第七十四回
第七十四回 惑奸谗抄检大观园 矢孤介杜绝宁国府
话说平儿听迎春说了，正自好笑，忽见宝玉也来了。原来管厨房柳家的媳妇之妹，也因放头开赌得了不是。这园中有素与柳家不睦的，便又告出柳家来，说他和他妹子是伙计，虽然他妹子出名，其实赚了钱两个人平分。因此凤姐要治柳家之罪。
那柳家的因得此信，便慌了手脚，因思素与怡红院人最为深厚，故走来悄悄的央求晴雯金星玻璃等人。金星玻璃告诉了宝玉。宝玉〔一〕因思内中迎春之乳母也现有此罪，不若来约同迎春去讨情，比自己独去单为柳家说情又更妥当，故此前来。忽见许多人在此，见他来时，都问：“你的病可好了？跑来作什么？”宝玉不便说出讨情一事，只说：“来看二姐姐。”当下众人也不在意，且说些闲话。
平儿便出去办累丝金凤一事。那王住儿媳妇紧跟在后，口内百般央求，只说：“姑娘好歹口内超生，我横竖去赎了来。”平儿笑道：“你迟也赎，早也赎，既有今日，何必当初。你的意思得过去就过去了。既是这样，我也不好意思告人，趁早去赎了来交与我送去，我一字不提。”王住儿媳妇听说，方放下心来，就拜谢，又说：“姑娘自去贵干，我赶晚拿了来，先回了姑娘，再送去，如何？”平儿道：“赶晚不来，可别怨我。”说毕，二人方分路各自散了。
平儿到房，凤姐问他：“三姑娘叫你作什么？”平儿笑道：“三姑娘怕奶奶生气，叫我劝着奶奶些，问奶奶这两天可吃些什么。”凤姐笑道：“倒是他还记挂着我。刚才又出来了一件事：有人来告柳二媳妇和他妹子通同开局，凡妹子所为，都是他作主。我想，你素日肯劝我‘多一事不如省一事’，就可闲一时心，自己保养保养也是好的。我因听不进去，果然应了些，先把太太得罪了，而且自己反赚了一场病。如今我也看破了，随他们闹去罢，横竖还有许多人呢。我白操一会子心，倒惹的万人咒骂。我且养病要紧；便是好了，我也作个好好先生，得乐且乐，得笑且笑，一概是非都凭他们去罢。所以我只答应着知道了，白不在我心上。”平儿笑道：“奶奶果然如此，便是我们的造化。”
一语未了，只见贾琏进来，拍手叹气道：“好好的又生事！前儿我和鸳鸯借当，那边太太怎么知道了。才刚太太叫过我去，叫我不管那里先迁挪二百银子，做八月十五日节间使用。我回没处迁挪。太太就说：‘你没有钱就有地方迁挪。我白和你商量，你就搪塞我。你就说没地方，前儿一千银子的当是那里的？连老太太的东西你〔二〕都有神通弄出来，这会子二百银子，你就这样。幸亏我没和别人说去。’我想太太分明不短，何苦来要寻事奈何人。”凤姐儿道：“那日并没一个外人，谁走了这个消息〔三〕。”
平儿听了，也细想那日有谁在此，想了半日，笑道：“是了。那日说话时没一个外人，但晚上送东西来的时节，老太太那边傻大姐的娘也可巧来送浆洗衣服。他在下房里坐了一会子，见一大箱子东西，自然要问，必是小丫头们不知道，说了出来，也未可知。”因此便唤了几个小丫头来问，那日谁告诉呆大姐的娘。众小丫头慌了，都跪下赌咒发誓，说：“自来也不敢多说一句话。有人凡问什么，都答应不知道。这事如何敢多说。”
凤姐详情[5]说：“他们必不敢〔四〕，倒别委屈了他们。如今把这事靠后，且把太太打发了去要紧。宁可咱们短些，又别讨没意思。”因叫平儿：“把我的金项圈拿来，且去暂押二百银子来送去完事。”贾琏道：“越性多押二百，咱们也要使呢。”凤姐道：“很不必，我没处使钱。这一去还不知指那一项赎呢。”平儿拿去，吩咐一个人唤了旺儿媳妇来领去，不一时拿了银子来。贾琏亲自送去，不在话下。
这里凤姐和平儿猜疑，终是谁人走的风声，竟拟不出人来。凤姐儿又道：“知道这事还是小事，怕的是小人趁便又造非言，生出别的事来。打紧[7]那边正和鸳鸯结下仇了，如今听得他私自借给琏二爷东西，那起小人眼馋肚饱，连没缝儿的鸡蛋还要下蛆呢，如今有了这个因由，恐怕又造出些没天理的话来也定不得。在你琏二爷还无妨，只是鸳鸯，正经女儿，带累了他受屈，岂不是咱们的过失。”
平儿笑道：“这也无妨。鸳鸯借东西，看的是奶奶，并不为的是二爷。一则鸳鸯虽应名是他私情，其实他是回过老太太的。老太太因怕孙男弟女多，这个也借，那个也要，到跟前撒个娇儿，和谁要去，因此只装不知道。纵闹了出来，究竟那也无碍。”凤姐儿道：“理固如此，只是你我是知道的，那不知道的，焉得不生疑呢。”
一语未了，人报：“太太来了。”凤姐听了诧异，不知为何事亲来，与平儿等忙迎出来。只见王夫人气色更变，只带一个贴己的小丫头走来，一语不发，走至里间坐下。凤姐忙奉茶，因陪笑问道：“太太今日高兴，到这里逛逛。”王夫人喝命：“平儿出去！”平儿见了这般，着慌不知怎么样了，忙应了一声，带着众小丫头一齐出去，在房门外站住，越性将房门掩了，自己坐在台矶上，所有的人，一个不许进去。
凤姐也着了慌，不知有何等事。只见王夫人含着泪，从袖内掷出一个香袋子来，说：“你瞧。”凤姐忙拾起一看，见是十锦春意香袋，也吓了一跳，忙问：“太太从那里得来？”王夫人见问，越发泪如雨下，颤声说道：“我从那里得来！我天天坐在井里，拿你当个细心人，所以我才偷个空儿。谁知你也和我一样。这样的东西，大天白日明摆在园里山石上，被老太太的丫头拾着，不亏你婆婆遇见，早已送到老太太跟前去了。我且问你，这个东西如何遗在那里来？”
凤姐听得，也更了颜色，忙问：“太太怎知是我的？”王夫人又哭又叹说道：“你反问我！你想，一家子除了你们小夫小妻，馀者老婆子们，要这个何用？再女孩子们是从那里得来？自然是那琏儿不长进下流种子那里弄来。你们又和气，当作一件顽意儿，年轻人儿女闺房私意是有的，你还和我赖！幸而园内上下人还不解事，尚未捡得。倘或丫头们捡着，你姊妹看见，这还了得。不然有那小丫头们捡着，出去说是园内拣着的，外人知道，这性命脸面要也不要？”
凤姐听说，又急又愧，登时紫涨了面皮，便依炕沿双膝跪下，也含泪诉道：“太太说的固然有理，我也不敢辩我并无这样的东西。但其中还要求太太细详其理：那香袋是外头雇工仿着内工绣的，带这穗子一概是市卖货。我便年轻不尊重些，也不要这劳什子，自然都是好的，此其一。二者这东西也不是常带着的，我纵有，也只好在家里，焉肯带在身上各处去？况且又在园里去，个个姊妹我们都肯拉拉扯扯，倘或露出来，不但在姊妹前，就是奴才看见，我有什么意思？我虽年轻不尊重，亦不能糊涂至此。三则论主子内我是年轻媳妇，算起奴才来，比我更年轻的又不止一个人了。况且他们也常进园，晚间各人家去，焉知不是他们身上的？四则除我常在园里之外，还有那边太太常带过几个小姨娘来，如嫣红翠云等人，皆系年轻侍妾，他们更该有这个了。还有那边珍大嫂子，他也不算甚老，他也常带过佩凤等人来，焉知又不是他们的？五则园内丫头太多，保的住个个都是正经的不成？也有年纪大些的知道了人事，或者一时半刻人查问不到偷着出去，或借着因由同二门上小幺儿们打牙犯嘴，外头得了来的，也未可知。如今不但我没此事，就连平儿，我也可以下保的。太太请细想。”
王夫人听了这一席话大近情理，因叹道：“你起来。我也知道你是大家小姐出身，焉得轻薄至此，不过我气急了，拿了话激你。但如今却怎么处？你婆婆才打发人封了这个给我瞧，说是前日从傻大姐手里得的，把我气了个死。”凤姐道：“太太快别生气。若被众人觉察了，保不定老太太不知道。且平心静气暗暗访察，才得确实；纵然访不着，外人也不能知道。这叫作‘胳膊折在袖内’。如今惟有趁着赌钱的因由革了许多的人这空儿，把周瑞媳妇旺儿媳妇等四五个贴近不能走话的人安插在园里，以查赌为由。再如今他们的丫头也太多了，保不住人大心大，生事作耗，等闹出事来，反悔之不及。如今若无故裁革，不但姑娘们委屈烦恼，就连太太和我也过不去。不如趁此机会，以后凡年纪大些的，或有些咬牙难缠的，拿个错儿撵出去配了人。一则保得住没有别的事，二则也可省些用度。太太想我这话如何？”
王夫人叹道：“你说的何尝不是，但从公细想来，你这几个姊妹也甚可怜了。也不用远比，只说如今你林妹妹的母亲，未出阁时，是何等的娇生惯养，是何等的金尊玉贵，那才像个千金小姐的体统。如今这几个姊妹，不过比人家的丫头略强些罢了。通共每人只有两三个丫头像个人样，馀者纵有四五个小丫头子，竟是庙里的小鬼。如今还要裁革了去，不但于我心不忍，只怕老太太未必就依。虽然艰难，难不至此。我虽没受过大荣华富贵，比你们是强的。如今我宁可省些，别委屈了他们。以后要省俭先从我来倒使的。如今且叫人传了周瑞家的等人进来，就吩咐他们快快暗地访拿这事要紧。”
凤姐听了，即唤平儿进来吩咐出去。一时，周瑞家的与吴兴家的、郑华家的、来旺家的、来喜家的现在五家陪房进来，馀者皆在南方，各有执事。王夫人正嫌人少不能勘察，忽见邢夫人的陪房王善保家的走来，方才正是他送香囊来的。王夫人向来看视邢夫人之得力心腹人等原无二意，今见他来打听此事，十分关切，便向他说：“你去回了太太，也进园内照管照管，不比别人又强些。”这王善保家的正因素日进园去那些丫鬟们不大趋奉他，他心里大不自在，要寻他们的故事又寻不着，恰好生出这事来，以为得了把柄。又听王夫人委托，正撞在心坎上，说：“这个容易。不是奴才多话，论理这事该早严紧的。太太也不大往园里去，这些女孩子们一个个倒像受了封诰似的，他们就成了千金小姐了。闹下天来，谁敢哼一声儿。不然，就调唆姑娘的丫头们，说欺负了姑娘们了，谁还耽得起。”
王夫人道：“这也有的常情，跟姑娘的丫头原比别的娇贵〔五〕些。你们该劝他们。连主子们的姑娘不教导尚且不堪，何况他们。”王善保家的道：“别的都还罢了。太太不知道，一个宝玉屋里的晴雯，那丫头仗着他生的模样儿比别人标致些，又生了一张巧嘴，天天打扮的像个西施的样子，在人跟前能说惯道，掐尖要强。一句话不投机，他就立起两个骚眼睛来骂人，妖妖[9]，大不成个体统。”
王夫人听了这话，猛然触动往事，便问凤姐道：“上次我们跟了老太太进园逛去，有一个水蛇腰、削肩膀、眉眼又有些像你林妹妹的，正在那里骂小丫头。我的心里很看不上那个轻狂样子，因同老太太走，我不曾说得。后来要问是谁，又偏忘了。今日对了坎儿，这丫头想必就是他了。”凤姐道：“若论这些丫头们，共总比起来，都没晴雯生得好。论举止言语，他原有些轻薄。方才太太说的倒很像他，我也忘了那日的事，不敢乱说。”
王善保家的便道：“不用这样，此刻不难叫了他来太太瞧瞧。”王夫人道：“宝玉房里常见我的只有袭人麝月，这两个笨笨的倒好。若有这个，他自不敢来见我的。我一生最嫌这样的人，况且又出来这个事。好好的宝玉，倘或叫这蹄子勾引坏了，那还了得。”因叫自己的丫头来，吩咐他到园里去，“只说我说有话问他们，留下袭人麝月服侍宝玉不必来，有一个晴雯最伶俐，叫他即刻快来。你不许和他说什么。”
小丫头子答应了，走入怡红院，正值晴雯身上不自在，睡中觉才起来，正发闷，听如此说，只得随了他来。素日这些丫鬟皆知王夫人最嫌妆艳饰语薄言轻者，故晴雯不敢出头。今因连日不自在，并没十分妆饰，自为无碍。及到了凤姐房中，王夫人一见他钗[10]鬓松，衫垂带褪，有春睡捧心之遗风[11]，而且形容面貌恰是上月的那人，不觉勾起方才的火来。王夫人原是天真烂漫之人，喜怒出于心臆，不比那些饰词掩意之人，今既真怒攻心，又勾起往事，便冷笑道：“好个美人！真像个病西施了。你天天作这轻狂样儿给谁看？你干的事，打量我不知道呢！我且放着你，自然明儿揭你的皮！宝玉今日可好些？”
晴雯一听如此说，心内大异，便知有人暗算了他。虽然着恼，只不敢作声。他本是个聪敏过顶的人，见问宝玉可好些，他便不肯以实话对，只说：“我不大到宝玉房里去，又不常和宝玉在一处，好歹我不能知道，只问袭人麝月两个。”王夫人道：“这就该打嘴！你难道是死人，要你们作什么！”
晴雯道：“我原是跟老太太的人。因老太太说园里空大人少，宝玉害怕，所以拨了我去外间屋里上夜，不过看屋子。我原回过我笨，不能服侍。老太太骂了我，说：‘又不叫你管他的事，要伶俐的作什么。’我听了这话才去的。不过十天半个月之内，宝玉闷了大家顽一会子就散了。至于宝玉饮食起坐，上一层有老奶奶老妈妈们，下一层又有袭人麝月秋纹几个人。我闲着还要作老太太屋里的针线，所以宝玉的事竟不曾留心。太太既怪，从此后我留心就是了。”
王夫人信以为实了，忙说：“阿弥陀佛！你不近宝玉是我的造化，竟不劳你费心。既是老太太给宝玉的，我明儿回了老太太，再撵你。”因向王善保家的道：“你们进去，好生防他几日，不许他在宝玉房里睡觉。等我回过老太太，再处治他。”喝声：“去！站在这里，我看不上这浪样儿！谁许你这样花红柳绿的妆扮！”晴雯只得出来，这气非同小可，一出门便拿手帕子握着脸，一头走，一头哭，直哭到园门内去。
