“Well, she has sent me these presents. I can’t accept them without doing something in return. She is expecting me to send her an invitation.”
“Have no more to do with her,” Jingji said. “Why should you invite her again?”
“I shall feel very awkward if I don’t,” Chunmei said. “I will send her a card, and whether she comes or not will depend upon her. If she comes, you go to the other court and keep out of sight. Afterwards, I will break off relations with her.”
Jingji was angry and went off without a word. He went to the front and wrote a card, and Chunmei sent a servant with it to Yueniang.
Yueniang dressed and, with Ruyi’er carrying Xiaoge, went to call upon Chunmei. Daian went with them. Chunmei and the Second Lady both came to welcome them. They went to the inner court and there greeted one another. Ruyi’er, with the baby, made a reverence. Jingji, who was in the other courtyard, kept out of the way.
Tea and wine were set out in the inner court and two singing girls played and sang. Daian was entertained in a small room at the front. He saw a boy, carrying a tray of food and cakes, going to the corner door on the west side. Daian stopped him and asked him where he was taking the tray.
“To my uncle,” the boy said.
“What is your uncle’s name?” Daian asked.
“Chen,” the boy said.
Daian quietly followed the boy and went into the small courtyard on the west side. The boy pulled aside a lattice and went in. Daian peeped through the window. There was no doubt about it. Jingji was lying on a bed, and, when the food was brought in, he got up and began to eat. Daian went back to the front. In the evening people with lanterns came to take Yueniang back. Daian told her what he had seen. From that time onwards, Jingji dissuaded Chunmei from having any more to do with Yueniang, and their relations were broken off.
Jingji, unknown to everyone in Major Zhou’s house, associated secretly with Chunmei. When Zhou was out, they had meals and drank wine together, and sometimes played chess and other games. When he was at home, Chunmei sent a maid with food to the young man and sometimes went to him herself, even in the daytime. She used to stay in his rooms for hours at a time. So they came and went one to the other and grew more and more attached.
One day, when Major Zhou was out with some of his men upon a tour of inspection, it was the Summer Festival. Chunmei arranged to have a feast in a summerhouse in the west courtyard. She and the Second Lady and Jingji drank together to celebrate the festival. Their maids and women were all there to wait, and Chunmei bade Haitang and Yuegui sing for them. They drank till the sun turned to the west and a very fine rain came to bring coolness to the day. Chunmei took a great gold cup, shaped like a lotus blossom, and urged the others to drink more. The Second Lady could not, and went to her own room to sleep. Jingji and Chunmei were left alone in the summerhouse. They guessed fingers, played games, and drank together. After a while, the maid brought lanterns and the nurse took away the baby to put him to bed. Jingji lost the game, went to the study, and refused to come back. First, Chunmei sent Haitang for him, but he would not come. Then she sent Yuegui. “You must drag him here, if necessary,” she said. “If you fail, I shall box your ears ten times.”
Yuegui went to the young man’s room. When she opened the door, she saw him lying on the bed, snoring.
“My Lady says I must bring you back with me,” she said. “If I do not, she promises to punish me.”
“It doesn’t matter to me whether you get punished or not,” Jingji murmured. “I have had as much wine as I can drink, and I don’t want any more.”
Yuegui pulled him up. “I have to take you to my mistress,” she said, “and if I can’t drag you to her somehow, I shall own myself a feeble creature.”
Jingji pretended to be more drunk than he was. He put his arms around Yuegui and kissed her. Yuegui made a fuss. “I came to take you away from here, not to behave like this,” she said.
“My child,” Jingji said, “do what I want of you and I will not treat you as a servant.” He kissed her again, and they went together to the summerhouse.
“I have brought uncle,” Yuegui said, “so you will not have to punish me.”
Chunmei told Haitang to fill the large cups, and they played chess together. They played one game after another until the maids were sleepy and went away, all except Haitang and Yuegui, and Chunmei packed them off to get some tea. Then Chunmei and Jingji were alone together in the summerhouse. They kissed each other.
