Chapter Twelve: Miss Chang Bears Bitterness in Her Heart and Embraces Death for Honor; Commander-General Zhou Devises a Scheme to Transplant the Flower

A lyric to the tune of "Yan Er Mei":

Joy and suffering — who may forbid them, who may escape?

They spring from the heart alone.

Gold cannot reveal its worth

without the axe, without the fire.

Wondrous use lies in the fit of the moment, shallow or deep —

how few are those who truly understand.

One branch is cut from colored silk, another wound from thread;

embroidered and finished, both become a flower for the hair.

(To the tune of "Yan Er Mei")

Our story continues: Commander-General Chang had prepared betrothal gifts to formally betroth Miss Chang. Chang Quan found no way to refuse, so he had the gifts carried in for Madam Du to inspect. Madam Du was already bustling about, taking inventory of everything. Unexpectedly, the maidservant Qiu Su had a quick mouth, and without a word to Chun Hui she went straight into the young mistress's room and told her everything from beginning to end. The young mistress had been lying on her bed in a daze when she suddenly heard Qiu Su's report and learned that the Chang family's gifts had been accepted. She started wide awake, then said: "It is over. This match of mine — I suppose fate never intended it in a former life, and in this life it ends here. Who could have known that the parting words of Brother Tang so many years ago would prove so exactly true, falling precisely upon this very day? At that time I swore an oath unto death; how can I now steal life and break my word? What I bitterly regret is that I am at the farthest ends of the earth and cannot let him hear of it, so that he might know my resolve."

She then told Qiu Su to open her writing box and take out the poems, lyrics, and songs she herself had composed, and she watched as they were burned. She also called for brush and ink-stone, wishing to write one last verse of heartbreak that he might one day come to know, so that her earlier words would be proven true. Qiu Su quickly brought the brush and ink-stone. The young mistress lifted the brush, but then a thought came to her: "How foolish I am! Not a single word has passed between us while I still live — what point is there in making plans for after my death? Better that I die quickly. If one spirit remains unclouded, it may fly southward through the sky, seek out my brother, and bind a bond in the next life." She flung the brush to the floor and wept aloud: "Brother! Your little sister today does not betray her first heart!"

With those words, her breath could not turn again. She passed away quietly and was gone. Qiu Su, standing at her side, suddenly saw the young mistress's eyes close fast and her four limbs go rigid. In a panic she called out to her several times; receiving no answer, she stepped closer to the bed and touched the young mistress's body — it was already growing cold by degrees. Qiu Su was thrown into a fright and burst into loud weeping. There was no one else in the room at that moment; all the household was outside sorting through the betrothal gifts from the Chang family, with only the little maidservant Qiu Su inside. Now she saw the young mistress lying dead and was seized with terror. Heedless of herself, she ran out of the room, crying and calling out all the way: "My lady, it is terrible! The young mistress is dead!"

Madam Du was in the midst of her arrangements when she heard this, and the fright nearly tore her soul from her body. She dropped everything and rushed into the room. Seeing the young mistress dead upon the bed, she beat her breast and wept to heaven and earth, crying for her child. Chun Hui, Qiu Su, and all the serving women came running and wept together in a huddle. Madam Du quickly sent someone to inform the master. Chang Quan was sitting and drinking with the two visitors when the message arrived; without a thought for the others he scrambled into the room and wept over the body. Then he noticed that although the young mistress's hands and feet were cold, her chest was still warm, with a faint flutter. He quickly turned to Madam Du and said: "The child's heart has not yet gone cold; do not all weep like this and lose your heads." Madam Du stopped her crying, and everyone kept watch.

As for Zhou Chong-wen and Wu Qu — they had been drinking together for half a day, thinking Chang Quan had only gone inside to accept the gifts. But half a day passed and he still had not returned. The servants dared not report anything. They drank on a little longer, until suddenly a servant came out in a rush to report what had happened with Miss Chang. Zhou Chong-wen and Wu Qu heard this and went pale with shock. Wu Qu said: "What is to be done now?" Zhou Chong-wen was also at a loss for the moment. The two men looked at each other in silence. Before long, Chang Quan came out from inside with tears in his eyes and said: "My unworthy daughter has met misfortune, and heaven has cut short her years. I fear she has disappointed Commander Chang's hope of uniting your families." Both men expressed deep sorrow. Chang Quan said: "I would trouble Elder Wu to take the gifts back with him and convey my sincerest apologies to my younger brother." He then had the original gifts brought out and returned.