这里王夫人向凤姐等自怨道：“这几年我越发精神短了，照顾不到。这样妖精似的东西竟没看见。只怕这样的还有，明日倒得查查。”凤姐见王夫人盛怒之际，又因王善保家的是邢夫人的耳目，常调唆着邢夫人生事，纵有千百样言词，此刻也不敢说，只低头答应着。王善保家的道：“太太且请养息身体要紧，这些小事只交与奴才。如今要查这个主儿也极容易，等到晚上园门关了的时节，内外不通风，我们竟给他们个猛不防，带着人到各处丫头们房里搜寻。想来谁有这个，断不单只有这个，自然还有别的东西。那时翻出别的来，自然这个也是他的。”王夫人道：“这话倒是。若不如此，断不能清的清白的白。”因问凤姐如何。凤姐只得答应说：“太太说的是，就行罢了。”王夫人道：“这主意很是，不然一年也查不出来。”于是大家商议已定。
至晚饭后，待贾母安寝了，宝钗等入园时，王善保家的〔六〕便请了凤姐一并入园，喝命将角门皆上锁，便从上夜的婆子处抄检起，不过抄检出些多馀攒下蜡烛灯油等物。王善保家的道：“这也是赃，不许动，等明儿回过太太再动。”
于是先就到怡红院中，喝命关门。当下宝玉正因晴雯不自在，忽见这一干人来，不知为何直扑了丫头们的房内去，因迎出凤姐来，问是何故。凤姐道：“丢了一件要紧的东西，因大家混赖，恐怕有丫头们偷了，所以大家都查一查去疑。”一面说，一面坐下吃茶。
王善保家的等搜了一回，又细问这几个箱子是谁的，都叫本人来亲自打开。袭人因见晴雯这样，知道必有异事，又见这番抄检，只得自己先出来打开了箱子并匣子，任其搜检一番，不过是平常动用之物。随放下又搜别人的，挨次都一一搜过。
到了晴雯的箱子，因问：“是谁的，怎不开了让搜？”袭人等方欲代晴雯开时，只见晴雯挽着头发闯进来，豁啷一声将箱子掀开，两手捉[13]着底子朝天，往地下尽情一倒，将所有之物尽都倒出。王善保家的也觉没趣，看了一看，也无甚私弊之物。回了凤姐，要往别处去。
凤姐儿道：“你们可细细的查，若这一番查不出来，难回话的。”众人都道：“都细翻看了，没什么差错东西。虽有几样男人物件，都是小孩子的东西，想是宝玉的旧物件，没甚关系的。”凤姐听了，笑道：“既如此咱们就走，再瞧别处去。”
说着，一径出来，因向王善保家的道：“我有一句话，不知是不是。要抄检只抄检咱们家的人，薛大姑娘屋里，断乎检抄不得的。”王善保家的笑道：“这个自然。岂有抄起亲戚家来的。”凤姐点头道：“我也这样说呢。”一头说，一头到了潇湘馆内。
黛玉已睡了，忽报这些人来，也不知为甚事。才要起来，只见凤姐已走进来，忙按住他不许起来，只说：“睡罢，我们就走。”这边且说些闲话。那个王善保家的带了众人到丫鬟房中，也一一开箱倒笼抄检了一番。因从紫鹃房中抄出两副宝玉常换下来的寄名符儿，一副束带上的披带，两个荷包并扇套，套内有扇子。打开看时皆是宝玉往年往日手内曾拿过的。王善保家的自为得了意，遂忙请凤姐过来验视，又说：“这些东西从那里来的？”凤姐笑道：“宝玉和他们从小儿在一处混了几年，这自然是宝玉的旧东西。这也不算什么罕事，撂下再往别处去是正经。”紫鹃笑道：“直到如今，我们两下里的东西也算不清。要问这一个，连我也忘了是那年月日有的了。”王善保家的听凤姐如此说，也只得罢了。
又到探春院内，谁知早有人报与探春了。探春也就猜着必有原故，所以引出这等丑态来，遂命众丫鬟秉烛开门而待。
一时众人来了。探春故问何事。凤姐笑道：“因丢了一件东西，连日访察不出人来，恐怕旁人赖这些女孩子们，所以越性大家搜一搜，使人去疑，倒是洗净他们的好法子。”探春冷笑道：“我们的丫头，自然都是些贼，我就是头一个窝主。既如此，先来搜我的箱柜，他们所有偷了来的都交给我藏着呢。”说着，便命丫头们把箱柜一齐打开，将镜奁、妆盒、衾袱、衣包〔七〕若大若小之物一齐打开，请凤姐去抄阅。凤姐陪笑道：“我不过是奉太太的命来，妹妹别错怪我。何必生气。”因命丫鬟们快快关上。
平儿丰儿等忙着替待书等关的关，收的收。探春道：“我的东西倒许你们搜阅；要想搜我的丫头，这却不能。我原比众人歹毒，凡丫头所有的东西我都知道，都在我这里间收着，一针一线他们也没的收藏，要搜所以只来搜我。你们不依，只管去回太太，只说我违背了太太，该怎么处治，我去自领。你们别忙，自然连你们抄的日子有呢！你们今日早起不曾议论甄家，自己家里好好的抄家，果然今日真抄了。咱们也渐渐的来了。可知这样大族人家，若从外头杀来，一时是杀不死的，这是古人曾说的‘百足之虫，死而不僵’，必须先从家里自杀自灭起来，才能一败涂地！”说着，不觉流下泪来。凤姐只看着众媳妇们。
周瑞家的便道：“既是女孩子的东西全在这里，奶奶且请到别处去罢，也让姑娘好安寝。”凤姐便起身告辞。探春道：“可细细的搜明白了？若〔八〕明日再来，我就不依了。”凤姐笑道：“既然丫头们的东西都在这里，就不必搜了。”探春冷笑道：“你果然倒乖。连我的包袱都打开了，还说没翻。明日敢说我护着丫头们，不许你们翻了。你趁早说明，若还要翻，不妨再翻一遍。”凤姐知道探春素日与众不同的，只得陪笑道：“我已经连你的东西都搜查明白了。”探春又问众人：“你们也都搜明白了不曾？”周瑞家的等〔九〕都陪笑说：“都翻明白了。”
那王善保家的本是个心内没成算的人，素日虽闻探春的名，他自为众人没眼力没胆量罢了，那里一个姑娘家就这样起来；况且又是庶出，他敢怎么。他自恃是邢夫人陪房，连王夫人尚另眼相看，何况别个。今见探春如此，他只当是探春认真单恼凤姐，与他们无干。他便要趁势作脸献好，因越众向前拉起探春的衣襟，故意一掀，嘻嘻笑道：“连姑娘身上我都翻了，果然没有什么。”凤姐见他这样，忙说：“妈妈走罢，别疯疯颠颠的。”一语未了，只听“拍”的一声，王家的脸上早着了探春一掌。
探春登时大怒，指着王家的问道：“你是什么东西，敢来拉扯我的衣裳！我不过看着太太的面上，你又有年纪，叫你一声妈妈，你就狗仗人势，天天作耗，专管生事。如今越性了不得了。你打谅我是同你们姑娘那样好性儿，由着你们欺负他，就错了主意！你搜检东西我不恼，你不该拿我取笑。”说着，便亲自解衣卸裙，拉着凤姐儿细细的翻。又说：“省得叫奴才来翻我身上。”
凤姐平儿等忙与探春束裙整袂，口内喝着王善保家的说：“妈妈吃两口酒就疯疯颠颠起来。前儿把太太也冲撞了。快出去，不要提起了。”又劝探春休得生气。探春冷笑道：“我但凡有气性，早一头碰死了！不然，岂许奴才来我身上翻贼赃了。明儿一早，我先回过老太太、太太，然后过去给大娘陪礼，该怎么，我就领。”
那王善保家的讨了个没意思，在窗外只说：“罢了，罢了〔一〇〕，这也是头一遭挨打。我明儿回了太太，仍回老娘家去罢。这个老命还要他做什么！”探春喝命丫鬟道：“你们没听他说的这话，还等我和他对嘴去不成。”待书等听说，便出去说道：“你果然回老娘家去，倒是我们的造化了。只怕舍不得去。”凤姐笑道：“好丫头，真是有其主必有其仆。”探春冷笑道：“我们作贼的人，嘴里都有三言两语的。这还算笨的，背地里就只不会调唆主子。”平儿忙也陪笑解劝，一面又拉了待书进来。周瑞家的等人劝了一番。凤姐直待服侍探春睡下，方带着人往对过暖香坞来。
彼时李纨犹病在床上，他与惜春是紧邻，又与探春相近，故顺路先到这两处。因李纨才吃了药睡着，不好惊动，只到丫鬟们房中一一的搜了一遍，也没有什么东西，遂到惜春房中来。
因惜春年少，尚未识事，吓的不知当有什么事故，凤姐也少不得安慰他。谁知竟在入画箱中寻出一大包金银锞子来，约共三四十个〔一一〕，又有一副玉带板子[19]并一包男人的靴袜等物。入画也黄了脸。
因问是那里来的，入画只得跪下哭诉真情，说：“这是珍大爷赏我哥哥的。因我们老子娘都在南方，如今只跟着叔叔过日子。我叔叔婶子只要吃酒赌钱，我哥哥怕交给他们又花了，所以每常得了，悄悄的烦了老妈妈带进来叫我收着的。”惜春胆小，见了这个也害怕，说：“我竟不知道。这还了得！二嫂子，你要打他，好歹带他出去打罢，我听不惯的。”凤姐笑道：“这话若果真呢，也倒可恕，只是不该私自传送进来。这个可以传递，什么不可以传递。这倒是传递人的不是了。若这话不真，倘是偷来的，你可就别想活了。”入画跪着哭道：“我不敢扯谎。奶奶只管明日问我们奶奶和大爷去，若说不是赏的，就拿我和我哥哥一同打死无怨。”
凤姐道：“这个自然要问的，只是真赏的也有不是。谁许你私自传送东西的！你且说是谁作接应，我便饶你。下次万万不可。”惜春道：“嫂子别饶他这次方可。这里人多，若不拿一个人作法，那些大的听见了，又不知怎样呢。嫂子若饶他〔一二〕，我也不依。”凤姐道：“素日我看他还好。谁没一个错，只这一次。二次犯下，二罪俱罚。但不知传递是谁。”惜春道：“若说传递，再无别个，必是后门上的张妈。他常肯和这些丫头们鬼鬼祟祟的，这些丫头们也都肯照顾他。”凤姐听说，便命人记下，将东西且交给周瑞家的暂拿着，等明日对明再议。于是别了惜春，方往迎春房内来。
迎春已经睡着了，丫鬟们也才要睡，众人叩门半日才开。凤姐吩咐：“不必惊动小姐。”遂往丫鬟们房里来。因司棋是王善保的外孙女儿，凤姐倒要看看王家的可藏私不藏，遂留神看他搜检。先从别人箱子搜起，皆无别物。及到了司棋箱子中搜了一回，王善保家的说：“也没有什么东西。”
才要盖箱时，周瑞家的道：“且住，这是什么？”说着，便伸手掣出一双男子的锦带袜并一双缎鞋来。又有一个小包袱，打开看时，里面有一个同心如意并一个字帖儿。一总递与凤姐。凤姐因当家理事，每每看开帖并帐目，也颇识得几个字了。便看那帖子是大红双喜笺帖，上面写道：
上月你来家后，父母已觉察你我之意。但姑娘未出阁，尚不能完你我之心愿。若园内可以相见，你可托张妈给一信息。若得在园内一见，倒比来家得说话。千万，千万。再所赐香袋二个，今已查收外，特寄香珠一串，略表我心。千万收好。表弟潘又安拜具。
凤姐看罢，不怒而反乐。别人并不识字。王家的素日并不知道他〔一三〕姑表姊弟有这一节风流故事，见了这鞋袜，心内已是有些毛病，又见有一红帖，凤姐又看着笑，他便说道：“必是他们胡写的帐目，不成个字，所以奶奶见笑。”凤姐笑道：“正是这个帐竟算不过来。你是司棋的老娘，他的表弟也该姓王，怎么又姓潘呢？”王善保家的见问的奇怪，只得勉强告道：“司棋的姑妈给了潘家，所以他姑表兄弟姓潘。上次逃走了的潘又安就是他表弟。”凤姐笑道：“这就是了。”因道：“我念给你听听。”说着从头念了一遍，大家都唬了一跳。
这王家的一心只要拿人的错儿，不想反拿住了他外孙女儿，又气又臊。周瑞家的四人又都问着他：“你老可听见了？明明白白，再没的话说了。如今据你老人家，该怎么样？”这王家的只恨没地缝儿钻进去。凤姐只瞅着他嘻嘻的笑，向周瑞家的笑道：“这倒也好。不用你们作老娘的操一点儿心，他鸦雀不闻的给你们弄了一个好女婿来，大家倒省心。”周瑞家的也笑着凑趣儿。
王家的气无处泄，便自己回手打着自己的脸，骂道：“老不死的娼妇，怎么造下孽了！说嘴打嘴，现世现报在人眼里。”众人见这般，俱笑个不住，又半劝半讽的。凤姐见司棋低头不语，也并无畏惧惭愧之意，倒觉可异。料此时夜深，且不必盘问，只怕他夜间自愧去寻拙志[22]，遂唤两个婆子监守起他来。带了人，拿了赃证回来，且自安歇，等待明日料理。谁知到夜里又连起来几次，下面淋血不止。
至次日，便觉身体十分软弱，起来发晕，遂撑不住。请太医来，诊脉〔一四〕毕，遂立药案云：“看得少奶奶系心气不足，虚火乘脾[24]，皆由忧劳所伤，以致嗜卧好眠，胃虚土弱，不思饮食。今聊用升阳养荣[25]之剂。”写毕，遂开了几样药名，不过是人参、当归、黄芪等类之剂。一时退去，有老嬷嬷们拿了方子回过王夫人，不免又添一番愁闷，遂将司棋等事暂未理〔一五〕。
可巧这日尤氏来看凤姐，坐了一回，到园中去又看过李纨。才要望候众姊妹们去，忽见惜春遣人来请，尤氏遂到了他房中来。惜春便将昨晚之事〔一六〕细细告诉与尤氏，又命将入画的东西一概要来与尤氏过目。
尤氏道：“实是你哥哥赏他哥哥的，只不该私自传送，如今官盐竟成了私盐[28]了。”因骂入画“糊涂脂油蒙了心的”。惜春道：“你们管教不严，反骂丫头。这些姊妹，独我的丫头这样没脸，我如何去见人。昨儿我立逼着凤姐姐带了他去，他只不肯。我想，他原是那边的人，凤姐姐不带他去，也原有理。我今日正要送过去，嫂子来的恰好，快带了他去。或打，或杀，或卖，我〔一七〕一概不管。”
