“If you do not take them, Lady,” old woman Xue said, “I am sure the Lady Ximen will blame me.”
Then Chunmei asked her husband to come, and asked him what he thought about it. They decided to accept the pig, the wine, and the prepared food, but not the roll of silk. Chunmei gave Daian a handkerchief and three qian of silver, and two qian of silver to the porter.
“How is your young master?” she asked Daian.
“He is very merry and plays all the time,” Daian said.
“When did you first dress your hair as a man’s, and when did you marry Xiaoyu?”
“I married her in the eighth month,” Daian said.
“Thank your mistress for me and say how glad I should be if she would come and see me. The Major will be away on duty and, in the first month next year, when it is your young master’s birthday, I will pay a visit to your mistress.”
“Lady,” Daian said, “I will tell my mistress as soon as I get home and say that she must expect you.”
Then Daian was dismissed.
“Young man,” old woman Xue said to him, “you go home. I have something to say to the lady and I will stay.”
Daian took the empty boxes and went away. When he got home, he said to Yueniang: “Sister Chunmei took me to the hall in the inner court and entertained me with tea and cakes. She inquired after the young master and asked many questions about this household. She gave me a handkerchief and five qian of silver. She also gave two qian to the porter. She told me to thank you. For a long time she would not accept the present, but old woman Xue and I urged her, and at last she took the food, the pig and the wine, but made me bring back the roll of silk. She says she would like to send you an invitation, but she cannot do so now as her husband is going away on duty. She is going to come and see us on the young master’s birthday. She occupies the upper apartments now, five rooms. She was wearing an embroidered gown and a silk skirt. Her headdress has a gold crown. She is taller and fatter than she used to be and has a great many maids and servants to wait upon her.”
“Did she really say she was coming to see us?” the Moon
Lady said.
“Yes,” Daian said.
“We must certainly send someone to receive her,” Yueniang said. “Why hasn’t old woman Xue come back with you?”
“When I left, she was still talking to the lady,” Daian said. “She told me to come back first.”
After this, there was close friendship between the two households.
CHAPTER 96
Chunmei Revisits Her Old Home
It was the twenty-first day of the first month. Chunmei spoke to her husband and prepared a table of food, four kinds of fruits, and a jar of wine, and sent the servant Zhou Ren with them to Wu Yueniang. It was now two years since Ximen Qing had died, and this was the anniversary of his death; it was also Xiaoge’s birthday.
Yueniang accepted the presents and gave the messenger a handkerchief and three qian of silver. Then she told Daian to put on his black gown and take a card to Chunmei. On the card was written this message: “To the most virtuous Lady Zhou. Heartfelt thanks for your most precious gifts. Now I have made ready wine and await the honor of your presence. I hope for the coming of your exalted carriage and shall be grateful for the honor of your visit. Wu, the widow of the late Ximen, kowtows.”
It was about midday when Chunmei came to see Yueniang. She was wearing many pearls, and her ornaments were those of the golden phoenix. Her gown was broad-sleeved with a unicorn embroidered on it, and her skirt had the design of the hundred flowers. There was a golden buckle on her girdle. Her sedan chair was carried by four men. It had a black silk cover with golden ornaments. Before it soldiers with staves marched to clear the way, and servants carrying dressing cases came after it. There were two small sedan chairs immediately behind for her maids.
Yueniang had invited Aunt Wu. She had also sent for two singing girls. When Chunmei arrived, Yueniang, dressed in mourning, and Aunt Wu went to receive the guest in the outer hall. Yueniang was wearing a five-arched hat and very few ornaments. Her gown was of white silk, and her skirt of light blue. The sedan chair was carried to the second door, and there Chunmei got out and the crowd of servants followed her. When they went into the hall, Chunmei hastily knelt down and kowtowed to Yueniang. Yueniang made reverence in return.
“Lately,” she said, “I have given you much trouble. Yet you would not accept the silk and, today, you have sent me valuable presents. I find it hard to express my gratitude.”
