Chapter 10: On the Heels of One Calamity, the Villain Meets Disaster — The Peacemaker Quietly Lines His Pockets

Hearing the cries from the back of the house, Guixing flew inside at once. He found the maidservants and women in the household in a state of total panic. Guixing shouted to ask what had happened, and Lady He beckoned urgently, "Husband, come quickly — something has happened to your sister!" Guixing was struck with alarm. He rushed to the door of Guixian's room and looked in. There, suspended high by a silk sash, hung Guixian — her hair disheveled, her tongue protruding some two inches, her eyes wide open, twice as large as in life. Guixing stamped his foot and cried, "What is the meaning of this! Why would a perfectly healthy person tire of living!" Lady He said anxiously, "Husband, come help untie her and save her — we have been trying to untie her for a long while and cannot." Guixing called Xilai to untie her and make efforts to revive her. It was evident at once that there was no hope. Guixing noticed a corner of an envelope showing at her lapel, and he pulled it out and read the address: "Respectfully delivered to the honored Liang family, for the Aunt's eyes." Guixing blazed with fury, "So she has been in secret communication with our enemies! Dead too late, dead too late!" He tore the letter to shreds, and walked out in a sulk. The assembled ruffians came forward to ask what had happened; Guixing told them briefly. Juexing said, "Everything else can be managed. But this young cousin, was she not betrothed to the Chen family? The young man need not concern us much, but his father, Chen Zeguang, is not easy to deal with. The man specializes in writing petitions for others, and he writes so skillfully that people call him 'Chen the Examination First-Place Scholar.' We had better find a way to manage him first." Guixing was horrified and said, "What on earth are we to do!" Juexing replied, "Nothing more than spending a little money." They were in confusion until daylight came: arrangements were made to buy a coffin, prepare for laying out and burial, and a messenger was sent to report the death to the Chen family.

On receiving the news, Chen Zeguang brought his son and came personally to offer condolences. The moment they met he said, "This is my son's misfortune. But might I ask what illness your sister died of so quickly?" Guixing replied, "She fell suddenly ill last night, and there was no time for treatment." Chen Zeguang said, "Please lead me inside so I may have a look — on one hand so I may pay my respects, and on the other hand so that my son may burn incense before his betrothed." Guixing replied, "I cannot accept this honor just now — please sit first in the study." Having settled Chen Zeguang and his son in the study, Guixing, unable to raise the matter himself, sent for Juexing to go and sound out Chen Zeguang's position. Juexing went back and forth as intermediary. In the end it was settled that Guixing would pay two thousand taels; Juexing quietly pocketed five hundred for himself as his cut, and Chen Zeguang received fifteen hundred. With that, Chen Zeguang said not a single word further, and went off with his son.

Inside, the sound of weeping rose again — it was time to lay out the body for burial. Lady He came out again and again to summon Guixing to attend the encoffining. Guixing was already in poor spirits over having spent two thousand taels on account of his sister, so he went in with a scowl, lips pursed, neither weeping nor speaking. Their five-year-old son, Yingke, wept and jumped about crying for his mother. In his distress the child jumped toward Guixing's feet and stepped a patch of mud onto the new socks he had just put on. Guixing swung a palm full at the boy's face and said, "She is dead — what is it to you? Must you make such a spectacle?" Lady He quickly pulled the child aside and wept, "What kind of heartless creature are you — your own full-blooded sister has died, and not a tear from you! Nobody here has done you any wrong, and yet you take it out on the child! Who has been stirring you up now, you brigand?!" Guixing blazed with fury: "What! Who are you calling a brigand? Which brigand are you referring to?" And he slapped her across the face. Lady He, already weeping with grief, had no strength left; she fell to the floor and broke into loud sobbing. Guixing, furious beyond control, stepped forward and kicked her twice. A crowd of maidservants and women rushed to separate them. Guixing walked out, still seething, and sat stiffly in his chair, not answering a word when the ruffians came to calm him. Seeing no hope, the men gradually drifted away. Only Qu Juexing remained. With fair words and sweet speech he coaxed Guixing back to a semblance of good humor, then drew him to the opium couch to smoke away the gloom. Glancing into the smoking tray, Juexing exclaimed, "Oh no! My tin of opium — why is it so much lighter? I know — it must be your Xilai who has been helping himself. I've heard he has quite a taste for this sort of thing lately. Well, it won't do to leave it here anymore. Nine qian and more per liang (a unit of weight for opium, equivalent to one tael) — how can I afford to have him steal from me? I'll keep this half-tin on my person. This full tin I'll ask you, nephew, to keep safely for me — it is not safe to leave it here." Guixing replied, "Why does Uncle not simply take it home?" Juexing replied, "That won't do — too many idle people come and go at my place; I cannot afford to supply them all. First and foremost there is a friend of mine named Xiong — Xiong Aqt — a true hero in the world of the rivers and lakes, and I respect him greatly for that. But his appetite for opium is very large; if there is any on the premises, whether it is one liang or eight qian, he will smoke every last bit of it before he puts down his pipe." Guixing laughed, and after some more conversation Juexing also left.