入画听说，又跪下哭求，说：“再不敢了。只求姑娘看从小儿的情常，好歹生死在一处罢。”尤氏和奶娘等人也都十分了解，说他“不过一时糊涂了，下次再不敢的。他从小儿服侍你一场，到底留着他为是”。谁知惜春虽然年幼，却天生地一种百折不回的廉介孤独僻性，任人怎说，他只以为丢了他的体面，咬定牙断乎不肯。更又说的好：“不但不要入画，如今我也大了，连我也不便往你们那边去了。况且近日我每每风闻得有人背地里议论什么多少不堪的闲话，我若再去，连我也编派上了。”
尤氏道：“谁议论什么？又有什么可议论的！姑娘是谁，我们是谁。姑娘既听见人议论我们，就该问着他才是。”惜春冷笑道：“你这话问着我倒好。我一个姑娘家，只有躲是非的，我反去寻是非，成个什么人了！还有一句话：我不怕你恼，好歹自有公论，又何必去问人。古人说得好‘善恶生死，父子不能有所勖助[30]’，何况你我二人之间。我只知道保得住我就够了，不管你们。从此以后，你们有事别累我。”
尤氏听了，又气又好笑，因向地下众人道：“怪道人人都说这四丫头年轻糊涂，我只不信。你们听才一篇话，无原无故，又不知好歹，又没个轻重。虽然是小孩子的话，却又能寒人的心。”众嬷嬷笑道：“姑娘年轻，奶奶自然要吃些亏的。”惜春冷笑道：“我虽年轻，这话却不年轻。你们不看书不识几个字，所以都是些呆子，看着明白人，倒说我年轻糊涂。”
尤氏道：“你是状元榜眼探花[31]，古今第一个才子。我们是糊涂人，不如你明白，何如？”惜春道：“状元榜眼〔一八〕难道就没有糊涂的不成。可知他们〔一九〕也有不能了悟的。”尤氏笑道：“你倒好。才是才子，这会子又作大和尚了，又讲起了悟来了。”惜春道：“我不了悟，我也舍不得入画了〔二〇〕。”尤氏道：“可知你是个心冷口冷心狠意狠的人〔二一〕。”惜春道：“古人曾也说的‘不作狠心人，难得自了汉’。[36]我清清白白的一个人，为什么教你们带累坏了我！”
尤氏心内原有病，怕说这些话。听说有人议论，已是心中羞恼激射，只是在惜春分上不好发作，忍耐了大半。今见惜春又说这句，因按捺不住，因问惜春道：“怎么〔二二〕就带累了你了？你的丫头的不是，无故说我，我倒忍了这半日，你倒越发得了意，只管说这些话。你是千金万金的小姐，我们以后就不亲近，仔细带累了小姐的美名。即刻就叫人将入画带了过去！”说着，便赌气起身去了。惜春道：“若果然不来，倒也省了口舌是非，大家倒还清净。”尤氏也不答话，一径往前边去了〔二三〕。不知后事如何——
[1] 矢孤介——誓守孤介之志。矢：誓，用作动词。孤介：孤高耿介，不喜与世俗之人交往。
〔一〕 “宝玉”，原无，从各本补。
〔二〕 “你”字原无，从各本补。
〔三〕 “谁走了这个消息”，底本原文错漏不成文，后点改为“但晚上送过来时有谁在这里来着”。从梦稿、蒙府、戚序本改。
[5] 详情——审察情理。
〔四〕 “详情说，他们必不敢”，原无，各本均有，文字略异，此从梦稿本补。
[7] 打紧——要紧、当紧。
〔五〕 “娇贵”，原作“姣贵”，今改。
[9] 妖妖（qiáo乔）——妖冶轻佻的样子。：行动轻捷，这里有举止轻浮的意思。
[10] 钗（duǒ朵）——发髻上的钗饰将要脱落。軃：下垂的样子。
[11] 春睡捧心之遗风——春睡：本喻杨贵妃之醉态。捧心：指西施蹙眉捧心之美。遗风：即馀风，前人遗留下来的风韵、风致。这里讥刺女子的娇慵病弱。
〔六〕 “家的”，原无，从各本补。
[13] 捉——吴语。动词，意为“拿”、“把”。
〔七〕 “衣包”，原作“之包”，从各本改。
〔八〕 “若”字原无，从各本补。
〔九〕 “等”字原无，从各本补。
〔一〇〕 “在窗外只说，罢了，罢了”，原作“只说窗外，只说去了”，并有点改。今据各本改。
〔一一〕 此处底本有“为察奸情反得贼赃”八字，用墨笔勾出，眉批云：“似批语，故别之。”蒙府、戚序、甲辰本均有此八字。今从梦稿本删。
[19] 玉带板子——男子腰带上的玉质带头。
〔一二〕 “若饶他”，原“饶”为“的”点改。各本均作“若依他”，似不如“饶”字切，今从底本改文。
〔一三〕 “他”字原无，从蒙府、戚序、甲辰本补。
[22] 寻拙志——寻短见，自杀。
〔一四〕 “诊脉”，底本及各本均作“胗脉”，今改。
[24] 虚火乘脾——乘：乘虚侵袭。五行（人体五脏）相克太过，各部失却正常协调叫相乘。如木气（肝火）偏亢，而金（肺）不能对木加以正常克制时，太过的木（虚火），便去乘土（伤脾胃），就会出现“胃虚土弱”的病症。
[25] 升阳养荣——升阳：是一种治疗脾失健运、消化力弱、不能上输精气的方法。养荣：即养营，是一种治心气虚、血不能正常运行等病症的营养周身之法。
〔一五〕 “司棋等事暂未理”，原作“司棋等是暂未理到”，“等是”点改为“之事”，“未理到”点改为“且不办”。梦稿本作“司棋等一事暂未理”。馀各本文字略有出入。今从底本及各本酌定。
〔一六〕 “之事”，原作“一事”，从各本改。
[28] 官盐竟成了私盐——旧时，由国家运销或已经缴纳盐税为官方许可经营的食盐称为官盐，若逃避纳税私运私销则称为私盐，要受到官府的取缔。这里比喻本系主人赏赐的“合法”的东西，因私自传送倒成为“不合法”的了。
〔一七〕 “我”字原无，从各本补。
[30] 勖（xù序）助——勉励帮助。
[31] 状元、榜眼、探花——明清时代科举制度以廷试一甲（一等）第一名为状元，第二名为榜眼，第三名为探花。
〔一八〕 “古今第一个才子。我们是糊涂人，不如你明白，何如？’惜春道：‘状元榜眼”二十七字，原无，各本均有，文字略异，此从蒙府、戚序本增。
〔一九〕 “可知他们”，底本及梦稿、蒙府、戚序本均同。甲辰本作“可知你们”。
〔二〇〕 “我不了悟，我也舍不得入画了”，底本错漏不成文，从蒙府、戚序、甲辰本改。
〔二一〕 “心冷口冷心狠意狠的人”，原作“冷口冷心狠的人”，“狠”字点去。从梦稿本改。
[36] 不作狠心人，难得自了汉——意谓不下狠心断绝欲念便不能摒弃种种烦恼。自了汉：俗称脱俗绝尘，了无牵挂的人为自了汉。
〔二二〕 “忍耐了大半。今见惜春又说这句，因按捺不住，因问惜春道：‘怎么”，“忍耐”以后二十三字，原无，各本均有，文字略异。底本将“忍耐”两字点去，旁加“又听这些话，不免说，那里”。此从梦稿、戚序本增补。
〔二三〕 “去了”，原无，从蒙府、戚序、甲辰本补。
CHAPTER 74. Lady Wang authorizes a raid on Prospect Garden And Jia Xi-chun breaks off relations with Ning-guo House
Patience was greatly amused by the tone of Ying-chun’s answer to her inquiry. Ying-chun’s further self-justification in reply to Dai-yu’s comment was cut short by the arrival of another visitor. It was at this point that we concluded the last chapter.
The visitor was Bao-yu. When it was known that one of the chief organizers of the gambling was Cook Liu’s younger sister, Cook Liu’s enemies in the Garden regarded this as a good opportunity for making another attempt to oust her from her kitchen. Going in a body to Xi-feng, they accused her of being in partnership with her sister and receiving equal shares of her takings, and they demanded that Xi-feng should take appropriate action to punish her. Cook Liu, when she heard this, was at first panic-stricken; then, remembering her friends at Green Delights, she hurried over there, taking great care that nobody saw her on the way, and begged Skybright and Aventurin to tell Bao-yu what had happened. It occurred to Bao-yu, when they told him, that as Ying-chun’s nurse was in trouble for the same offence, it would be more effective to join forces with Ying-chun in pleading for clemency than to go along on his own and plead only for Cook Liu. It was in order to discuss this matter that he had come to see Ying-chun. Unfortunately, when he arrived, he found that she was not alone.
‘Are you better now?’ the others asked him. (They supposed that he was still suffering from shock.) ‘What have you come for?’
He could not state the real purpose of his visit in front of so many people and merely told them that he had come ‘to see how Ying-chun was getting on’. The others believed him, and a desultory conversation followed about nothing in particular.
Patience now went off to deal with the pearl-and-gold phoenix. Zhu-er’s wife followed at her elbow, begging to be let off.
‘For charity’s sake, don’t tell her, miss! I promise you faithfully, that phoenix will be redeemed.’
‘So you keep saying,’ said Patience, drily. ‘What a pity you couldn’t have redeemed it a bit sooner and saved yourself this trouble! You want to wriggle out of this somehow without telling her, don’t you? Well, I can’t say that I am very keen on informing against you, myself. I’ll tell you what: you get that thing back as quickly as possible and hand it over to me, and I won’t say anything about it to my mistress.’
