by Bangqing Han
“Well, you did say the wrong thing. Call her ‘maestro’ if you will, but why ‘little maestro’?” Twin Jade commented.
“And what’s wrong with ‘little maestro’?” Pearlie asked.
“There was nothing wrong with it before, but when there’s a grown-up maestro around, it sounds different,” said Twin Jade.
Modesty lent Twin Jade his support. “That’s right. We’d better be careful, too.”
“Who’d bother with that! Just don’t pay her any attention,” Pearlie said.
Modesty and Twin Jade, taking Pearlie with them, left the stone chambers. Instead of following Dragon Range to its peak, they turned west through the dragon’s chin, which was a tunnel that led to the western side of Panorama Hall. It was a slightly longer route but far less strenuous. When they arrived, they saw that though the smoke of making tea had not yet dispersed, it was all quiet. They figured that the others were probably taking walks nearby, so they told Pearlie to fetch water for them to wash their hands as they waited. A while later, the menservants on duty came up to the hall to light the lamps. It was not until twilight closed in that the others came back, couple after couple.
Amid talk and laughter, the evening banquet was served. It so happened that nobody was in particularly high spirits, so they parted early. Modesty Zhu, who had been staying with Twin Jade in the lake house for recuperation, was to move once he got well, but Amity Zhu and White Fragrance came to the garden just then and decided to stay there because of its spacious rooms, so Modesty decided to stay put. Although their bedrooms were not connected, they were just divided by one vacant room in between that served as a sitting area. Green Fragrance had previously stayed in Panorama Hall, with an extra bed installed behind Devotion’s room. Now that Flora Zhang was there, Green Fragrance felt it was not a convenient arrangement, so she also moved into the lake house. The rear half of the sitting area was turned into her bedroom, and she went in and out through her elder sister’s room.
That night, the Zhu brothers and their girls came back together to the sitting area, where they parted company. In his room, Amity Zhu smoked opium and talked desultorily with White Fragrance. He mentioned the mourners’ group the next day and said they had to go to bed early. Seeing that Green Fragrance was not there, White Fragrance thought she was at Devotion’s, so she told her servant girl, “Take a lantern and go and look in on them. The gaslights will go out later; how is she to walk back by herself?”
“She’s right here in the courtyard,” the servant girl replied.
“Then tell her to come in! What’s she doing in the courtyard?”
The servant girl went out but did not report back. After a while, White Fragrance called out loudly and heard a faint reply from outside, “Coming.”
It took another long while, during which Amity smoked his fill and blew out the opium lamp, before Green Fragrance hurried in to greet her brother-in-law and elder sister briefly and then turned to go.
White Fragrance saw something hanging out of her sleeve pocket; it looked like an abacus. “What’s that you’re carrying?”
Smiling, Green Fragrance airily waved her arm, “It belongs to Fifth Young Master.” So saying, she walked into her own room and closed the door.
Amity undressed and went to bed first. When White Fragrance got into bed, she again called out to Green Fragrance, “You should go to bed, too. We need to be up early tomorrow.”
Green Fragrance grunted assent. After that, White Fragrance lay down and did not bother about her. As she was afraid of oversleeping and being laughed at, she had to take extra care.
She was in a deep slumber when Amity suddenly turned over. He continued to sleep, but she was wakened. She opened her eyes and wondered what time it was and then lifted the bed curtain and got up softly. She turned up the oil lamp to look at the clock on the table and found that it was only two o’clock. Just as she got ready to go back to sleep, she heard a squeaking noise in Green Fragrance’s room. She listened closely and realized it was not mice. “Green Fragrance?” she called out tentatively.
“Are you calling me, Elder Sister?” Green Fragrance asked.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?” White Fragrance said.
“I’m going to sleep now.”
“It’s two o’clock; what are you doing staying up?”
Green Fragrance did not answer. She hastily put things away and went to bed.
White Fragrance had difficulty going back to sleep. Frogs were croaking noisily, and in the distance cocks were crowing, dogs barking, children crying—noises that shouldn’t have been in the garden and should have been inaudible if they were outside the garden. She couldn’t figure it out. Then the night watchman came round, striking his bamboo clapper. She listened to the beat and soon entered the land of sweet dreams.
