The Golden Lotus, Volume 1

by Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng

  Words of this kind were pleasing to Ximen Qing’s ears, and he was more delighted than ever. Afterwards all the domestic affairs were entrusted to this young man. He dealt with the letters and present lists. Whenever Ximen’s friends came to visit him, Jingji was invited to keep them company, and he was always about. Nobody could have suspected the treacherous villainy of this young man.

  The time passed very quickly and it was soon the end of the eleventh month. Ximen Qing went to a party at Chang Zhijie’s house. The party finished early, and, before it was time to light the lamps, he, with Ying Bojue, Xie Xida, and Zhu Shinian, got on their horses and started back. When they left the house, the snow clouds were very heavy.

  “Brother,” Ying Bojue said, “if we go home now there is nothing for us to do. It is a long time since we saw Guijie. It is going to snow. Let us go and see her, like Meng Hao-jan walking on the snow in search of Chunmei.”

  “It is a very good idea,” Zhu Shinian said. “You give her twenty taels a month. If you never go there, she gets it all for nothing.”

  The three men badgered Ximen until he agreed to go to the house in East Street. It was dark when they got there. The maid was sweeping the floor in the hall. The old procuress and Guiqing came to greet them. They sat down.

  “Guijie has enjoyed your hospitality,” the old woman said, “and she thanks your Sixth Lady for the handkerchiefs and the flowers.”

  “I am sorry I treated her so shabbily,” Ximen said, “but it was getting late, and, as soon as the guests left, I sent her home.”

  The old woman offered them tea and a maid set the table.

  “Where is Guijie?” Ximen asked.

  “She waited for you a long time,” the old woman said, “but you did not come, and today, as it is her aunt’s birthday, she has gone in a chair to wish her many happy returns.”

  As a matter of fact, Guijie had not gone to her aunt’s. When she found that Ximen Qing did not come to see her for a long time, she welcomed the attentions of a gentleman called Ding Shuangqiao, the son of a silk merchant of Hangzhou. He had come with a thousand taels’ worth of silk to sell, and was living at an inn. He defrauded his father and went to play in the bawdy house. He paid ten taels of silver and two dresses of heavy Hang-zhou silk, and spent two nights with Guijie. He was, in fact, drinking in her room when Ximen suddenly arrived. The old woman sent them both to a secluded little room in the inner court to wait till he had gone.

  Ximen Qing believed what the old woman told him. “If Guijie is not in,” he said, “let us have some wine and we will wait for her.” The old woman went to the kitchen and hastily got something ready. Guiqing played for them and sang a new song. They guessed fingers and drank.

  Then something happened. Ximen Qing went to the back court to change his clothes and suddenly heard laughter coming from a room there. When he had done what he went to do, he crept to the window and peeped in. Guijie was drinking with a southerner who was wearing a square cap. Ximen could not contain himself. He went back again, threw over the wine table, and smashed all the plates and dishes to pieces. Then he called his four boys and told them to tear the curtains from the windows. His three friends tried to stop him, but Ximen was in a fury. He determined to tie the man and the girl together and throw them out of the door. Ding was not a very brave young man. When he heard the noise, he crawled under the bed and implored Guijie to save his life.

  “Keep quiet,” said Guijie, “Mother is here. It is quite a usual thing in our house. Let them make as much noise as they like, don’t you stir.”

  The old woman saw Ximen devastating the place and still tried to lie and argue with him. He would not listen but urged his boys to break up the house. He would have struck the old woman, but fortunately for her his three friends prevented him. He made a great to-do, and swore that he would never enter the house again. Then he went home in the snow.

  CHAPTER 21

  Wu Yueniang Relents

  The north wind pierces like an icy torrent

  The powdered snow seems whiter

  A steam of mist rises from the beasts

  But it is warm within the silken curtains

  Where dainty fingers tear apart fresh oranges

  And pluck the lute strings.

  Who goes to stand on guard?

  A low voice asks.

  The third night watch has sounded on the city wall.

