Jia Zheng heard that Grandmother Jia was in critical condition and hurried in to see her. It turned out that Grandmother Jia had been so frightened that her breath had become disordered. Lady Wang, Yuanyang, and the others roused her and quickly gave her soothing pills to calm her spirit and ease her breathing. Only then did she slowly revive, though she could not stop weeping in sorrow. Jia Zheng comforted her at her side, saying again and again, “It is all because your sons and grandsons are good for nothing and have brought great disaster, frightening you, Old Ancestor. If you can set your mind at ease, we younger ones can still manage matters outside. But if anything should happen to you, our guilt will be even deeper.”
Grandmother Jia said, “I have lived more than eighty years. From the time I was a girl until your father managed the household, we relied entirely on the blessings of our ancestors. I never heard of such a shocking thing. Now, in my old age, I must watch my sons and grandsons meet disaster. How can my heart bear it? It would be better to close my eyes and go with you all, and be done with it.” Then she wept bitterly again.
Jia Zheng was frantic with anxiety. Just then someone outside announced, “Please ask the master to come out. There is news from the palace.” Jia Zheng hurried out. It was the chief secretary of Prince Bejing’s household. As soon as they met, the chief secretary offered congratulations. Jia Zheng quickly thanked him and asked him to sit, then asked what decree the prince had brought.
The chief secretary said, “Our prince and Prince Xiping entered the palace and reported to the emperor. They relayed on your behalf your fear, shame, and gratitude for imperial grace. The emperor was very compassionate and, remembering that the Imperial Concubine has not long been dead, could not bear to punish you severely. He has shown extraordinary grace and permits you to remain in your post as vice director of the Ministry of Works. Of the confiscated property, only Jia She’s share is to be forfeited to the government. The rest is all to be returned to the Jia household. A decree has also been issued ordering you to do your duty with all your heart. As for the loan contracts found in the search, they are to be examined by the two princes. All contracts charging illegal high interest are to be confiscated according to rule. Contracts charging lawful interest, together with title deeds for land and houses, are all to be returned. Jia Lian is stripped of his official rank, pardoned of guilt, and released to return home.”
When Jia Zheng heard this, he rose at once, knelt, and kowtowed to thank the emperor for his grace. He also bowed to thank the prince for his kindness. He said to the chief secretary, “I beg you, sir, to convey my thanks to the prince on my behalf. Tomorrow morning I will enter the palace to thank the emperor, and then I will come in person to the prince’s mansion to kowtow my thanks.” The chief secretary took his leave. Before long the formal decree came down. The officials handling the case followed the decree and checked item by item. What was to be confiscated was confiscated; what was to be returned was returned. Jia Lian was released from custody. All the male and female servants under Jia She’s name were registered and handed over to the government.
Poor Jia Lian’s rooms! Apart from the documents returned according to rule, the property that had not been confiscated by the government had long since been snatched away by the search party. Only broken furniture and utensils remained. At first Jia Lian had feared a heavy sentence, and release was already a great blessing. But then he thought of the wealth he had accumulated over the years, and Xifeng’s private savings as well, amounting together to no less than seven or eight hundred thousand taels of silver. In one night it had all vanished. His heart ached beyond measure. Moreover, his father was still imprisoned in the Brocade-Clad Guard Office, and Wang Xifeng was gravely ill and near death. For a moment a hundred feelings surged up in him.
Just then Jia Zheng, with tears in his eyes, called him forward and asked, “I was in office and seldom concerned myself with household trifles, so I left the family affairs to you and your wife. Your father’s wrongdoings were hard enough to dissuade him from, but who was it who lent money at usury and ground down the people? Such things are not for a family like ours to do at all. The loss of money is a small matter. If such a bad reputation spreads, where will we hold up our faces?”
Jia Lian knelt and answered, “Your nephew has managed the household and never dared harbor selfish intentions. All income and expenses were recorded by the stewards Lai Da, Wu Xindeng, and Dai Liang. You may call them and question them directly. In recent years the treasury has spent much and received little. Though we did not use our own money to make up the household expenses, we have already incurred many debts outside. Ask my aunt and she will know. As for the loans made outside, even I did not know where the silver came from or went. You must ask Zhou Rui and Wang’er for the details.”
Jia Zheng said, “According to you, you did not even know clearly what went on in your own rooms. Then the affairs of the whole household were even less clear. I will not pursue you today. Now that you have been released without guilt, go at once and find out how your father’s and Cousin Zhen’s cases are progressing.” Jia Lian, full of grievance, assented with tears and withdrew.