Luckily, the next day she did not get up too late. Just when she had finished her toilet, a manservant informed her through her maid that all the masters and maestros were to meet in Phoenix Pavilion for breakfast. Amity Zhu answered, “We’ll be there right away.”
Modesty Zhu in the next room also came over to ask: “Are you ready?”
“Yes, we are,” White Fragrance replied.
“Then we’ll finish dressing and go together,” suggested Modesty.
“Good,” White Fragrance said.
Green Fragrance in the inner room heard Modesty’s voice and called out, “Fifth Young Master!”
Modesty went in and asked, “What is it?”
Green Fragrance took the cage and the porcelain bowl and handed them back to him. “Take these. I don’t want them anymore.”
Modesty saw that there were two crickets in the cage, one was the shell blue with a broken leg, the other was an oil gourd.
“Where did you get that one?” he smiled and asked.
Green Fragrance sighed. “I don’t even want to talk about it. Last night, I went through a lot of trouble to catch another one so there could be a fight, but this accursed creature would only run away. I tried my damnedest to make it fight, and it tried its damnedest to run away. Now that’s infuriating!”
“I told you it wasn’t any use, but you wouldn’t believe me. If you like, I’ll give you a pair to take home and play with,” he said pleasantly.
“Thank you, but I don’t want them. The mere sight of them makes me angry.”
He smiled and hurried back to his room with the cage and bowl to tell Twin Jade to get changed and go. The two parties came out to the sitting area simultaneously. With their maids and servant girls in tow, they walked out of the lake house together and made for Phoenix Pavilion, where all the others were waiting. Greetings were exchanged, and they sat down for breakfast.
After breakfast, the steward, Felicity Xia, hurried forth to report, “All the funeral gifts and other necessities were dispatched quite a while ago. As to personnel, we have sent two ushers. Would a master of ceremonies be needed?”
Harmony Qi replied after pondering for a while, “No, just send an announcer.”
Steward Xia went out to dispatch the order. In a moment, the menservants who would accompany them on the visit, led by an announcer wearing a summer hat with a feathered crown, were clustered outside, waiting for them.
Harmony Qi looked around and asked, “Are the carriages ready?”
“Yes, sir,” the menservants reported.
Harmony then said to the others, “Let’s go.”
Upon hearing this, everybody stood up with his girl. Seven guests and eight courtesans, together with their entourage of menservants and maids, came down the steps of Phoenix Pavilion and made for the stone arch. Beyond this arch a driveway led straight to the avenue outside the garden; more than a dozen carriages were waiting there. They boarded the carriages and drove out of the garden gate in a single file.
Soon they were on Fourth Avenue. Jade Tao saw the three golden words “East Prosperity Alley” on the archway of the alley. The shops on either side looked the same as before. A fortuneteller’s st
all at the mouth of the alley had a picture showing the significance of different facial features; it was something he used to see in his comings and goings. The sight was unbearable. His heart contracted, and he burst into tears. That made River Blossom cry, too. Luckily, all the carriages soon came to a stop. The ushers stood waiting outside the alley, and the group alighted and walked in. Afraid of being laughed at, Jade Tao walked behind Cloud Tao on his way in.
When they got to the Lis’ door, Jade was startled to see that not only had Water Blossom’s name been stripped off but even River Blossom’s had disappeared. A notice written on yellow paper was posted on the white wall opposite, and eight monks were chanting the Sutra of Great Compassion in the parlor—a rite to console and guide the dead. Smoke from the incense they were burning filled the room. The ushers asked the group to sit in River Blossom’s room for a while. It happened that Cloudlet Chen was there, and his presence surprised Harmony Qi. Cloud Tao walked up immediately and made the introduction, recounting how he had asked Cloudlet to help out. Only then did Harmony Qi greet Cloudlet with a salute, saying, “Pity we haven’t met before.”2
Everyone sat down wherever they pleased. Presently the ushers invited them to do their obeisances. Harmony Qi wanted to perform the rites himself, but Cloud Tao tried to dissuade him.
