Peach Blossom Pavilion

by Mingmei Yip

  The two heads bobbed in the air like jumping beans. Mama said, "No problem. Since that day is the Lantern Festival, most of us will be out to celebrate anyway. I promise that you two will have the whole Peach Blossom to yourselves."

  "Good."

  A long silence. Mama squeezed out a meaningful grin. "But Ouyang furen, I thought you're married ...

  "Fang Rong." Instead of addressing her as Mama, now I deliberately called her by her whole name to show the change between us. Not only was I no longer under her control, I had become her superior (since I had the arrogance to call her by her whole name). "This is just for old times' sake. Anyway," I threw her a sharp glance, "this is none of your whoring business. Just do what I ask and don't ask too many questions; it'll never do you two any good. You understand?"

  "Yes, Ouyang furen," Mama said, her voice powerless as a boneless dog's.

  "One last thing. Don't ever tell anyone that you've seen me or the calligraphy."

  They barked like lost dogs at the sight of their master.

  I went to make a telephone call to ask my waiter to come up. When the black-tuxedoed and white-gloved young man escorted the gang of four to the door, I lifted my thumb and forefinger to aim at the four receding backs, then fired four imaginary shots, just for a foretaste of my upcoming spree.

  33

  Revenge

  In the evening of the fifteenth of the first lunar month, I hired a car and headed for Peach Blossom Pavilion. When I spotted the all-too-familiar pink building a hundred yards in front of me, I asked the driver to let me off so I could walk the short distance.

  "Miss, you want me to come back and take you home for your tuanyuan dinner?"

  "No, thanks." I smiled. "I think you should stop work early tonight and go home for your family reunion."

  I watched the car drive away before I started to walk.

  I had chosen this particular day because Fung and I would be left alone, and also because it seemed perfect to kill the destroyer of my family on the day of family reunion.

  "Take you home for your tuanyuan dinner." The driver's words kept spinning in my mind as I sauntered toward the home, or prison, that I'd been thrust into when I was thirteen. But instead of going home for dinner, I was now going "home" to carry out murder! I reached inside my coat's inner pocket and felt the knife. Feeling the sharp steel stirred both fear and determination. The knife was there just in case my main plan didn't work. I intended to get Fung drunk-never hard for me to do-then take the pistol he always carried and turn it on him.

  A few pedestrians scurried along the street in front of Peach Blossom, probably on their way home to eat the sweet, round dumplings symbolizing tuanyuan-reunion. After that, families would go out together to parks or temples to admire lanterns and read riddles.

  The popping of firecrackers and hammering of drums punctuated the silence of the evening, welcoming the new year and scaring away evil spirits. I rubbed my cheeks and pulled the shawl around my chest. Suddenly I thought of Teng Xiong and wondered where she might be. I hoped she had not been caught, for if she had, it was certain she'd be tortured, or even killed.

  "Teng Xiong!" I said aloud. Hearing her name ring in the cold air reassured me. I hoped she was still alive, even if fleeing for her life to the remotest corner of the world. I continued to walk, humming a Peking opera tune to calm myself. The moon now appeared low on the horizon, looking intimidatingly huge like a spiked iron ball.

  I whispered to its enigmatic, masklike face, "Justice will be done! "

  The two stone lions at the gate appeared to be smiling, as if they were welcoming me home. Did they know that I only came back to eliminate their big protector of sexual Dharma?

  Now, a few feet from the turquoise pavilion, Fang Rong suddenly materialized in front of the gate. Dressed in a purple jacket and pants, she looked like an overripe eggplant. Little Red followed right behind her, holding a lantern in the shape of the moon goddess.

  Mama squeezed out a huge grin. When she spoke, her voice oozed honey. "Ouyangfuren, welcome back to Peach Blossom!"

  Determined not to waste any of my precious breath on nonsense, I came straight to the point. "Has Big Master Fung arrived?"

  "Not yet, he said he has to finish his reunion dinner with his family before he comes. He'll be here in an hour."

