Chapter 73
Concubine Zhao was speaking with Jia Zheng when suddenly a loud crash was heard outside. They hurriedly asked what it was. It turned out that the window latch in the outer room had not been fastened properly, and the window shutter had fallen. Concubine Zhao scolded the maids a few times, then personally led them to put the window back in place. Only then did she come in to attend Jia Zheng and retire. We need not mention this for now.
Now at Green Delights, Baoyu had just lain down, and the maids were about to go back to their rooms to rest, when suddenly someone knocked at the courtyard gate. The old woman at the gate opened it and saw it was Little Magpie, a maid from Concubine Zhao’s room. When asked what she wanted, Little Magpie did not answer, but went straight into the room to find Baoyu. Baoyu had just lain down, and Skybright and the others were still sitting by the bed talking and laughing. Seeing her come so late at night, they all asked, “What is the matter? Coming at this hour?”
Little Magpie said to Baoyu with a smile, “I have come to give you a warning. Just now our mistress spoke about you before the master. Be careful tomorrow when the master questions you.” With that, she turned and left. Aroma urged her to stay for tea, but she feared the courtyard gate would be closed and hurried away.
When Baoyu heard this, he felt as wretched as Sun Wukong hearing the Tight-Fillet Spell. He thought and thought, but there was no other way. He could only hurry to review his books and prepare for the master’s examination the next day. If he could recite without error, then even if there was other gossip, he could bluff through. So he quickly threw on his clothes, rose, and began to read. In his heart he secretly regretted: These past days I thought I would not be examined again, and I let everything go to waste. If I had known, I should have reviewed a little every day.
He calculated in his mind: Of what he could still recite completely, there were only the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, and the Analects, and he could even recite the commentaries. Half of the first part of Mencius was still half-familiar; if a line were picked at random, he could not continue. Most of the second part of Mencius he had forgotten. Among the Five Classics, he had recently read some of the Book of Songs for poetry and understood it not too deeply, but could barely manage. The other classics Jia Zheng had not had him read carefully, so even if he could not remember them, it was not a great problem. The ancient prose he had read in earlier years—the Zuo Commentary, Intrigues of the Warring States, Gongyang, Guliang, and Han and Tang essays, several dozen pieces in all—he had not reviewed half a piece in these years. At the time he had only skimmed them, reading on impulse, and forgot them as soon as he had read them. He had not put in hard work and could not remember them at all. This would certainly not pass. There were also the eight-legged examination essays, which Baoyu had always detested. He felt they were not the original works of sages and worthies and could not expound the principles of the sages; they were only tools by which later people sought fame and office. In earlier years Jia Zheng had selected more than a hundred pieces for him to read. Occasionally he saw a passage or two that was clever and moving, and he read it once, treating it as diversion. He had never studied any piece thoroughly from beginning to end.
Now if he reviewed this piece, he feared tomorrow would bring another; if he reviewed that piece, he feared another would be asked. In one night it was utterly impossible to review everything. The more he thought, the more frantic he became. It did not matter that Baoyu was reading, but it kept the whole room of maids from sleeping. The older maids Aroma, Musk, and Skybright trimmed the candle and poured tea. The little maids were so sleepy their eyelids fought each other and they nodded off in every direction. Skybright scolded, “You little wretches! You never get enough sleep day or night. Just one late night, and you put on this act! If you keep it up, I will stick you with needles!”
Before she finished, there was a thud from the outer room. Everyone hurried to look. A little maid had fallen asleep sitting up and had knocked her head against the wall, waking herself. Just as Skybright had scolded her, she was dazed and thought Skybright had struck her. She cried and begged, “Good sister, I will not dare again.” Everyone laughed. Baoyu quickly urged, “Let her off. They should have been sent to bed long ago. You should take turns resting too.” Aroma urged Baoyu, “My little ancestor, concentrate on your reading first. It is only this one night. Once you get through this, you can play as you like afterward, and it will not count as delay.” Baoyu heard her earnest words and had to keep reading. Before he had read a few lines, Musk brought tea to moisten his throat. Baoyu saw Musk wore only a short jacket and no outer skirt, so he said, “It is deep in the night and cold. Put on more clothes.” Musk pointed at the book and smiled. “Do not worry about us for now. Put your mind on the book.”
Before she finished, Golden Star Glass ran in from the back door and shouted, “Bad news! Someone has jumped over the wall!” Everyone quickly asked where, and immediately called people to search everywhere. Skybright saw Baoyu was suffering over his books, and that even if he stayed up all night he might not pass tomorrow. She was trying to think of a way to help him avoid the questioning. Taking advantage of this sudden fright, she had an idea and said to Baoyu, “Take this chance and pretend to be ill. Say you were frightened by someone.” Baoyu was only too willing.