  It is better not to go. The horses slip upon the icy road

  And there is no one now upon the way.

  It was late when Ximen Qing set out for home. When he reached there, the boys opened the gate. He dismounted and, walking over the snow, found the door to the back court partly open. Everything seemed quiet and, thinking that this was strange, he stood there silently, hidden by the screen. As he waited, listening, Xiaoyu came from the room and set a table in the passage.

  Since Wu Yueniang had ceased to speak to her husband, she had abstained from rich food three times a month, and, every day that had a seven in it, paid worship to her star and burned incense. This she did, imploring Heaven to change her husband’s heart. Ximen Qing himself knew nothing of this. The maid set out the table, and, in a little while, Yueniang in her most beautiful dress came out and burned incense in the middle of the court. Then she bowed low towards the Heavens and prayed: “I am she who married Ximen Qing. My husband loves light women, and, though he is now of middle age, he has no son to carry on his name. He has six wives, but all are childless and there will be none to worship at our tomb. Day and night, my heart is heavy within me because I have no son to lean upon. Here then I swear: I will pray every night to the Three Great Lights of Heaven. I beseech you to save my husband. Make him amend his ways. Cause him to forsake things that are vain and turn with all his heart to the things of his own household. Let one of us six women, I care not which, soon bear a son that so our future may be secure. This is my only prayer.”

  Secretly she went forth into the sweet night

  The courtyard was filled with fragrant mist

  And a strange light illumined the snow,

  There she prayed to Heaven,

  And paced in loneliness through the long night.

  When he heard Yueniang’s prayer, Ximen’s heart was touched by shame. “Truly,” he said to himself, “I have not appreciated her as I should. She loves me and is a true wife.” He could hold back no longer. He came from behind the screen and took her in his arms.

  Yueniang had not expected that he would come home while the snow was so heavy. She was startled and opened the door of her room, but her husband held her closely. “Sister,” he said to her, “though I should die, I could never realize too well the goodness of your heart. You love me, and I have wronged you. I have made your heart cold. Now I am sorry.”

  “The snow is so thick it has made you mistake the door,” Yueniang said. “This is not your room and I am not a respectable woman. What have you and I to do with one another? I have no wish to see you. Why should you come and bother me? Though I live for a thousand years I never wish to see your face again.”

  Ximen Qing carried her into her room. In the lamplight she looked even more beautiful. She was wearing a scarlet coat and a soft yellow skirt. There was a dainty ornament in her hair. He could not help loving her.

  “I have been a fool for a long time,” he said. “I have not taken your good advice and I have misinterpreted your intentions. I have been like those who did not recognize the jade of the Jing Mountain and thought it but a piece of common stone. Now I know that you are indeed a lady. You must forgive me.”

  “I am not she whom your heart desires,” Yueniang said. “I do not know what you are talking about. What good advice have I ever given you? If you insist on staying here, please do not speak to me. Indeed I find your presence most distasteful. Kindly remove yourself at once, or I shall be compelled to call the maid to drive you out.”

  “Today,” Ximen said, “I have had my fill of anger. That is why I came home though the snow was s
o heavy. I should like to tell you what the trouble was about.”

  “Trouble or no trouble,” Yueniang said, “I have no desire to hear you. I do not live for you. Pray go and tell the person who does.”

  Finding that Yueniang would not condescend even to look at him, Ximen Qing knelt down, like a little boy, crying, “Sister! Sister!” all the time. Yueniang would have nothing to do with him. “You are an utterly shameless fellow. I shall call the maid,” she cried. But when Xiaoyu came in, Ximen Qing stood up and began to think of a plan for getting rid of her.

  “It is snowing,” he said. “Hadn’t you better bring the table from the courtyard?”

  “I have already done so,” Xiaoyu told him.

  Yueniang could not help laughing. “You worthless rascal,” she said. “Now you’re trying to play tricks with my maid.” Xiaoyu disappeared and Ximen Qing again knelt down. “If it were not for common humanity,” Yueniang said at last, “I would have nothing to do with you, not for a hundred years.”