“Don’t worry; I have my reasons. Anyway, why should you be so modest on the Lis’ behalf?” said Harmony. So Cloud said no more.
Harmony looked around and found that only Jade Tao was missing. After looking everywhere for him in vain, Cloud Tao suspected he had gone to the rear part of the house. Sure enough, he was found in Fair Sister Li’s room. Harmony saw that the red circles around Jade’s eyes were tinted with purple and swollen to the size of lichees. River Blossom, who walked behind him, had a tear-stained face and tear marks on the white mourning blouse she had just changed into. Deeply moved, Harmony nodded and sighed but could not very well say anything. Together with the others, they went past the platform for Buddhist chanting and swarmed into Water Blossom’s room.
This room now looked completely different. All the furniture had been cleared away. An off-white curtain completely covering the paneled doors at the back of the room served as a backdrop in front of which three square tables had been put together as an altar. On the altar was a three-foot multicolored paper structure housing the tablet for the spirit of the deceased. Offerings set out in dishes were piled high on the table; major items such as dragon incense, candles for the night watch, and a paper pavilion for rice were all there.
Now, behind the white cloth curtain, Fair Sister and the other relatives started wailing. Fair Sister’s adopted son was too shy and timid to come out, so River Blossom was the only one to kneel beside the altar. The announcer, holding a tray with three silver cups in it, stood facing sideways, waiting for the chief mourner to step up.
::
1. [A cold seat is supposedly harmful to pregnancy. Devotion Yin is teasing Twin Jade here. E.H.]
2. [Qi and Chen belong to very different social circles. Under normal circumstances, Qi would have been far beyond Chen’s reach. E.H.]
CHAPTER 47 :: Cloudlet Chen has the good fortune of meeting a benefactor, and Snow Scent gets predictions for a male child
Harmony Qi went up to the offering table in ordinary rather than mourning clothes and bowed respectfully. The announcer waited on him as he made his offerings of incense and wine, after which he bowed again, stepped back, and told Aroma Su to kowtow on his behalf, which she did four times. The others followed suit. Second Bai Gao was next, and Wenjun did the kowtow. After she had stood up, she knelt down and kowtowed again four more times. He whispered to ask why.
“The first time was for you. I myself should do obeisance to her, too,” she replied.
He smiled.
Devotion Yin was going to have Green Fragrance kowtow for him, but she refused, making the excuse, “I can’t go before Elder Sister.”
“You’re quite right, too,” Devotion smiled and then told Flora Zhang to do it for him.
When White Fragrance had kowtowed on behalf of Amity Zhu, Green Fragrance joined her to pay her respects. After that, everybody had a tacit understanding: when Modesty Zhu had bowed, Twin Jade kowtowed; after Cloud Tao had bowed, Belle Tan kowtowed. Finally, it was Jade Tao’s turn. As he bowed, Harmony Qi commented loudly, “River Blossom is a member of the bereaved family and can’t take on two roles. Jade will have to kowtow himself.”
This was exactly what Jade wanted. He kowtowed after bowing, praying to the departed as he did so. Nobody could make out what he said. After he had finished praying, he kowtowed again and then stood up with tears in his eyes. The announcer then took a scroll from the offering table and unrolled it with both hands. It was an elegy in rhyme written by Second Bai, giving a sentimental and sad account of Water Blossom’s life. The announcer knelt by the table and recited it in a sonorous voice, after which Harmony Qi bowed again and burnt it as an offering.
The ceremony over, Jade Tao took advantage of the bustle to slip away, taking River Blossom with him. The party returned to River Blossom’s room. Cloudlet Chen stood facing sideways to welcome them in, but the din of bells and drums outside made conversation impossible. Belle Tan and Flora Zhang said, “Now that it’s over, please move on to our place.”
“Very well,” Harmony Qi said and invited Cloudlet Chen to join them. When Cloudlet mumbled that he did not deserve the honor, Harmony appealed to Cloud Tao to persuade him. Only then did Cloudlet agree to go along. As they were leaving, they found that Jade Tao had gone missing again, so Big Goldie was sent to look for him, but she did not report back.
Harmony frowned. “Well, I give up!”
