing girls, foregathered with rich and powerful people, and oppressed the weak. He lent money to the singing girls, taking from them interest at three times the ordinary rate. If they did not pay, he altered the contracts, adding the interest to the loan and so making it more and more. He was fond of wine, and very quarrelsome in his cups; no one dared to cross him in any way. He was indeed a leader of those who beat singing girls and a captain of wineshop bullies.

  He had observed Chen Jingji, a handsome young fellow and a novice of Abbot Ren, spending a great deal of time at the large wine house with the girl Feng Jinbao. One day, when he was drunk, he came to the wine house his two fists the size of rice bowls, and demanded Feng Jinbao. The host, Xie, bowed and said: “Uncle Liu, she is upstairs in Number Two.” The man bounded upstairs with great strides. Jingji was drinking wine with Feng Jinbao behind a closed door with the lattice pulled down. Liu pulled aside the lattice and demanded that Feng Jinbao should come to him at once. Jingji was so terrified that he held his breath. Liu kicked open the door, and the girl had to come out.

  “Uncle Liu,” she said, “what can I do for you?”

  “You whore!” Liu cried, “you haven’t paid me any rent for three months and now you are trying to get away from me.”

  “Uncle,” Feng Jinbao said, smiling, “go home and I will tell mother to send you the money.”

  Liu struck her in the chest and felled her to the ground with one blow. Her head hit the stairs, and blood streamed over the floor.

  “You whore,” Liu cried, “I’m not going to wait. I want my money now.”

  Then he saw Chen Jingji. He went forward, took hold of the table and smashed everything that was on it.

  “Who are you,” Jingji cried, “to come here and behave in this mad fashion?”

  “I’ll pound your mother’s rice for her, you priest,” Liu cried. He dragged Jingji by the hair, knocked him down, kicked him, and struck him. Meanwhile, the people in the wine house stood and watched him as if they were silly. The host could see that Liu was drunk and did not dare to interfere, but when he saw that matters were really getting serious he screwed up courage enough to come and say: “Uncle Liu, don’t be annoyed with him. He doesn’t know your honorable name, or he would never have done anything to upset you. Please forgive him and let him go, for my sake.”

  Liu paid no attention and went on beating Jingji until he was half dead. Then he sent for the police and told them to arrest both the girl and the young man and take them before the court. He had, in fact, a commission from Major Zhou to direct the police and keep watch for thieves and bandits on the river.

  The Abbot did not know that Jingji had been arrested. He thought the young man had stayed at the rice shop for the night.

  The next day the police took the young man to the court. They handed their charge to Zhang Sheng and Li An. This declared that Chen Zongmei, a priest of the Yangong monastery, had picked a quarrel with Liu the Second, and that the girl was a harlot.

  The people at the court asked Jingji for money. “We are the executioners here,” they said, “and there are twelve of us. We leave it to you. And there are the two officers who must not be overlooked.”

  “I had some money,” Jingji said, “but it was stolen when I was having the trouble with Liu. He tore my clothes to rags. Now I have no money, only this silver pin, and that I must give to these two gentlemen.”

  The men took the pin to Zhang Sheng and Li An. “The fellow has no money,” they said, “he only offers this pin, and it is of very inferior silver.”

  “Bring him in, and I’ll see what he has to say,” Zhang Sheng said.

  They brought in the young man and he knelt down before Zhang Sheng.

  “When did you become a disciple of Abbot Ren?” Zhang Sheng said. “What is your civil name? I don’t remember having seen you before.”

  “My name is Chen Jingji,” the young man said, “and I am of good family. I have only recently become a priest.”

  “Since you are a priest,” Zhang Sheng said, “it is your duty to study the Sacred Scriptures; not to come out from your monastery, associate with whores, and make trouble with others. You seem to think my position here is not very important and that it is not necessary to give me anything. Why! if I throw this pin into the water, it won’t even cause a ripple on the surface.”

  He ordered the attendants to take the man away to await the pleasure of his superior officer. “This doggish pair is very stingy,” he said. “The only thing these priests care about is their money. Now this is an official matter, and when people come here to a dinner party, the least they can do is to bring a handsome handkerchief to wipe their mouths. When you beat him,” he said to the others, “see you do it well.”

  Then he sent for the girl. She brought a man with her who gave three or four taels to the officers.

  “You are a singing girl,” Zhang Sheng said to her, “and of course you go to any place where it is busy to make a living. You did nothing wrong. It will all depend on whether my chief is in a good temper or not. If he is in a bad temper, you may get a beating; if not, he may let you go.”

  After a while they heard the signal, and Major Zhou entered the hall. The officers stood in ranks on either side.

  In the eighth month of the year before this happened Chunmei had given birth to a son. The baby was now six months old. His face was like a piece of jade and his lips were as red as rouge. Zhou looked upon this child as the most precious thing in all the world. His first wife had died, and he had put Chunmei in her place. She lived in the upper rooms and had two nurses to look after the child, one called Yutang; the other, Jinkui. She also had two maids, Cuihua and Lanhua. She had two favorite singing girls, both sixteen years old, called Haitang and Yuegui. All these girls were devoted to the service of Chunmei alone. The Major’s second wife had only one maid, Hehua.