The house was quieter now; Guixing went in to have a look. He found Lady He weeping in broken sobs before the coffin. He went to the bedroom and put Juexing's tin of opium in the dressing-table drawer. He sat awhile, feeling restless, then went back out and lay down on the opium couch. Finding it too lonely, he went back inside again. Lady He was still weeping. Guixing sighed, "You may stop crying now." He noticed how distressed she looked and, despite himself, felt a pang of sorrow. He turned and went back outside. Throughout the day he felt out of sorts — restless and unfocused, as if there were too few people around and the silence was oppressive. From time to time a sudden palpitation gripped his heart. The entire day he was without energy or spirits. At dinnertime, not wishing to share the table with Lady He, he had the food brought to the study and drank a few cups alone — but there was no pleasure in it, and he could not eat either. He sat awhile, lay down on the opium couch, and drifted into a hazy sleep. He woke to find the fourth watch had already passed. Feeling a touch of the night cold, he rose and went inside to sleep. Walking through the main hall, he saw his sister's coffin standing there, two green wax candles casting a cold light — and despite himself he shuddered. He walked into the bedroom, lifted the curtain, sat on the edge of the bed, and stared blankly for a while, feeling the cold still more. He thought to himself, "Strange — here it is only the eighth month and already so cold!" He stretched out his hand to move Lady He over, intending to ask her to shift further inside. But as his hand touched something on the bed, it was ice-cold; he recoiled in fright, leapt to his feet, and shouted, "Quickly! Get up! Get up! Look and see what is there on the bed!" He called twice and received no answer, then said, "How can anyone sleep so deep, that such shouting cannot wake them!" He picked up the lamp himself and went to look. He first pushed aside one side of the bed-curtain, then with one hand held the lamp and with the other hand lifted the curtain and bent down to look — and a shout escaped him; he lurched backward, and before he could catch himself he fell flat on his back, the lamp flying out of his hand and going dark, leaving the room in pitch-blackness.

He scrambled to his feet, half crawling and half stumbling out of the bedroom door — and came face to face with his sister's coffin, which frightened him further out of his wits. Not only could he not walk; he could barely stand. With a great thud he sat down on the floor. He tried to rise, but his hands and feet seemed to be no longer his own; try as he might, he could not lift himself. When he tried to shout, no sound came out. His heart was racing and fear overwhelmed him. "This is bad — I've gone mute!" With no choice, he crawled across the floor, crawled to the courtyard, summoned every ounce of strength he had left, and managed to cry out, "Get... get... get... get up..." and then he could call no more. "This is bad — why is my jaw trembling? And all thirty-two teeth are chattering?" He looked back at the coffin standing in the hall, and was seized with another fit of shaking; he still could not stand up. He could only keep crawling, crawling all the way to the outer hall. He sat on the floor, gathered his nerves as best he could, and felt slightly better. His teeth kept chattering; his hands and feet were icy; his body was alternately hot with sweat. He clenched his teeth as hard as he could, pressed both hands over his heart, drew a breath through his nose, and felt somewhat better again. He sat on the floor and shouted, "Get up! Get up! All of you, get up quickly!" But by this time it was well past the fourth watch; everyone was in their deepest sleep, and no one inside was calling — who would hear his voice from outside? He called a dozen times or more, listened, and heard only dead silence. With no choice, he forced himself to stand. He was somewhat better now and managed to rise, though his legs were weak. Step by stumbling step he made his way outside, then to the gateman's room to call for Xilai.

By now the moon had sunk in the west and the courtyard was pitch-dark. The darkness frightened him again, but fortunately the study window had a faint gleam of lamplight showing through it. Steeling himself, he forced his way to the door of the gateman's room. He was past calling out by now; he clenched his fist and pounded on the door like a drumbeat, shaking the timbers.

