by Jin Yong
The town of Taoyuan was not big; in a short moment they had arrived at the eastern gate. Huang Rong turned around to the south. After passing the southern gate they turned again to the west.
“Are we following that priestess?” Guo Jing asked in a low voice, “Don’t play a joke on me.”
Huang Rong laughed, “What joke?” she said, “The priestess is so beautiful like an angel; if you don’t pursue her you will regret it later.”
Guo Jing anxiously halted his steps, “Rong’er, if you keep making this kind of talk I will be angry,” he said.
“I am not afraid,” Huang Rong said, “I want to see you mad.”
Guo Jing was dumbfounded; he had no choice but to continue walking. Approximately five, six ‘li’s later they saw in the distant that priestess was sitting underneath a locust tree. As soon as the priestess saw Jing and Rong arrive, she stood up and walked along a small pathway leading to a hill. Huang Rong pulled Guo Jing’s hand and they walked toward the pathway.
“Rong’er,” Guo Jing anxiously said, “If you deliberately want to create trouble, then I’ll have to hold you and drag you back.”
“I am really tired of walking,” Huang Rong said, “I think you’d better follow her by yourself.”
Guo Jing’s face showed a deep concern; he squatted and said, “If you are tired then let me carry you on my back.”
Huang Rong giggled and said, “I am going to pull her veil away so you can take a look at her face.” She sped up her footsteps to pursue the priestess. The priestess turned around, waiting for them. Huang Rong grabbed her veil and uncovered her face.
Guo Jing followed behind, he called out, “Rong’er, don’t create trouble!” But as he saw the priestess’ face he was stunned and was at a loss of words. He saw a deep crease between her beautiful eyebrows, her eyes brimming with tears, her face had a pitiful look; obviously she was in distress. She was none other than Mu Nianci.
Huang Rong hugged her waist, “Mu Jiejie [elder sister Mu], what happened? Did that kid Yang Kang bully you?” she asked. Mu Nianci hang down her head without saying anything.
Guo Jing came near and greeted her, “Sister.” Mu Nianci uttered a soft ‘mmm’ sound.
Huang Rong pulled Mu Nianci’s hand toward a weeping willow by a small creek; they sat down underneath the tree. “Sister, how did he bully you?” Huang Rong asked, “We’ll find him to settle the score. Brother Jing and I also suffered and our two lives were almost gone under his hands.” Mu Nianci lowered her head, still did not say anything. Huang Rong and her images were reflected on the clear creek water. Petals of flowers fell down on the water and slowly floated by, disrupting the reflections.
Guo Jing sat on a rock a few feet apart from the two, his mind was filled with questions: why did Sister Mu dressed as a priestess? Why didn’t she greet them at the restaurant? Where did Yang Kang go?
Seeing Mu Nianci’s grieving look Huang Rong did not ask anymore questions; she quietly held her hands tight.
After a quite while Mu Nianci opened her mouth, “Meizi [younger sister, term of endearment], Brother Guo, the boat you hired belongs to the Iron Palm Clan. They are setting up a trap to harm you.”
Jing and Rong two people were startled; “That mute boatman?” they asked with uneven voices.
“Exactly,” Mu Nianci said, “But he is not mute. He is one of the Iron Palm Clan’s henchmen, his voice is so loud that he is afraid if he opens his mouth he will rouse your suspicion; hence he pretends to be mute.”
Huang Rong was secretly alarmed, “If you did not say I wouldn’t see through his disguise,” she said, “No wonder this fellow’s sign language is very good; he has often disguised himself as a mute many times.”
Guo Jing leaped up the willow tree; he swept his gaze around, but other than two, three farmers in the field he did not see anybody else. He thought, “If not because of Rong’er and Sister Mu walked in circle I am afraid the Iron Palm Clan people would be here by now.”
Mu Nianci heaved a long sigh and slowly said, “You have already known my affair with Yang Kang. Later on I brought adoptive father’s and mother’s coffin to the south. I met him again on a desolate place in the Ox Village of Lin’an.”
Huang Rong opened her mouth, “That, we also knew; we even saw him killing Ouyang Ke with our own eyes.” Mu Nianci looked at her with eyes wide open, Huang Rong’s words were hard to believed. Thereupon Huang Rong told her briefly how Guo Jing and she were hiding in the secret room to treat his internal injury, also how Yang Kang had assumed false identity as the Beggar Clan Leader, how two people narrowly escaped danger and so on. It was a long story with all its takes and turns, but Huang Rong was eager to know Mu Nianci’s experience, so she only raised the important parts.