Zhu-er’s wife was so relieved that she went down on her knees to thank her.
‘You carry on now with whatever you are doing, miss. I’ll have it ready for you by this evening. I’ll bring it to show you as soon as I’ve redeemed it, and then I’ll take it back to Miss Ying’s. How will that be?’
‘All right,’ said Patience. ‘But if you don’t turn up with it this evening, you will have only yourself to blame for what happens.’
The two young women then went their separate ways.
‘Well?’ said Xi-feng, when Patience got back to her apartment. ‘What did Miss Tan want you for?’
‘She was worried that you might have been fretting over this gambling business,’ said Patience, smiling. ‘She asked me how you’d been eating this last day or two.’
‘That’s very kind of her,’ said Xi-feng. ‘Oh, there’s more trouble, by the way. Some of them have just been here accusing Cook Liu of being mixed up in the gambling business with her sister. They’re saying, in fact, that she was the real organizer. However, remembering how insistent you always are that I should let well alone and only think of my health, I took no action. Last time I ignored your advice and had someone punished, I not only offended Lady Xing but also ended up by making myself ill. So this time I knew better. They can do as they please, I don’t care. Someone else can do the worrying. I have nearly destroyed myself by worrying and the only result of it is that everyone hates me. Very well. Now all I am going to think about is getting better. And when I am better, I am going to turn myself into a Mr Yes-yes. No matter what frightful things the others get up to, I shall just say “Yes, yes” when I hear about them. “Yes, yes,” I shall say, and not give them a single other thought!’
‘If only you would be like that,’ said Patience smiling, ‘what a blessing it would be for us all!’
At that moment Jia Lian came in, sighing and striking his hands together with vexation.
‘More trouble! When I borrowed that stuff from Faithful the other day to pawn, how could Mother have got to hear about it? She had me over there just now and asked me to borrow two hundred taels for her. She said she wanted it for the Mid-Autumn festival. I said I didn’t know who I could borrow two hundred taels from at the moment. “If you can’t borrow the money, you can easily find something to raise it on,” she said. “Don’t always make excuses. Don’t know who to borrow it from, indeed! You could spirit all those things out of Lady Jia’s room when you chose to, yet now you make difficulties about raising a paltry two hundred taels for me! You’re lucky I haven’t told anyone what you’ve been up to.” I’m certain Mother isn’t really short of money. This is sheer, gratuitous trouble-making on her part.’
‘There were no outsiders here on that occasion,’ said Xi-feng. ‘I wonder how the news could have leaked out.’
Patience, who had been listening to their conversation, tried hard to remember who had been present. After some moments it came back to her.
‘I know. There was no one else here that day while you were talking to Faithful, but in the evening, when she sent the stuff round, that mother of Simple’s who works for Her Old Ladyship called in with some laundry and afterwards sat quite a long while talking in the kitchen. If she saw that great trunk there, it would have been only natural to ask what was inside it, and the maids might well have told her, without realizing that they were not supposed to. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that’s how it got about.’
She called some of the junior maids in to question them.
‘Which of you told Simple’s mother the other day what was in that trunk?’
The maids knelt down in terror and swore by the most sacred oaths that they had said nothing.
‘We’re always most careful not to say too much to anyone. When people ask us anything, we always say that we don’t know. We’d certainly never have told her about that!’
Xi-feng considered the probabilities.
‘Somehow I don’t think they would have told her. At all events, there is no point in harrving them about it now. We shall just have to put that question behind us. The important thing now is to make sure that Mother gets what she wants. I’d rather we went short ourselves than risk her making another lot of trouble.’ She turned to Patience. ‘Take some of my gold things again and get us another two hundred taels. – As soon as she has the money ready, you can take it to Mother immediately, and that should be the end of the matter,’ she told Jia Lian.
‘Might as well raise four hundred taels while you are about it,’ said Jia Lian. ‘We could do with another two hundred ourselves.’
‘I don’t see that at all,’ said Xi-feng. ‘We don’t really need two hundred taels ourselves. And in any case, if we raise so much now, where is the money coming from later for getting the things out of pawn?’
Patience fetched the now familiar gold necklaces and told Brightie’s wife to take them to the pawnshop. Soon afterwards Brightie’s wife was back again with the cash and Jia Lian went in person to hand it over to his mother.