When they had been very happy together, Haitang returned with the tea. She asked Chunmei to go to the inner court because the baby was crying. Chunmei drank two more cups of wine with Jingji, then they rinsed their mouths with tea and she went to the inner court. The maid cleared the table and Jingji, with the assistance of his boy, went to his study and to sleep.
One day there came an Imperial Edict that instructed the Major to take his soldiers and join Zhang Shuye, magistrate of Jizhou, in an attack upon the bandits in Liangshan, who were led by Song Jiang. Before he set out on this expedition, he said to Chunmei: “Watch carefully over the baby, and send a go-between to arrange a marriage for your cousin. Then I will take him to the field with me. If he has good fortune and does his duty to his Emperor, he will get official rank, and that will be pleasant for you.”
Chunmei promised to do this. In two or three months, Zhou joined his troops and went away. He took Zhou Ren with him and left Zhang Sheng and Li An at home.
One day Chunmei sent for old woman Xue. “When he went away,” she said, “he told me to see about a marriage for my cousin. Go and see if you can find a suitable girl for him, someone about sixteen or seventeen. She must be beautiful and intelligent, because he has not the best of tempers.”
“I know him,” old woman Xue said. “You need not go into details. I remember that Ximen’s daughter did not satisfy him.”
“If you don’t find a good girl for him, I shall box your ears,” Chunmei said. “She must be pretty, because she and I will be living here as sisters. You must take the matter seriously.”
She told a maid to give the old woman some tea. Then Jingji came in for something to eat. “Brother-in-law,” the old woman said, “I haven’t seen you for a very long time. Where have you been? I find I must congratulate you. I have just been told to find a pretty wife for you. What will you give me as a reward?
Jingji scowled and said nothing.
“Why don’t you speak, you old beggar?” the old woman said.
“You mustn’t call him brother-in-law,” Chunmei said. “That is all over and done with. You must call him Uncle Chen now.”
“I ought to be punished,” old woman Xue said. “My doggish mouth gave him the wrong title. In the future, I will remember to call him Uncle.”
Jingji could not help laughing. “I am glad to hear it,” he said.
The old woman put on a great air of gaiety. She went up to him and gave him a little tap. “You old beggar,” she said. “I am not your sweetheart. What do you mean by saying you are glad to hear it?”
Chunmei laughed. After a while, Yuegui brought cakes and tea for the old woman.
“I shall take the very greatest pains to find a suitable girl for you,” Xue said, “and as soon as I find one I will come and tell you.”
“We will see about clothes, ornaments, and all that sort of thing,” Chunmei said. “All we care is that she should be a decent girl. This is not an ordinary family.”
“I realize that,” the old woman said, “and I am sure I shall be able to satisfy you.”
Sometime later, Jingji finished his meal and went to the outer court.
“When did he come here?” old woman Xue asked.
Chunmei told her how he had become a priest. “I want to treat him as one of my relatives,” she said.
“Excellent!” the old woman said. “You know your way about. I hear Mistress Ximen came here on your birthday.”
“Yes,” Chunmei said, “she sent me some presents, and I sent her
an invitation in return. She was here quite a long time.”
“I was very busy that day,” the old woman said. “I very much wished to come, but I could not get away. Tell me, did Uncle Chen see Mistress Ximen?”
“He did not, indeed,” Chunmei said. “He scolded me terribly because I invited her. He was very angry because I helped her and said I have no memory. Wu Dian’en, he says, should have punished the boy and dragged Mistress Ximen into the case. He says we ought to have left them alone and not bothered about them, because she treated us badly.”
“I can understand his feelings,” old woman Xue said, “but I don’t think we ought to remember the things of the past forever.”
“I had accepted her presents, and I could do no less than invite her,” Chunmei said. “I have no wish to return evil for evil.”
“No,” old woman Xue said, “and that is why you have got on so well. You have a good heart.”