Gritting her teeth Mu Nianci said, “This man did all kinds of evil, someday he will not have a good end. I regretted myself to have eyes but failed to see, that I will have to go through all these calamities by unexpectedly meeting him.”
Huang Rong groped her pocket for a handkerchief and gently wiped the tears on her cheeks. Mu Nianci’s heart was troubled; all kinds of bad things had come her way that in a moment she did not know where to start. She tried to gather her thoughts and slowly calmed herself down; only then did she open her mouth to tell her story.
End of Chapter 31.
Chapter 32 - Rushing River Rugged Shore
Translated by Frans Soetomo
The mute boatman took out an axe and with two chops he cut the mooring rope. Immediately afterwards he raised the anchor. As the boat came free, the rushing water washed it out down the river. It made a sudden turn as the hull slanted sideways and rushed away as though flying down the river.
Mu Nianci let Huang Rong hold her right hand; she looked at the fallen flowers floating on the water and said, “When I saw him kill Ouyang Ke I thought he was going to repent from his evil ways. Moreover I saw the two masters from the Beggar Clan were so respectful toward him when they went to the west. I’ve met those two Beggar Clan uncles before; they were Senior Qigong’s trusted aides. Seeing them treat him that way I was very happy; so I followed them till we get to Yuezhou, where the Beggar Clan was having their congress on Mount Jun.
Before then he quietly told me that he had received Hong Enshi’s [Benevolent Master Hong] order to become the Beggar Clan’s Bangzhu [Clan Leader]. I was surprised and happy. In all honesty it was hard to believe, but I saw even the highest ranking Elders of the Beggar Clan treat him with utmost respect, I didn’t have any choice but to believe him. I am not a member of the Beggar Clan, so naturally I could not participate in the congress and had to wait for him in Yuezhou city. I thought that as he become the leader of the Beggar Clan heroes he would be able to do much good for the people and the country, to achieve great things, and in the future would be able to repel the invaders and avenge adoptive father and mother.
That night my mind went back and forth and I couldn’t sleep; I thought from now on everything would be all right. It was almost daybreak when I finally felt tired and was about to fall asleep when suddenly he jumped in from the window. I jumped in fright; I thought he was having some ideas towards me. But he actually spoke in low voice, ‘Meizi [younger sister, term of endearment], things did not go well, we must go.’ I was surprised and asked him what happened; he said, ‘There was an internal dispute in the Beggar Clan; the Dirty Clothes Faction refused to accept Hong Bangzhu’s order. The Clean Clothes Faction and the Dirty Clothes Faction battled each other in this new Clan Leader business; many people were killed.’ I was shocked, ‘What should we do?’ I asked. He said, ‘Because too many people has died, I withdrew my nomination, I did not want to become the Clan Leader anymore.’ Taking the entire situation into consideration, I thought he was doing the right thing. He said further, ‘The Clean Clothes Faction did not want to let me go; fortunately Qiu Bangzhu from the Iron Palm Clan came to my assistance and helped me leave Mount Jun. Right now we’d better go to the Iron Palm Mountain first and we’
ll talk it over later.’ I did not know whether the Iron Palm Clan was a good clan or an evil one; but since he said so, I followed him.
When we got to the Iron Palm Mountain, I did not see the Qiu Bangzhu from the Iron Palm Clan, but I was watched over with cold eyes. I noticed that the Iron Palm Clan’s behavior was sneaky, I saw strange things everywhere. I said to him, ‘Although you did not become the Beggar Clan leader, you shouldn’t walk away from them. I think you’d better find your Shifu, the Changchun Zi [Eternal Spring] Qiu Daozhang [Taoist Priest], and ask him to gather the heroes of the Jianghu to uphold the justice, to help the Beggar Clan elect a person of virtue and prestige within their clan to assume the Clan Leader position to avoid a bloodbath within the clan. Hence you will be fulfilling Hong Enshi’s order to you.’ He mumbled indistinctly, neither said yes nor no; but actually raised the matter of his marriage with me. I rebuked him severely; he became angry. We ended up having a heated argument.