Jia Zheng sighed again and again. He thought to himself: My grandfather labored for the country and earned merit, and obtained two hereditary offices. Now both branches have met disaster, and both titles have been stripped away. Looking at these sons and nephews, not one is worth anything. Heaven above, how has our Jia family fallen into such ruin? Thanks to the emperor’s extraordinary mercy, our property has been returned. But the living expenses of Jia She’s branch and the Ning-guo House must now all be combined into one. How can I alone support it? What Jia Lian just said is even more alarming. The treasury not only has no surplus, it owes a great deficit. All these years we have had only the empty name of a great family. I hate only that I have been so muddle-headed. If my eldest son Jia Zhu were still alive, at least I would have a helper. Baoyu, though no longer young, is completely useless. Thinking thus, tears soaked his clothes. Then he thought again: The Old Ancestor is so old, and we children have not been able to honor her for a single day. Instead we have frightened her almost to death. For so much guilt, whom can we blame?
Jia Zheng was grieving alone when a servant announced that relatives and friends had come to visit. Jia Zheng thanked them one by one and said with emotion, “Our house has met misfortune. It is all because I failed to discipline my sons and nephews, and so we have come to this.” Someone said, “I long ago knew that the Eldest Master She acted improperly, and Jia Zhen was even more arrogant and unrestrained. If one were punished for a mistake in official business, that would be one thing. But now they have brought disaster on themselves and dragged you down with them, Second Master.” Another said, “Other families have their scandals too, yet one does not see the censors impeaching them. If Jia Zhen had not offended someone, things would not have come to this.” Another said, “You cannot blame only the censor. I hear it was all spread about by servants of your household and some idle rogues in the streets. The censor feared a false memorial, so he summoned people from the household for questioning, and then the whole matter came out. The Jia household has always been generous to its servants. How could such a thing happen?” Another said, “Servants of that sort cannot be indulged. Today, since we are close relatives and friends, I will speak plainly. Even though you, sir, are an official and do not yourself covet wealth, the rumors outside are ugly. They all come from the mischief of your underlings. You must be on your guard. Though your branch’s property has not been confiscated now, if the emperor should later become suspicious, the consequences will be endless.”
Jia Zheng was alarmed and quickly asked, “What rumors have you heard about me outside?” They said, “We have no solid evidence, only hearsay. It is said that when you were grain intendant, the servants at your yamen gate privately demanded money from people.” Jia Zheng said, “I search my conscience. I never thought of demanding money. But if my servants went about outside making a show and cheating people, and brought disaster, then I must bear the blame with them.” They advised, “It is useless to worry now. You can only strictly investigate the stewards and servants you have now. If you find any with divided hearts, you must punish them severely.” Jia Zheng nodded.
Just then the gate servant came in and reported, “Someone has come from Sun Shaozu, the son-in-law. He says he has business and cannot come himself, so he sent someone to visit. He also says the Eldest Master owes him a sum of silver, and he wants the Second Master to repay it for him.” Jia Zheng was full of gloom and said only, “I understand.”
The relatives and friends all sneered. “They say Sun Shaozu is a scoundrel, and indeed he is. When his father-in-law’s house is searched and confiscated, he does not come to visit or help. Instead he rushes to demand a debt. He is utterly inhuman.” Jia Zheng said, “Do not speak of him for now. This marriage was chosen wrongly by my elder brother in the first place. My niece Yingchun has already suffered bitterly, and now trouble has been brought to me as well.”
As he was speaking, Xue Ke came in and said, “I have found out that Lord Zhao of the Brocade-Clad Guard Office insists on punishing them severely according to the censor’s charges. I fear the Eldest Master and Master Zhen will have difficulty escaping.” Everyone urged Jia Zheng, “Second Master, you must still go out and beg the two princes to think of some way to salvage the situation. Otherwise both branches are finished.” Jia Zheng thanked them, and the relatives and friends took their leave one after another.
By then it was already lamp-lighting time. Jia Zheng went in to pay his respects to Grandmother Jia and saw that the old lady was a little better. He returned to his own rooms, inwardly blaming Jia Lian and his wife for their reckless conduct and the usury scandal that had disgraced the whole family. Only now did he see clearly what Wang Xifeng had done, and he was deeply displeased. But Wang Xifeng was gravely ill and near death, and all her private property had been seized in the search. Her heart was already knotted with grief. Jia Zheng could not rebuke her to her face, so he held back his anger for the time being. That night nothing else happened.