While Jia Lian was taking the money to Lady Xing, Xi-feng and Patience continued to ask themselves who could have leaked the information about the surreptitious removal of Grandmother Jia’s valuables.
‘It’s too bad!’ said Xi-feng. ‘Poor Faithful will be in trouble over this, and all because of us.’
While they were still wondering who it could have been, Lady Wang was announced. This was a surprise, for Xi-feng could think of no reason why she should be visiting them. She and Patience hurried out to greet her.
Lady Wang had only one maid, a trusted junior, in attendance. There was an angry expression on her face and she walked swiftly through the house into the inner room and sat down grimly on the kang, all without uttering a word. Xi-feng, concealing her apprehension behind a smile, hurriedly served her with tea.
‘It’s an unusual honour to have you here, Aunt.’
‘Patience, leave the room!’ Lady Wang commanded.
‘Yes’m,’ said Patience, wondering what on earth could be the matter, and hurried out, taking all the other maids with her. She stood by the outer door until they were all outside, then closed it after her and sat down at the top of the steps to prevent anyone going in.
As Xi-feng, now thoroughly alarmed, watched her aunt and wondered why she had come, Lady Wang, who appeared to be on the point of weeping, drew an embroidered pouch from her sleeve and threw it on the kang.
‘Look at that!’
Xi-feng hastily picked it up and found herself, to her great surprise, looking at a lewd picture, beautifully embroidered in silks.
‘Where did you get it from?’ she asked.
The tears that had collected in Lady Wang’s eyes poured down her cheeks now and the voice in which she answered was choked and trembling.
‘Where did I get it from? I sit all day at the bottom of a well. As you seemed such a conscientious young woman, I thought I could leave things to you and enjoy some leisure, but it seems that you are no better at managing than I. Fancy leaving a thing like that in the Garden – on a rockery, too, in broad daylight, where everyone could see it! It was picked up by one of Grandmother’s maids. If your mother-in-law hadn’t fortunately spotted the girl carrying it, it would have gone straight to Grandmother. I think it’s for you to tell me how it came to be dropped there.’
It was Xi-feng’s turn to look angry.
‘How do you know it’s mine?’
Lady Wang sighed and shed a few more tears.
‘How can you ask me that? Who in this household apart from you and Lian could a thing like this belong to? The old women would have no use for a thing like this and none of the girls would know where to get one from. Obviously that wretched, worthless Lian must have got hold of it from somewhere; and you, treating it, I suppose, as a great joke, were only too happy to receive it from him. I know that young couples do go in for this sort of thing; why try to deny it? But the young people in the Garden are still innocent. Suppose one of their maids had picked it up and shown it to them? It doesn’t bear thinking of. Or suppose a maid had picked it up and told someone from outside that she had found it in the Garden? What sort of reputation would that leave our family with? It would be better to die than that such a thing should happen.’
A mixture of shame and exasperation caused the blood to rush into Xi-feng’s face. She fell on her knees beside the kang. There were tears in her own eyes when she answered, but they were tears of anger.
‘What you say is no doubt very reasonable, Aunt, and I have no wish to argue with you, but I really don’t own anything like this and I really must ask you to reconsider one or two of the things you have said. First of all, take another look at this bag. It wasn’t made here. One can see at a glance that it is a poor commercial imitation of “palace” embroidery. Even the tassels are the kind you would buy outside. I may be young and frivolous, but I’d hardly be likely to want a trashy thing like this. Secondly, this isn’t the sort of thing one would carry around with one. Even if it were mine, I should keep it hidden somewhere in a secret place, not walk around with it on my person, particularly if I were going into the Garden. The girls and I are always holding each other and pulling each other about, so that if I were wearing a thing like this, it would very quickly get noticed, and what should I feel like then, if one of the girls or one of the maids were to look at it? Thirdly, I may be the only young married woman with a husband in the family, but there are plenty of even younger married women among the servants who are often in and out of the Garden. How can you be so sure that it wasn’t one of them who dropped this bag? Then there are those younger concubines of Sir She’s, like Carmine and Azure. Mother often takes one or two of them with her when she goes into the Garden. They would be even more likely to own a thing like this. And Zhen’s wife herself isn’t all that old, not to mention Lovey and Dove, whom she frequently takes with her when she goes there. How do you know it doesn’t belong to one of them? And in any case, there are so many maids in the Garden, how can you be so sure that all of them are pure? There may be one or two of the older ones who are not so innocent. One of them could have slipped out on some pretext or other when no one was looking to flirt with the pages on the inner gate and got it from one of them. It’s perfectly possible. But I can assure you that I have never possessed a thing like this, and I know that Patience hasn’t either. So I really must ask you to reconsider.’
Lady Wang was somewhat overwhelmed by this torrent of words, but had to admit their reasonableness.
‘You can get up,’ she said with a sigh. ‘It was wrong of me to accuse you. I ought to have known that a young woman of your breeding would not be guilty of such unseemliness. I am afraid I was overwrought and allowed anger to get the better of me. But what am I to do? Your mother-in-law saw fit to send this thing round to me by a messenger. I was terribly upset when I unwrapped it and saw what it was.’
‘The first thing to do is to try not to be so upset,’ said Xi-feng. ‘If the servants become aware that something is wrong, the chances of Grandmother getting to hear about it will be much greater. If we can remain cool and carry out our investigations in secret, we are much more likely to get at the truth, and even if we don’t, no one outside is going to be any the wiser. We should pick four or five of our most trusted servants to do the investigating – people like Zhou Rui’s wife and Brightie’s wife who can be relied upon not to talk – and send them into the Garden as replacements of the women who have been dismissed. The pretext for their investigations can be that there are various things connected with the gambling that still remain to be cleared up. The other thing we must do something about is the number of the maids. There are far too many of them. As they get older, they begin to get grown-up ideas, and one can never be quite sure that they may not get up to some mischief. It’s no good waiting until something has actually happened before doing anything, because then it will already be too late; on the other hand to begin large-scale dismissals straight away would be very distressing for the girls and probably for us as well. It would be better to wait until each maid either reaches a certain age or shows signs of growing insubordinate, and then use the first slip she makes as grounds for dismissing her and marrying her to one of the boys. In that way we can both avoid having trouble and at the same time make a considerable reduction in our expenses.’
Lady Wang sighed.
‘You are of course right. But in fairness to our girls I think it must be said that they are already making do with the absolute minimum of service. Not one of them has more than two or three maids who are the least bit of use. The others are like a pack of mischievous children. And I am not the only one who would feel unhappy about cutting down the numbers; I think it highly probable that Grandmother, too, would object. After all, things may be a bit difficult at present, but we can’t be all that poor. I wouldn’t lay claim to any great riches, but I think I may perhaps be a little bit better off than the rest of you. So if there is any talk of economy, I’d rather do without myself than see the girls suffer. The important thing now is to call in Zhou Rui’s wife and one or two of our other women and get them to begin these secret investigations for us as quickly as possible.’
Xi-feng at once called Patience in and explained what was wanted. Patience went out again and within a short time had assembled five of Lady Wang’s and Xi-feng’s most trusted retainers: Zhou Rui’s wife, Wu Xing’s wife and Zheng Hua’s wife from among Lady Wang’s servants and Brightie’s wife and Happy’s wife from among Xi-feng’s. Lady Wang thought they might not be enough for the sort of detailed investigation she had in mind. While she was wondering who else to get, Wang Shan-bao’s wife walked in.
Wang Shan-bao’s wife, like Goody Fei, was one of the servants who had been with Lady Xing since her childhood and accompanied her when she came to the Jia household as a bride. It was she, in fact, who had brought the embroidered bag to Lady Wang, and she had trailed along to Xi-feng’s place out of curiosity, to see what she would do about the discovery. Lady Wang’s past observation of these trusted henchwomen of her sister-in-law had not been sufficient to make her mistrust them and she welcomed this new arrival as a reinforcement.
‘Ah, just the person!’ she said as she caught sight of her. ‘After you have reported back to your mistress, you will be able to go with these others into the Garden and keep an eye on them for me.’
On a number of past visits to the Garden Wang Shan-bao’s wife had been greatly put out by the failure of the maids there to show her the respect and consideration that she felt to be her due; but dearly as she would have liked to teach those young creatures a lesson, she had not so far found a sufficient pretext for doing so. This discovery of an obscene object in the Garden was, in her eyes, a godsend, and her recruitment by Lady Wang to play a part in the investigations arising out of it was the kind of opportunity she had dreamed of.
‘We’ll get to the bottom of this easy enough, don’t you worry, madam,’ she said. ‘What you need in that Garden is more discipline, if you don’t mind my saying so, and has been for some time. To see the way those young maids carry on there, you would think they were princesses. They can have that whole place in an uproar, yet none of us dares to breathe a word against them, for we know that if we did, they would go running off to their young mistresses and get them to complain that it’s them we have been criticizing: and that is a charge which none of us is willing to stand up to.’
Lady Wang nodded.
‘Yes, I suppose the girls who wait on the young mistresses are inclined to be a bit spoiled.’
‘The young mistresses’ maids are by no means the worst,’ said Wang Shan-bao’s wife. ‘The worst of the lot is that Skybright that works in Bao-yu’s room. Because she’s a bit better-looking than the others and a bit readier with her tongue, she goes around dolled up all the time like a Xi-shi, putting everyone else in their place. She likes the sound of her own voice, does that young woman, and she likes to have her own way. If you say the slightest little thing to offend her, up fly her eyebrows and she will begin telling you exactly what she thinks of you. Oh, she’s a proper little madam, that one! Not much of the maidservant about her!’
A sudden recollection seemed to strike Lady Wang while Wang Shan-bao’s wife was speaking. She turned to Xi-feng questioningly.
‘I remember last time I was in the Garden with Lady Jia seeing a maid, a snaky-waisted girl with narrow, sloping shoulders and something of your Cousin Lin about the eyes, shouting at one of the junior maids, and thinking what a thoroughly objectionable young woman she must be. I didn’t say anything at the time because I was with Lady Jia. I meant to try and find out who she was afterwards, but I forgot. I wonder if this is the same girl? It sounds uncommonly like her.’
‘Skybright is certainly the best-looking of the maids,’ said Xi-feng cautiously, ‘and as regards her behaviour and manner of speaking, I suppose you could say she is inclined to be a little too free. The person you describe certainly sounds as if it might have been her, but as I wasn’t myself there at the time, I wouldn’t like to say for sure that it was.’
‘There’s no need to go on wondering,’ said Wang Shanbao’s wife. ‘We can call her here this minute and Her Ladyship can see for herself whether it’s her or not.’
‘Whenever I see anyone from Bao-yu’s room, it’s always either Aroma or Musk,’ said Lady Wang. ‘Both of them are the kind of plain, simple girl I like. They would never send the kind of girl we are talking about to see me because they know that that is just the sort of creature I cannot abide. – Oh dear! One can’t help wondering, when a thing like this happens: suppose Bao-yu were to be corrupted by a little harpy like that…?’
