The Golden Lotus, Volume 1

by Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng

  When Hu Shiwen, the magistrate of Dongpingfu, read the document that had come from his superior, he was so frightened that he did not know where to put his hands and feet. He sent at once for the Deputy of Yanggu, a certain Di Sibin. This man was a native of Wuyang in Henan, an honest-dealing official. He was not a lover of money, but somewhat hasty and stupid in his investigations of cases. Hence men called him Stupid Di.

  Some time before this, Deputy Di had gone to Qinghe. When he was on the shore of the river west of the city, a whirlwind seemed to arise in front of his horse and, as he went along, the whirlwind went with him. “This is curious,” Di said to himself, and, reining in his horse, he told one of his attendants to go after the wind to see where it went. The attendant followed the wind and, when it had nearly reached the wharf, it subsided. He came back and told Di what had happened. Di sent for some of the old men of the place and dug up the bank. They found a corpse with the mark of a knife clearly discernible in the throat. Di gave instructions to the coroner to hold an inquest upon it. “What is this place in front of us?” he asked the bystanders. They told him that it was a temple and not far distant. Di sent for the monks and questioned them. The monks told him that, in the tenth month of the previous winter, they had been setting lanterns on the water’s edge when they saw a corpse floating down the river. It came to the shallows and the Abbot generously buried it. But of the cause of death they knew nothing.

  “It is quite obvious,” said Stupid Di, “that the monks themselves murdered the man and buried him there. He must have had money on him. But you will not tell the truth.” Without listening to any of the monks’ explanations, he had the screws put on the Abbot and gave him a hundred strokes of the rod. The other monks were each given twenty, and they were all thrown into prison. Then he reported the case to Censor Ceng.

  The monks clamored for justice, and, when Ceng thought the case over, it occurred to him that, if they had really murdered the man, they would have thrown his body into the river and not buried it on the bank. Besides, it did not seem probable that so many people would conspire to murder one man.

  The monks had now been in prison for almost two months. When Antong came, he was taken to identify the corpse. As soon as he saw it, he cried bitterly and said, “This is indeed my master. The thieves murdered him and the mark in his neck can still be seen.” The body was carefully examined and a report sent to the Censor. The monks were set free.

  Ceng read all the documents about the case. He examined Chen the Third and Weng the Eighth and they both said that the idea of murdering Master Miao had originated with Miao Qing.

  The Censor was very angry. He sent a man with a warrant bidding him travel day and night and arrest Miao Qing at Yangzhou. And he wrote a report censuring all those who had accepted bribes and sold justice.

  Wang Liu’er had received a hundred taels and four dresses from Miao Qing. She and her husband did not sleep all night. They talked about the ornaments, pins and rings she would have made; how they would send for the tailor to make some clothes; how she would have a new net for her hair, and spend sixteen taels on a new maid, Chunxiang, whom sooner or later she would give to Han Daoguo.

  One day Ximen Qing came to see her, Wang Liu’er welcomed him and gave him tea. After a while he went to the inner court to wash his hands and saw a building being set up on the roof of a neighboring house. When he came back, he asked Wang Liu’er whose house it was. She told him it belonged to their neighbor, Yue. “Why should you allow them to interfere with your fengshui? ” Ximen said. “Tell him to stop at once. If he refuses to pull it down, I will send the police to deal with him.”

  “We cannot talk to him like that,” Wang Liu’er said afterwards to her husband. “He is our neighbor.”

  “The best thing we can do,” Han Daoguo said, “is to get some wood, say nothing about it, and build another story ourselves. On the top of it we can dry our bean paste, and we can use the inside either as a stable or as a privy.”

  “That would be silly,” Wang Liu’er said. “If we are going to build a roof, we might as well buy tiles and bricks and make two good rooms.”

  Han Daoguo agreed. They spent thirty taels, built their two rooms and put a flat roof over them. Ximen Qing told Daian to take wine, meat and cakes to give the workers as a reward. The matter was known to everyone who lived in the street.