They talked for some time, then old woman Xue picked up her box and went away. Two days later she came again. One of Master Zhu’s daughters, a girl about fifteen, wished to marry as she had no mother. Chunmei considered the girl too young and would not agree. Then the old woman came again and suggested Ying Bojue’s second daughter, who was twenty-two years old. But Chunmei would not have this either. Bojue was now dead; his daughter’s marriage would have to be arranged by her uncle and she was not likely to have any dowry worth mentioning. So she returned their papers. A few days later, old woman Xue came again with some artificial flowers. She brought with her a proposal of marriage. On it was written: ‘The eldest daughter of the silk merchant Ge Yuanwai. Her animal is the Cock. She was born at the hour of the Rat, on the fifteenth day of the eleventh month.’
“Her name is Ge Cuiping,” the old woman said. “She is as beautiful as a picture. She is not tall, and her face is shaped like a watermelon seed. She is gentle, well-mannered and clever with her needle. Her parents are both alive and in good circumstances. Her father keeps a silk shop in the High Street and does business in Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Nanjing. We are not likely to find anyone more suitable. Besides, the furniture her father is sending with her is all of the Nanjing make.”
“Let us settle this,” Chunmei said. She told the old woman to take word to the other party at once. When she came to Ge’s place, the silk merchant found that she came from Zhou’s house and sent for another go-between, called Zhang, to go back with old woman Xue. Chunmei got ready two packets of tea leaves, dainties, and fruits, and asked the Second Lady to go to Ge’s place and see the girl. The Second Lady, when she came back, said that the girl was really very pretty. She looked like a flower, she said, and the family seemed to be a good one. Chunmei found a day of good omen for the betrothal. She sent the girl sixteen different kinds of fruit and food, two sets of ornaments, two sets of flowers and pearls, four wine sets, two sheep, a hairnet, and a complete outfit of gold and silver pins and rings. She sent two silk gowns and dresses for all the year round, with silk and cloth and twenty taels of silver. This was for the betrothal day.
The Master of the Yin Yang selected the eighth day of the sixth month for the wedding. Chunmei asked old woman Xue if the girl had a maid. “No,” the old woman said, “her father will supply her with all her furniture, but no maid.”
“Then we must buy a girl about thirteen or fourteen years old for her,” Chunmei said.
The old woman promised to bring a girl the next day and did so. She was thirteen years old and came from the household of Huang the Fourth, the merchant. Huang and Li the Third had got into trouble over the official finances; they were arrested and thrown into prison and stayed there for more than a year. Li the Third died in jail, and his son was taken in his place. Their property was all sold. Laibao’s son had run away and become a groom for some stranger. Laibao, Chunmei discovered, had changed his name to Tang Bao. He was mixed up in this affair.
“How much do they ask for the girl?” Chunmei said.
“Four taels and a half,” the old woman said. “They want the money very badly so that they can pay off the authorities.”
“Four and a half is too much,” Chunmei said. “Give them three and a half, and I will have the girl.” She gave the old woman the money and so the matter was settled. She called the girl Jinqian.
On the eighth day of the sixth month, Chunmei put on a pearl head-dress, a crimson gown with broad sleeves, a girdle with gold ornaments and jade buckle, and went to meet the bride. She was carried by four men in a large sedan chair and a band of musicians and lantern bearers went with her. Chen Jingji rode on a white horse with a silver-mounted saddle. Soldiers marched before him. He wore a scholar’s hat and a black silk gown, a pair of black boots with white soles and a pair of golden flowers in his hair. He seemed like the rain that visits the land after a long drought, or like a man who meets an old friend in a foreign land. Indeed, the happiest day in a man’s life is that on which he marries, or passes his examination.
The bride’s sedan chair came to Major Zhou’s place. She was veiled in a veil of scarlet embroidery and carried a vase. When she had entered the great gateway, the Master of the Yin Yang took her to the hall. When the ceremonies were over, she was taken to her own room. Chunmei watched and then came away. When the Master of the Yin Yang had finished what he had to do, the bride and bridegroom sat together for a while. Then Jingji mounted a horse and paid a call upon his father-in-law to thank him for giving him his daughter. When he came back he was drunk. That night this very lively young man and the beautiful maiden enjoyed the first pleasures of their marriage. They were as happy as two lovebirds and as merry as fishes in the water.
