The Golden Lotus, Volume 2

by Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng

  “Lady,” the second wife said. “Let her be beaten, but don’t make her take off her clothes with all these men and servants about. I know she was in the wrong, but do forgive her this time.”

  Chunmei would not listen. She insisted that the woman’s clothes should be stripped from her.

  “Let anyone try to stop me, and I will kill my child first and then hang myself,” she cried. “Then I shall be dead and you can have this strumpet in my place.”

  She did not give the word to beat Xue’e, but fell on the ground in a faint. Zhou was excited, picked her up, and said: “Tell them to beat her, and don’t let yourself get upset like this.”

  Xue’e was thrown to the ground. Her clothes were stripped off and she was given thirty strokes, till the skin and flesh were torn from her bones. Then they sent for old woman Xue, who was to take her away immediately and sell her. Chunmei took old woman Xue aside. “I want eight taels of silver for her,” she said, “and not a penny more. But I insist that she must be sold to a brothel. If you let her go anywhere else and I find out, you will never see me again. Otherwise, you can make what profit you like out of her.”

  “How can I do other than obey you?” old woman Xue said.

  She took Xue’e away. The woman cried all night and Xue tried to console her. “Don’t cry,” she said. “It was your unhappy fate that brought you back to your old enemy. Your master was fair enough, but unfortunately there was an old hatred between you and her. She treated you badly, and the master could do nothing for you. Now she has borne him this son, he does absolutely everything she asks. Even his second wife must always give way. It is like an old bandit becoming governor of a granary; we have to put up with it. Don’t cry.”

  Xue’e dried her tears and thanked old woman Xue. “I only hope,” she said, “that I may come to some place where I shall get food enough to live.”

  “She told me repeatedly that I must sell you to a brothel,” Xue said, “but I have children of my own, and I must think of what is right. I will find a husband for you, some merchant in a small way, and he will treat you as his wife and let you have all you need.”

  Xue’e thanked her gratefully.

  A day or two later, one of the neighbors, Madam Zhang, came to see old woman Xue. “Sister Xue,” she said, “who was it I heard crying so bitterly the other night?”

  “Come in,” old woman Xue said. “It was this lady. She comes from a very exalted family but she had a quarrel with her mistress and was sent away. Now she is here, hoping to find another husband. She doesn’t want any more trouble and would like a single man.”

  “There is a guest from Shandong staying with me,” Madam Zhang said, “a dealer in cotton wool. His name is Pan, and he is the fifth in his family. He has large stocks of cotton wool and keeps them at my place. He is thirty-seven years old. Only a day or two ago he told me that he has an old mother, an invalid of about seventy. His wife died six months ago, and he can’t find anybody to look after his mother. He asked me, if I could, to find somebody for him to marry. I have looked about, but so far I haven’t been able to find anybody suitable. This lady would do for him very well, I think.”

  “She has belonged to a very good family,” old woman Xue said. “She can make clothes, both plain and fancy; she can sew well, and she is an excellent cook. She is thirty-five years old. There ought to be no difficulty, since they are only asking thirty taels of silver for her.”

  “Has she any boxes?” Madam Zhang said.

  “No, she has only the clothes and ornaments she stands up in.”

  “I will go and tell him. Then he can come and see her for himself,” Madam Zhang said. She had tea and went away. That night she told the man all about Xue’e and, the following afternoon, took him to see her. He thought her beautiful and still young, and immediately offered twenty-five taels for her with an extra one for the old woman herself. Old woman Xue did not attempt to bargain. She took what he offered and settled the matter. That evening, he took Xue’e away, saying that he was returning home next day.

  Old woman Xue altered the contract and took eight taels to Chunmei, telling her that she had sold the woman to a brothel.

  Pan slept that night with Xue’e at Madam Zhang’s place. Before dawn next day, he thanked Madam Zhang and set off for Linqing. It was now the sixth month and the days were at their longest. When they came to the wharf, it was about the time when the sun turned to the west. They went to a wine house. There were many wine houses at Linqing, all occupied by singing girls from everywhere around. Xue’e was taken to a small one. She went into a little room with a bed in it. An old lady about sixty years old was sitting there. There was a maid too, about seventeen or eighteen. Her hair was dressed in several knots, her face powdered, and her lips red. She wore a silken dress, and played a lute as she sat on the bed. Then Xue’e cried out, for then she knew that this man, Pan the Fifth, was a woman-dealer, and he had bought her for a harlot.