  Ximen rose, found a seat for himself, and ordered Yuxiao to bring some tea. Then he told his wife what had happened that afternoon in the bawdy house. “I have taken an oath never to go there again,” he said.

  “I don’t care whether you go or not,” Yueniang retorted. “You have poured out gold and silver like water to get that girl, and the moment you stay away, she sets out to find another lover. And with women of that sort you can never be sure of their hearts, even if you can make sure of their bodies. You can’t put a seal on her, and seal her up.”

  “You are quite right,” Ximen said. He sent the maid away, and began to undress, imploring Yueniang to be gracious to him.

  “Today,” she said, “I have allowed you to sit on my bed. That is enough. I am surprised you dare ask for any more. I shall certainly never allow it.”

  “Look at this fellow,” Ximen said, making his intentions still more obvious. “He’s another who is angry and won’t speak. He opens his eye, but not a word has he to say for himself.”

  “You dirty rascal!” Yueniang cried. “Do you think I would look at you, even with my eyes half shut?”

  Ximen Qing was not in a mood to bandy words. He set her white legs over his shoulders, and had his way. Their delight in each other was like that of the butterfly, as it sips the nectar from the blossom. Beauty and love were theirs in the fullest measure. Fragrance as of orchid and musk seemed to pass from one to the other. Ximen Qing, in the seventh heaven of delight, murmured, “Darling,” and Yueniang answered him in a soft low voice. Soon they were sleeping, their faces close pressed together.

  The next morning, Meng Yulou went to see Pan Jinlian. Before she opened the door, she asked if the Fifth Lady was out of bed. Chunmei answered: “My mistress has just got up and is dressing her hair. Please come in.” Yulou went in and found Jinlian at her toilet before the dressing table. “I have news for you,” she said. “Have you heard anything?”

  “How should I hear anything,” Jinlian said, “living, as I do, tucked away in a corner? What is it?”

  “Last night,” Yulou said, “his Lordship came home about the second watch, went to the upper room and made his peace with the lady who lives there. He stayed all night.”

  “Oh!” Jinlian said, “when we proffered our humble advice, she swore that, though she lived a hundred years, nothing would induce her to speak to him. And now with no excuse at all and nobody to act as peacemaker, she goes and makes friends!”

  “I heard all about it just now,” Yulou said. “My maid Lanxiang happened to be in the kitchen and she heard the boys saying that our master and Ying Bojue went yesterday to drink at Guijie’s place. He caught the wench about some dirty business and smashed up the house. Then he came back, though it was snowing hard. When he got to the door leading to the inner room, she who lives there was burning incense. I fancy he must have heard something she said. Anyhow, he went to her and, the maid tells me, they talked all night. He went down on his knees and she behaved most scandalously. It is all very well for her to go on in this way, but if anybody else behaved like that, she would have a great deal to say.”

  “There are a great many advantages in being the first wife,” Jinlian said. “I wonder what gave her the idea of burning incense. If she really wished to pray she could have said her prayers in secret. There was no need for her to go singing them out so that her husband might hear her. Well, she has become reconciled to him on the sly, without any assistance from anybody. I thought she would hold out, but it was evidently all pretence.”

  “I don’t think so,” Yulou said. “She really wanted to make friends with him all the time, but, being the first wife, she didn’t care to talk to us about it. She thought that if she allowed us to intervene, we should take liberties afterwards. She ought to have realized that what goes on between husband and wife concerns others besides themselves.”

  “We must not let this opportunity slip. Hurry up and finish your hair dressing. I will go and see the Sixth Lady. You and I will contribute five qian, but I shall ask Li Ping’er for a whole tael, because it is really all her fault. We will buy some wine and a few delicacies and then we’ll go and offer wine to them and afterwards have a feast to enjoy the snow. We’ll spend all day over it. What do you think?”

  “A very good idea,” Jinlian said. “But he may be busy today.”

  “How can he be busy on a day like this? When I came past their door, everything was quiet. Xiaoyu was taking them some water.”