So they called the old women on night duty, lit lanterns, and searched everywhere, but found no one. Everyone said, “The little girl must have seen wrongly. The wind blew the tree branches, and she mistook it for a person.” Skybright shouted, “Nonsense! You searched carelessly and fear blame, so you use that as an excuse. It was not only one person who saw it. Baoyu and all of us saw it with our own eyes. Now Baoyu is so frightened his face is pale and his whole body is feverish. I am going to the main rooms to fetch a soul-calming pill. If Lady Wang asks, you must report it truthfully. How can you dismiss it as you please?” The others were frightened into silence and could only keep searching. Skybright and Golden Star Glass deliberately went out to fetch medicine, making sure everyone knew Baoyu had been frightened. When Lady Wang heard, she quickly sent people to see the illness and send medicine, ordered the night watch to search carefully, and sent someone to check the pages on duty outside the second gate and by the garden wall. In Grand View Garden, lanterns and torches made a commotion all night. At the fifth watch, the stewards and their wives were summoned, and the men and women on night duty in the garden were strictly interrogated.
When the old lady heard Baoyu had been frightened, she questioned the matter in detail. The servants did not dare hide it and reported truthfully. The old lady said, “I knew long ago something like this would happen. Now the night watch is careless—that is a small matter. It may even be that these people themselves are thieves.” Lady Xing, Madam You, and the others came to pay their respects. Xifeng, Li Wan, and the sisters were in attendance. Hearing the old lady say this, they all remained silent. Only Tanchun came forward and said, “Recently, since Sister Xifeng has been ill, the people in the garden have become much more unruly than before. At first it was only night duty: three or four people gathered to throw dice and play cards, small gambling just to stay awake. Lately they have grown bolder and openly set up gambling tables, with a banker taking a cut, and wins and losses of thirty strings, fifty strings, even three hundred strings. Half a month ago there was even a fight.”
The old lady quickly asked, “If you knew, why did you not tell us earlier?” Tanchun said, “I thought Lady Wang had many affairs and had been unwell for days, so I did not report it. I only told Elder Sister-in-law and the stewardesses, and warned them several times. Recently it has quieted a little.” The old lady said, “You are a girl and do not know the seriousness. You think gambling for money is a small matter, at most causing a quarrel. But gambling at night inevitably leads to drinking; once they drink, they open the gates freely. With few people at night, it is easy to hide thieves and lure in wickedness and robbery. They can do anything. The maids and serving women around the girls in the garden are of mixed quality. Theft is still a small matter. Once other shameful matters are involved, the consequences are enormous. This cannot be forgiven lightly.” Tanchun heard this and silently returned to her seat.
Xifeng had not yet recovered and was already low in spirits. Seeing the old lady angry, she quickly said, “It happens that I have fallen ill.” She turned and ordered Lin Zhixiao’s wife and the other three chief stewardesses to be summoned at once, and in the old lady’s presence she scolded them severely. The old lady ordered that all gambling bankers be found immediately. Anyone who informed would be rewarded; anyone who concealed it would be punished.
Lin Zhixiao’s wife saw the old lady was angry and did not dare show favoritism. She gathered everyone in the garden and questioned them. Though the people denied it for a while, the truth finally came out. Three chief bankers and eight lesser bankers were found, more than twenty people in all involved in gambling. They were all brought before the old lady and knelt in the courtyard, knocking their heads and begging for mercy. The old lady asked the names of the bankers and the amount of the stakes. Of the three chief bankers, one was a relative by marriage of Lin Zhixiao’s wife, one was the sister of Mrs. Liu who worked in the garden kitchen, and one was Yingchun’s wet nurse. The rest could not be remembered clearly.
The old lady ordered all dice and cards burned, and the gambling money confiscated and distributed to everyone. The four leaders were each given forty strokes and expelled from the Jia mansion, never to enter again. The accomplices were each given twenty strokes, had three months’ allowance deducted, and were assigned to sweep the latrines. She also reprimanded Lin Zhixiao’s wife. Lin Zhixiao’s wife’s relative had committed the offense, and she was publicly shamed. Yingchun, sitting nearby, also felt disgraced. Daiyu, Baochai, Tanchun, and the others, seeing Yingchun’s wet nurse in trouble, felt a sense of fellow feeling and rose to plead with the old lady. “This nurse does not usually gamble; it was only a moment’s whim. We beg you, for Second Sister’s sake, to forgive her this once.”
