The Golden Lotus, Volume 1

by Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng

  Daian hurried home. He looked everywhere for Shutong but could not find him. This made him so excited that he ran around like an ox going around the grindstone. Nor could he find Chen Jingji. Clerk Fu had to come and entertain the men. Daian went to the inner court to get the silver and the handkerchiefs. There was nobody to wrap them up, and he had to go to the shop to have a parcel made of them. He asked Clerk Fu to write the necessary card. Then he asked Ping’an where Shutong was. “He was here when Master Chen was here,” Ping’an said, “and when Master Chen went to get some money, he disappeared.”

  “I suppose the young rascal has gone off after some girl,” Daian said.

  At that moment, Chen Jingji and Shutong came riding along on the same mule. Daian scolded the boy and bade him quickly write the card. They dismissed the men who had brought the presents.

  “You rascally young scamp,” Daian said to Shutong. “You are too ready to roam about. When Father is not at home, you think you can go too. You have been after your girl, beyond a doubt. Father never told you to go out with Master Chen. Wait till he comes back and see what I tell him.”

  “Tell him what you like,” Shutong said. “If you don’t, I shall know you are afraid of me, and I shall consider you my boy.”

  “What, you dog!” Daian cried. “Do you dare me?” He went up to Shutong and kicked him. The pair rolled about on the ground struggling. Daian gained the upper hand and spat upon Shutong’s face. “I am going for Father now,” he said, “but when I come back I will settle my score with you.”

  In the inner court, Yueniang gave the two nuns some tea and refreshments, and they continued their hymns and their preachings. Jinlian grew impatient and tugged at Yulou, but Yulou would not move. Then she thought of suggesting to Li Ping’er that they might go, but she was afraid Yueniang would reprove her.

  “Sixth Sister,” Yueniang said, “she wants you to go with her. I think you had better go. She is so very impatient.” Li Ping’er went out with Jinlian. Yueniang looked after them. “Now that the turnips are out of the way,” she said, “we shall have more room. We don’t want her here, jumping about like a rabbit. She is not the sort of woman to listen to religion.”

  Jinlian, holding Li Ping’er by the hand, came to the second door. “The Great Lady,” she said, “is very fond of that sort of thing. But there isn’t anybody dead in the household, and I don’t see why we should have the nuns to read stuff of that sort. I have had enough of it; that’s why I asked you to come out. Let us go and see what Ximen Dajie is doing.” They passed through the great hall. There was a light in one of the side rooms. Ximen Dajie and Chen Jingji were quarreling over the disappearance of some money. Jinlian tapped at the window.

  “So, instead of going to the inner court to hear the nuns, you are squabbling here.”

  Chen Jingji came out. “It is a lucky thing I didn’t curse you. Fifth Mother and Sixth Mother, won’t you come in?”

  They found Ximen Dajie busy making shoes. “It is late and very hot,” Jinlian said. “Why are you making shoes now?” She asked what they were quarreling about.

  “Father told me to go outside the city walls to get some money,” Chen Jingji said, “and my wife gave me three qian to buy her a handkerchief. Unfortunately, when I got there, I couldn’t find the money. I couldn’t buy it for her. When I got back, she said I had spent the money on some woman. She scolded me and made me take oath upon my body. When the maid was cleaning the floor, the money was found. She has taken it, yet still she tells me I must buy a handkerchief for her tomorrow. You two ladies can judge which of us is in the wrong.”

  “You thievish rascal,” his wife said. “You say you don’t keep a woman, but what were you doing out with Shutong? You must have heard Daian cursing him. I have no doubt that you and that boy went to some strumpet together. That’s why you came back so late. Where is this money you were sent for?”

  “Have you found the other money?” Jinlian asked.

  “Yes, the maid picked it up when she was sweeping the floor. I have it now.”

  “Don’t worry,” Jinlian said to Jingji, “I will give you some money and you can buy two handkerchiefs for me.” And Li Ping’er said:

  “If there are handkerchiefs to be bought outside the city, please buy some for me.”

  “Outside the city,” Jingji said, “there is a Kerchief Lane where some well-known merchants are having a special sale of kerchiefs of all sorts. Some are woven with gold; others have jade trimmings. They can supply as many as you like. Tell me what color you like and what kind of pattern you want and I will get them for you tomorrow.”