  "That's fine. Is the room cleaned and flowered and perfumed as I've instructed?"

  "Of course."

  "All right, then you can leave and go celebrate the Lantern Festival."

  "What about Little Red, do you want her to stay behind to serve you?"

  "No."

  "But our two guards," she pointed to the two oafs standing a few feet away, "they-"

  "Tonight Big Master Fung and I do not want to be disturbed."

  "Of course, Ouyangfuren."

  "But Ah Ping can stay, since I may want her to cook more food."

  "Sure." Mama smiled mischievously. "Anyway, she's crazy."

  "All right, then you can leave now. I know my way around here."

  "Yes. Ouyang furen." She threw me a licentious-cum-meaningful glance. "Have a very wonderful evening."

  "You can be sure I will."

  I waited until a car pulled up to take Mama, Little Red, and the two guards away before I turned to walk inside Peach Blossom.

  My heart began to pound; everything looked so familiar, and yet so strange. Memories flooded back-when I'd been a little girl of thirteen entering this beautiful mansion thinking that it was a rich man's residence. In the distance, the pavilion's upturned eaves looked like welcoming hands luring me back to this domain of the pleasurable and decadent. The lovely maidens on the garden walls seemed to wink, their mischievous glances following me as I strode up the winding, cobblestone path beside the bamboo grove. I paused to look at the pond and dropped my gaze to the patches of gold, orange, and white shimmering under the moonlight. Oh, how I wished I were a carp, so detached and carefree. And oblivious to the upcoming murder! I cast a lingering glance at the courtyard, then turned around to walk toward the main building.

  Inside, I climbed steps, turned corners, and passed through corridors. Finding myself outside Fang Rong and Wu Qiang's room on the second floor, I halted. In all the years I'd spent in Peach Blossom, except for a few glimpses and peeks, I'd never really had a good look at, let alone entered, this forbidden chamber. Now the opportunity was too good to resist. I turned the knob with all my strength until my hand was sore. But nothing happened. The round lump of copper adamantly remained in the same position. Unwilling to yield to defeat, I took off my hairpin, inserted it in the key hole, and twisted. There was a soft click. I pushed and the door, to my surprise, glided open.

  I found a small table lamp and switched it on, revealing the secret interior-a deep purple zitan table, a chest with bronze hinges in the shape of bats, a full-length gilded mirror, a huge luohan bed ... Then my eyes fell on a tall, elaborately carved cupboard inlaid with mother of pearl. I dashed toward it, pulled open its doors, and saw what I'd been looking for-the safe. I began to twist its lock but to no avail. However, when my hand finally let go of the lock, my feet were unwilling to leave the room.

  Suddenly I noticed a chest. I tugged at its drawers but with no result. Then I used my hairpin again, but no matter how hard I twisted and turned it in the hole, the drawers refused to budge. Desperate, I used my full force to yank open the top one. It worked. I tried pulling on the other knobs and discovered that now that the master lock had been broken, the rest could be opened. I began to shuffle through the papers, filling the room with sounds like splashing water. Letters, notes, documents, receipts, contracts stared at me, as if begging to be read. At the top of one drawer was the photograph of a very young and pretty girl with a sweet expression.

  "Who's this?" I asked, then took out the picture and scrutinized it more. When my eyes alighted on the mole staring like a third eye between the brows, I realized this girl was none other than the teenage Mama! No wonder she was named F
ang Rong-Beautiful Countenance. It was hard to believe that the years could be so cruel to a person's face-or was this change the work of her own decaying heart? Though stories tell of ugly ducklings turning into beautiful swans, life usually presents the opposite. Before Fang Rong had been poisoned by the life of the wind and dust, had she once been innocent? Or was she just born wicked? Had she left her Buddha nature (as Mother insisted we all had) in some cobwebbed corner of a past life?

  I let out a heavy sigh, then put back the picture.

  My hands continued to shift through papers until three characters burned into my eyes-Hu Xiang Xiang.

  My heart fluttered like oil sputtering on water.

