Chapter 28: A Grand Feast Spread Purely to Revel in Another's Misfortune; An Alarming Message Arrives and Fills Every Heart with Dread

Now, Lexian had his news and flew at once to the prison to quietly inform Guixing. Guixing was overjoyed. He told Lexian to depart immediately for Tancun to bring back one hundred thousand taels of silver, and to draw an extra twenty thousand on top of that for all sundry expenses. Lexian took his orders, went at once and hired five fast boats, and told the boatmen to take on extra oarsmen, limiting the journey to eight shichen (about sixteen hours) to reach Tancun, and another eight shichen to return — regardless of the boat fare. The boatmen agreed; each boat took fifteen oarsmen, poling and rowing as if in flight. They left from the hour of wei (around two in the afternoon), and by the hour of chou (around one in the morning) had already arrived at Tancun. Lexian quietly went to the Ling household, knocked open the gate, and explained his purpose to the two concubines, Madame Yang and Madame Pan. They were greatly pleased and immediately took out one hundred and twenty thousand from the hidden cellar stores. By the time the sky was just beginning to brighten, men were called to carry it down to the boats; divided among five vessels, it was loaded up. By the hour of mao (around six in the morning) they set off, and by the hour of hai (around ten at night) had arrived back in Zhaoqing. Coolies were hired at once to move the cargo to the lodgings, and that very night Du Qin was informed. Du Qin then informed Xu Feng. The next morning, quite openly and without the least concealment, the snow-white silver was carried straight into the prefectural yamen. Prefect Lian's black pupils fell upon that great mountain of white silver, and whatever thought of risk or consequence he might have had simply vanished. He immediately dispatched a runner, bearing official documents, to Panyu County, ordering it to dispatch runners to escort Tianlai to Zhaoqing to attend the hearings. It was the misfortune of Tianlai that he happened at that time to be ill at home, and had no choice but to be tended by Qifu and go in sickness. When he arrived in Zhaoqing, Prefect Lian held two sessions of deliberately vague and inconclusive questioning. Guixing and all the rest thoroughly retracted their earlier confessions; Prefect Lian then released all the detainees and instead took Tianlai into custody, intending to deal with him for false accusation. It was only through Qifu's outside efforts, with someone putting up a guarantee bond, and Tianlai himself submitting a written acknowledgment of settlement, that he finally managed to get free and return home, where he told his mother everything. The two wept bitterly together. Lady Ling said: "I urge you from this day forward to give up this idea. Just think of it as a debt from a former life. Otherwise you will go on getting yourself into trouble." Tianlai said: "By now I have filed at every yamen there is — there is nowhere left to go. Even if I wished to continue, there is nothing for it but to stop." He rested for a few days, then returned to the provincial city. From that time on, he set aside all thoughts of revenge and justice, and attended instead to helping his brother Junlai take a new wife, and to caring for Lady Ling.

One day, Tianlai had some errand that took him through the area of Shuangmendi, and he suddenly came face to face with Guixing being carried in a sedan chair, followed by two young servants. Tianlai deliberately turned his face away to avoid him, but Guixing had already seen him. He called out for the chair to stop, stepped down, caught up to Tianlai, and grabbed him by the arm: "Old cousin! Surely you are not on your way to file another complaint against me at some yamen?" Tianlai said: "Filing or not filing — that is my affair. Don't trouble yourself with me!" Guixing burst out laughing: "Liang Tianlai, I tell you plainly: if you want to sue me, fly up to heaven and sue me before the Jade Emperor; burrow down to hell and sue me before the Lord of Hell. If you can neither fly to heaven nor burrow below, then even if you sue me before the Emperor himself, you will do me no harm whatsoever. I tell you frankly: what was done, I did. But your money cannot match mine. I see that your lawsuit with me has cost you no one knows how much in court fees, and has consumed all your family property — that actually moves me to pity!" With that, he told his servant to take out two hundred copper coins and toss them on the ground: "Take this as your litigation money! I can see your spirit is flagging — let me revive it for you!" He then raised the gilded folding fan in his hand and beat Tianlai about the head with it. Tianlai struggled free with all his strength. Guixing, supremely pleased with himself, stepped back into his chair and returned to the Sande Inn.

As it happened, Juexing arrived just then. Guixing clapped his hands and laughed heartily: "Since I began this lawsuit with Liang Tianlai, I have spent over thirty thousand taels of silver — yet none of it gave me the satisfaction I got today from spending two hundred copper coins!" Juexing asked what had happened, and Guixing told him everything. Zongkong, standing by, cackled loudly: "Delightful! Absolutely delightful!" Juexing said: "My dear nephew, this was most unwise. In all dealings in the world, one must know the other and know oneself. Ever since Tianlai fell into this affair, his grievance has not been redressed, and his heart has never let it go for a single day. By good fortune our connections have been wide, and from the county on up through the Governor's yamen, we have opened every door. The more triumphant we have been, the more bitter his injustice has grown. It was all right not to provoke him — but now that you have provoked him, whatever determination he had allowed to die may well come alive again. If he finds some new avenue, that will only mean more trouble and expense." Zongkong said: "Hmph! If we were that afraid of him, we shouldn't have done it in the first place! By now Governor-General Kong has already gone; the new Governor-General of the Two Guangs, Governor Yang, had gifts of a thousand gold sent up to Nanxiong to greet him before he even took office. What is there to be afraid of? Just like that, all your 'wisdom and resourcefulness' comes to blind fretting!" Juexing gave a cold smile: "Call it blind fretting if you like! When the day comes, everyone here has a share — and at that point, let's see who crawls under the bed." Guixing said: "Cousin-uncle has a point. Let us simply keep a close watch on him from now on." The company said no more. Guixing called Xilai over and instructed him to stay on the watch outside for Tianlai's movements; Xilai took his orders and left.