On the third day after the wedding, Chunmei gave a feast in the hall of the inner court. Musicians were engaged and friends and kinsmen were invited.
Every day, Chunmei asked the young couple to take their meals with her. She called the bride her sister. They were so much together that the maids and serving women looked upon the new bride with respect. Chunmei gave them three rooms in the west courtyard and the rooms were papered till they looked like a cave of snow. New curtains and blinds were fitted. Jingji’s study was outside the courtyard. There he kept a bed, tables, and some old books, and there he attended to Major Zhou’s correspondence. There, too, Chunmei came to him, not always for conversation only.
CHAPTER 98
Wang Liu’er’s Return
In the house of pleasure
The girls adorn themselves with powder and rouge.
When they are idle, they sit down
Looking at the flowers.
When they hear the old melody, they are sad,
But when they would go back to the old country
Where is now their home?
Before the mirror her cloudy hair is but half dressed;
Her tears flow and her silken gown is wet.
Today, once more, she met Pai Ssū-ma before the wine cups
And told her sorrow, playing the lute.
One day Major Zhou and Zhang Shuye, the magistrate of Jinan, took their forces and attacked the bandits of Liangshan. The thirty-six leaders of the bandits and more than ten thousand of their men were captured and order was restored. The victory was reported to his Majesty. The Emperor was pleased and promoted Zhang to be Censor and Commissioner in Shandong. Zhou was promoted to be general in Jinan to command all the forces there, guard the river, and pursue bandits and thieves wherever they might be. All Zhou’s officers were advanced one degree in rank. Chen Jingji’s name was put on the list, and he was appointed Counselor. Every month he was to draw two measures of rice. Now he was able to wear ceremonial hat and girdle, much to his delight.
In the middle of the tenth month, the new general was permitted by the Emperor to bring back his soldiers. He sent runners in advance to bring the news to Chunmei. She was delighted. She sent Jingji, Li An and Zhang Sheng to meet her husband outside the city. At the same time she prepared a banquet in the great hall to do honor to her husband. A number of officers
came with presents.
When Zhou reached home, he went to the hall in the inner court and there his two wives welcomed him. Jingji, dressed in scarlet ceremonial gown, with hat, boots, and girdle, came with his wife. Zhou admired the bride and gave her a dress with ten taels of silver so that she might have some ornaments made. In the evening, Chunmei and her husband talked over the business of the household.
“My cousin’s wedding, I am afraid, has cost you a great deal of money,” Chunmei said.
“He is your cousin,” Zhou said, “and since he has come to make his home with us, we could hardly leave him without a wife. We have spent some money, it is true, but he is not a stranger.”
“Now you have secured this honor for him, it is indeed all that he can ask,” Chunmei said.
“His Majesty has commanded me to go to Jinanfu to take up my new appointment,” the General said, “but I shall not take you with me. We will give your cousin some money to set him up in business with someone. He need only go to look at the accounts every three or five days. If he makes any profit, it will be something for him to live on.”
“That is an excellent idea,” Chunmei said. They were very happy together and went to bed.
The General only spent ten days at home. Then he started for Jinan to take up his new appointment. It was the beginning of the eleventh month. He took Zhang Sheng and Li An with him and left Zhou Ren and Zhou Yi to look after his house. Jingji went as far as the Temple of Eternal Felicity to speed the General on his way.
One day Chunmei said to the young man: “My husband thinks you should go into business with a partner. If you make any money, it will be yours.”
Jingji was delighted. He went out to find a suitable partner and, by chance, met his old friend Lu Bingyi on the street.
“Brother, I haven’t seen you for a very long time,” Lu said, bowing.
“My wife died, and I had a lawsuit,” Jingji said. “Then Yang the Elder stole all my property and I was completely cleaned out. Now things are better again. My cousin married Major Zhou. I went to her, and she found a wife for me. Now I am a counselor and have the right to wear ceremonial robes and hat. I am looking for someone to go into partnership with me, but I haven’t found anybody yet.”
The Golden Lotus, Volume 2 Page 79