  I picked up the letter and recognized my mother's handwriting. There were more-altogether ten-stained, yellowed letters from Peking. From my mother.

  I tore open one and read:

  My dear daughter Xiang Xiang:

  This is already my seventh letter that I've written you over a period of six weeks. Why don't you answer? I want very much to go to Shanghai to see you but can't because I don't have the money to undertake such a long journey. Besides, the temple is developing very fast and they need me here every day, almost every minute.

  However, Aunty Fang wrote to me a few times describing your situation. She said you've grown stronger and prettier and are very much liked by your master and other members of the household. In one letter she told me that two young men-one the master's son and the other his friend-are both infatuated with you. She hopes one day you can be betrothed to one of them. Even though I don't put too much hope on matters like this, I still feel glad to hear about it.

  I can't write long. Not only do my eyes hurt, but, as a nun, I am not supposed to be attached to worldly affairs-including my family. Moreover, I simply can't afford to write you very often, for stamps are costly and hard to obtain. But of course I can't help it. I only hope the Mother Abbess won't find out that I've been writing to my daughter. She's a very nice lady, but unfortunately, at eighty-nine, she's growing weaker and more obstinate each day.

  Xiang Xiang, I don't mind if you have no time to write. I just want you to have a peaceful life.

  Your mother

  December 19, 1918

  P.S. I hope that by now you've received the top and pants that I sewed for you. And the pair of cloth shoes that I embroidered with orchids?

  Tears streamed down my cheeks. But I had no time for sorrow. Starting to feel nervous about Fung's impending arrival, I stuffed all the letters into my coat pocket and hurried to the welcomingguests hall. Here I took off my coat and began to preen in front of the mirror-batting my long lashes; flicking my eyes this way and that; wetting my lips; squeezing my breasts together to have deeper cleavage. Now face flushed and lips slightly parted, I looked as if I were longing for passionate love, or a brain-emptying fuck. Nobody would have guessed that my heart was now beating frantically, not out of passion, but fear.

  I stood up and began to pace. My ears listened to the murderous clicks of my heels synchronizing with that of my heart beats. My gaze fell on the hundred roses I'd ordered Fang Rong to provide, now silent in their vases, about to witness a brutal bloodletting. I closed my eyes and inhaled the decadent aroma. I would be a prostitute one last time, just until I put a knife in Fung's heart or a bullet into his head.

  I didn't know how long I'd been pacing until I was startled by frantic knockings on the door. I'd been waiting for this moment for ten long years and now it was finally about to happen! I opened it to reveal Big Master Fung-my favored guest and my bitterest enemy-who scrutinized me with eyes glowing like lanterns. Behind him towered two giant mountains-his two bodyguards.

  I put on my best dimpled smile and spoke through the door, "Aii-ya, Big Master Fung," I tilted my head toward the two moving muscles. "I don't want them near us. Haven't you forgotten that tonight is our reunion night?"

  He reached to pinch my cheek. "But I need them to keep an eye in case-

  "Aii-ya, Big Master Fung, don't worry," I shifted my feet and wriggled my waist, "tonight everyone is out to see the lanterns! Besides, you know, I haven't seen you for a century ..."

  "All right, all right, my little pretty. You've persuaded me."

  When he was about to signal the guards away, I placed my hand on his arm. "This is a special night, Big Master Fung; please give them money to buy wine to celebrate."

  "Ah, Xiang Xiang," Fung looked at me curiously, "I haven't seen you for a few years and you've turned into such a sophisticated woman! "

  After the two guards had left, I invited Fung in. Then I kicked the door shut and flung myself into my enemy's arms as if he were my sweetest love. Fung kissed me passionately on my lips, his hand reaching inside my dress to squeeze my breast. When we finally disentangled ourselves, I helped him to sit on the sofa, take off his shoes, then served him food-just like before.

  While we were eating, drinking, and making small talk, his bony hand, like a little beggar's, kept reaching to grab me. My hands kept his wineglass full, as my eyes kept shooting him soul-sucking glances.