  Magistrate Xia, now that he had received several hundred taels, sent his son Xia Cheng’en to the military college. Every day the young man studied archery and horsemanship with his teachers and friends. Ximen Qing suggested to the two eunuchs, Liu and Xue, Major Zhou, General Jing and Captain Zhang, that they should send a present to Xia in congratulation. They gave him a large scroll.

  At Ximen’s burying place, he had recently built a mound, an arbor, and some rooms. He had not been to worship his ancestors since he had received his official appointment. Now he sent for Xu, the Master of the Yin Yang, to examine the site, built a gateway and made a path for the spirits. Around the gateway he planted peach trees, willows and pines. On either side he made a small embankment. At the Festival of the Dead he proposed to visit the grave and change the tablet. He prepared pigs and sheep and food.

  The festival was on the sixth day of the third month. He sent out many invitations and arranged for a number of people to take the things out to the tomb—wine, rice, vegetables and so forth. He engaged musicians and actors, and arranged for several singing girls to be present. He invited a great number of guests, both men and women. Chunmei, Yingchun, Yuxiao and Lanxiang were to be there also. Twenty-four or more sedan chairs would be needed. But when there was question of the nurse’s taking the baby Guan’ge, Wu Yueniang said to Ximen: “It will be better not to take the baby. He is not a year old yet, and old woman Liu tells me that the bones of his head have not yet grown together. He is very nervous, and, if we take him on such a long trip, I am afraid he will be frightened. We will leave him behind. The nurse and old woman Feng can stay at home and look after him so that his mother can go.”

  Ximen Qing would not agree. “Why are we going to the tombs of my ancestors at all?” he said. “I want both the baby and his mother to go and kowtow to my ancestors. You always believe everything that silly old woman tells you. If the baby’s head is not strong enough, he must be wrapped up more carefully. He will be quite safe with his nurse in the sedan chair. There is nothing for you to worry about.”

  “Have it your own way,” Yueniang said.

  In the morning all the ladies came to Ximen Qing’s house, and they started off together. They left the city by the southern gate, and, when they had gone about eight li, they could see the green pine trees that surrounded the tomb. There was the new gateway and the embankment on both sides. Stone walls encircled the tomb, and, in the middle, were the oratory and the way of the spirits. The perfume burners, candlesticks and utensils for the worship of the ancestral spirits were all of white alabaster. Over the gate was placed a new tablet that bore the inscription: “The Ancestral tombs of the valorous Commander Ximen.” They went in and around beneath the interlaced branches of the trees. Ximen Qing, wearing his scarlet robes and girdle, set out the pigs, sheep, and food for the worship of his ancestors. First the gentlemen offered their worship, then the ladies. The musicians played. The baby was frightened and hid his face in his nurse’s bosom. He whimpered, lying perfectly still.

  “Sister,” Yueniang whispered to Li Ping’er, “I should tell the nurse to take him away. Don’t you see how terrified he is? I said we ought not to bring him, but his stupid father wouldn’t listen to me. Now he is frightened into such a state.”

  Li Ping’er hurriedly told Daian to stop the beating of the drums and gongs. They covered the baby’s ears and took him away.

  After a time the service was ended. Master Xu read the oration and burned paper offerings. Then Ximen Qing invited the gentlemen to go to the front, and Yueniang invited the ladies to go to the back. They went through the gardens. There were pine trees a
nd pine hedges, bamboos standing beside the paths, and many flowers and grasses.

  Beneath the awning the actors played for the ladies, while four young actors entertained the gentlemen, playing instruments and singing in the great hall. Four singing girls served wine in turn for the gentlemen, and the four maids for the ladies. Then they stood at Ximen Dajie’s table and had soup and cakes.

  Pan Jinlian, Meng Yulou and Ximen Dajie went with Li Guijie and Wu Yin’er to the garden and played on the swings there. Behind the arbor, Ximen had arranged three rooms with furniture and beds, curtains, and things for the toilet. Here, the ladies might dress when they came to visit the tombs. The rooms were covered with paper so white that they seemed like caves of snow. Pictures and scrolls adorned the walls. To this place the nurse, Ruyi’er, brought the baby, and, on the gilded bed, the child lay upon a tiny blanket. Yingchun was there too, playing with the child. Jinlian, alone, came in from the garden, with peach flowers in her hand. When she saw Yingchun, she said: “So you are not attending to your duties in the hall.”