The next morning Jia Zheng entered the palace to thank the emperor for his grace. He also went to the mansions of Prince Bejing and Prince Xiping to bow his thanks in person, begging the two princes to look after his elder brother and nephew as much as possible. The two princes promised to do what they could. Jia Zheng also sought out friendly colleagues at court to help plead the case.
Now to return to Jia Lian. He inquired about his father’s and Jia Zhen’s cases and found that the situation was still unfavorable. There was nothing he could do, so he had to return home. Ping’er was watching over the gravely ill Wang Xifeng and weeping without stop. Qiutong, in the side room, was complaining about Wang Xifeng. Jia Lian went to the bedside and saw Wang Xifeng at her last breath. Though he had many complaints in his heart, he could not speak them now. Ping’er said tearfully, “Things have come to this. The property is lost and cannot be recovered. The mistress is so ill. We should call another doctor to treat her and nurse her back.” Jia Lian spat. “I do not even know whether I can preserve my own life. How can I have the heart to care for her?”
Wang Xifeng heard this and slowly opened her eyes to look at Jia Lian. She said not a word, but tears streamed down. After Jia Lian went out, Wang Xifeng said to Ping’er, “Why can you still not understand? We have fallen to this state. Why should you still care for me? I wish I could die today and be free. I only beg you to remember me in your heart. After I die, raise Qiaojie well and bring her to adulthood. I will be grateful to you even in the underworld.” When Ping’er heard this, she wept aloud. Wang Xifeng went on, “You are a clever one too. They do not reproach me to my face, but in their hearts they must hate me. Though much of the trouble was stirred up outside, if I had not been greedy for money, we would not have come to this. I spent my life scheming and striving to be first, and in the end I have fallen so low. I can only blame myself for using the wrong people. I vaguely heard that the case against Master Zhen involves seizing common people’s wives as concubines and forcing a woman to death because she would not submit. A man surnamed Zhang is involved. Think carefully. The Second Master is not free of blame in that either. Once that case is tried and verified, how can I face anyone? I want to die at once, but I dare not swallow gold or take poison and leave a bad name. You still want to call a doctor. Your heart is kind, but it will only drag me on.” The more Ping’er heard, the more heartbroken she became. She knew the situation was truly desperate and feared Wang Xifeng would try to kill herself, so she did not leave her side for a moment.
Fortunately Grandmother Jia did not know all the details. Recently her health had improved a little, and seeing that Jia Zheng was safe, with Baoyu and Baochai at her side every day, she felt somewhat relieved. Grandmother Jia had always loved Wang Xifeng, so she told Yuanyang, “Take some of my private property to Feng girl, and give some silver to Ping’er to care for her illness. Later I will make other arrangements.” She also told Lady Wang to look after Lady Xing more.
On the other side, the Ning-guo House mansion had been confiscated by the government. All its lands, property, and servants were registered and taken over. Grandmother Jia sent carriages to bring You-shi and Jia Rong’s wife back to the Rong House. The once glorious Ning-guo House now had only the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law left, along with the two concubines Peifeng and Xieluan. There was not even a servant left. Grandmother Jia cleared out a set of rooms next to Xichun’s quarters and arranged for them to live there. She assigned four old women and two maids to serve them. Their three meals were sent on time from the main kitchen. Clothes and supplies were provided from Grandmother Jia’s own things. Daily expenses were drawn from the household accounts, and they received monthly allowances like the rest of the Rong household.
But Jia She, Jia Zhen, and Jia Rong were imprisoned in the Brocade-Clad Guard Office and needed money to manage the case. The household accounts could no longer produce silver. Wang Xifeng had nothing left, and Jia Lian was burdened with debts. Jia Zheng did not understand household matters and said only that he had asked people to manage it, so someone would naturally look after them. Jia Lian, at his wit’s end, remembered that among relatives Aunt Xue’s family had declined, Wang Ziteng was dead, and the remaining relatives could not be relied on. He could only secretly send someone to the countryside to sell part of his land for a few thousand taels of silver and send it to the prison for expenses. The stewards and servants of the Jia household, seeing the masters’ fortunes decline, also took the chance to cheat. The rents from the eastern estate were borrowed and diverted under various pretexts. These are later matters and need not be described in detail.