  The man proposed to send Xue’e to the wine houses to make herself agreeable to the customers and so make money. Without a word, he gave her a severe beating, then sent her to bed and kept her there for two days. In those two days, he gave her nothing but two bowls of rice to eat. Then he told her to learn a few songs and taught her how to play, and, when she did not succeed very well, he beat her again. When she was sufficiently trained, he dressed her up in pretty clothes and bade her stand outside the door and smile at the passersby.

  Then Heaven took pity on her. One day, Zhang Sheng came to the river to buy ten measures of yeast for his master who wished to make some wine. When Tiger Liu saw his brother, he cleared a room in his wine house, and offered Zhang Sheng a feast. The waiter heated the wine and said: “Uncle, there are several singing girls here. Would you like one? Liu mentioned four names and the waiter went to fetch the girls. Soon laughing voices were heard and, one after the other, the four singing girls came into the room. They seemed as beautiful as flowers and were all dressed in light, soft silken clothes. They came and made reverences to the two men. Zhang Sheng looked at them. It seemed to him that one of them was very like Xue’e, whom his master had dismissed. But he could not understand how she could have become a singing girl. Xue’e recognized Zhang Sheng, but neither of them spoke.

  “Brother-in-law,” Zhang Sheng said, “who is this girl?”

  The Tiger pointed them all out.

  “This one, who you say is from Pan the Fifth’s house, seems very familiar to me somehow,” Zhang Sheng said. He called her forward. “Are you not Xue’e?” he whispered. “What are you doing here?”

  Xue’e began to cry. “It is a long story,” she told him. “Old woman Xue sold me for twenty-four taels, and here I am. I come to make myself pleasant to the guests, and sing for their entertainment.”

  Zhang Sheng had long been attracted by her beauty. Now, Xue’e entertained him so pleasantly and talked so agreeably that he was very pleased with her. She and one of the other girls took up their lutes and sang for him. Then they passed the wine and Zhang Sheng was more and more delighted. As the proverb says: Money, girls and wine houses are three things that no man can resist. That night, he asked Xue’e to stay with him. She let him appreciate her skill upon the bed, and he was perfectly satisfied.

  The next day, when they got up and dressed, Tiger Liu had prepared an excellent breakfast for his brother-in-law. There was as much as they could eat. Zhang Sheng packed his luggage and fed his horses. When they were laden with the yeast, he started off with the other servants. He gave Xue’e three taels of silver and asked Tiger Liu to look after her and give her his special protection. Ever afterwards, when Zhang Sheng came to the river, he went to the wine house to meet Xue’e. They remained attached to one another, and, every month, he gave a few taels to Pan the Fifth so that he might reserve Xue’e for himself and she should not be forced to go out and receive all comers. Liu, who wished to please his brother-in-law, would not let him pay for the room. He took money from others and paid for the room with th
at. He also kept Xue’e supplied with rice and firewood.

  CHAPTER 95

  Ping’an Meets His Deserts

  Only a few monks live in the ancient temple

  Few travelers cross the ruined bridge.

  When a house is poor, the slaves deceive their master

  When one in authority is weak, his underlings will serve him ill.

  Where the water is shallow, the fish will not stay

  Where the wood has few trees, the birds will not sing.

  So it is with the affairs of men.

  We can only sigh and be sorry for it.

  After the death of Ximen Dajie and the lawsuit with Chen Jingji, Wu Yueniang’s servant, Laizhao, died. His wife took her son, Little Iron Rod, and married again. Laixing was given charge of the gate. Xiuchun became a nun with Nun Wang.