Wu Qu was just about to gather up the gifts and take his leave when a member of the Chang household came running out with joy: "Congratulations to the master! The young mistress has come back to life!" All three men heard this and were again astonished — but this time with delight. Zhou Chong-wen said: "After the young mistress has died and revived, her illness will be no further trouble." Chang Quan and Wu Qu urgently asked: "How does your excellency know this?" Zhou Chong-wen replied: "Since ancient times it has been said: 'He who does not die in great peril is destined for great fortune after.' The young mistress's illness will heal of itself before long. Moreover, Commander Chang is in the highest spirits today, eager about a joyous occasion — how could we go back and tell him something so inauspicious? In my view, the gifts need not be returned; let them remain here for now while we wait and see. It would be best if Elder Wu simply returns without saying a word, keeping the matter quiet." Wu Qu thought it over — he had come in high spirits and could hardly go back in low ones — so he agreed with Zhou Chong-wen's counsel and left the gifts behind. He then told everyone: "Miss Chang suffered a brief fit of breathlessness; she has now recovered completely as before." And so everyone returned as cheerfully as they had come. As the verse says:

Startled, then glad, then doubting still —

even the sharpest mind could never have guessed.

All said it was a moment's clever turn of human affairs;

who knew that Heaven held a different arrangement all along?

As for Miss Chang: she had been overwhelmed with grief and sorrow, and had gone several days without eating or drinking, until a single breath caught in her throat and her hands and feet went cold — as though truly dead. Now Madam Du, hearing from Chang Quan that the child's heart was not yet cold and still trembled faintly, dared not weep too hard. She quickly sent for ginger broth. When it arrived, Madam Du held the bowl and gently poured a little at a time between the young mistress's lips. After several sips, the young mistress breathed out faintly through her mouth. Madam Du was overjoyed and called out: "My child, wake quickly!" After two more sips, the young mistress drew breath and said: "Brother — how I have suffered." She opened her eyes, saw her mother at her side, and tears fell. She said: "This child's fate is bitter; I had resolved to die. Why must you trouble yourself to revive me, Mother?"

Madam Du had already taken notice the moment the young mistress cried out the word "Brother." She said: "The two of us found you in our declining years and cherished you as a priceless treasure, never treating you differently from our own. We hoped you would bring comfort to our final years. In caring for us, you have shown more filial devotion than a natural child — there has never been any distance between us. Now at this juncture between life and death, if you have something on your heart, you need not hesitate to tell me so that we may talk it over."

The young mistress sighed again and again: "I am unworthy, and the matter is truly not easy to speak of plainly. Yet things have come to this, and death is still my final answer. Better, then, to speak plainly and die with a clear heart than to go silently unheard." She then recounted everything: how, in the Feng household, she had from childhood been betrothed to her Tang cousin; how as they grew older they had matched verses and shared deep feeling for one another... "All I had hoped was to go to him when I came of age. Unexpectedly, the master and mistress of the Feng household fell victim to treacherous officials and met disaster; I was scattered and lost on the road, and then Father rescued me and brought me home, and Mother received me as her own daughter — truly the greatest of blessings within misfortune. And yet unexpectedly my parents, in their love for me, have wished to arrange a household for me quickly. This is an immeasurable kindness. But this foolish child knows only that integrity and fidelity are paramount, and death a light matter beside them. I can only grieve that I cannot repay my parents' deep grace in this life — I must leave that debt to be settled in the next."

When she finished, tears poured without ceasing.

Madam Du heard her out and said: "My child, be patient a little. Since there is this bond of love, we cannot force you. We shall simply refuse the Chang family." The young mistress said: "If Mother will plead my cause and let me keep my honor until the broken moon is made whole again, your grace will be as high as heaven and as vast as earth."