“I am only sorry that my husband has nothing better than these trifles to offer,” Chunmei said. “I have been intending to send you an invitation for some time, but I have not been able to do so because my husband is so often away on duty.”
“Sister,” Yueniang said, “when is your birthday? I hope to come and see you with a few presents.”
“It is the twenty-fifth of the fourth month,” Chunmei said.
“I will come to see you on that day,” Yueniang said.
Then Chunmei made a reverence to Aunt Wu, and Aunt Wu returned it formally.
“Aunt Wu,” Chunmei said, “you should not do that. You should stand and allow me to make reverence to you.” But Aunt Wu would not agree, and finally they contented themselves with half the usual ceremonial. Then they sat down. Yueniang and Aunt Wu sat together in the host’s place. Then the maids, the nurse, and the serving woman came to see Chunmei. Ruyi’er was carrying Xiaoge.
“My son,” Yueniang said, “this is your sister. She has come to wish you many happy returns of the day.”
Xiaoge seemed inclined to get down and bow to Chunmei. “You are a good boy!” Yueniang said to him, “bowing like that instead of kowtowing as you should.”
Chunmei took a silk handkerchief and a set of gold ornaments from her sleeve and put them on the child’s cap. “Sister,” Yueniang said, “why should you give him such presents?”
Then Xiaoyu and the nurse kowtowed to Chunmei. She gave Xiaoyu a pair of pins with gold heads, and Ruyi’er a pair of silver flowers.
“Sister,” Yueniang said, “I don’t believe you know that Ruyi’er is now married to Laixing. His first wife died.”
“She is a good woman,” Chunmei said, “since she is ready to stay in this household always.”
A maid brought tea. After it Yueniang said: “Sister, shall we go to the back room? It is cold here.” Then Chunmei went to the room where Ximen Qing’s tablet was. There were candles lighted before it. Food was set out, and Chunmei offered it. Then she burned paper offerings and shed a few tears. A screen was brought in and coal put on the fire. A large square table was set, and tea was brought with delicious cakes and rare fruits. The tea was of the scarcest kind. After tea, they asked Chunmei to go and change her clothes in the upper room. She took off her long cloak: her woman opened the box and put on her a dress of embroidered silk with a skirt the color of a purple clove. Then they all sat down in Yueniang’s room.
“How is your baby?” Yueniang said. “Why didn’t you bring him?”
“I should have brought him to kowtow to you,” Chunmei said, “but his father said it was too cold and the boy might get a chill. He has gone to the great hall because he doesn’t care for the rooms. I don’t know what is the matter with him, but he has been crying a great deal the last few days.”
“When you go out, does he often want you?”
“Yes, but there are two nurses to look after him.”
“His Lordship is not a young man now, and he must be pleased you have borne him a son. He is your lucky star. I understand the Second Lady has a girl. How old is she?”
“The Second Lady’s child is four years old,” Chunmei said. “She is called Yujie, and my boy is called Jin’ge.”
“I understand that his Lordship has two girls,” Yueniang said.
“Two of our maids are learning music,” Chunmei said. “They are both seventeen years old and very troublesome.”
“Does his Lordship go to them very often?”
>
“He has hardly any time at home,” Chunmei said. “He is nearly always on duty. There are so many thieves and bandits about nowadays. By his Majesty’s command, he has to occupy himself with all sorts of matters. He is responsible for the charge of the district; he has to keep watch upon the river; to search out the bandits, and to keep the troops well disciplined. Yes, he has to spend a great deal of his time away.”
Xiaoyu brought more tea. Chunmei said to Yueniang: “Lady, will you take me to the garden, where my mistress used to live?”
“Sister,” Yueniang said, “you can hardly call it a garden now. Since my husband’s death, nobody has bothered about it. It has gone to rack and ruin. The artificial mound has fallen in; the trees have died. I seldom go there now.”
“Never mind,” Chunmei said. “I only want to see the place where my mistress lived.”