  After the death of Laixing’s wife, he did not marry again. The nurse, Ruyi’er, often used to take Xiaoge and play with him. Laixing gave her wine and, in course of time, their relations became very friendly. Yueniang noticed that Ruyi’er often came back to the inner court with a very red face, and so found out what was happening. She reproached Ruyi’er, but did not make very much fuss about the matter. She gave the nurse a dress and four pins, chose a day of good omen, and married her to Laixing. In the daytime the nurse came to the kitchen and looked after the baby, and at night she went to Laixing.

  The fifteenth day of the eighth month was Yueniang’s birthday. Her two sisters-in-law and the three nuns came to congratulate her, and she gave them wine in the inner court. In the evening they listened to the nuns reading their texts in the room that had once belonged to Yulou. About the second night watch, Zhongqiu was sent to the kitchen to make some tea. Yueniang called her several times but got no answer. Then she herself went to her room to try to find the maid. She did not find her, but discovered Daian and Xiaoyu on the bed amusing themselves to their own very great satisfaction. When Yueniang came in, they were so taken aback they did not know what to do with themselves.

  “You young scamp, what are you doing here? Why don’t you go and make tea?” was all Yueniang said.

  “I told Zhongqiu to go,” Xiaoyu said. She hung her head and went to the back. Daian went through the second door to the other part of the house. Two days later, when the nuns and the two Aunts Wu had gone, Yueniang told Laixing to go to the rooms that Laizhao had had, since he was now the gatekeeper, and gave Laixing’s old rooms to Daian. She fitted out Daian with two sets of bedclothes, a new suit, a hat, shoes, and socks. To Xiaoyu she gave a hairnet, some gold and silver ornaments, four pins of silver with gold heads, rings, and two silk dresses. Then she selected an auspicious day and married Daian to Xiaoyu. Xiaoyu spent her days waiting upon Yueniang and at night went to Daian. The girl was always taking away dainties for her husband, but Yueniang pretended not to see. As the proverb says: If you are in love, you never see your lover’s faults. Another proverb tells us: A greedy man will never be satisfied. When food and wine are distributed unequally, there will be trouble in the household, and when the mistress is unfair, maids and women will complain.

  Ping’an saw that Yueniang had married Xiaoyu to Daian, and that he was given better clothes than the rest. He himself was two years older than Daian—he was twenty-two—but Yueniang had never thought of finding a wife for him.

  One day he was in the pawnshop when somebody pawned a set of gold ornaments and two gilded hooks for thirty taels of silver. They were to redeem the things in a month with interest. Clerk Fu and Daian took them and put them in the large press in the shop. Ping’an stole them and took them to Long-footed Wu’s place in Nanwazi. There were two receivers of stolen property there, one called Xue Cun and the other Pan Er.

  Ping’an stayed there two nights. The man of the bawdy house noticed that he was spending money freely, and also saw that he had some gold ornaments in a box. He pretended to go out with a silver pot to buy some wine, but actually went to the police and told them what he had seen. The police came and found the young man there. They beat him about the head and then arrested him.

  It happened that Wu Dian’en, who had recently been made an Inspector, rode down the street, with his tablet of office carried before him. He asked who this man was whom the police had arrested. The police knelt down and said: “This fellow stole some things and came here to spend the money in the bawdy house. We had reason to be suspicious and took him into custody.”

  “Take him to my court,” the Inspector said. They all went to the Inspector’s court. When Wu Dian’en had taken his seat, his underlings standing on either side, Ping’an was brought in. He recognized Wu Dian’en, who had once been one of Ximen Qing’s friends, and thought he would certainly be set free.

  “I am Ximen’s servant,” he said, “and my name is Ping’an.”

  “If you are a servant in Ximen’s household,” Wu Dian’en said, “why did you take these things and go to the brothel?”

  “My mistress had lent them to one of her relatives and sent me to fetch them,” Ping’an said. “I got back very late and the city gates were closed. I went to the brothel to pass the night. There, unfortunately, the police arrested me.”

  “Nonsense!” Wu Dian’en said angrily. “Have Ximen’s people so much gold and silver that they even let you, a slave, look after gold ornaments like these and take them to the brothel? I believe you stole them. Tell me the truth and you shall not be beaten.”