  Very often, Zhang Sheng would take the baby outside the court to amuse him and, when the magistrate was hearing a case, he would stand there with the baby in his arms and look on.

  Today, when Zhou entered the court, a number of people were brought before him, but he decided to begin with Chen Jingji. So the young man and Feng Jinbao were brought forward. Zhou read the charge. “You are a priest,” he said. “What do you mean by breaking your rule, frequenting whores, drinking, and disturbing the public peace? It is disgusting.”

  He ordered Jingji to be given twenty strokes of the rod, and canceled his priest’s diploma. He put thumbscrews on Feng Jinbao,
ordered her to be given a milder punishment, and sent back to the bawdy house. The attendants bound Jingji, took off his clothes, raised their rods and shouted. They were just about to begin their beating when the baby, who was with Zhang Sheng outside the hall, stretched out his arms to the young man and wanted to go to him. Zhang Sheng could hardly hold him. He was afraid that the Major might see the child and hurriedly took him away. The baby cried, and did not even stop crying when he was in his mother’s arms again. Chunmei asked what was the matter with him.

  “My master was in the hall trying cases,” Zhang Sheng said, “and he was just about to have a priest beaten, a man named Chen, when the baby began to struggle and try to get to the man. I had to bring him away and then he began to cry.”

  When she heard the name Chen, Chunmei gathered up her skirts and went softly to the hall. There she peeped through a screen. She could hear the voice of the man who was being beaten and it sounded like that of Chen Jingji. But she could not understand how Jingji could have become a priest. She called Zhang Sheng to her.

  “Do you know the man’s name?” she asked him.

  “He told me that his name as a layman was Chen Jingji,” Zhang Sheng told her.

  “It is he,” Chunmei said to herself. Then she said to Zhang Sheng: “Go and ask my husband to come and see me.”

  Major Zhou was watching the punishment being administered to the young man. Jingji had had ten strokes when the Major was told that his wife wished to speak to him. He ordered the officials to stop, and left the hall.

  “The priest you are punishing is my cousin,” Chunmei said to him. “Please forgive him, for my sake.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me before, my dear?” the Major said. “I have already given him ten strokes, and I can’t take them back.”

  He went back to the hall and told the attendants to release both the man and the girl. Then he told Zhang Sheng to go after the priest and also to find out whether Chunmei wished to see him. This was just what Chunmei did wish, but she hesitated. After thinking for a long time, she said to Zhang Sheng: “Let him go. I will send for him another time.”

  So the Major allowed Jingji to go after no more than ten stripes. He went back to the temple.

  The Abbot heard that his novice, Chen Zongmei, had been carrying on with a singing girl at the wine house, that he had got into trouble with Tiger Liu, and been beaten nearly to death. He heard, too, all that had happened afterwards. Now the Abbot was an old man and fat. He was very much upset. He opened his boxes only to find that many of his most treasured possessions had disappeared. Then he collapsed on the floor. The monks came and sent at once for the doctor. They poured medicine down his throat, but without effect. At midnight, the Abbot breathed his last. He was sixty-three years old.

  The next day, as Jingji was approaching the temple, some of the people who lived near by said to him: “Do you still think of going to the temple? Because of you, your Teacher died last night!”

  Jingji rushed back to Qinghe like a stray dog.

  When Chunmei had told Zhang Sheng to let Jingji go away, she went back to her room. She took off her headdress and her long gown and went to bed. She groaned, pressed her hands to her bosom, and said she felt a pain. The whole house was upset. The Major’s second wife came and said: “Lady, you have been very well until now, what is the matter?”

  “Leave me alone and don’t ask questions” was the only answer Chunmei would give to anybody.

  Then the Major came from the hall. When he found his wife lying on the bed, groaning, he too became alarmed.

  “How do you feel?” he said, taking her hand.

  There was no answer.

  “Has anyone been annoying you?”

  There was still no answer.

  “Perhaps it was I, when I punished your cousin.”

  Chunmei would not say a word.

  The Major did not know what to do. He went out to Zhang Sheng and Li An. “You knew that man was your mistress’s cousin,” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me instead of allowing me to punish him and upset my wife? I told you to stop him and let your mistress see him. Why did you let him go? You are a pair of fools.”

  “I told the mistress,” Zhang Sheng said, “but she said she didn’t wish to see him. That’s why I let him go.”

  Zhang Sheng went weeping to Chunmei.

  “Lady,” he said, “please say a word to master for us, or we shall be beaten.”

  Chunmei opened her eyes wide and raised her eyebrows. She sent for the Major. “I am not well,” she said, “but these two men are not to blame. As for that immoral priest, it is better he should suffer a little. I do not wish to see him now.”