The old lady said, “You do not understand. These wet nurses, relying on having nursed their masters, think themselves respectable and are the most likely to cause trouble. They specialize in inciting their masters and covering up faults. I have seen it all. Let her serve as an example. Do not plead for her. I have my own way of dealing with it.” Baochai and the others had to let it drop.
Soon the old lady took her afternoon nap, and everyone dispersed. Knowing the old lady was angry, they did not dare go home, but waited there. Madam You went to Xifeng’s to chat a while. Seeing Xifeng unwell, she went into the garden to talk with the girls. Lady Xing sat a while in Lady Wang’s room, then also went into the garden to stroll. Just as she reached the gate, she saw the silly eldest maid from the old lady’s room coming toward her with a grin, holding something brightly colored in her hand, looking down at it as she walked. She bumped straight into Lady Xing. The silly maid looked up, saw her, and stopped.
Lady Xing said, “Silly girl, what strange thing have you picked up now that makes you so happy? Let me see.” This silly eldest maid was fourteen or fifteen, newly chosen to carry water and sweep the courtyard for the old lady, doing only rough work. She was broad-faced and wide-bodied, with big feet, quick at rough work, but simple-minded and ignorant of rules, often speaking and acting improperly. The old lady liked her frankness and the way she made people laugh, and called her Simpleton. When bored, she teased her for amusement, without taboo, and others called her the silly girl too. Even if she was rude, because the old lady liked her, no one scolded her. When the old lady did not summon her, she played in the garden.
Today she had been catching crickets in the garden and found behind the rockery a colorful embroidered scent pouch. The pouch was finely made and pretty, but what was embroidered on it was not flowers or birds: on one side were two naked figures embracing, and on the other side there was writing. The silly eldest maid did not understand it was a spring pouch. She guessed: Could it be two demons fighting? Or a husband and wife fighting? She could not understand, and was about to take it to show the old lady, so she looked at it as she walked. Seeing Lady Xing, she said with a smile, “Madam, look. It is something I cannot understand. You look.” She handed it over.
Lady Xing took it and looked. She was so frightened that she clutched it tightly and quickly asked, “Where did you pick this up?” The silly eldest maid said, “I was catching crickets and found it behind the rockery.” Lady Xing warned, “Do not tell anyone. This is not a good thing. If it gets out, even you will be beaten to death. I see you are a simpleton, so you must never mention it again.” The silly eldest maid was frightened pale and kowtowed in agreement, then went off dazed. Lady Xing looked around. They were all little maids, and it was not convenient to hand it to anyone else. She stuffed the pouch into her sleeve, greatly astonished, wondering where it had come from. Without showing anything on her face, she went straight to Yingchun’s room.
Yingchun was feeling depressed because her wet nurse had been punished. Hearing Lady Xing had come, she quickly invited her into the inner room and offered tea. Lady Xing said, “You are grown now. Your wet nurse did such a thing, and you did not even try to control her. Everyone else is peaceful. It is only our side that causes trouble. What does that look like?” Yingchun lowered her head and twisted her sash. After a long while she answered, “I spoke to her twice. She would not listen, and there was nothing I could do. She is my wet nurse. It has always been she who taught me, not I who managed her.”
Lady Xing said, “Nonsense! When she does wrong, you should use your authority as a young lady to control her. If she will not listen, you should report to me. Now everyone knows, and what does it look like? Besides, as a gambling banker, she may have cheated you and borrowed your jewelry and clothes for capital. You are soft-hearted and may have lent them to her. If she has cheated you out of them, I have no money on hand. See how you will get through the festival.” Yingchun said nothing and kept her head down, twisting her sash.
Lady Xing saw this and sneered. “After all, it is your fine elder brother and sister-in-law, Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng, who are so glorious and arrange everything well, yet they pay no attention at all to their only sister. If you were my own child, that would be another matter. Though you are not mine, you share a father with Jia Lian. You should look after each other and not let outsiders laugh. Among the concubine-born, Tanchun is also a concubine’s child. Your mother was ten times stronger than Concubine Zhao. You should be stronger than Tanchun, yet you are far inferior to her. I have no children of my own, clean and free, and no one can gossip about me.” The serving woman nearby took the chance to interject, “Our young lady is honest and kind, not like Third Girl, who is sharp-tongued and must always come out on top. Clearly it is so, yet they show her no consideration.” Lady Xing said, “Even her brother and sister-in-law are like this. What can others do?”
Just then a servant reported, “Second Mistress Lian has come.” Lady Xing sneered twice and told someone to reply, “Tell her to rest and recover. I do not need her to serve me here.” Then a little maid reported that the old lady had woken. Lady Xing rose and went to the front. Yingchun saw her out of the courtyard before returning.