  He asked me how and why had I run away and what had I been doing since.

  I picked the biggest shrimp and put it on his plate. "Big Master Fung, please don't listen to all the rumors spread by Mama and De. I didn't run, but walk away. Because I was not sold into Peach Blossom, I didn't owe them any money."

  He lifted one brow. "Eh? Is that true? Xiang Xiang, you've never told me about your past. Why don't you tell me now?"

  I felt a jolt inside. To calm myself, I lifted my cup and took a long sip. "Aii-ya, Big Master Fung, tonight is our reunion night, so let's enjoy ourselves. I'll tell you about that later."

  "All right, all right." He paused to pick up a piece of duck liver the color of mud soaked with blood, then popped it into his mouth. Chewing noisily for a while, he turned to look me in the eyes. "Xiang Xiang, why did you come back here?"

  My heart skipped a beat. I yanked the handkerchief from my sleeve and flung it at Fung's flushed face. "Big Master Fung, what a question! I came back because I just can't stop thinking of you!"

  Suddenly I thought: Could I use my handkerchief to strangle this heap of moving wrinkles right now?

  Eyes glazed over with alcohol, he said, "Is that true, my little fox spirit? "

  I nodded, flicking my eyes to meet his.

  "Why didn't Mama punish you?"

  I chuckled. "You think they're so stupid as to punish your fa vorite sister? I'm but a worthless whore; it's you they're afraid of, Big Master Fung."

  Fung first looked pleased, then lost in thoughts. He sipped more wine, and when he looked at me again, his expression turned serious.

  My heart almost stopped. Did he sense something wrong?

  But he said, "Xiang Xiang, why don't you marry me?"

  I was so surprised to hear this that I didn't know how to respond.

  "Xiang Xiang, why hesitate? I'll give you a very good life. I love you.

  Right then Teng Xiong's image flashed across my mind. Had he caught and murdered her? I conjured in my mind pictures of her body-gnawed by wild dogs; hanging limp from a tree; floating on a river turned red from blood spilling from her mutilated torso.

  To collect myself I took a sip of my wine, popped a piece of dried bean curd into my mouth, and chewed meditatively. I refilled Fung's cup, then threw him a glance horny enough to melt his heart while hardening his stalk. "Big Master Fung, how do I know that you really love me?"

  "Xiang Xiang," he pulled out from his pocket a velvet box, "open it; see what I've brought to prove my love for you."

  When I clicked open the box, my eyes fell on a dragon. Though small, it was exquisitely crafted and animated with qil I could almost see the energy emanating from the sinuous body inlaid with hundreds of pave diamonds. The dragon's eyes were two big rubies, and its gold claws and tail stretched elegantly. I picked up the brooch and moved it this way and that for the diamonds to cast their brilliance on the mirrored wall. A dragon!
Fung had remembered I was born in the year of the dragon and so he'd brought me one to celebrate our reunion day.

  Tears pooled in my eyes. Fung could not have known why the gift touched my heart. It made me remember how Baba would tell me that any baby born in the year of the dragon was considered extremely lucky. That was why he had always predicted I'd become the first eminent woman zhuang yuan, who'd bring prestige and glory to our family and ancestors. "Feilong zaitian-dragon soaring in the sky" had been Baba's favorite phrase to predict his daughter's bright future.

  Tenderly Fung reached to wipe my eyes with his handkerchief. "Don't cry, Xiang Xiang, your suffering will soon be over. If you marry me, not only will you have the best clothes and food and jewelry in the whole world," he paused, then spoke again his voice filled with passion, " I'll also pamper you like you were my daughter."

  His daughter! I bit my inner lip till I tasted blood. I looked at Fung-a ghost coming back to haunt me from a past life. We stared into each other's eyes for what seemed an entire incarnation before he suddenly pulled me into his arms. "Oh Xiang Xiang, Xiang Xiang." He kept cooing as if he were singing a lullaby for his dead daughter.