  Zhou said no more to Zhang Sheng and Li An, but told Zhang Sheng to go and fetch a doctor for Chunmei. She was still in pain.

  When the doctor had felt her pulse, he said: “It is anger that has upset this lady.” He gave her some medicine, but she would not take it. The maids did not dare to try and persuade her, and they sent again for Major Zhou. He begged her to take the medicine. She took one mouthful and no more. Then he went away.

  “Lady, do take some of it,” the maid Yuegui said, taking up the cup. Chunmei took it and threw it in the maid’s face. “You thievish slave,” she cried angrily, “why do you try to make me drink this bitter stuff? What is there in my stomach now?” She told the maid to kneel down.

  Then the Major’s second wife came and asked why Yuegui was kneeling there. The other maid said: “Because she gave our mistress the medicine.”

  “But she had had nothing to eat,” the Second Lady said. How could she take medicine?”

  “Lady,” said the second wife, “you have had nothing to eat today, but Yuegui did not know. Won’t you forgive her?” She told Haitang to go to the kitchen and get some gruel for her mistress.

  Chunmei told Yuegui to get up. Haitang went to the kitchen and very carefully prepared some gruel and four small dishes. She took them to Chunmei, all steaming hot. Chunmei lay on the bed, her face turned to the wall, so that the maid dared not disturb her, but had to wait until she turned over. Then she said: “I have brought you some gruel. Will you have a little?”

  Chunmei did not open her eyes, and made no reply.

  Haitang said: “Please, Lady, do get up and take some gruel. It will be cold soon.”

  “Lady, you have had nothing at all,” the second wife said. “You must be better now you have had a sleep. Do get up and eat something.”

  Then Chunmei got up and told the nurse to give her a light. She took a mouthful of gruel and threw the bowl away. Fortunately, the nurse caught it and it did not break.

  “You told me to have some porridge,” Chunmei shouted to the second wife. “What sort of gruel do you call this? I am not having a baby. Why do you give me slops like this?”

  Then she said to the nurse: “Box that slave’s ears four times for me.” The nurse did so.

  Then the second wife said: “Lady, if you don’t care for the gruel, have something else. You must not starve yourself.”

  “It is all very well for you to talk,” Chunmei said. “My stomach is too weak.” After a while, she said to Lanhua: “I will have some chicken soup. Go to the kitchen and tell that whore there to make me some chicken soup. She must be sure to wash her hands first, and put some pickled bamboo shoots into it. I want it very hot and very sour.”

  “Lady,” the second wife said, “since you fancy it, it will be as good as medicine for you.”

  Lanhua went to the kitchen. “Mistress wants some chicken soup,” she said to Sun Xue’e. “Make it at once: she wants it now.”

  Chicken soup is made of the wing, cut into very small pieces. Xue’e washed her hands, killed two chickens, plucked them, then cut the meat into very fine pieces with a sharp knife. She took onions and pepper, pickled bamboo shoots and sauce, and the soup was made. She filled two bowls, put them on a red lacquer tray, and Lanhua took them, very hot, to Chunmei.

  Chunmei examined the soup under t
he lamp and tasted it. “Go and ask that whore what she calls this,” she shouted. “It is nothing but plain water. It has no taste at all. You talk about my eating something and this is the sort of stuff you bring me.”

  Lanhua was afraid of being punished. She hurried to the kitchen and told Xue’e that her mistress complained that the soup had no taste. Xue’e did not say a word. She swallowed her anger and humiliation, washed out the pan, and made some more soup. This time she put more pepper into it. It had a delicious smell. Lanhua took it to her mistress.

  Chunmei complained that it was too salty, took up the bowl and threw the soup on the floor. If Lanhua had not moved aside, the soup would have caught her.

  “Go and tell that slave I know she hates cooking anything for me, but if she doesn’t make good soup next time, she will know what to expect.”

  Then Xue’e made a great mistake. “You have not always been so high up in the world,” she muttered, “but what airs you give yourself.”

  Lanhua heard this and told Chunmei. The woman opened her eyes wide and raised her eyebrows. She clenched her teeth, and her pale face flushed. “Bring that whore here,” she cried.

  Three or four women dragged Xue’e into the room. Chunmei tore at her hair and threw her headdress to the floor.

  “You whore!” she cried, “how dare you say I have not long been so high up in the world? Well, I don’t owe my position to Ximen Qing. I bought you so that you should do what I told you, but I find you are too proud. I told you to make some soup for me, and you make it either with no taste at all or with too much. Then you tell my maid that I nave not always been what I am now, and that I only wish to insult you. Why should I keep you here?”

  She sent someone for her husband. Xue’e was taken to the courtyard and made to kneel down. Then Chunmei sent for Zhang Sheng and Li An and told them to strip the woman of her clothes and give her thirty strokes with a rod. The servants took lanterns and torches, and Zhang Sheng and Li An each had a big stick. Xue’e refused to take off her clothes. The Major, who was afraid of his wife, did not say a word.