Xiuju said to Yingchun, “Miss, I was right. A few days ago I told you the filigree pearl-gathered golden phoenix was missing. I said the old nurse must have taken it to pawn for gambling money. You did not believe me and said Chess had put it away. I asked Chess. Though she is ill, she is clear-headed. She said she did not put it away; it is still in the box on the bookshelf, to be worn on the Mid-Autumn Festival. You should have asked the old nurse, but you are soft-hearted and feared displeasing her. Now I fear it cannot be found. At Mid-Autumn everyone will wear jewelry, and only we will have none. What shall we do?”
Yingchun said, “Why ask? Naturally she took it temporarily to tide things over. I thought she would quietly take it and soon redeem it. Who knew she would forget? Now that it has come out, asking her is useless.” Xiuju said, “How could she forget? She saw you were weak and dared to do this. I have an idea. Go to Second Mistress and report it. Let Xifeng send someone to demand it, or pay to make it up. Is that good?” Yingchun quickly stopped her. “Enough. Do not stir up trouble. Better to have nothing than to create another storm.” Xiuju said, “How can you be so weak, Miss? You fear trouble in everything. In the future even you could be cheated away. I insist on going.” She was about to go, and Yingchun did not stop her, letting her go.
The wife of Yingchun’s wet nurse’s son, Wang Zhu’er’s wife, had come because her mother-in-law was punished and wanted to ask Yingchun to plead for her. Hearing them discussing the golden phoenix, she did not enter for the moment. She had always seen Yingchun as weak and paid her no respect. Now seeing Xiuju intended to go to Xifeng, she knew the matter could not be hidden. Besides, she had a favor to ask, so she entered with a smile and said to Xiuju, “Miss, do not go and complain. The golden phoenix was taken by my mother-in-law in her muddle. She lost at gambling and wanted to win it back, so she temporarily pawned it. She meant to redeem it soon, but never won, and so it was delayed. Today someone leaked it and trouble came. But a master’s thing—we would not dare delay long. We will redeem it. I only beg you, Miss, to remember she nursed you since childhood and plead with the old lady to save her.”
Yingchun said, “Sister-in-law, give up that idea. Even if I plead, it will be useless by next year. Just now Baochai, Daiyu, and the others all pleaded together, and the old lady refused. How much less would she listen to me alone? I am ashamed enough. Why seek humiliation?” Xiuju said, “Redeeming the phoenix is one thing; pleading is another. Do not mix them. Even if you do not plead, will you not redeem it? First bring the phoenix back.” Wang Zhu’er’s wife saw Yingchun refuse and Xiuju sharp-tongued, and felt embarrassed. Relying on Yingchun’s usual good temper, she talked back to Xiuju. “Miss, do not rely on your position. In this whole mansion, which wet nurse does not get some benefit from her master? Only here is nothing allowed. Since Miss Xing came, Lady Xing saves one tael a month for her aunt, and our room has Miss Xing’s expenses, yet we lose this one tael. Ordinarily we lack this and that. Who makes up for it but us? Count it up—at least thirty taels of our money has gone in.”
Xiuju did not wait for her to finish. She spat. “What do you mean, thirty taels of your money? Let me reckon: what has the miss ever asked of you?” Yingchun heard the woman drag in Lady Xing’s private affairs and quickly stopped her. “Enough, enough. If you cannot produce the phoenix, do not ramble and quarrel. I do not want the phoenix anymore. If Lady Xing asks, I will say it was lost, and it will not involve you. Go out and rest.” She called Xiuju to pour tea.
Xiuju was angry and anxious. “Miss does not care, but what are we servants to do? The miss loses jewelry, and she blames the miss for spending their money, trying to offset the debt. If Lady Xing asks and says the miss used their money, will she not suspect us of taking advantage? This is terrible!” She wept as she spoke. Chess could not bear it and struggled up to help Xiuju question the woman. Yingchun could not stop them, so she simply took up a copy of the Treatise of the Most Exalted One on Response and Retribution and read quietly, as if she heard no quarrel.
The three were arguing endlessly when Baochai, Daiyu, Baoqin, and Tanchun, worried Yingchun was depressed, came together to comfort her. Reaching the courtyard, they heard the quarrel inside. Tanchun saw through the gauze window that Yingchun leaned on the bed reading, paying no attention to the quarrel. Tanchun could not help laughing. A little maid lifted the curtain and announced, “The young ladies are here.” Yingchun put down the book and rose. The woman saw Tanchun and the others enter and knew she could not continue quarreling, so she meant to slip away.