The next day I started to regret my harshness; I thought even though he could not differentiate the important from the trivial, friends from foe, and oftentimes acted childish, nevertheless he was always kind to me. I felt I was being too hard on him, no wonder he was mad at me. That evening the more I thought about it the more restless I became. I lit a lamp to write a note, saying I did not blame him. Quietly I went to his room; I was going to slip the note through his window, but suddenly I heard him talking with somebody. I took a peek from the window; I saw a rather short white-bearded old man, he was wearing a yellow coarse-linen short robe, with a large palm leaf fan in his hand.”
Guo Jing and Huang Rong exchanged glances, they both thought, “I wonder if he was Qiu Qianren or Qiu Qianzhang?”
Mu Nianci continued, “That old man took a small porcelain vial from his pocket and put it on the table, he said, ‘Brother Yang, if your fiancee does not listen to you, that is a very simple matter. Just take some medicinal powder from this vial and put it in a cup of green tea, let her drink it, I guarantee you will enjoy a wedding night tonight.”
As Jing and Rong two people heard this, they both thought, “It was Qiu Qianzhang.”
Mu Nianci continued, “To my surprise that boy Yang Kang beamed with joy and repeatedly said thanks. I was so angry that I almost passed out. A moment later that old man took his leave. Quietly I followed behind him. After it was far enough, I pounced on him, I beat his chest and struck him down. If I were not in a dangerous place, I would’ve taken a knife and killed him right then and there. I repeatedly hit him until he passed out, then I searched his body. This old man’s pocket really did contain many things; some rings, broken sword, a piece of brick, and all kinds of strange things. I think all of them are things to harm people. I also found a book. I didn’t know what it was, but I thought it might be useful somehow, so I put it in my pocket. The more I thought, the madder I became. I made up my mind to deal with Yang Kang.
I went back to Yang Kang’s room. Who would have thought that he was standing at the door? He smiled at me and said, ‘Meizi, please come in.’ Early on I have decided that tonight I must make myself clear to him, so I went in. He pointed to the porcelain vial on the table and smiled, ‘Meizi,’ he said, ‘Can you guess what’s inside this vial?’ I was angry, ‘Who knows all these kinds of dirty things?’ I said. He smiled and said, ‘A friend gave it to me a moment ago, he said if I take some of this medicinal powder and put it in a cup of green tea and give it to you, then everything will happen as I wish.’ His words have actually blown me away, my anger vanished immediately. I took that porcelain vial and threw it out over the window. ‘Did you do it?’ I asked. ‘I respect and adore Meizi like a deity, how can I engage myself in this kind of filthy business?’ he replied.”
Guo Jing nodded his head, “Brother Yang has done the right thing,” he said. “Humph,” Mu Nianci snorted but did not say anything. Huang Rong recalled that day on the Iron Palm Mountain she peeked through the window and saw Yang Kang sit on the edge of the bed, embracing her and talking softly with Mu Nianci. At that time Mu Nianci was smiling, her face was tender. Apparently that happened after she threw the vial away.
“And then what happened?” Guo Jing asked. Zhou Botong told him that whenever somebody was telling a story, a ‘And then what happened?’ every now and then would help keep the story-teller’s interest high; but unexpectedly Mu Nianci’s face turned red, she turned her head away and hang her head low without saying anything.
“Ah, I know!” Huang Rong suddenly called out, “Afterwards you bowed to the heaven and earth and became man and wife.”
Mu Nianci turned her head back, actually her face was a little pale; she bit her lower lip and her eyes shone with a strange look. Huang Rong was scared; she knew she said something wrong. “I am sorry, I talked nonsense,” she hastily said, “Good Sister, please don’t be offended.”
Mu Nianci spoke with a low voice, “You did not talk nonsense, it was I who messed up. I ... I have become his wife, but we did not ... we did not bow to the heaven and earth. I hate myself for not having a stronger self control ...” Speaking to this point tears came streaming down her face.
Seeing her miserable look Huang Rong stretched out her left arm to hold her shoulder. She wanted to say something to comfort her so after a while she pointed to Guo Jing and said, “Sister, you don’t have to feel sorry, it was nothing. That day in the Ox Village Jing Gege and I also became man and wife.”
As he heard this, Guo Jing was dumbstruck. He was blushing profusely and did not dare to look up; he only mumbled, “We . we did not . did not .”