  Jinlian hurriedly finished dressing her hair and went with Yulou to see Li Ping’er. She was still in bed, but her maid went in to say that they had come.

  “What a lazy woman you are,” they said as they went in. “There you are, lying in bed like a lazy dragon.”

  Jinlian put her hand under the bedclothes and discovered a ball of perfume that had been used to make the bed sweet. “Ah,” she said, “you have been laying an egg, Sister.” She pulled off the coverlets and looked down at the white body.

  Li Ping’er hastily jumped out of bed and began to dress. Yulou scolded Jinlian. “Hurry up and dress,” she said to Li Ping’er, “we have something to tell you. The master and mistress of this house made friends yesterday. We are going to give five qian each, but it will be more for you because you’re really responsible for all the trouble. It is snowing hard. We are going to have a feast; invite the happy pair, and enjoy the beautiful snow at the same time. Doesn’t that seem good to you?”

  “Excellent,” Li Ping’er said. “How much do you want from me?”

  “A tael,” Jinlian said. “Get it weighed out at once, because we must go and collect something from the others in the back court.”

  Li Ping’er quickly dressed. Then, calling her maid, she opened a chest and took out a piece of silver. Jinlian weighed it and found that it was rather more than a tael. Then Yulou asked Jinlian to help the Sixth Lady to dress her hair, and she herself went to the back court to try to get some money from Sun Xue’e and Li Jiao’er. Meanwhile Jinlian sat and watched Li Ping’er complete her toilet. After a very long time, Yulou came back.

  “If I had known what would happen,” she said, “I would never have started this business. It is a matter in which we are all equally concerned, yet anybody would have thought I was begging money for myself. The little whore said to me: ‘I am a poor downtrodden creature. My husband never comes near me. Where do you think I’m going to find any money?’ I talked to her for a long time but all I got out of her was this silver pin. Weigh it and see how much it’s worth.”

  Jinlian took the scales and found it did not amount to four qian.

  “What did you get from Li Jiao’er?” she asked.

  “First she said she didn’t have any money,” Yulou told them. “Though every day the money passes through my hands,’ she said, ‘it is all checked carefully, and I have to give back every bit left over. I have nothing at all of my own.’ I told her that none of us had any money to spare. ‘It’s a matter that concerns us all,’ I said, �
�but if you don’t wish to give anything, don’t.’ I lost my temper and went out. That frightened her and she sent a maid to bring me back. Then she gave me something, but it’s all most annoying.”

  When Jinlian weighed the silver that Li Jiao’er had contributed, it turned out to be a little less than five qian.

  “What a cunning wench she is,” she cried. “Even if you did everything you could think of, she’d give you short measure. Now we haven’t sufficient.”

  “Yes,” Yulou said, “but when she is measuring other people’s silver, she uses a measure large enough. Getting money out of her is like getting blood out of a stone. I wonder how many times she has been cursed for it.”

  Jinlian and Yulou put all the money together. It came to just over three taels. They sent a maid to fetch Daian.

  “Yesterday,” Jinlian said to him, “you went with your master to Li Guijie’s house. What happened there to make him so angry?”

  Daian told them the whole story. “Father got very angry,” he said. “He told us to break all the windows, doors and partitions, and he would have tied the pair together if Uncle Ying hadn’t stopped him. He was still furious when he got on his horse, and on the way home he swore he hadn’t done with the whore yet.”

  “The rascally strumpet!” Jinlian cried. “I always thought she acted like a woman with a jar of honey and held on to it tightly, but this time she’s let it drop. Did your master really say so?” she said to Daian. The boy assured her that he had told the truth. Then she began to scold him.

  “You young scoundrel,” she said; “no matter how wicked she may be, she is your master’s girl and you have no right to call her names. I remember once when I asked you to do something for me, you said you were very busy and hadn’t any time. But when your master handed you some silver and told you to take it to that girl, you called her Auntie Guijie, and were as sweet as you could be. Now she is out of favor and your master is angry with her, you call her a whore. One of these days I will tell him what you said.”