After some moments’ reflection, she called in her own maid from outside.
‘I want you to go over to Master Bao’s place and say that there is something I want to ask them about. Say that I would rather Aroma and Musk stayed behind to look after Bao-yu. There is a girl there called Skybright who is very intelligent. You can tell her to come. Say she is to come over with you straight away. You are not to say anything to her on the way here.’
‘Yes, my lady,’ said the maid, and hurried off to Green Delights.
When she arrived Skybright, who had recently been feeling far from well, was just getting up from a nap and was only half awake: but as the order said ‘Come at once’, she had to go with the maid as she was, with no time to make herself presentable. However, this did not unduly concern her. Knowing Lady Wang’s aversion to people of her type, she would normally have felt some nervousness about having to appear before her. On this occasion she took comfort from the fact that her indisposition over the last few days had caused her to neglect her appearance. Dowdiness would count in her favour.
Alas! When she arrived in Xi-feng’s room, Lady Wang took one look at this languid vision with its tousled hair, crooked hairpins and rumpled dress and felt all the anger she had just conquered rising up again inside her – particularly when she recognized this as being almost certainly the same girl as the one who had aroused her ire on that previous occasion a month before in the Garden.
‘Good gracious me!’ she exclaimed sarcastically. ‘What swooning Xi-shi have we here? For whose benefit do you go around in this extraordinary get-up? Don’t imagine I don’t know what your little game is, young lady! I may not have done anything about you yet, but I’ll have the skin off you one of these days! – Is Bao-yu any better?’
Though shaken by the unexpectedness of this onslaught, Skybright realized at once that someone must have been saying things about her. And although understandably angry, she managed to keep her head. She was too intelligent not to realize that the question about Bao-yu was a trap. She knelt to answer it.
‘I don’t often go into Bao-yu’s room, madam, or see much of him, so I am afraid I am not able to tell you. It’s Aroma and Musk who mostly wait on him. They would be able to give Your Ladyship an answer.’
‘Little liar!’ said Lady Wang. ‘You’ve got eyes in your head, haven’t you? What’s the good of employing you if you can’t even tell me whether he’s well or not?’
‘I used to be Her Old Ladyship’s maid,’ said Skybright. ‘She selected me for night duty in the outer room at Green Delights because she thought that, going to live in the big, empty Garden he might get frightened at night. I told Her Old Ladyship that I was too stupid to work for Bao-yu, but that only made her angry. She said, “I’m not asking you to wait on him personally. You don’t need to be clever for the job I’m asking you to do.” So after that I had to go. I don’t see him very often. He might call me in once or twice every ten days or so to ask me about something and I just answer him and go back to my work. His meals and all the personal service are looked after either by the older servants and nannies or by Aroma and Musk and Ripple. Whenever I’ve got time for it, I still have a lot of Her Old Ladyship’s sewing to do. I’m afraid I don’t pay much attention to what Bao-yu is doing. I will do so in future, if Your Ladyship wishes me to.’
Lady Wang was completely taken in.
‘Please don’t trouble yourself,’ she said hastily. ‘Holy name! I’m only too happy to learn that you don’t see much of him. So you were given to him by Her Old Ladyship. I suppose in that case I shall have to see her first before I can dismiss you.’
She turned to Wang Shan-bao’s wife.
‘When you and the others go into the Garden, I want you to take particular care that this girl is kept well away from Bao-yu. Make sure that she doesn’t sleep in the same room. I shall be dealing with her in a few days’ time, when I have had a chance of speaking about her to Her Old Ladyship.’
As she turned again momentarily towards Skybright, her voice rose almost into a shout.
‘Get out of here! The sight of you standing there like a young trollop offends my eyes! Who gave you permission anyway to dress yourself up in that garish fashion?’
Skybright left the room, utterly crushed. She buried her face in her handkerchief as soon as she was outside the door and wept into it every step of the way back to Green Delights.
Meanwhile Lady Wang was telling Xi-feng how much she regretted her remissness in having allowed creatures like Skybright to inhabit the Garden for so long undisturbed.
‘I wish I had had the energy to keep a closer watch on things,’ she said. ‘I never expected to find a young flibbertigibbet like that in the Garden. And I suppose if there is one there like that, there are likely to be others like it as well.’
Xi-feng could see that Lady Wang was too incensed to reason with; and however much she might have said to the point, she would not in any case have dared to do so in front of Wang Shan-bao’s wife, who was one of her mother-in-law’s principal informants and a most notorious stirrer-up of trouble. She merely lowered her head, therefore, and murmured assent.
It was Wang Shan-bao’s wife who spoke.
‘Don’t upset yourself, my lady. Leave all these little things to me. There’s a very easy way of getting to the bottom of this business. Tonight, when the Garden gates have been shut and there is no chance of word getting through inside, we’ll make a surprise visit and search all the maids’ rooms in each of the apartments. Whoever owned this thing we’re trying to find out about must have other things like it as well, so if we find anything like it in our search, we shall have found the owner.’
‘That sounds like a good idea,’ said Lady Wang. ‘We shall never get anywhere unless we do something like that. – What do you think?’ she asked Xi-feng.
Xi-feng deemed it impolitic to disagree.
‘If you think it’s all right, Aunt, I should let her do it.’
‘I do think it’s all right,’ said Lady Wang emphatically. ‘Unless we do it this way, we might spend a year investigating and still get nowhere.’
A raid was accordingly planned for that very evening. After dinner, when Grandmother Jia had retired for the night and the cousins had all returned to their apartments, Wang Shan-bao’s wife, having first asked Xi-feng to accompany her, led her little party into the Garden. After ordering all the side gates to be closed, she set about searching immediately, beginning with the room just inside the Garden gate which was used by the women of the night watch as a rendez-vous. Nothing of interest was discovered there except for a few candle-ends and a little leftover lamp-oil which someone had evidently put by to take home. However, Wang Shan-bao’s wife solemnly pronounced them to be stolen property: no one was to touch these things, she said, until Lady Wang had been informed and the appropriate steps had been taken. They proceeded to Green Delights, barring the courtyard gates after them as soon as they were inside.
Bao-yu was still worrying about Skybright when this party of women came bursting into his courtyard and, without a word of explanation, walked straight into the part of the house occupied by the maids. On going out to investigate he ran into Xi-feng and asked her what was happening. Xi-feng went indoors to sit down with him and accepted a cup of tea.
‘Something important is missing that no one will own up to having taken,’ she said. ‘It’s thought that one of the maids in the Garden might have stolen it, so they are searching everyone in order to clear the innocent ones of suspicion.’
While Xi-feng was explaining this to Bao-yu, Wang Shan-bao’s wife was proceeding with her search.
‘Whose are these trunks?’ she asked, and demanded that the owners should come forward and open them.
Aroma had suspected that some sort of trouble lay ahead when she saw the state that Skybright was in when she returned from her interview. The raid confirmed her premonition. Resignedly she set the other maids an example by opening her own trunks and boxes first. Nothing of interest was found in them. The searchers passed on. Each girl stood by her own things and opened them up as the searchers came to them. Finally only Skybright’s trunk remained.
‘Which girl’s is this?’ said Wang Shan-bao’s wife. ‘Why doesn’t she come forward and open it?’
Aroma was on the point of opening it herself when Skybright, who, to judge from the state her hair was in, had only just got out of bed, came rushing into the room, flung the lid open with a bang, picked the trunk up by its bottom, and emptied its contents on the floor. Wang Shan-bao’s wife blushed scarlet with embarrassment.
‘There’s no cause to be angry with me, miss,’ she said. ‘I’m not carrying this search out to please myself, I’m here on Her Ladyship’s orders. If you don’t want your things to be searched, you have only to say so and I shall tell Her Ladyship. There’s no need to carry on like this about it.’
At this Skybright’s wrath blazed up in fury. She pointed at the old woman’s face.
‘You say you are here on Her Ladyship’s orders. Well I’m here on Her Old Ladyship’s orders. Anyway, I thought I knew all the women who worked at Her Ladyship’s place and I’m sure I never saw a self-important, meddlesome old busybody like you there before!’
Xi-feng, who had now rejoined them, was secretly delighted to see Wang Shan-bao’s wife getting the rough side of Skybright’s tongue, but because the woman was her mother-in-law’s favourite, she had to pretend that she was shocked, and shouted at Skybright to be silent. Wang Shan-bao’s wife looked angry and flustered and seemed on the point of retorting; but Xi-feng restrained her.
‘All right, Mrs Wang, that will do. You don’t have to put yourself on the same level by arguing with the girl. You get on with your searching. We’ve got all the other places to go to yet, and if we delay too long, word will get round that we are coming and they will be prepared for us. If that happens and you don’t succeed in finding anything, I shan’t consider myself responsible.’
Though inwardly fuming, Wang Shan-bao’s wife was obliged to contain herself and spent the next minute or two rummaging tight-lipped among Skybright’s possessions. Having found nothing of importance, she then asked Xi-feng if they might go elsewhere.
‘Now have you looked really thoroughly?’ said Xi-feng. ‘You’re going to look pretty silly if you have to report back to Lady Wang tomorrow that you couldn’t find anything.’
‘We’ve been through everything,’ said one of the women. ‘There’s nothing here that there shouldn’t be. We did find one or two boy’s things, but they were the sort of things a quite small boy would use. Probably they belonged to Bao-yu when he was little. Anyway, they’re of no consequence.’
‘In that case we can be on our way,’ said Xi-feng, pleasantly. ‘On to the next place, then!’
Off they went without more ado. Xi-feng turned to Wang Shan-bao’s wife as they walked along for a word in her ear.
‘I’ve got a suggestion to make, but I don’t know whether you’ll agree to it or not. Can we confine this search to members of our own household? I don’t think we ought to search the maids in Miss Xue’s room.’
‘Oh, I quite agree,’ said Wang Shan-bao’s wife. ‘It would never do to go searching the rooms of our guests.’
Xi-feng nodded.
‘That’s what I thought.’
They had by now reached the Naiad’s House. Dai-yu had already gone to bed when the arrival of all these people was announced. Unable to guess what they could have come for, she was on the point of getting up to ask when Xi-feng came into her room and begged her to stay in bed.
‘Go to sleep. We shall be gone again in a moment.’
She slipped out again after a few inconsequences and rejoined the others, who had already begun their searching. In the course of rummaging through the various trunks and boxes in Nightingale’s room they came across some old amulets whose period of effectiveness had long since expired and a set of two pouches and a fan-case designed for wearing on a belt. The fan-case had a fan in it, which they took out to examine. These were obviously masculine articles and had in fact been worn at one time by Bao-yu. Wang Shan-bao’s wife, congratulating herself on what she took to be a significant discovery, called Xi-feng over to witness it.
‘Look at these things, Mrs Lian! Now where would these have come from?’
Xi-feng smiled.
‘These would be old things of Bao-yu’s,’ she said. ‘He and the girls here have been seeing each other for years – since they were little children. Their Ladyships would probably remember having seen these things on him. You could always ask them, if you don’t believe me.’