Now to return to Grandmother Jia. She thought of how the hereditary offices passed down from her ancestors had been stripped away, how her sons and grandsons were imprisoned and awaiting trial, how Lady Xing and You-shi wept all day, and how Wang Xifeng was at death’s door. Though Baoyu and Baochai were beside her and could comfort her, they could not share her suffering. Day and night her heart was uneasy. Thinking back on all that had passed, tears would not stop. One evening she told Baoyu to go back and rest first. She forced herself to sit up and told Yuanyang and the others to light incense in the various Buddhist shrines. She also ordered a large ceremonial incense stand to be lit in the courtyard. Leaning on her staff, she walked into the courtyard. Hupo, knowing the old lady meant to worship Heaven and Earth, quickly spread a great red kneeling cushion.
Grandmother Jia lit incense and knelt, kowtowing many times. She recited the Buddha’s name and, with tears in her eyes, prayed to Heaven and Earth: “Heaven above and Bodhisattva, I, née Shi of the Jia family, pray sincerely. I beg the Bodhisattva to show great compassion. For generations our Jia family has never dared to do evil. I aided my husband and taught my children. Though I cannot claim great virtue, I have never dared do anything against conscience. It must be that my descendants have been arrogant and extravagant, wasting wealth, and so brought down this great disaster of confiscation upon the family. Now my sons and grandsons are in prison, and I fear their fate is uncertain. Let all their faults be counted as mine alone. It is I who failed to teach my children and grandchildren, and so brought this great calamity. I beg Heaven to protect my kin in prison, to turn ill fortune into good, and to restore the sick to health. If the whole family must bear guilt, let me bear it alone. I only beg that my sons and grandsons be spared. If Heaven pities my sincere heart, then take me away early and spare my descendants disaster.” Having said this silently, her heart was full of sorrow. She sobbed quietly. Yuanyang and Zhenzhu quickly comforted her and helped the old lady back inside.
Before long Lady Wang came with Baoyu and Baochai to pay their respects. Seeing Grandmother Jia grieving, the three could not help weeping. Baochai’s heart was even more bitter. Her brother Xue Pan was still in prison, and she did not know whether he would be sentenced to death. Her parents-in-law were safe, but the family fortunes were declining. Baoyu was still foolish and muddled, with no ambition as a man. Thinking of her future, she wept even more bitterly than Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang. Baoyu, seeing Baochai weep so bitterly, felt desolate too. He thought of how the Old Ancestor was old and could not be at peace, how his father and mother were full of grief, and how his sisters had scattered, each day more bleak. He remembered how lively it had been when they wrote poems and formed clubs in Prospect Garden. Since Lin Daiyu’s death, he had been gloomy. After marrying Baochai, he could not often show his grief. Now, seeing Baochai sorrowing for her brother and seldom smiling, and now weeping as if her heart would break, Baoyu too could not hold back and wept aloud. Yuanyang, Caiyun, Ying’er, and Xiren were stirred by the scene and sobbed quietly. The other maids, seeing everyone grieving, also shed tears. For a time no one came forward to comfort them. The sound of weeping filled the room and frightened the old women on night watch outside. They hurried to report to Jia Zheng.
Jia Zheng was worrying in his study. Hearing the report from Grandmother Jia’s rooms, he was greatly alarmed and ran into the inner quarters. From afar he heard a great sound of weeping. Thinking something had happened to the old lady, he was frightened out of his wits. Rushing inside, he saw Grandmother Jia merely sitting and weeping in sorrow. Only then did he feel relieved. He scolded, “The Old Ancestor is grieving. You should comfort her well. Why are you all crying with her?” When the others heard Jia Zheng’s voice, they quickly stopped crying and looked at one another in confusion. They too were puzzled. They had come to comfort the old lady, and yet somehow they had all ended up weeping.
In the midst of this confusion, an old woman led in two serving women from Shi Xiangyun’s household. They first paid their respects to Grandmother Jia, then greeted everyone. They said, “Our master, mistress, and young lady sent us. We heard that trouble had come to your house, but it was only a false alarm and a fright, not a great disaster. Fearing you would be worried, they sent us to tell you that the Second Master is safe and well. Our young lady wanted to come herself, but she is to be married in a few days, so she could not come.”
Grandmother Jia heard this and could not thank them face to face. She said, “Go back and give my regards to your master and mistress. This is a calamity our family was fated to meet. Thank you for thinking of us. Another day I will send someone to your house to thank you. Your young lady is to be married. No doubt the bridegroom is a good man. How are his family’s circumstances?” The two women answered, “The family is fairly well off. The young master is handsome and gentle. We have seen him several times. He resembles Master Bao of your household, and I hear his literary talent and learning are also very good.”
