The Golden Lotus, Volume 2

by Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng

  Then Yueniang talked about the marriage of their children and the troubles in the country. She offered the hundred pearls and the precious ring. Yun Lishou took them but said nothing about the marriage. In the evening, he told old woman Wang to sleep with Yueniang. He wished her to talk to Yueniang and find out what she thought.

  The old woman said to Yueniang that, although Yun Lishou was only a military officer, he was an educated gentleman. Since they had arranged the marriage between their children, he had taken a great fancy to her. Now his wife was dead and he had not remarried. Though his position was not very high, he rode on horseback and had soldiers under his command. When he dismounted, he attended to public business. He had powers of life and death.

  “Lady,” the old woman said, “unless you think he is too far beneath you, he would ask you to marry him and it will be to the advantage of you both. Your son can marry too and he can go home when peace returns.”

  When Yueniang heard this, she was amazed. For a long time she could not speak. Then the old woman went to Yun Lishou and told him. The next evening, Yun Lishou prepared a great feast in the hall and invited Yueniang. She believed it was to celebrate the wedding of their children and went gladly. When she sat down, he said: “Sister, this is but a poor city, but I have a number of soldiers under my command. I have gold, property, clothes, and jewels in plenty. But I have no wife to manage my home for me. I have been thinking of you all this time, and now I feel like a man dying of thirst who craves for water to drink, or as one who seeks coolness in the broiling heat. You have come here, Lady, for your son’s marriage. It is surely the will of Heaven that we should arrange not one but two marriages. If we marry, we shall be happy all our lives here. And I see no reason why we should not.”

  Yueniang was very angry. “I did not realize,” she said, “that beneath a human form you hid the carcass of a dog. My husband always treated you well, yet now you speak to me in the language of dogs and horses.”

  Yun Lishou smiled and went closer to her. He put his arms about her and pleaded.

  “Lady,” he said, “why did you come here? You came and, why I cannot tell, my spirit seemed to become wholly yours the moment I saw you. I cannot help it, and we must marry.”

  He offered wine to her.

  “Send for my brother,” Yueniang said.

  “Your brother!” Yun Lishou said, laughing. “I have killed both him and Daian.” He ordered a servant to bring proof of what he said. Two heads, blood still dripping from them, were brought in. Yueniang looked at them in the candlelight and her face became as pale as yellow earth. She cried and fell to the floor. Yun Lishou raised her up.

  “Lady,” he said, “you must not be sad. Your brother is dead, but I am asking you to marry me. I am not unworthy of you. I am a military officer of high rank.”

  “This man,” Yueniang thought, “has murdered my brother and my servant. If I do not yield, he will kill me too.” She began to smile.

  “You must do what I wish,” she said, “and then I will marry you.”

  “I will do anything you ask, no matter what it is,” Yun Lishou said.

  “First let your daughter marry my boy, and then I will marry you.”

  “Good!” Yun Lishou said. He sent for his daughter and pushed her over to Xiaoge. They drank wine together, exchanged the knotted heart, and so were married. Then Yun Lishou pulled Yueniang to him, and wished to make love to her, but she struggled with him. He was furious.

  “You whore!” he cried, “you have deceived me. You got me to marry my daughter to your son. Do you think I am afraid to kill your son?” He drew his sword, and with one blow struck off the boy’s head. The blood spurted for yards.

  When her child was killed, Yueniang shrieked.

  Then she woke up. It was a dream. She was so terrified that her body was drenched with sweat. “Strange! Strange!” she murmured.

  “Lady, why are you crying?” Xiaoyu said to her.

  “I have had a terrible nightmare,” Yueniang said, and told her everything she had dreamed.

  “A little while ago,” Xiaoyu said, “I found I could not sleep. I went to watch the old monk. He was speaking to the ghosts. I saw him talking to my master, the Fifth Lady, Chen Jingji, Sun Xue’e, General Zhou, Laiwang’s wife and your daughter. Then they all disappeared.