What had he seen on the bed that frightened him to such a degree? When he had brought the lamp and looked, he saw Lady He lying on her back, her hair disheveled, her eyes open, her mouth agape, her face a color between purple and black. He had just said a moment before that his wife slept like the dead — and indeed she was not merely like the dead. She was dead. And that was what had frightened him so that three of his seven souls had fled and five of his six vital spirits had scattered — exposing this wretched spectacle.

As for his drumbeat pounding on the door: it woke Xilai, who cursed from inside, "What is this before dawn! Which damned little wretch is that!" Guixing did not hear him and kept on pounding. Xilai cursed again, "Which great idiot is this!" Guixing was making too much noise to hear, so he pounded harder still. Xilai leapt up in fury, came and opened the door — and the momentum of Guixing's pounding was so great that the instant the door opened, he toppled forward with a thud, falling straight into the room. Xilai was caught completely off guard, landed flat on his back beneath Guixing, and was furious. He seized Guixing's pigtail with one hand and delivered several sharp slaps with the other. Then he looked again and went pale: "Why, it is the Master — I deserve to die, I deserve to die!" He helped Guixing up and asked what was the matter. As he studied him closely, he saw his face was white as plaster, his eyes were glazed, and his breath came in gasps. Xilai was bewildered and frightened. He was about to help him sit down when Guixing managed to say, "Something... something terrible! The... the mistress is gone!" Xilai was horrified: "Where has she gone? The main gate has been locked all evening!" Guixing said, "She is... she is gone!" Xilai asked, "But where exactly?" Guixing said, "She is... dead!" Xilai was startled again: "She was perfectly fine yesterday — how did this happen?" Guixing replied, "No... no need to ask — just go wake everyone up." Xilai said yes, and thought to himself with puzzlement: "What is all this fuss about someone dying — could she have hanged herself again?" He took up a lamp and lit the way for Guixing inside, intending to go look in the bedroom. Guixing only stood in the inner courtyard and said, "Go and wake the others first!" Xilai went to the back rooms, shaking doors and knocking walls until he woke all the maidservants and women. They were just beginning to come out when Guixing suddenly gave a great cry, "Ahh! This is terrible — a jumping corpse!" and turned and ran for the door. The women had only just been told "the mistress is dead" and were already frightened; coming to the hall and seeing the coffin there, their hearts went cold; then out of nowhere came this terrible cry, so that in one whoosh the whole crowd ran the other way, scattering oil lamps and candles across the floor. Only Xilai, bolder than the rest, came flying back and grabbed hold of Guixing, "Master! What is the matter?"

Guixing replied, "Let... let go — a jumping corpse is coming!" Xilai asked, "Where?" Guixing replied, "In the room, crying." Xilai said, "If she is crying, it means the mistress has revived! Master, rest assured — it is not a jumping corpse!" Guixing's heart was slightly relieved. Xilai held on to Guixing with one hand and shouted back, "Everyone come out quickly — there is no jumping corpse; the mistress has come back to life!" The women slowly came out one by one, worked their way to the bedroom, and inside — it was no revived mistress at all. It was the little Yingke, asleep in the inner bed, who had woken up and found his mother not answering, and was crying there.

Though Guixing had made it back to the bedroom, he absolutely refused to approach the bedside. Two of the older women went forward first; one pressed her hand over Lady He's chest and said, "There is nothing to be done — come and take down the curtain!" Seven hands and eight feet fell to taking down the curtain, and as they did so, they heard something drop from the bed to the floor with a sharp clatter — something had been caught in the bed curtains and pulled down from the headboard. Xilai picked it up and looked, and could not hide his alarm: "This is an opium box! Where did this come from?" Guixing could not help stamping his foot, "It is all over, it is all over!"

In a great commotion and noise that lasted until dawn. Guixing sent people in all directions: some to summon the ruffians to help manage things, some to report the death to various parties. Before long the ruffians began arriving one after another, but Juexing had not yet come. Then suddenly from outside the gate came a clamor of voices pouring in. He looked up to see his father-in-law, He Da'an, and his wife's uncle, He Daxian, leading over twenty men of the He family, all calling out, "Such a perfectly healthy person — how could she die in a single night?" They rushed in without bothering with Guixing and went straight to the inner rooms. Guixing could not stop them and was secretly alarmed. He quickly called Xilai to run at full speed and bring Juexing to come and manage the situation.

How Juexing came and managed it — that must wait for the next chapter.