  “I will have an orange-colored one, with gold and green, and a phoenix among the flowers,” Li Ping’er said.

  “Mother,” Jingji said, “orange and gold don’t look at all well together.” “Mind your own business,” said Li Ping’er. “I want another of pink wavy silk, with the design of Eight Precious Treasures, and still another of shimmering silk with gold and flowers.”

  “What design do you want, Fifth Mother?” Jingji asked Jinlian.

  “I have only a little money, so two will be enough for me. One the color of jade, with edges of lace and gold.”

  “You are not an old woman,” Jingji said. “What do you want with white?”

  “Don’t think you know better than I do,” Jinlian said. “I shall use it when I have to wear mourning.”

  “Then you will need a colored one too.”

  “Yes, I want one of the most delicate purple grape shade, made of Sichuan silk, gold and green, with a pattern of crossed squares, and in every square a pair of love symbols. On the lace I must have tassels and pearls and other bits of jewelry.”

  “Ai ya! Ai ya!” Chen Jingji cried. “You are like the melon-seed seller, who sneezed when he opened his box, and scattered the seeds all over the place.”

  “You horrid man,” Jinlian said. “Since it is my money, I shall buy what I like. It is a question of taste and nothing to do with you.”

  Li Ping’er took a piece of silver from her purse and gave it to Jingji. “This will pay for the Fifth Lady’s too,” she said. Jinlian shook her head.

  “No,” she said, “I will pay for my own.”

  “We are asking Brother-in-law to buy them all at the same time. Why should you bother?”

  “Even so,” said Jingji, “it is more than enough.” He took a balance and weighed the silver. It weighed a tael and nine qian.

  “With the rest,” Li Ping’er said, “buy two handkerchiefs for your wife.” Ximen Dajie stood up and made a reverence to Li Ping’er. “Now the Sixth Lady has paid for your handkerchiefs,” Jinlian said to her, “you ought to hand over those three qian of silver. You and your husband can draw lots to decide which of you shall be our host. If it is not enough, we will ask the Sixth Lady for some more. Your father will be out tomorrow; we will buy roast duck and white wine and enjoy them together.”

  “Yes,” said Jingji, “hand over that silver.”

  Ximen Dajie gave the silver to Jinlian, and Jinlian passed it to Li Ping’er for safe keeping. They found some cards, and Ximen Dajie and her husband played. Jinlian helped Ximen Dajie, and she won three games. Then they heard a knocking at the gate. Ximen Qing had returned. Jinlian and Li Ping’er went to their rooms and Jingji went to tell Ximen that Xu the Fourth would pay two hundred and fifty taels in a day or two, and the remainder the following month. Ximen Qing cursed, for he was drunk. He did not go to the inner court but straight to Jinlian’s room.

  CHAPTER 52

  Ying Bojue Teases Li Guijie

  That day, Ximen Qing had been entertained by Xia and presents had come to him from Censor Song. He was utterly delighted, and Xia was impressed. He shut the door and urged Ximen to drink more and more wine, refusing to let him go before midnight, the third night watch.

  Pan Jinlian had taken off her headdress, prepared the bed and washed her cunt with perfumed water. She was waiting for Ximen Qing to come. When he came, he was drunk. She quickl
y undressed him; Chunmei brought him tea, and he went to bed. Jinlian, quite naked, sat on the side of the bed and bent over to tie the ribbons of her shoes to her white ankles. The shoes were low-heeled and scarlet. The sight aroused Ximen’s passion, and his handle stood up sharply. He asked her for the love instruments, and she brought them out from beneath the bed and gave them to him. He put on two silver clasps, and then threw his arm around her. “Today,” he said, “I want to play with the flower in the back court. Will you let me?”

  “You shameless fellow,” the woman said, “you have played that game often enough with Shutong. Why need you ask me? If that is what you want, go to the slave.”

  Ximen Qing laughed. “Little oily mouth,” he said, “if you will let me do this, I shall want the boy no more. Don’t you understand that I am particularly fond of this kind of play. I will only put it there for a little while.”