Yueniang could not refuse. She told Xiaoyu to find the garden key. Then she and Aunt Wu took Chunmei there. Chunmei went first to the Sixth Lady’s room. There were a number of broken tables and chairs upstairs. Downstairs, all the rooms were locked. Grass was growing on the floors. Then she came to the place that had been Pan Jinlian’s. The store for medicine and incense was still upstairs. In the room that Jinlian herself had occupied, there were only two cabinets, no bed.
“Where is my mother’s bed?” Chunmei said. “I don’t see it.”
“The Third Lady took it away with her when she married,” Xiaoyu said.
“When my husband was alive,” Yueniang said, “he gave Meng Yulou’s bed to my daughter, so when she remarried, I gave her your mistress’s bed.”
“But didn’t you get the bed back when your daughter died?” Chunmei said.
“I sold it for eight taels of silver and gave the money to the officials at the Town Hall.”
Chunmei nodded. Tears fell from her bright eyes. She remembered how, when Jinlian was alive, she always tried to have something that others did not have. “She asked my father to buy her that bed,” she said to herself, “and I should have liked to have it to remember her by. Now somebody else has taken it.” She was very sad.
“What has happened to the mother-of-pearl bed the Sixth Lady used to have?” she said to Yueniang.
“It is a long story. Ever since your master died, I have been spending money all the time, but no money comes in. As the proverb says: If we cannot make both ends meet, it is no good having gold lying about. I was pressed for money and I sold that bed.”
“How much did you get for it?”
“I only got thirty-five taels,” Yueniang said.
“What a pity. I remember Father saying it was worth sixty. If I had known you wished to sell it, I would have given forty myself.”
“But it never occurred to me that you would like to have it,” Yueniang said. They both sighed.
Then a servant came and said to Chunmei: “His Lordship asks you to go back early as the young master is crying for you.”
Chunmei went back at once to the inner court, and Yueniang ordered Xiaoyu to lock the garden gate. When they returned to the upper room, they set the screen in position, pulled down the blinds, and wine and food were brought. The singing girls began to play the lute and sing. Yueniang offered wine and asked Chunmei to take the place of honor. Chunmei would only do so on condition that Aunt Wu sat with her. The two ladies sat down, and Yueniang took the host’s place. After the wine had been offered, more food was brought in. Chunmei told her servant, Zhou Ren, to give the cook three qian of silver. It was an excellent meal, and they encouraged one another to drink.
About sunset, Major Zhou sent servants with lanterns to escort his wife home. Yueniang would not let her go but ordered the two singing girls to sing again. “You must sing your very best songs for Lady Zhou,” she said. Then she ordered Xiaoyu to fill a large cup with wine and set it before Chunmei.
“Sister,” she said, “bid the singers sing your favorite song and then drink this wine.”
“Indeed, I cannot drink any more,” Chunmei said, “and I am anxious about my baby.”
“You have nurses to look after him, and it is still quite early,” Yueniang said. “Besides, I know that you can drink.”
Chunmei asked the singing girls their names and where they came from. They knelt down. One said she was Han Yuchuan, the younger sister of Han Jinchuan, and the other that she was Zheng Jiao’er, Zheng Aixiang’s niece. Chunmei asked them if they could sing “Languidly I Paint My Brows.” Yuchuan said they knew it. Yueniang offered wine to Chunmei before they began. Then the two singing girls, one with a lute, the other with a zither, sang.
When shall I cease to love you?
Spring is gone and Autumn is here
Who knows my heart?
Heaven sends me sadness. I grow thin.
I wept when I had news of you
The past is always in my mind
I never thought you would so cruelly desert me.
Chunmei drank her wine, and Yueniang told Zheng Jiao’er to pour another cup for her.
“Lady,” Chunmei said, “you must drink with me.” Their cups were filled, and the singers began another song.
For you, my lover, I cast happiness aside.
Now the magpies chatter in the courtyard
Their voice is sad, and yet they have no cause.
It must be that Heaven
Has made me love you always.
You have gone away, but I never forget.
I never thought you would so cruelly desert me.
“Lady,” Chunmei said, “you must ask Aunt Wu to drink a cup.”