  “Chunmei, Lanxiang and Yuxiao are there,” Yingchun said, “and my mistress told me to come here and look after the baby. I brought some cakes for the nurse.”

  The nurse welcomed Jinlian and stood up with the child. “Ah,” Jinlian said, laughingly. “Ah, little oily mouth, the drums and the gongs frightened you. You’re a brave young man, aren’t you?” She opened her silken gown, took the child to her breast and kissed him.

  Suddenly Chen Jingji pulled up the lattice and came in. When he saw Jinlian playing with the baby, he joined in the play too.

  “Now, my young priest,” Jinlian said, “let me see you kiss your brother-in-law.”

  Strangely enough, the child smiled at the young man. Jingji bent over and kissed him several times. Jinlian scolded him. Jingji smiled. “It is a good thing I didn’t kiss the wrong person,” he said.

  Jinlian was afraid the nurse would hear him. She closed her fan and struck the young man. Jingji jumped like a fish. “I am not going to argue with you,” Jinlian said.

  “Very well,” Jingji said, “but you ought to realize that I have feelings. I have only thin clothes on, and there was no need for you to hit me so hard.”

  “I have no intention of being kind to you,” Jinlian said. “I shall hit you every time you offend me.”

  Ruyi’er saw them playing together and hastily took the child away from them. Jinlian and the young man laughed and joked together. She made the peach flowers into a garland and set it on his head without his noticing it. Jingji went out wearing it. Yulou, Ximen Dajie and Guijie met him. His wife looked at him. “Who did this?” she said. Jingji did not answer, but he took off the garland.

  By this time four acts of the play had been performed, and it was beginning to grow dark. Ximen Qing told Ben the Fourth to give each of the chair men a cup of wine, four cakes, and a plate of cooked meat. When the chair men had eaten it, they took the ladies away. The servants followed on horseback. Laixing came with the cooks, bringing all the food boxes. Daian, Laian, Huatong and Qitong followed behind Yueniang’s chair; Qintong, with four soldiers, followed behind Ximen Qing’s horse. Ruyi’er had a small chair for herself and the baby, who was closely wrapped in bedclothes. Yueniang was still anxious about him and bade Huatong accompany the nurse’s chair. She was afraid that they would find the streets very crowded when they came to the city.

  When all the chairs had entered the city, those of the Qiao family went their own way. Yueniang reached home, but it was some time before Ximen Qing and Chen Jingji arrived.

  When Ximen Qing dismounted, Ping’an said to him: “His Lordship Xia has been here and gone away. He sent messengers for you twice. I don’t know what he wanted.”

  This made Ximen Qing thoughtful. He went to the great hall, where Shutong took his clothes. “What did his Lordship say when he was here?” Ximen asked the boy.

  “He didn’t say anything to me,” Shutong said. “He only asked where you were. He suggested that I should go and ask you to come back because he had something very important to say to you. I told him that you had gone to the tombs to make offering to the dead and that you would be back this evening. He said he would come again. He has sent messengers twice, but I had to tell them you had not returned.”

  “What is this?” Ximen Qing said to himself.

  He was thinking over the matter when Ping’an came and said Magistrate Xia had called once more. It was very dark. The magistrate was in plain clothes and had only two servants with him. When he entered the great hall, he greeted Ximen. “You have just returned from your glorious estate,” he said. “Today I have been to worship at my ancestor’s tombs,” Ximen Qing said. “I ask your forgiveness for being absent when you called.”

  “I have come especially to bring you news,” said Xia. “Shall we go into another room?”

  Ximen Qing told Shutong to open the door, and they went in. He ordered all the servants to leave.

  “This morning,” Magistrate Xia said, “Li came to me and told me that the Censor has sent a report to the Eastern Capital accusing us both. I have had the document copied and here it is. Please read it.”