Wang Shan-bao’s wife was at once all smiles.
‘If you recognize them, Mrs Lian, that’s good enough for me.’
‘There’s nothing here worth bothering about,’ said Xi-feng. ‘I think we should leave these folk in peace and hurry on elsewhere.’
‘We’ve had so many other things where these came from and given so many in return that I can’t keep track of them,’ said Nightingale laughing. ‘I couldn’t for the life of me tell you when he gave us these.’
Xi-feng and Wang Shan-bao’s wife now conducted their little party to Tan-chun’s place. This time their arrival was anticipated. Someone had brought word of their coming, and Tan-chun, guessing that something serious must have happened to have provoked so ugly a reaction, was standing in the open doorway, surrounded by maids with lighted candles, waiting for the search party when it arrived.
‘Well?’ she asked, somewhat challengingly. ‘What do you want?’
Xi-feng smiled an emollient smile.
‘Something has been missing and they have been questioning everyone for several days now without being able to find out who took it. It’s thought that whoever is responsible for the theft might try to incriminate one of the maids. We are making this search more for the sake of clearing them than because we really suspect any of them of taking it.’
‘Naturally all my maids are thieves,’ said Tan-chun affably. ‘As a matter of fact, I am their principal fence. If you want to search, you’d better look at my cupboards and boxes first, because anything they steal is automatically handed over to me.’
She ordered the maids to open all her boxes. She also made them bring in her dressing-cases, jewel-boxes, bedding-rolls and miscellaneous wrapped-up bundles of clothing and open them all up for Xi-feng to inspect.
Xi-feng laughed uncomfortably.
‘I’m only carrying out your mother’s orders, coz. There’s no point in getting offended with me.’ She turned to the servants. ‘Quickly, do these things up again for Miss Tan.’
Scribe and Ebony, assisted by Patience and Felicity, began refastening the boxes and tying the bundles up again.
‘I’ve said that you may search my things,’ said Tan-chun, ‘but if you want to search my maids’, I’m afraid that won’t be possible. You see, I am a very hard mistress. I always insist on knowing what my maids have got; consequently everything they have – every needle and thread even – is taken care of by me; I don’t allow them to keep anything themselves. So if you want to do any searching, you will have to search me. If that doesn’t satisfy you, you have only to report to Lady Wang that I was obstructive and I will gladly face whatever the consequences are tomorrow. I must say, I cannot understand this eagerness to meet trouble half-way. The searching will begin soon enough in this household when the day of confiscation arrives. Didn’t you hear the news this morning about the Zhens? They tempted fate, just as we are now doing, by carrying out a quite unnecessary search of their own servants, and now there is a confiscation order against them and they are being searched themselves. No doubt our time too is coming, slowly but surely. A great household like ours is not destroyed in a day. “The beast with a thousand legs is a long time dying.” In order for the destruction to be complete, it has to begin from within.’
She began to cry. Xi-feng darted a look at the women, which Zhou Rui’s wife interpreted as a signal that they should go.
‘Since Miss Tan has said that the girls’ things are all here, Mrs Lian, can’t we go on to another place now and leave her in peace?’
Xi-feng responded by rising to her feet and wishing Tan-chun good night.
‘Are you sure you’ve looked properly?’ said Tan-chun. ‘It’s no good coming back tomorrow and asking to look again, because I shan’t let you.’
‘If all the maids’ things are in here, there is no need to look,’ said Xi-feng, smiling.
‘No need to look, when I’ve gone to the trouble of having everything opened for you?’ said Tan-chun coldly. ‘I call that rather perverse. Tomorrow I suppose you will say that I covered up for my maids and wouldn’t let you look. I want to be told in plain language that you have searched as much as you want to. If you haven’t, you’d better do so now, while you have the chance.’
Xi-feng smiled. She knew from past experience that she had to be more careful with Tan-chun than with any of the other girls.
‘I have already searched your maids’ things and your things sufficiently.’
‘And what about the rest of you?’ Tan-chun asked the women.
‘We’ve searched enough,’ said Zhou Rui’s wife and the other women, smiling.
It was now that Wang Shan-bao’s wife showed her total lack of judgement – for she was in truth a very stupid woman. She had heard something of Tan-chun’s reputation in the past, but refused to believe that an unmarried girl of her years – particularly one who was a concubine’s daughter – could be as formidable as Tan-chun was said to be. No doubt, she told herself, it was the inexperience or pusillanimity of her informants that made them think her so. Was not she, Wang Shan-bao’s wife, one of Lady Xing’s oldest and most trusted servants? Did not even Lady Wang have to show her a certain measure of deference? A mere chit of a girl like Tan-chun was not going to intimidate her. She had, in any case, the distinct impression that it was Xi-feng and not herself that Tan-chun was angry with. At all events, she resolved to show how little she held Tan-chun in esteem by indulging in a little horse-play at her expense. Going up to Tan-chun, she took hold of a corner of her jacket and turned it back, grinning all over her face.
‘There!’ she said. ‘Now I’ve even searched Miss Tan, and there’s nothing on her either!’
Xi-feng was shocked.
‘Good gracious, woman! Are you – ?’
But before she could finish there was a resounding smack! and a large red mark appeared on the old woman’s face where Tan-chun had hit her.
Tan-chun was in a towering rage.
‘Who do you think you are? How dare you touch me? It seems that the respect that I and the others show you, even though it is only for Her Ladyship’s sake and out of consideration for your age, merely encourages you to make mischief for us and abuse your borrowed powers. That, in all conscience, is hard enough to bear. But now, to lay hands on me – that is really too much! If you have reckoned on my being a poor, timid creature like your Miss Ying whom you can bully and impose upon at your pleasure, you have made a very big mistake. You may search my things if you wish and I shall not complain; but I will not be made a laughing-stock. Here!’ – with one hand she began feverishly undoing her buttons, while with the other she pulled Xi-feng’s hand towards her and placed it beneath her jacket – ‘Search me! I would rather be searched by you than submit to being pawed over by a slave!’
Xi-feng and Patience quickly buttoned her up again and straightened out her dress, shouting angrily at Wang Shan-bao’s wife as they did so.
‘You have been drinking again, Nannie. Why do you do it, if it makes you behave so badly? You’d better get out of here, before worse happens!’
Patience did her best to comfort Tan-chun.
‘Dear miss! Please don’t distress yourself. She isn’t worth your getting upset about!’
Tan-chun gave a humourless laugh.
‘I’m not upset. If I’d been upset I should have beaten my brains out before I’d have let her touch me. I shall see Grandmother and Lady Wang about this first thing tomorrow, and after that I shall call on Lady Xing and make whatever amends she likes to ask for.’
Wang Shan-bao’s wife had retreated hastily from the room after her discomfiture and was now lurking outside the window complaining bitterly of the outrage to her dignity.
‘This is the first time anyone has ever struck me. I shall see Lady Xing tomorrow and ask her to let me go back to my old home. If this is the way I am to be treated, I had rather not go on living!’
‘Do you hear what that woman is saying?’ Tan-chun asked her maids. ‘Are you waiting for me to go out there and argue with her myself?’
Scribe, needing no second prompting, hurried outside to take up the cudgels for her mistress.
‘If I were in your shoes, Mrs Wang, I should have the sense to keep my mouth shut. We should all be only too pleased if you really did go back to your own home; but I’m afraid that when it comes to it, you won’t be able to tear yourself away. After all, if you go, who will there be left to worm her way into Her Ladyship’s confidence and make all our lives a misery by having searches made?’
Xi-feng was greatly amused.
‘Good for Scribe! “Like mistress, like maid”!’
‘Oh,’ said Tan-chun coldly, ‘we thieves have ready wits. We are all capable of turning a phrase or two. It’s only when it comes to going behind other people’s backs and stirring those in authority up against them that we are not quite so clever.’
Patience made some soothing remark to Tan-chun, simultaneously making a grab at Scribe and pulling her back into the room, while Zhou Rui’s wife and the other women did their best to be conciliatory. Xi-feng remained until she had seen Tan-chun safely put to bed before leading her party off in the direction of Xi-chun’s Spring in Winter room in the Lotus Pavilion, briefly taking in Li Wan’s place on the way.
As Li Wan was unwell and had already taken her medicine and settled down for the night by the time they arrived, they went into the maids’ room straight away without disturbing her. After searching each of the maids’ boxes in turn and finding nothing, they continued on their way to Xi-chun’s apartment.
Being younger and more immature than the other cousins, Xi-chun was much more frightened by this visitation and at first seemed to be quite bewildered by it. It took all of Xi-feng’s efforts to calm her. Unfortunately, while they were searching in Picture’s trunk, they came upon a large packet containing thirty or forty silver medallions, a carved jade belt-buckle, a pair of men’s boots and a pair of socks. Even Xi-feng turned pale.
‘Where did these come from?’ she asked the unhappy maid.
Picture knelt down and tearfully confessed the truth.
‘They were given to my brother by Mr Zhen, madam. Since our parents went to live in the South, our uncle and aunt have been looking after us. They both drink and gamble a lot, and my brother was afraid that if he left anything with them they would sell it and spend the money, so he made a secret arrangement with one of the old nannies to bring things in to me so that I could look after them for him.’
Xi-chun, a naturally timorous child, was terrified by this discovery.
‘I knew nothing about this!’ she cried. ‘It is very wicked of her. If you want to beat her, cousin, please do it outside. I’m not used to hearing such things. I think it would distress me.’
Xi-feng smiled.
‘If what you say is true,’ she told Picture, ‘you can be forgiven for looking after these things. But your brother had no business to choose such a way of getting them in to you. If these things could be smuggled in without anyone knowing, then so could anything else. It’s the person who brought them in who is the really guilty party. Of course, if what you say is not true, you may as well give up hope of living!’
‘I wouldn’t dare lie to you, madam,’ said Picture, weeping. ‘You have only to ask Mr and Mrs Zhen. If they say my brother wasn’t given these things, I shan’t complain if you beat us both to death.’
‘I shall certainly ask,’ said Xi-feng. ‘But even if he was given them, you are still to blame. Who said that you could have things brought in to you secretly? I shall let you off this once if you will tell me honestly who brought them in, but you mustn’t ever do this again.’
‘Don’t let her off!’ said Xi-chun. ‘There are so many maids. If the older ones see her getting away with it, there’s no knowing what they will get up to. You may want to forgive her, but I don’t.’
‘She seems to me a pretty sensible girl as a rule,’ said Xi-feng. ‘We all make mistakes sometimes. I’m only proposing that we should let her off this once. If she does anything like this again, we shall punish her for this offence as well. – Come on now, what about this person who brought you the things?’ she asked Picture. ‘Tell me who it was.’
‘Oh, I can tell you that,’ said Xi-chun. ‘It’s sure to have been that old Zhang woman from the rear gate. She’s always around here, whispering guiltily to the maids and doing little favours for them – in return for which, of course, they give her their protection.’