Time passes quickly when there is nothing to tell and slowly when there is. Without one's noticing, more than a month slipped by. Xilai came to report: "Tianlai is gravely ill — he will likely not live much longer. Master, you may rest easy." Guixing asked: "Where did you hear this?" Xilai said: "The day before yesterday I was passing by his sugar trading house and noticed a large pile of medicine dregs outside the door — that put me on guard. I deliberately walked past several times a day, watching the house, but never saw Tianlai himself. This morning I walked past again and saw the doctor from Yongji Hall, Cheng Wanli, going inside. I was all the more watchful, and waited; after quite a while, Cheng Wanli came out, and it was Yangfu who saw him to the door. Before long, one of the small workers from the trading house came out with a prescription to have it filled. Now, I happened to have a slight cold these last two days, so I hit on a plan: I went to Cheng Wanli's clinic to see him about it, and in passing casually asked what he had been doing at the Tianhe sugar trading house. He said he was treating the owner, Liang Tianlai. I asked what was wrong with him; he said that excessive anxiety and melancholy had turned into a disorder of the heart-spirit (zhengchong — a condition of palpitations and loss of spirit), and that there was a nine-in-ten chance he could not be cured. That is why I came to report to the master."

Guixing was greatly pleased to hear this, praised Xilai for his initiative, and rewarded him with two taels of silver. He then sent for Ou Juexing to come and discuss matters. Juexing arrived shortly, and Guixing told him everything. Juexing said: "I only hope he is truly ill. Even if he does not die right away, if we can rest easy for a while — and even if he does recover — by then he will be so worn down that there is little to fear from him regardless. I will be frank with my dear nephew: I have truly been uneasy ever since the episode at Shuangmendi, when you humiliated Liang Tianlai. It was one thing before — but once you provoke a man, whatever determination he has set aside may stir to life again. Let him seek a new avenue." Guixing said: "Now that he is ill, and the doctor says nine chances in ten he won't recover — even if he does get better, he'll be so depleted that we have nothing to fear. Let's go back to Tancun for a few days of merriment — no need to stay in the provincial city any longer." He then arranged with Juexing to hire boats together and return to Tancun.

It turned out that after Guixing had been released from Zhaoqing, he had been living in the provincial city having his wounds treated. When they healed, he had lingered on, enchanted by the scenery of the Pearl River, and had not once returned to Tancun. Now, arriving home, he found Yukeng Hall draped in cobwebs and thick with dust — which moved him too, somewhat, to melancholy. He immediately called servants to clean the place, freshened the furnishings, and put both the east and west studies in order. Then he and Juexing sat and drank to dispel their gloom.

As for Zongkong, he had also been in the provincial city recovering from his wounds and had gone home first. Now, hearing that Guixing had returned, he at once hurried over to call on him. Entering the gate, he immediately set up a great clamor, calling "Nephew Master! Nephew Master!" without cease. It turned out that after Guixing came back from the reversal of the verdict, seeing that all his followers had endured torture and punishment — all of them having returned from the jaws of death — he had distributed a large sum of money to reward each of them in thanks. Zongkong had received three thousand taels of silver; Guixing had additionally given him a house and several mu of farmland, so that Zongkong had suddenly become a man of means. Words could not express the gratitude he felt in his heart; he could have wished to call Guixing "Father," so his fawning and flattery had multiplied several times over compared with before. Now he went straight to the study and said: "Nephew Master! When did you get back? I had no idea at all. I've come to pay my respects to you. Ah! Cousin Ou is here too — you're both drinking and enjoying yourselves! Xilai, bring over a chair — I'll sit and have a cup with them." Guixing said: "Uncles has come at just the right time — have a cup with us. We haven't celebrated yet since we turned the case around!" Zongkong said: "Quite right, quite right! When will you invite us all for a banquet, Nephew Master?" Guixing said: "Uncle should know — that rascal Liang Tianlai is desperately ill. They say nine chances in ten he won't recover!" He then repeated to him what Xilai had reported. Zongkong clapped his hands: "This is all the more reason to celebrate! Tomorrow I'll go in person to the provincial city and gather everyone together. Yukeng Hall has been quiet far too long — this will liven it up again. First, to celebrate for ourselves; and second, to celebrate Tianlai's illness." With that he raised his cup and drank several toasts in quick succession, then rose to take his leave: "I've been rather busy lately — let me get things sorted out first, then go to the provincial city tomorrow on your behalf to invite everyone." He bid them farewell and went out to see to his affairs.

True to his word, the next morning he set off for the provincial city, rounded up all their cronies and hangers-on one by one, and brought them back to Tancun in a steady stream. That day, Yukeng Hall again had a house full of honored guests. Guixing, naturally, put out rich fish and great slabs of meat to feast them, and the joyful clamor filled the hall. Three days of feasting followed, and on this particular day the table was spread with the finest delicacies from mountain and sea, in extravagance beyond all measure — the formal celebration banquet. The ruffians were their usual selves — wolfing food and bellowing laughter. Only Zongkong was so transported he danced with arms and stamped with feet; his air of elation and exultation was genuinely beyond description. From sunset, they ate on until the second watch was nearly done. They were in the midst of raising fresh cups when suddenly from outside the gate there came a great cry: "Catastrophe is upon you! And here you are still making merry!" That one cry was enough to sober every man in the room.

What disaster had arrived? Read on to the next chapter.