  Thus urged, the woman said: “I don’t believe you can do it. Your thing is too big. But take the ring from its head and I will try.”

  Ximen Qing took off the sulfur ring and left only the clasps at the root. He told her to get onto the bed on hands and knees and raise her buttocks high. He rubbed his penis with spittle and moved in gradually. But its cruel, proud head refused to go farther than a little way. She grimaced and bit a handkerchief. “Darling,” she said, “be careful not to go in too quickly; my bottom isn’t like a door. I feel you inside me like a burning fire.”

  “Never mind,” Ximen said, “tomorrow you shall have a dress of fine embroidery.”

  “I have clothes like that already,” Jinlian said. “What I want is a dress like that of Li Guijie, a lined skirt of gold and silver with jade-colored ribbons and fur. It is very beautiful, and everybody but me has such a skirt. I don’t know how much it will cost, but please buy me one.”

  “Don’t worry,” Ximen said, “I will buy one for you.” He plunged violently forward.

  The woman turned her head and looked at him. “Darling,” she said, “it is painful enough. Why are you so violent? Won’t you let yourself go now?”

  But Ximen Qing would not. He held her legs while he looked at his penis going in and out, and cried, “Give me my way, you little strumpet, and call me ‘darling.’ Then you will have all of me.”

  The woman closed her eyes and said something like the whisper of a bird. She gently shook her willow-like waist and thrust her sweet body forward to meet his, her enticements and tender words beyond description. After a time, Ximen felt that the essence of his manhood was ready. He grasped her buttocks, then launched himself into her, with the sound of constant slapping against her buttocks. The woman under him could only mumble inarticulately. When the time came, he pulled her against himself and pushed it in to the root, into the final recess, enjoying exquisite pleasure. Contented, the semen flowed freely. The woman received it all, and they lay stuck together on the bed. After a long while he withdrew his penis, but it looked bloody, and liquid was oozing slowly from its mouth; she wiped it with a handkerchief, and they both slept.

  The next day Ximen Qing went to his office. When he returned, invitations had come from the two dignitaries Huang and An, asking him to go early on the twenty-second to a party at Eunuch Liu’s place. Ximen Qing dismissed the man who had brought the invitations, then went to the upper room and had some gruel. When he came to the great hall, he met Zhou the barber. Zhou knelt down and kowtowed. “You have come at the right moment,” Ximen Qing said. “My hair needs attention.”

  They went to the Hall of the Kingfishers. Ximen sat down beneath an awning, took off his hat and hairnet and pulled down his hair. Barber Zhou took out his combs to dress it. He cleaned it and examined the color. When he knelt down to receive payment, he said: “There will be further promotion for you this year, my Lord, for your hair is in excellent condition.” Ximen Qing was very pleased. When his hair had been combed, he told the barber to cleanse his ears and massage his body. The barber had his instruments with him and gave Ximen’s body a thorough rolling. Then he exercised the muscles so that Ximen began to feel extremely fit everywhere. Ximen gave him five qian of silver and some food, and he was told to wait and shave the baby’s head. Then Ximen Qing went to his study, lay down on a great marble bed, and fell asleep.

  That day Aunt Yang went away and the two nuns Wang and Xue also made ready to go. Wu Yueniang packed their boxes with sweet things and cakes and gave each of them five qian of silver. To each of the novices she gave a small roll of cloth. As they were leaving, Xue told Yueniang not to fail to take the medicine on a renzi day and she would be sure to have a child.

  “Lady Xue,” Yueniang said, “my birthday comes in the eighth month. You must come to see me then. I want you especially.” The nun made a reverence and promised to come. All the ladies went to see them off. Afterwards, Yueniang and Aunt Wu went back to the upper room, and the other ladies went to the garden with Guijie and the baby.

  “Sister Guijie,” Li Ping’er said, “won’t you give me the baby?”

  “No,” said Guijie, “I love carrying him.”

  Yulou said: “Sister Guijie, you have not seen Father’s new study yet.” Jinlian saw how beautifully the roses were blooming, and she plucked two of them for Guijie. They went along the pine-hedged walks till they came to the Hall of the Kingfishers. Beds, curtains, screens, tables, books, pictures, musical instruments and chess, were all tastefully set out. A silken net was held in position over the bed by two silver hooks, and the light summer pillows and mattress were spread upon it.