Xi-feng told one of the women to make a note of this. The silver and the other things she gave to Zhou Rui’s wife to take care of until Picture’s statement about their provenance could be verified.
This old Mamma Zhang whom Xi-chun had named as the go-between who had brought things in for Picture’s brother was a close kinswoman of Wang Shan-bao’s wife, being in fact the mother-in-law of one of her children.’ However, since becoming Lady Xing’s chief confidante, Wang Shan-bao’s wife had had little time for kinsfolk or former colleagues, and her treatment of Mamma Zhang had caused that matron to take umbrage. On two occasions there had been words between them, and for some time now the two of them had not been on speaking terms. The satisfaction of learning that the guilty bearer of these objects was a hated enemy almost compensated Wang Shan-bao’s wife for the indignity of being slapped by Tan-chun and taunted by Tan-chun’s maid. She endeavoured to impress Xi-feng with the gravity of what they had discovered.
‘This smuggling is a very serious business, Mrs Lian. No doubt the things we are looking for got into the Garden by the same way. I think you ought to look into this.’
‘I fully intend to do so,’ said Xi-feng. ‘I don’t need you to tell me.’
They took leave of Xi-chun then and made their way to Ying-chun’s. Ying-chun was asleep when they arrived and the maids had already gone to bed. They had to knock a long while at the gate before anyone answered.
‘There’s no need to disturb your mistress,’ Xi-feng said to the girl who admitted them, and made straight for the maids’ room, followed by the rest of the party. Knowing that Wang Shan-bao’s wife was Chess’s maternal grandmother, Xi-feng watched her very attentively to see if she would show any favouritism. Wang Shan-bao’s wife began on the trunks of the other maids. None of them contained anything of interest. Coming to Chess’s trunk last of all, she merely picked up one or two things lying on the top of it before hurriedly pronouncing that there was ‘nothing there’, and would have shut it up again if Zhou Rui’s wife had not intervened to prevent her.
‘Now just a minute. Whether there is or not, you’ve got to go through it properly, the same as you did the rest, out of fairness to the others.’
She stretched her own hand out as she said this and, diving into the trunk, fetched out, successively, a pair of men’s padded socks, a pair of men’s satin slippers, and a packet containing a little Loving Couple ornament and a letter. All these things she handed over to Xi-feng.
From handling so many bills, invoices and accounts during her years as a household manager, Xi-feng had learned to recognize quite a large number of characters and was able to make out the whole of the crude missive, written on pink Double Happiness notepaper, that Zhou Rui’s wife had just thrust into her hand.
Since your visit last month my parnts have fund out about us but cant do any thing til Miss Yings marrid if you can meet me in the garden send word by mrs Zhang we can talk more frely in the garden than at home PLEASE TRY I have reed the two rosearys I send you this bag it shows you what I dream of!! PLEASE KEEP IT!!! your loving kit cousin PAN YOU-AN
Xi-feng could hardly restrain herself from laughing out loud.
Wang Shan-bao’s wife knew nothing of the romantic history that lay behind this letter; but she had already had an uncomfortable feeling that all was not well when she saw the men’s socks and shoes; and now, as she watched Xi-feng reading the words on the pink notepaper and laughing at what she read, she became even more apprehensive.
‘What is it, madam? An account?’ she said. ‘I suppose you are laughing because there is some mistake in it.’
‘It certainly doesn’t balance properly,’ said Xi-feng, laughing. ‘If you are Chess’s grandmother, shouldn’t her kit-cousin be a Wang?’
Wang Shan-bao’s wife found the question a very strange one.
‘She has a kit-cousin on her father’s side, her father’s sister’s son. Pan You-an, that boy who ran away – he’s her kit-cousin.’
‘That makes sense,’ said Xi-feng. ‘Would you like me to read you the letter?’
She proceeded to do so, to the great astonishment of all present. Wang Shan-bao’s wife, who had sought out the wrongdoing of others with such single-minded persistency, was now mortified to discover that the only wrongdoer she had succeeded in unmasking was her own granddaughter.
‘Did you hear that, Mrs Wang?’ said Zhou Rui’s wife, who, like the other women, had signalled her astonishment by sticking her tongue out and wagging her head incredulously. ‘Couldn’t be clearer than that, could it? No talking a way out of that one! So what do we do now?’
Wang Shan-bao’s wife heartily wished that it were possible to slip through some crack and disappear into the ground. Xi-feng contemplated her for some moments with enjoyment, her lips puckered up with suppressed laughter.
‘One must look on the bright side,’ she said to Zhou Rui’s wife. ‘The girl has quietly gone off and chosen herself a husband. At least her grandmother is saved the bother of choosing one for her!’
Zhou Rui’s wife laughed, and added some pleasantry of her own. Wang Shan-bao’s wife was left with no one but herself on whom to vent her anger, so she slapped her own face and reproached herself.
‘Silly old fool! You’ve lived too long, that’s your trouble! Look what you’ve brought on yourself! Why couldn’t you have kept your mouth shut? Now you’ve got to suffer for your own foolishness.’
The others had not the heart to laugh, but could not help feeling pleased, either because she had made them suffer in the past and it was sweet to see her suffer now in her turn, or from a more detached belief that they were witnessing the working-out of divine retribution on one who had richly deserved its visitation.
Xi-feng noticed with surprise that Chess, who all this time had been standing by with bowed head, saying nothing, had no trace of fear or shame in her expression and wondered if she might be planning to make away with herself. As it was obviously too late that night for questioning her, she deputed two of the women to watch over her until morning. She herself went off with the other women, taking the things with her as evidence.
It was her intention to deal with the matter in the morning, after a night’s sleep, but during the course of the night she was several times obliged to get out of bed, and each time she did so she found that she was losing blood. By the time next morning came, she was too weak and dizzy to get up. A doctor was called. He took her pulses, wrote a prescription, and left, saying that she would need to rest. His findings, reported to Lady Wang by the old nannies who went to have the prescription made up, plunged that already depressed gentlewoman into yet greater gloom. Thus judgement on Chess’s affair was, for the time being, postponed.
You-shi, as it happened, called in that day to see Xi-feng and sat for a while talking with her. After that she went on to see Li Wan and talked with her. While she was there, a maid arrived to ask if she would mind calling in to see Xi-chun, so she went along to Xi-chun’s. As soon as she arrived, Xi-chun launched into a long and detailed account of what had happened the previous night. She also sent someone round to ask Zhou Rui’s wife for the things that had been found in Picture’s trunk. You-shi verified that they had indeed been given by Cousin Zhen to Picture’s brother.
‘Stupid creature!’ she said, turning to rebuke Picture, who was standing by.
‘Why do you call her names?’ said Xi-chun. ‘It was your laxness which made her the way she is. It’s too bad. None of the other girls has been let down like this by her maids. How shall I be able to face them after this? I told Cousin Feng last night to take her away, but she wouldn’t. I am glad that you have come, because now you will be able to. I don’t care what you do with her – beat her, kill her, sell her – I just want to be rid of her.’
Picture knelt down and implored her mistress most piteously not to send her away. You-shi and Xi-chun’s nurses also did their best to talk Xi-chun out of dismissing her.
‘It was only a single lapse on her part,’ said You-shi. ‘I’m sure she won’t do it again. Think of all the years of service she has given you.’
But Xi-chun, in whom the natural waywardness of youth was reinforced by a perverse contrariness that was all her own, remained adamant in the face of both argument and entreaty and insisted that Picture must go.
‘And it isn’t only Picture that I don’t want to see any more,’ she told You-shi. ‘The same goes for all the rest of you. From now on I propose to stop going round to your place altogether. There has been a lot of talk about you people of late. If I continue to go round, I am afraid I might get involved in it.’
‘Who has been talking about us?’ said You-shi. ‘And what, pray, have they found to talk about? I think you might begin by considering who you are – and who we are. If you have heard people talking about us, I should have thought it was up to you to ask them what they meant by it.’
‘That’s rather strange advice coming from you,’ said Xi-chun sneeringly. ‘A girl like me is supposed to keep well away from scandal, not go running headlong towards it. You know the saying: “A father should help a son and the son his father, but not in slaying or in doing evil.” The same principle holds good for you and me. I can only answer for my own integrity. If you people end up by getting yourselves into a mess, I don’t want to have anything to do with it.’
You-shi was half angered and half amused by her young sister-in-law’s rudeness.
‘I can see now why people speak of Miss Xi as young for her age,’ she said, addressing the grown-up servants below the kang. ‘“Young and foolish” I have heard her called. I used not to believe it of her, but finding her now so unreasonable and so lacking in any sense of proportion, I really do begin to despair of her.’
‘She is still very young,’ said the women placatingly. ‘You must expect a few knocks in your dealings with her, Mrs Zhen.’
‘I may be “young”,’ said Xi-chun scornfully, ‘but there is nothing “young” about what I have just been saying. And since none of you people can even read or write, how can you have the nerve to call me “foolish”?’
‘You are the great scholar, of course,’ said You-shi sarcastically, ‘the Top of the List candidate! Stupid people like us cannot hope to compete with you in understanding.’
‘There’s certainly not much understanding in what you have just said,’ Xi-chun retorted. ‘Your assumption that a Top of the List candidate cannot be stupid is a vulgar fallacy typical of the great mass of blind, undiscriminating worldlings. A true sage can be identified by the very first step he takes, not by examination results.’
‘Goodness!’ said You-shi mockingly. ‘A moment ago we had the great scholar; now, it seems, the great preacher has come to enlighten us!’
‘I lay no claim to enlightenment,’ said Xi-chun, ‘though I can see that most people are no better than Picture – and that they are as little worth bothering about.’
‘You are a cold-hearted little monster,’ said You-shi.
‘If I seem cold, it is because I wish to keep myself un-corrupted,’ said Xi-chun. ‘Why should I want to get involved with you and allow myself to be dragged down to your level?’
You-shi was highly sensitive to remarks about her family’s reputation and had already been embarrassed and upset by Xi-chun’s reference to ‘people talking’. Because Xi-chun was only a girl, she had done her best not to lose her temper; but this last remark was too much to stomach. Unable to contain herself any longer, she burst out angrily.
‘What do you mean, “dragged down to my level”? You turn your maid’s offence into an occasion for making a completely unwarranted attack upon me, and when I bear your ridiculous attacks with patience, it seems merely to encourage you to indulge in further insults. Very well, Miss Holy Purity! I shall be careful to keep away from you in future, in case your priceless reputation is sullied by my presence.’
She swept out angrily, indicating to her maids as she went that they should bring Picture with them.
‘It will be much better for all concerned if you don’t ever come here again,’ Xi-chun called out after her. ‘It will save a lot of argument.’
You-shi heard this and grew even angrier; but reflecting that Xi-chun was, however vexing, a young unmarried daughter of the family and therefore not a person with whom she could engage in open wrangling, she swallowed her anger and hurried off without answering, out of the Garden and into the inner part of the mansion.
What she heard there will be related in the chapter which follows.