Chang Quan had seen Wu Qu and Zhou Chong-wen off and quickly went inside. When he saw that the young mistress had come back to life, he was overjoyed beyond measure. Madam Du quietly told him of their daughter's heart, and Chang Quan, wanting only that his daughter recover, agreed to everything without hesitation. He said: "As long as the child is well, declining is easy enough." At this point the young mistress's condition was not truly some deep depletion of vital energy reaching the marrow — it was simply that she had not eaten or drunk for several days, and grief had knotted the phlegm in her chest. When she heard that her parents had accepted the Chang family's betrothal gifts, the shock had blocked her breath and she had died of that congestion. Now Madam Du had poured hot ginger broth into her repeatedly, driving out the obstructing phlegm and reviving her breath. And now, hearing her parents promise to refuse the Chang betrothal, her spirit relaxed and her breath flowed freely. Madam Du kept constant watch and tended her carefully, and gradually signs of life returned. As the verse says:

Sooner death than betray one's honor — she had resolved it;

yet her devoted parents called her back to life again.

For this touches the moral order between Heaven and humankind:

it is not the ordinary longing of a common girl.

The young mistress remained in bed for more than a month before her health was fully restored. As for Chang Quan — though he was glad his daughter had recovered, the matter of the Chang family weighed on his heart with genuine dread and distress. Day after day his brow did not unknit. One day he said to Madam Du: "This betrothal with the Chang family was not a poor match to begin with. Who could have known our daughter's heart held such reasons? The other day, when she seemed dead, I had already arranged to return the gifts — yet unexpectedly she came back to life. Then Zhou Chong-wen urged me again and again to keep them. If we now try to marry our daughter off and she proves equally fierce in her refusal, and we have still kept the Chang family's gifts in the meantime — how do we answer them? For the moment we may muddle through, but this is no final settlement. What is to be done?" Madam Du said: "All this while, I have not once breathed the word 'Chang' before our daughter. Over and over I have said only that the family was turned away. I have also told Chun Hui and Qiu Su to maintain the same story, so she believes it completely and has kept her life in cheerful spirits. If she were to learn this business is unfinished, she would certainly die again."

Husband and wife thought it over and over — the situation pressed them from both sides. Then one day a messenger arrived from Commander-General Chang with gifts for the trousseau preparation and the date set for the wedding. Chang Quan was thrown into a fresh panic. He put off the messenger, pleading his own illness and claiming he could not personally receive the gifts; he asked Zhou Chong-wen to receive them in his place and dismiss the visitor. From that point, Chang Quan did not dare face Zhou Chong-wen either. When Zhou Chong-wen sent people to inquire, he could see that Chang Quan was not truly very ill, and this puzzled him greatly. He decided to walk in person to Chang Quan's private residence. Chang Quan had no way out and had to receive him. Zhou Chong-wen said: "I hear that your honored daughter has fully recovered from her illness — just as I predicted. But Commander Chang's auspicious date is drawing near. The Commander is not asking for an extravagant trousseau, yet you should at least make some preparations to keep up appearances before the world."

Chang Quan wrinkled his brows and said: "If all that were needed were a trousseau for appearances, that would be easy enough. But I fear they want a person to accompany the trousseau, and that is the bitter part." Zhou Chong-wen, hearing these obscure remarks, was startled: "I hear your honored daughter has fully recovered. What further concern can there be?" Chang Quan grew even more dejected: "Though my daughter is recovered, I fear that it is I who may soon die." Zhou Chong-wen said: "In former days you were open and magnanimous, sir. Why today are your words so evasive and so different from before? Surely there is something dark and difficult to speak of that you hesitate to share with a trusted friend?" And he pressed him again and again.