“Aunt Wu is not a great drinker,” Yueniang said. “I will give her a small cup.” She told Xiaoyu to set a small cup before Aunt Wu. Then the two singers went on with their song.
For you, my lover, I am become so sorrowful.
I think of you by night and day,
Sitting and walking.
My dainty skin is wasted, my softness become hard.
I am so lonely that my tears fall always.
Yet once we lived together and loved.
I never thought you would so cruelly desert me.
Xiaoyu was standing beside Chunmei, and Chunmei gave her a cup of wine.
“Sister,” Yueniang said, “she cannot drink.”
“Oh, she can drink one or two cups,” Chunmei said. “When I lived here, I often drank with her.” She gave the cup to the maid. The two singers continued their song.
For you, my lover, I have suffered griefs
I have been ill and lain for long upon my bed
The sadness in my heart has knit my brows.
You have forgotten me but I still think of you
The thought makes tears stream down my cheeks.
We said that we would be together forever.
I never thought that, after but one year,
You would so cruelly desert me.
Chunmei asked the singing girls to sing this song because she was thinking of Chen Jingji. She could not meet him, but he was always in her mind. For her, the songs expressed a secret sorrow. She was pleased that the singing girls addressed her as “Lady” and told Zhou Ren to give them each two qian of silver. The two girls put down their instruments and kowtowed to her.
Then she rose. Yueniang could not persuade her to stay longer and ordered a servant with a lantern to take her to the gate. Chunmei got into her sedan chair, and her maids into the smaller chairs. Before them and behind were four great lanterns, and an escort of soldiers followed.
Chunmei was anxious about Jingji. She did not know where he was. When she reached home, she went to bed at once in a bad mood. Her husband saw this, and decided she must be worrying because she did not know what had happened to her cousin. He sent for Zhang Sheng and Li An and said to them; “I have already told you to find my lady’s cousin. Why haven’t you done so?”
“We have looked,” they said, “but we have not been able to find him. We told the lady so.”
“I will give you five days,�
� Major Zhou said. “If you have not found him by that time, you know what to expect.”
The two men went all over the place, poking their noses everywhere, questioning people, and their faces became more and more gloomy.
When Jingji left the Major’s court, he had intended to go back to the temple. But, when he was told of the Abbot’s death, he did not dare. Neither did he dare to go and see old man Wang. So again he wandered about the streets by day and slept at night in the Beggars’ Rest. One day when he was standing about the street, he saw Yang the Elder. Yang was wearing a new hat and a white silk gown. He rode on a donkey with a silver-mounted saddle, and a small boy followed him. They were coming down the middle of the street. Jingji recognized Yang at once. He went out and grasped the donkey’s bridle.
“Brother Yang,” he said, “I haven’t seen you for a long time. After you stole my property at the river I went in quite a friendly way to ask at your place. But your brother, Yang the Second, broke his own head and ran after me all the way to my house. Now I am poor, and you are having a fine time.”
Yang the Elder could see that Chen Jingji had become a beggar. He smiled haughtily. “This must be an unlucky day for me, that I should come to the street and meet a pestilential fellow like you. You are a beggar. Where could you get the money to buy goods? Do you say I stole your things? Keep your hands off my donkey, or I will use the whip on you.”
“I am poor and you are rich,” Jingji said. “I only ask you to give me something. If you don’t, I shall take you to the proper place and the matter shall be thrashed out there.”
Seeing that Jingji still held the donkey’s bridle, Yang the Elder jumped off and thrashed Jingji with his whip. “Drive this beggar away,” he cried to the small boy. The boy pushed at Jingji with all his might and the young man fell to the ground. Yang kicked him, and Jingji made as much noise as if he had been a devil. A crowd assembled. Among them was a man wearing a high black hat, a kerchief, a purple gown and a white vest. He had bare legs, and a pair of straw sandals on his feet. His eyes were sunken and his eyebrows broad and thick. His mouth seemed to curl upwards and he had three wisps of beard. His face was strong and red and the muscles stood out upon his arms. He had had wine to drink, and this had made his eyes seem fierce.
The Golden Lotus, Volume 2 Page 77