  “Really,” Ping’an said, “my Mistress’s relative borrowed these things, and I was sent to bring them back. I am telling the truth.”

  Wu Dian’en was angry. “You slave,” he cried, “you are a regular thief. I know you will never tell me the truth unless you are beaten. Give him a beating and put the thumbscrews on him.”

  The boy made a noise like a pig being killed. “Please stop,” he cried, “and I will tell the truth.”

  “Tell me the truth and then I will stop,” Wu Dian’en said.

  “I stole the ornaments and the hooks from the pawnshop,” Ping’an said.

  “Why did you do it?”

  “I am now twenty-three years old,” Ping’an said, “and my mistress promised that she would see about getting a wife for me. She never did so. She has another servant, Daian, who is only twenty, but she has married him to one of her maids. I stole the things because I was jealous.”

  “Perhaps Daian has had some dealings with your mistress, and that is why she gave him her maid,” Wu Dian’en said. “If that is what you say, I will forgive you.”

  “But I can’t say that,” Ping’an said.

  “If you don’t, I must put the rack on you again.”

  The attendants applied the rack again. Ping’an was so terrified that he cried: “Don’t do it. I will tell you.”

  “Tell me and I will let you go,” Wu Dian’en said. He told his attendants to put the rack away.

  “Yes,” Ping’an said, “my mistress secretly slept with Daian, and Daian also misconducted himself with Xiaoyu, the maid. My mistress found out what was going on between Daian and the maid, but she never said a word. She gave them clothes and ornaments and allowed them to marry.”

  Wu Dian’en ordered his clerk to write down what Ping’an had said. Then he kept the boy at his office and issued a warrant for the arrest of Yueniang, Daian, and Xiaoyu.

  When Clerk Fu discovered the loss of the ornaments, he was very much upset. He asked Daian what he knew about the matter.

  “I have been having my dinner in the medicine shop,” Daian said. “I know nothing about it.”

  “I put the box into this cabinet, and it has disappeared,” Clerk Fu said.

  Then they looked for Ping’an. He had disappeared. Clerk Fu was in a terrible state. He swore all sorts of terrible oaths. When the owner of the things came to claim them, Fu could only say that he had not yet brought them from the house. The man came several times, but still the things were not forthcoming. Then the man stood outside the shop and shouted: “I pawned my things for a mont
h only, I have paid for them and the interest too. Why don’t you let me have them? They are worth seventy or eighty taels of silver.”

  In the evening, Clerk Fu could still see no sign of Ping’an, and realized that the young man had stolen the things. He sent people in every direction to try and find him. The owner of the things came again and kept shouting outside the door. Fu suggested that they should give the man fifty taels, but he would not accept it. He said the ornaments were worth sixty taels, and the hooks and jewels on the ornaments another ten, seventy in all. Clerk Fu offered ten taels more, but the man still refused. While they were disputing and arguing, a man came and said to Clerk Fu: “Your Ping’an has stolen the things and taken them to the bawdy house in Nanwazi. Now Inspector Wu has had him arrested. You had better send somebody to identify them.”

  Wu Yueniang knew that Wu Dian’en had once been a clerk in her husband’s business. She sent for Uncle Wu. Together they made a statement and sent it by Clerk Fu to Wu Dian’en. She thought that the matter would be settled as soon as he received it. Fu took the paper to the office, quite sure that his old friend Wu Dian’en would give him the things at once. To his surprise, he was called an old dog. Indeed Wu Dian’en ordered his attendants to take off Fu’s clothes and flog him.

  Meanwhile, the Inspector said: “Your boy is here. He tells me that Mistress Ximen has been carrying on an intrigue with Daian. I am sending a report to the authorities, and later I shall send and examine Mistress Ximen herself. I am surprised that you, you old dog, dare to come here and claim these things.”

  Clerk Fu was sent away, with many shouts of “Old dog!” to pursue him. He hurried home as fast as he could and told Yueniang everything that had happened. She was so frightened that she felt as though her skull had been broken open and icy water poured into it. She was hardly able to move her feet and hands. Then the man who owned the ornaments came again and made a great to-do outside the door.