Chang Quan saw the matter could no longer be concealed, and with tears said: "My suffering, old friend, cannot be told in a single breath. I was summoned away from home, and my wife, my children, and I all left together. On the road, because my boy was still very young and inconvenient to bring along, I had to steel my heart, let him go, and leave him to be raised by another family. Unexpectedly, arriving here, I was fortunate to receive your excellency's great protection and shelter, and have come to hold this position. That debt of grace and virtue I can never repay. Then unexpectedly, during that previous campaign alongside your excellency to pacify the disorder at Tianxiong Pass, a young girl was found among the military spoils, wandering and pitiable. I could not bear to leave her, so I brought her home and raised her to adulthood, hoping she might brighten my declining years. But then her intelligence and her many gifts astonished me. I inquired carefully and at length and learned that she was the daughter of Censor Feng Yi, an old gentleman of upright and honest character. She had always been a devoted and attentive presence at my knee, more than a natural-born child. My wife and I cherished her as a treasure and wished to find a talented son-in-law to gladden her heart. Yet no one of sufficient talent appeared, and we kept putting it off. Then unexpectedly, during a dinner at Commander Chang's, I met his son — dignified and steady, with impressive literary learning — and I quietly admired him. Your excellency then kindly wove the silken bond between them, and without fully considering whether we were worthy, I agreed in delight. But unexpectedly, the very day I gave my consent was the very day my daughter fell ill. I thought it a coincidence and did not take it to heart. Then unexpectedly, no sooner had Commander Chang sent the betrothal gifts than, before I had even finished taking them in, my daughter heard of it and was already dead. My wife revived her with every possible remedy, and thankfully she returned to life. When I pressed her repeatedly for the cause of her illness, my daughter told us: that as a small child in the Feng household she had been betrothed to her Tang cousin. The Tang and Feng families are connected by kinship, and as children they visited often; she had matched poems and verses with Cousin Tang, had sworn oaths and pledged vows with him. Now, though he is wandered away and his life or death unknown, her steadfast devotion demands that she honor the fidelity of a woman who follows but one. So the moment she heard of her betrothal to young Master Chang, she fell into listless illness; and the moment she heard the betrothal gifts were received, she made her death the proof of her will. When my wife and I had learned the truth, we wanted only for her to recover, so we told her the Chang betrothal had been returned. She believed it entirely, and through careful nursing she has at last returned to her former health. But the betrothal was never actually returned, and now the wedding date has been sent over. When the day arrives, our daughter will certainly die. I already know the matter has been badly mishandled. My foolish wife and I have thought about it day and night and see no way forward — only to wait out the time. After our daughter dies, my wife and I will follow her in death, and that will be that." He finished speaking with a desolate, choked sob.

Zhou Chong-wen heard Chang Quan's account and was greatly astonished. He turned it over and over in his mind, yet could find no solution for the moment. He said: "So your honored daughter is in fact the daughter of old Master Feng. I have heard that Master Feng is loyal and upright of heart, that he offended treacherous officials and was demoted — and that he is still alive today. He is a loyal minister; how could his daughter, a loyal minister's daughter, consent to lose her righteousness? Naturally she would give her life rather than do so. Yet the matter with Commander Chang cannot be halted in the middle — what is to be done?" The two men sat facing each other in silence.

Just then, Madam Du saw that Zhou Chong-wen had come and that the conversation showed no signs of ending, so she prepared several kinds of fruits and pastries, and brewed fine tea with water drawn from a heavenly spring, and sent Chun Hui and Qiu Su to carry them out for Zhou Chong-wen and Chang Quan. The two men drank their tea, each lost in his own thoughts. Zhou Chong-wen spoke: "This betrothal concerns no small matter. I was the one who brought it about with my encouragement. Now that I think it over carefully: if we press the matter through by force, the young mistress's life is in danger; if we decline on her behalf, I fear a calamity of unforeseeable consequences may fall upon you. If things go wrong on the day itself, even I will find myself in a difficult position. What is to be done?"

As Zhou Chong-wen spoke, he finished the tea in his cup without noticing. Chun Hui, standing nearby, saw that his cup was empty. With eager, graceful sleeves she lifted the pot and, with light, delicate steps, came before Zhou Chong-wen and poured again. Zhou Chong-wen raised his head and saw before him a most lovely and refined young woman — her face fair and pale, her brows curved and fine, her waist slender, her feet small. Her hair fell to her shoulders; she was at the bloom of youth, full of graceful charm and winsome appeal. Zhou Chong-wen was greatly pleased. A thought came to him: "I have a plan for this matter! If I do not arrange a way out, this talented young woman, this maiden of honor, will throw away her life in a single day — would that not prove me foolish? If I wish to preserve both, I must act in this way." He turned to Chang Quan and said: "This young woman has a rather refined appearance — I wonder, might she know her letters?"