  Ximen Qing was alarmed. He paled. He took the paper to the lamp and read it. It said:

  I, the Censor and Circuit Commissioner of Shandong, Ceng Xiaoxu, make accusation against certain rapacious and unworthy officials, and implore the Sacred Majesty to dismiss them that the dignity of the Law may be preserved.

  I have been instructed that the duty of the Emperor is to go around the country and investigate the morals of the people. To check evil officials and enforce the law is the duty of the censors. In olden times it was written in the Book of Spring and Autumn that the Supreme Monarch went upon an inspection of the Empire and made the whole state subject to himself. So the morals of the people were improved and the exalted principle of the Ruler made manifest. The four peoples became obedient and all men recognized the rule of wisdom.

  About a year ago the duty of going around all the districts of Shandong was entrusted to me. I have questioned the officials and found out the truth about the capacity of them all, whether military or civil. Now my tour of duty is almost at an end: I am continuing my investigations and would make report to Your Majesty. Especially would I, with Your Majesty’s gracious permission, make the following accusations....

  Xia Yanling, captain of the Royal Guard and a principal magistrate in Shandong, is a man of no merit. He is rapacious and a man of evil conduct. People talk about his behavior and he is a disgrace to his position. Formerly, when he held office at the Capital, he committed many irregularities and was discovered by his subordinates. Now that he is employed in the courts of Shandong he is more rapacious than ever. He is always associating in evil with other officials. He has entered his son at the Military College by making false statements, and procured some other person to take the examination in his son’s place, thus utterly demoralizing the students. He has allowed his servant Xia Shou to take bribes. The soldiers complain bitterly and his administration is extremely disorganized. When this Xia receives officers visiting his district, his face is as that of a slave and his knees as those of a maid. For this reason the people call him “Maid.” When he investigates a case, his judgment is always uncertain, and his underlings call him “Wooden Image.”

  His Deputy, Captain Ximen Qing, was originally a street-corner lounger. He obtained his position by bribery and has thus improperly secured military rank. He cannot even distinguish between the flail and the corn. He cannot read a single character. He allows his wife and his concubines to play in the streets, and there have been scandals in his household. He drinks with singing girls in wineshops, and has disgraced the official class to which he belongs. Recently he has been associating with the wife of a certain Han Daoguo. He gives himself up completely to a dissolute life and cares nothing about his conduct. He took bribes from a certain Miao Qing and has irregularly allowed that fellow to escape the justice of the law.
So Miao Qing’s crime has never been punished.

  These two rapacious and unworthy officers have long been the talk of the common people and they should be immediately dismissed from their posts. I pray Your Majesty to hear me, and instruct the Boards to examine these men closely. If it is found that what I have said is true, I pray Your Majesty to dismiss these two men. The morale of the service depends upon it. May the virtue of Your Majesty be glorious for ever and ever.

  When he had finished reading this, Ximen Qing could only look at Magistrate Xia. He could find no words to say. “What shall we do?” said Xia.

  “There is a proverb,” Ximen Qing said, “that says: When soldiers come against us, we send out a general. When the flood comes, we build a dike. So, when in trouble, we must take steps to meet the situation. We must get ready presents and send them to the Imperial Tutor in the Eastern Capital.”

  Magistrate Xia hurried home and got ready two hundred taels of silver and two silver vases. Ximen prepared a chest full of gold, jade, and precious things, and three hundred taels of silver. Xia ordered his servant Shou, and Ximen his man Laibao, to take charge of these gifts. He had a letter written to the comptroller Zhai. The two men hired horses and went off, traveling as fast as they were able, to the Eastern Capital.

  When the baby Guan’ge returned from the tomb, he cried all night and would not take his food. Everything he swallowed he disgorged again. Li Ping’er was alarmed. She came to Yueniang and told her.

  “I said that a baby not a year old should not be taken outside the city,” Yueniang said, “but the foolish man would not listen to me. He said the whole purpose of going to the tombs of his ancestors was that you and the child might offer worship there. He glared and shouted at me as if he were a savage. Now, what I anticipated has happened.”