  “Some of them were buried outside this temple,” Yueniang said, “but they died such miserable deaths that they come to the monk. It is so quiet too.”

  The two women talked until the fifth night watch. The cocks began to crow. Yueniang washed her face and dressed her hair. Then she went to the sanctuary and burned incense before the statue of Buddha. The old monk was there, sitting on a low stool. “Lady,” he said in a loud voice, “I think you know now what I mean.”

  Yueniang knelt down. “Holy Master,” she said, “with my fleshly eyes and human body, I did not know that you were Buddha himself. Now, since I have had that dream, I know everything.”

  “You understand,” the old monk said, “so now there is no need for you to go to that man. If you do go, you will find that things happen exactly as they did in your dream. You will all die. It is fortunate for your son that you have met me. It is a reward for your good heart. Had it not been for this, you and your son must soon have parted. You remember what a bad man your husband Ximen Qing was. Your son is your husband. He would spend all your money, ruin your estate, and die by having his head cut off. Now I bless him, and take him as my disciple. You know the proverb that says when a son becomes a monk there is salvation for nine generations. If he becomes a monk, your husband’s misdeeds will be forgiven. If you do not believe me, come and see.”

  He rose and went quickly to the other room where Xiaoge was asleep. The old monk lifted his staff and gently touched the boy’s head. He turned around suddenly, and Yueniang saw that it was Ximen Qing. Upon his neck was a heavy cangue and there were chains about his waist. The old monk touched him again with his staff, and again Xiaoge lay upon the bed.

  Yueniang cried. She realized that Xiaoge was another incarnation of Ximen Qing. After a while the boy woke up.

  “You are going to stay here,” his mother said to him, “and become the disciple of this holy teacher. He will cut off your hair and give you orders in the name of Buddha.”

  Yueniang took the lad in her arms and cried bitterly. She felt that she had brought him up in vain. He was fifteen years old, and she had hoped that he would inherit the property and continue the family. Now the old monk was taking him. Uncle Wu the Second, Xiaoyu, and Daian were all sad. The old monk took the boy and called him Mingwu [Bright Enlightenment].

  When Yueniang was going away, the old monk said to her: “You need go no farther. The Jin army is going to retreat. Then land will be divided between two dynasties and we shall have an Emperor again. In ten days all the soldiers will withdraw and peace will be restored. Go home then and spend the rest of your days in peace.”

  “Master,” Yueniang said, “you have blessed my child. When shall I see him again?” She clasped the boy in her arms and cried aloud.

  “Lady, don’t cry,” the old monk said. “Look, there is a Holy Master coming.”

  They all turned their heads to look, but when they turned around again, the old monk had vanished and become a pure vapor. He took Xiaoge with him.

  Yueniang, her brother, and the others stayed ten days more at the temple. Then indeed the Jin people made Zhang Bangchang Emperor at the Eastern Capital, and set up a new administration, both civil and military. The two emperors, Huizong and Qinzong, were taken to the north. Then Prince Kang crossed the river on a clay horse and established himself as Emperor Gaozong at Jiankang. He appointed Zong Ze as his commander-in-chief and took back Shandong and Hebei. Thus the empire was divided into two parts. Soon peace was restored, and people returned to their old occupations. Yueniang went home. She opened all the doors and windows. Nothing had been disturbed.

  She gave the name Ximen An to Daian who, in due course, ca
me into the property. People called him Master Ximen. He lived with Yueniang. When she was seventy years old, Yueniang died. Her end was peaceful, a fitting reward for her kindness and virtue.

  The record of this house must make us sad.

  Who can deny that Heaven’s principle

  Goes on unceasingly?

  Ximen was mighty and a lawless man

  He could not maintain the issue of his house.

  Jingji was wild and dissolute

  And met a violent death in consequence.

  Yueniang and Yulou lived long

  And ended their days in peace.

  Chunmei and Ping’er were wanton

  And soon made their way to Hell.

  It is not strange, therefore,

  That Jinlian reaped the reward of evil,

  Leaving a foul reputation to be spoken of

  A thousand years.

  THE END