Tanchun sat down and asked, “Who was speaking just now? It sounded like a quarrel.” Yingchun smiled. “Nothing. They are making a fuss over nothing. Do not ask.” Tanchun smiled. “I heard the golden phoenix mentioned, and something about having no money so demanding it from servants. Who demands money from servants? Could it be that you demand money from servants? You receive monthly allowance like the rest of us. Are you short of spending money?” Chess and Xiuju said, “The miss is right. All the young ladies are treated the same. Other young ladies’ monthly allowances are taken by their wet nurses, and we do not know the accounts. If they want something, they just ask. Only here do they say the miss spent their money. When did the miss ever ask them for anything?”
Tanchun smiled. “You have not, and neither have we. Call her in. I will ask her.” Yingchun smiled. “That is funny. It has nothing to do with you. Why drag yourselves in?” Tanchun said, “Not so. You and I are one body. Your affairs are my affairs. If someone complains about you, it is as if they complain about me. We are masters and need not fuss over small money. It is common to want things. But how does this filigree golden phoenix come into it?”
Wang Zhu’er’s wife feared Xiuju would expose her, so she quickly came in to explain and cover up. Tanchun saw through her and smiled. “You are muddle-headed. Now that your mother-in-law has been punished, take this chance to ask Second Mistress to use the undistributed gambling money to redeem the phoenix, and it is settled. Before it came out, everyone still had face. Now face is torn. Even if there were ten crimes, one person bears the punishment; they will not cut off two heads. On my word, go to Second Mistress and explain. What does shouting here look like?”
The woman, her thoughts exposed, could not deny it, but did not dare go to Xifeng herself. Tanchun smiled. “Since I have heard it, I cannot ignore it. I will mediate for you.” In fact, Tanchun had already quietly signaled Shishu to go and invite Patience.
As they spoke, Patience arrived. Baoqin clapped and smiled. “Does Third Sister have magic to summon gods and command generals?” Daiyu smiled. “It is not Taoist magic. It is the art of war: guard like a maiden, then strike unexpectedly.” Baochai quickly signaled them not to tease and changed the subject.
Tanchun saw Patience and asked, “Is your mistress better? She is truly ill and muddle-headed, paying no attention to anything, and causing us to suffer wrong.” Patience quickly said, “What wrong has the young lady suffered? Whoever dares give you anger, just tell me.” Wang Zhu’er’s wife panicked and came forward to greet Patience. “Miss, sit down. I will explain.” Patience said sternly, “When the young ladies are speaking, what right have you to interrupt? If you knew propriety, you would serve outside. There is no precedent for an outer-room wife to enter a young lady’s bedroom as she pleases.”
Xiuju said, “There has never been any rule in our room. Anyone can come in.” Patience said, “That is all your fault. The young lady is kind, so you should drive idlers out and report to Lady Wang.” Wang Zhu’er’s wife, scolded by Patience, flushed and withdrew.
Tanchun continued, “If others offended me, it would not matter. But this Wang Zhu’er’s wife and her mother-in-law, relying on being wet nurses, bully Second Sister because she is weak. They secretly take jewelry to gamble, fabricate accounts, force Second Sister to plead for them, and make a scene in her bedroom. Second Sister cannot control them. I could not bear it, so I asked you to come and ask: Are they people from beyond the sky who do not understand propriety? Or has someone instructed them first to subdue Second Sister, and next to control me and Fourth Sister?”
Patience quickly smiled apologetically. “How can you say that, Miss? Our mistress cannot bear it.” Tanchun sneered. “As the saying goes, when one creature dies, its kind grieve; when the lips are gone, the teeth feel cold. How can I not worry?” Patience said, “This is not a great matter. It can be easily handled. She is Second Girl’s nurse’s daughter-in-law. How does the miss wish to deal with it?”
Yingchun was still reading the Response and Retribution with Baochai, as if Tanchun’s words had not entered her ears. Hearing Patience ask her, she smiled and said, “Ask me? I have no way. They did wrong and brought it on themselves. I will not plead for them, nor will I punish them. If the jewelry taken is returned, I will accept it; if not, I do not want it. If the ladies ask, I can cover for them—that is their good fortune. If I cannot cover, I cannot deceive my elders, and can only tell the truth. If you think I am weak and indecisive, and have a thorough, safe way that will not anger Lady Wang, then do as you please. I will not interfere at all.”
Everyone found this funny. Daiyu smiled. “Truly, ‘While tigers and wolves camp on the steps, she still discusses cause and effect.’ If Second Sister were a man and had so many people in the household, how would she govern them?” Yingchun smiled. “Yes. How many men are like this, let alone a girl like me.” Before she finished, someone else came in. No one knew who it was. Read the next chapter.
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