Chang Quan, hearing the question, replied: "This girl is sixteen this year. She waits daily upon the young mistress in the inner chambers, attending to her brushes and ink. The young mistress, seeing that she had some natural ability, has often taught her. She would not dare claim to be a woman of learning, but in the matter of brush and letters she knows a thing or two. Moreover she is quick of mind and nimble of wit, surpassing others in cleverness." Zhou Chong-wen heard this with great delight and said: "In that case, your honored daughter's honor and virtue can be preserved, and your life, honored sir, need have no further worry!"

Chang Quan, hearing this, was startled into joy and asked: "What wonderful scheme does your excellency have that can preserve both?" Zhou Chong-wen had Chun Hui and Qiu Su withdraw, then said to Chang Quan: "In this world, those with talent do not always have virtue, and those with virtue often lack talent. But your honored daughter possesses both talent and virtue and is wholly devoted to honor and fidelity — she would never break a promise. If we force her to marry, her death is a foregone conclusion; how could I bear to be party to that? Furthermore, I observe that Commander Chang's motives here are entirely the fame of your daughter's talent; he has no clear picture of who she truly is. Even young Master Chang, however talented, would not dare make excessive demands upon her. I now have a plan to preserve both — it requires nothing other than this, and this." And he laid out his scheme.

Chang Quan heard it and was overjoyed: "Your excellency's scheme has the power to move heaven and shift the sun — you have opened a path back to life for me, a dead man! My only fear is that husband and wife, as time passes and they match their talents within the inner chambers, something might leak out — what then?" Zhou Chong-wen said: "That too need not worry you. Your honored daughter must have written many poems in her inner chambers; give them all to the girl to learn and memorize, to be ready for any occasion. And I have one more word of counsel: you are at an advanced age, honored sir, and this situation is not suited to prolonged endurance. When the time comes, I will submit a memorial on your behalf, pleading for permission to retire and return to your native place, so that you and your honored daughter may go home together — would that not fulfill your heart's desire?"

Chang Quan could not restrain his delight: "Your excellency goes to such lengths to accommodate us, giving me and my daughter a second life. Even to carry your grace in my teeth and heart for the rest of my days would not repay one ten-thousandth of this immense kindness!" Chang Quan's heart, which had been so burdened, suddenly opened wide; he spoke, and laughed, and the two sat on a while longer before Zhou Chong-wen rose and took his leave. Chang Quan then went cheerfully to find Madam Du — and unexpectedly found her in the young mistress's room. Chang Quan walked straight in, his face wreathed in smiles, and said to Madam Du: "Day after day we have been consumed with worry; today there is finally cause to let those brows unknit!" Then, still smiling, he said to the young mistress: "Fine flowers are not spared by rain; sweet birds are not spared the cage — this has always been the way of things. It was I, your father, who with one incautious word made a careless promise, and brought this suffering down upon you. And not only did you suffer — your old mother and I have been left with no right move and no right seat, our hands bound, awaiting our end. I had resigned myself to dying alongside you. Who could have known that Zhou Chong-wen today would suddenly devise a scheme to preserve the lives of us both — your father and mother, child and parents — and that joy would be without bounds!"

The young mistress listened for a while, then asked in astonishment: "Father's words are entirely mysterious to me. Please, Father, explain them clearly." Chang Quan then told her everything: that the betrothal gifts had been accepted, that a wedding date had now been sent, and how day and night he had been tormented with dread; and how today Zhou Chong-wen had devised a scheme to substitute one flower for another, after which he would submit a memorial on their behalf so they could return to their home village — he laid it all out clearly. Madam Du and the young mistress heard this and were overwhelmed with joy. The young mistress said: "That my parents should exhaust themselves with such worry on behalf of this unworthy child — your grace is boundless and beyond reckoning." And seeing that her father had explained everything so clearly, she was glad beyond measure.