“I’ll go get him,” Cloud Tao said at once. He rushed to Fair Sister Li’s room and saw River Blossom leaning against the door while Fair Sister and Jade stood inside facing each other, weeping as they talked. Cloud stamped his feet in frustration. “We’re leaving! All the others are waiting for you!”
Fair Sister also told him to hurry. “Please go now, Second Young Master. We’ll talk about it later.”
Jade had no choice but to follow Cloud. When everybody saw him, they all said, “Here he is! Here he is!”
“Are we all here now?” Harmony Qi asked.
“There’s still River Blossom,” said Aroma.
As she spoke, River Blossom came into the room supported by Beckon. The girl walked up to Harmony, knelt down, and kowtowed to him once. Astonished, he asked what it was for. Beckon answered, “Mother tells her to thank Your Excellency and the masters, maestros, and misses.”
Harmony waved her away, saying, “Don’t be ridiculous. Thanks are not allowed.”
Aroma, who was standing beside him, pulled River Blossom to her, helped her take off the mourning clothes, and then handed them to Beckon to put away. Meanwhile, Harmony had stood up and asked Cloudlet to walk ahead of him. But Cloudlet dared not take precedence; he backed away with his arms pressed against his sides.
“There’s no need for politeness. I’ll lead the way,” Devotion Yin said with a smile and strode out of the room. One by one, the others followed him out. At the mouth of East Prosperity Alley, he heard an usher call behind him, “Mr. Yin!” Overtaking him, the usher reported: “The carriages are at South Brocade Alley, I’ll go get them.”
“There’s no need for carriages. Go ask His Excellency,” Devotion said.
The usher turned around to ask for instructions. Harmony also said, “It’s no distance at all; we’ll walk.” The usher answered “yes, sir.” Harmony told him to tell all the attendants to withdraw, leaving just two menservants. The usher answered “yes, sir” again and stood to one side.
The party straggled along the street in twos and threes and soon found they had arrived at West Civic Peace Alley. Wenjun Yao, who was at the head of the group, rushed upstairs. Devotion Yin was the next to arrive. Instead of going in, he stood at the door to wait for the others. When Harmony Qi led them there, Devoti
on stretched out his hand to invite them in.
“So, you’re one of the family?” Harmony teased him.
Devotion smiled without protesting and followed them into the parlor. A manservant came up and submitted an invitation to Cloud Tao, who glanced at it and stuffed it in his pocket. No one paid this any attention.
Belle Tan was waiting behind the door to help Harmony Qi up the stairs, but Harmony pretended to be angry with her. “D’you think I can’t walk? I may be getting on, but I’m as good as any young man.” So saying, he lifted the hem of his robe and walked nimbly up the stairs. The maid raised the bamboo curtain and invited him in.
He looked around Belle’s room and spoke a few words of praise.
“It’s not much good. Please take a seat, Your Excellency,” Belle replied casually.
Harmony asked Cloudlet to take precedence, and it took some time for both of them to sit down. The rest of the group came in one after another and just sat around informally. They filled the room. Her face shining with perspiration, Wenjun Yao picked up a corner of her jacket to fan herself. Second Bai commented, “If you’re bothered by the heat, why did you rush in like that just now?”
“I wasn’t rushing. I was just afraid to be seen by Lai the Turtle’s lackeys; that’s why I dashed in.”
Seeing it was hot in the crowded room, Harmony Qi said to the others, “We have yet to see Flora’s room. Let’s pay our visit.”
Everyone said, “Good.” Flora got up to wait respectfully for them, saying, “Would everybody please come this way?” Cloudlet Chen did not stand on ceremony this time. He walked a step ahead of Harmony Qi, and they went over to Flora’s room. Some of the others accompanied them, while the rest just strayed off, leaving Amity Zhu to smoke his fill of opium. Thoroughly downcast, Jade Tao and River Blossom remained in Belle’s room. Cloud Tao told the maid to give the order for the menservants to set up the dinner table and then went over to Flora’s room to entertain the others for a while. He took the first opportunity to return to Belle’s room and ask Jade, “What was Fair Sister Li talking to you about?”