Huang Rong laughed, “Don’t tell me you did not think about that?” she asked.
Guo Jing’s face was red from ear to ear; he lowered his head and said softly, “I was not being good.”
Huang Rong stretched her right arm and patted Guo Jing’s shoulder. “You want to become man and wife with me, and I like that very much. What do you mean you were not being good?” she said with a gentle voice.
Mu Nianci sighed and thought, “Although Sister Huang is extraordinarily smart, she is too young to understand the man-woman relationship. It is truly fortunate for her to meet such an honest and considerate fellow like this Brother Guo.”
“Sister,” Huang Rong asked, “And then what happened?”
Mu Nianci looked at the creek and said in low voice, “And then . and then . I heard commotion outside, like there was a fight going on. He told me not to make any noise, that it was the Iron Palm Clan’s internal affair, it had nothing to do with us. Some time later somebody knocked our door, saying that Qiu Bangzhu wanted to talk. He hastily got up and told me to hide in the bed and not to move. He lit up a lamp and someone came in. I looked through the curtain and to my surprise I saw that bad old man I met a while ago. I was worried to find out that he was the Clan Leader of the Iron Palm Clan; I feared he came to interrogate me about why I plotted against him. How would I know that . that he was the Clan Leader? Luckily he did not bring this matter up; actually Yang Kang and he discussed things like how to destroy the Beggar Clan and how to support the Jin army movement to the south.”
Huang Rong smiled, “Sister, those two old men are not the same person,” she said.
“Not the same person?” Mu Nianci was surprised.
Huang Rong laughed, “Those two are twin brothers; they look exactly alike. The one you flattened was called Qiu Qianzhang; his martial art was only so-so, all he could do was just some tricks to deceive people. This Qiu Bangzhu, Qiu Qianren is amazing. Luckily you beat the fake Clan Leader;
if you came across the real Clan Leader, with just one strike of his Iron Palm, I am afraid your little life would be difficult to protect.”
“That’s so,” Mu Nianci gloomily said, “Actually it would be better if I met with the real Qiu Bangzhu that day and if he struck me dead with one palm.”
Huang Rong laughed, “Our Brother Yang might not want to give you up,” she said.
Mu Nianci twisted her body around so that Huang Ron
g’s hand fell from her shoulder. “Don’t talk to me like that,” she said sternly.
Huang Rong stuck out her tongue and laughed, “All right, it’s me who don’t want to give you up.”
Mu Nianci stood up and said, “Brother Guo, Sister Huang, I am leaving. You two take care; be careful of the Iron Palm Clan’s evil scheme on the boat.”
Huang Rong hastily stood up and held her hand. “Good Sister, please don’t be angry,” she pleaded, “I won’t dare to talk nonsense anymore.”
Mu Nianci heaved a deep sigh, “I wasn’t angry with you, I ... I was grieving.”
“Why?” Huang Rong asked, “Did that boy Yang Kang provoke your anger?” She pulled Mu Nianci to sit back down.
Mu Nianci said, “That night from behind the curtain I heard Yang Kang and that old man surnamed Qiu discussing all kind of plans to betray our country and harm the people; the more I heard the angrier I became. I wanted very much to jump out and kill that old man. They were talking for a long time. Suddenly the commotion outside got louder. That old man said, ‘Xiao Wangye [Young Prince, lit. young king master], I am going to take a look. We’ll talk again later.’ Then he left the room.”
“That’s right,” Huang Rong interrupted, “He went out to pursue Jing Gege and me.”
“After that old man left,” Mu Nianci continued, “Yang Kang went back to make small talk with me. I asked him whether the things he discussed with that old man was a real thing or was he only pretending. He said, ‘We have become man and wife; I don’t need to conceal anything from you. It won’t be long before the Jin army will invade the south. We have received Iron Palm Clan’s great help to strike from both inside and outside. By attacking from two fronts, our victory is guaranteed.’ He was talking excitedly. He said that after the Great Jin destroyed the Song Dynasty, his father king, Zhao Wangye [Prince, lit. king master] will ascend to the great treasure, becoming the Emperor of the Great Jin; he will then be the crown prince. By that time riches and honor will be limitless. I listened without saying anything. He suddenly said, ‘Meizi, at that time you will be the Empress.’ I ... I could not hold my patience much longer; I slapped his face fiercely and ran out the door, anxiously rushed down the mountain.