  Ximen Qing was lying fast asleep. Beside him was a small gold incense burner in which some Dragon’s Spittle incense was burning. The green windows were partly open, and light was reflected through them by the palm leaves outside. Jinlian took the incense box from the table and examined it. Li Ping’er and Meng Yulou sat down on chairs. Suddenly Ximen Qing turned over and saw the ladies. “What are you doing here?” he said.

  “Sister Guijie wanted to see your study,” Jinlian said. “So we brought her here.” Then Ximen saw his son Guan’ge with them and played with him for a while.

  Unexpectedly, Huatong came and said: “Uncle Ying is here.” The ladies hurried away to the rooms of Li Ping’er. When Ying Bojue came to the pines, he saw Guijie with Guan’ge in her arms, and said to her maliciously:

  “Ah, Guijie! So you are here! When did you come?”

  Guijie did not stop. “Beggar Ying,” she said, “pray don’t meddle in my affairs.”

  “Your affairs or not, you little strumpet,” Bojue said, “I am going to kiss you.” He went up to her, but she pushed him away.

  “You unpleasant fellow,” she said, “if I were not afraid of frightening the baby, I would use my fan on you.”

  Then Ximen Qing came and said to Ying Bojue: “Don’t frighten my son, you funny dog.” He told Shutong to take the child to the Sixth Lady’s room. The boy took him and carried him to his nurse, Ruyi’er, who was watching them from the corner. Ruyi’er took him away.

  “What has happened about you?” Ying Bojue said to Guijie.

  “Father was very kind. He has sent Brother Laibao to the Eastern Capital.”

  “That is good,” Bojue said, “I suppose you are satisfied now.”

  Guijie would have gone to the inner court, but Bojue said: “Come here, you little strumpet, I want to talk to you.”

  “I shall be back before long,” Guijie said. She went to visit Li Ping’er.

  Ying Bojue made a reverence to Ximen Qing, and they sat down together. “Yesterday,” Ximen said, “I went to Magistrate Xia’s place. Censor Song sent me some presents. Among them was a pig. I didn’t want to keep it too long so, this morning, I told the cook to cut it up and cook the head with peppers. Don’t go away. I will send for Xie Xida and we will play backgammon.” He said to Qintong: “Go and ask your Uncle Xie to come. Tell him Uncle Ying is here.”

  Bojue asked Ximen whether he had yet received Xu’s money.

  “The dog has only paid two hundred and
fifty taels of what he owes me. You must tell your friends to wait a few days. I will get the rest for them somehow.”

  “That will be all right,” Bojue said. “I should not be surprised if they brought you some present today.”

  “Don’t let them spend their money on me,” Ximen said. He asked if old Sun and Pockmarked Zhu had started or not.

  “After they were arrested at Guijie’s place, they spent a night in jail,” Bojue said. “The next day they were taken to the Eastern Capital, three of them on one chain. It doesn’t seem likely that any of them will come back as comfortable as he went. Trying to earn an honest living is not a simple matter in these days. What a hard time they will have. In this roasting weather, they have to bear that big iron chain, and they haven’t a penny in their pockets. I can’t think what will become of them.”

  “You funny dog,” Ximen Qing said, laughing, “if they could not bear this punishment, why did they interfere with young Wang? They deserved all they get.”

  “You are right, Brother,” Bojue said. “Flies can never make their way into an egg unless there is a crack in it. Why didn’t Wang ask me and Xie Xida to go about with him? But the good go with the good, and the bad with the bad.”

  While they were talking, Xie Xida came. He sat down and fanned himself busily. “What has made you so hot?” Ximen Qing said to him.

  “Ah, Brother, you don’t know. Today, an unexpected trouble descended upon me. Early this morning, old woman Sun came to my house and said I had taken her husband away from her. That old whore! Her husband spent all his time at the bawdy house, ate and drank a tremendous lot, and spent all his money there. ‘Have you come from Hell?’ I said to her. ‘Everybody knows you yourself have taken money from the people in the bawdy house.’ I gave her a good talking-to and she went away. Then your boy came to invite me.”