That evening, the young mistress spoke to Chun Hui: "My heart's affairs you know entirely. I was as good as dead, resolved only to keep my honor. My parents, for my sake, had no will to live either. Today it is thanks to Master Zhou noticing your fine looks that this plan was conceived, to relieve my parents' anguish. Now I can only ask you to be the plum that takes the peach's place, and I am willing in my heart to make you my sworn sister, so that we may together serve our father and mother — I wonder what you feel about this?"

Chun Hui had long understood in her heart what was coming. She said: "This lowly servant has received the deep grace of the master and mistress in raising me; the young mistress has treated me as one of her own flesh and blood. I would be willing to pass through fire and boiling water and would not dare refuse. All the more so — to take someone as humble as Chun Hui and let her stand in the young mistress's place, to be a bride for Commander-General Chang: this is an honor bestowed upon Chun Hui. What objection could there be?" The young mistress, seeing her willing, was overjoyed. The next day she told her parents everything. Together with Chun Hui she went to pay her respects to Chang Quan and Madam Du, who formally acknowledged Chun Hui as their second daughter. The young mistress and she then bowed to each other and became sworn sisters. All the household's sorrow turned to joy. As the verse says:

Painted brows and rouged lips — which is the servant, which the lady?

If she can enter the dream of Mount Wu,

whether clouds or rain, the spring is all the same.

The young mistress then sat and walked with Chun Hui every day, teaching her the broad outlines of literacy, and told her always to be calm and speak little. She also gave her all the poetry manuscripts she had written over the years for Chun Hui to copy out and keep. The young mistress also dressed and adorned her until she bloomed like a flowering branch. Chang Quan and Madam Du prepared a full set of bridal furnishings and trousseau, ready for the Chang family to come and collect the bride.

Before long the auspicious day arrived. Commander-General Chang sent Wu Qu, leading servants and soldiers, to come and fetch the bride of the Chang family. All along the road, firecrackers shook the sky and music filled the earth; every person wore ribbons of celebration, every person wore a flower in their hair. In no time they arrived at the gate of Zhou Chong-wen's yamen. Chang Quan, already dressed in his great red ceremonial robe with black gauze cap and angled belt, stood with Zhou Chong-wen to welcome Wu Qu. The master of ceremonies chanted the rites and invited the young mistress to mount the bridal sedan chair. Chun Hui knelt and bid farewell to Chang Quan and Madam Du, and then exchanged a few last words with the young mistress, before kneeling to bid her farewell as well. All shed tears.

In a little while Chun Hui mounted the chair. Chang Quan escorted the bride, and Zhou Chong-wen, being the original matchmaker, had no choice but to accompany them. When they arrived at Commander-General Chang's yamen, three great cannon shots were fired, and the Commander-General came out from afar with a respectful bow to receive them into the compound. The master of ceremonies then called upon young Master Chang and Miss Chang to bow to Heaven and Earth, to bow to his parents and her parents-in-law, and for husband and wife to bow to each other. They were then conducted to the bridal chamber to drink the cup of union.

The maidservants removed the young mistress's bridal veil, and young Master Chang saw that she was indeed extraordinarily beautiful; his whole body went soft. Young Master Chang was at an age when desire is keenest, and he was no true man of letters. He had no nuptial verses ready, no bridal-chamber lines, no notion of trading poems back and forth. Seeing the young mistress adorned like a heavenly immortal, he felt his soul begin to drift and a strange fire kindle within his chest. Without a thought for whether she was shy or not, he sent away all the maids and attendants, gathered the young mistress to him, and entered the bed-curtains together to partake of the joys of Yangtal. Outside, Zhou Chong-wen, Chang Quan, Chang Yong, and Wu Qu sat down to drink at a banquet table. Before the feast was over, all made their excuses and returned to their respective quarters. It is because of this one occasion that, as will be told:

Riding through the starlit night, he returns in glory to his home.

What happens next? Listen to the next chapter for the explanation.