Grandmother Jia was a little pleased. “We are southerners by origin. Though we have lived long in the capital, we still follow southern customs for weddings, so we have not yet seen this new son-in-law. In recent days I often thought of my maiden home. The one I loved most was your young lady. Out of three hundred and sixty days in a year, she spent more than two hundred at my side. I watched her grow up. I had hoped to find her a good match, but her uncle was not at home, and I could not decide on my own. Now she has the good fortune to marry into a good family, and I am content. I had wanted to go and drink a cup of wedding wine, but who knew such disaster would fall on our house? My heart is like being fried in a hot pan. I truly cannot go. Give my regards to everyone. Tell your young lady not to worry about me. I am over eighty. Even if I die, my span of life has not been short. I only wish that after she marries, husband and wife will be harmonious and grow old together. Then I will be completely at ease.” As she spoke, tears fell. The women comforted her. “Do not grieve, Old Ancestor. After the young lady marries, when she makes the return visit, she and the young master will come together to pay their respects to you. Then you will be happy to see her.” Grandmother Jia nodded, and the women withdrew.
The others heard this and thought little of it. Only Baoyu stood dazed, thinking: These days grow harder and harder. Why must girls grow up and marry, and after marrying everything changes? Cousin Shi was such a fine person, yet her uncle forced her to marry. In the future, when she sees me again, I fear she will not pay me any attention. If a person falls to the point where no one pays him any attention, what meaning is there in living? Thinking thus, he was full of sorrow. But seeing that Grandmother Jia had just calmed down, he did not dare weep aloud and could only remain gloomy.
After a while Jia Zheng, still uneasy, came in again to see Grandmother Jia. Seeing that the old lady was better, he went out and summoned Lai Da, telling him to bring the roster of all the stewards and servants in the household and check it carefully. Apart from the servants under Jia She’s name who had been taken by the government, there remained more than thirty households, two hundred and twelve men and women in all. Jia Zheng called the twenty-one male stewards currently on duty and questioned them about the household’s income and expenses in recent years, how much came in each year and how much went out. The chief stewards presented the account books of recent years.
Jia Zheng looked through them. Income fell far short of expenses. In addition, there were years of ceremonial expenses for the palace, and many debts outside. He checked the rents from the country estates. In recent years the harvests sent in were less than half of what they had been in his ancestors’ time, while the household expenses were now more than ten times greater than before. If Jia Zheng had not looked, it would have been better. After looking, he stamped his feet in anxiety. “This is terrible! I thought that with Jia Lian managing the household, there would be some measure. I never expected that years ago they had already spent future money and still tried to keep up the appearance of a great family, treating the hereditary stipend as a trifle. How could the family not decline? Now it is too late to try to live frugally.” He paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, unable to think of any solution.
The stewards knew Jia Zheng did not understand household management and was only worrying in vain. They advised, “Do not grieve too much, master. Most families are like this. Even princely houses often spend more than they receive. They merely keep up appearances and live one day at a time. Now, thanks to imperial grace, our property has been returned. If it had all been confiscated, we would still have to live somehow.” Jia Zheng scolded them angrily. “Nonsense! You servants have no conscience! When your masters were well off, you squandered wildly. When the money was gone, some ran away and some hid, caring nothing whether your masters lived or died. Now that the property has not been confiscated, you think yourselves lucky. But ugly rumors are everywhere. The family foundation is nearly gone, and you still put on airs outside and boast and deceive others. When trouble comes, you push all the blame onto your masters. Now in the cases of the Eldest Master and Master Zhen, it is said that our servant Bao Er spread the news everywhere. I do not see Bao Er’s name on the roster. What is the meaning of this?”
The stewards answered, “Bao Er was originally registered under the Ning-guo House. Second Master Jia Lian thought him honest and transferred him and his wife to the Rong House. Later his wife died, and he returned to the Ning-guo House. Later, when the master’s yamen had business and the Old Ancestor and the young masters went to the ancestral tombs, Jia Zhen managed the household and transferred him back again. After that he left. You have seldom managed household affairs, master, so how could you know these details? You think he is the only one missing from the roster, but every servant also has his own relatives and hangers-on, and below the servants are still other dependents.”
Jia Zheng sighed. “This is terrible!” But there were so many people that they could not all be investigated at once. He could only dismiss them. In his heart he decided to wait until the cases of Jia She and the others were concluded, and then make plans.
One day Jia Zheng was in his study calculating household matters when someone hurried in and reported, “Please go to the palace at once, master. His Majesty summons you for questioning.” When Jia Zheng heard this, he was greatly alarmed and could only hurry to court. Whether this would bring good or ill fortune will be told in the next chapter.
