6

Zhao the Nun Drugs a Beauty into a Stupor

Jia the Scholar Takes Revenge in a Brilliant Move

AS a poem puts it,

Monks among men are the most prone to lewdness;

Nuns among women are no less lustful.

With easy access to the inner chambers,

They ruin the names of women in their clutches.

Let this storyteller begin by warning everyone against associating with women of the nine professions [Buddhist nuns, Daoist priestesses, fortune-tellers, human traffickers, matchmakers, witches, procuresses, herbalists, and midwives]. Such women have too much time on their hands and too many tricks up their sleeves. (MC: How true!) With access to thousands of households, they know too much of the world and its ways. Never mind the nine out of ten women of easy virtue who fall readily into their traps; even women of impeccable moral behavior become prey to their machinations. With mental prowess rivaling that of Zhang Liang and Chen Ping and eloquence on a par with that of Sui He and Lu Jia, they try by every conceivable means to stir up trouble where none existed.1 Therefore, decent and respectable officials’ families, as a rule, put up large posters at their gates explicitly denying access to such women. The most vicious of the lot are the nuns. Using Buddhism as a front, they lure women into making incense offerings and young men into seeking amusement in their nunneries, which are nothing less than their bases of operation. With men, they observe the same protocol as the monks do and greet them with proper decorum. But they usher their women visitors into the inner rooms, ostensibly to intone Buddha’s name and read the sutras. Being of the same sex, they find it easier to work on the women. (MC: A thorough explication.) Of all illicit love affairs, nine out of ten are brought about by nuns and take place in nunneries.

Now let me tell of a woman of the Tang dynasty, Di-shi. She came of a distinguished lineage. Her husband being also an eminent official, she was addressed as “Lady,” and she had no equal for beauty in the entire capital city. Women in noblemen’s households bent on one-upmanship would say to one another, “You call yourself a beauty, but you don’t even come close to Lady Di. How dare you walk all over me!” Such was her fame as an unrivaled beauty. She was also a highly respectable woman, virtuous, kindhearted, and reserved in her manners.

Our story unfolds with a spring excursion to West Pond in the capital. There was an endless stream of richly decorated and curtained equipages carrying men and women of the elite families. Lady Di, as was only to be expected, followed the local custom and went on an outing to the pond. A young and dashing Mr. Teng was among the crowd, in the capital awaiting an appointment to a government post. When he happened to see Lady Di, her beauty made his three souls take leave of his body, and his seven spirits give him the slip. He followed her around, keeping his eyes glued to her. Raising her head, Lady Di noticed Mr. Teng’s amorous gaze, but, uninterested, she thought nothing of it. Mr. Teng, however, was spellbound. How he wished he could get a mouthful of cold water so that he could swallow her whole, clothes and all! He asked around and was told that she was a celebrated beauty, Lady Di. After the crowd dispersed, Mr. Teng returned home in low spirits. He spent the whole night thinking about her.

From that day onward, he began to forget where he was going and neglect his meals. He found himself weighed down all the time with the feeling that he had lost something. Fighting a losing battle against the torment, he sought information from her neighbors and learned that she was a woman of unsullied reputation and that, therefore, he stood no chance of taking up with her. But, he thought, “She must have mutual visits with close female friends. If I can find out who they are, I may have a chance.” And so he began to scout around carefully.

One day, he saw a nun emerge from Lady Di’s house. (MC: Here comes his chance.) As he followed the nun, he asked pedestrians who she was and learned that she was Huicheng, abbess of Quiet Delight Nunnery and a frequent visitor to Lady Di’s household. “Wonderful!” exclaimed Mr. Teng. Without a moment’s delay, he went back to his lodgings, sealed ten taels of silver in a packet, and rushed to Quiet Delight Nunnery. “Is the abbess in?” he asked.

Huicheng came out, and seeing a young gentleman, she asked him in for tea. She raised one hand in a Buddhist salute and asked, “May I learn your honorable name? What brought you here, sir?”

After telling her his name, Mr. Teng continued, “Well, it’s just that, having long heard of the good name of this venerable establishment, I’d like to make a modest donation and pay my respects to the nunnery.” So saying, he produced the packet of silver from his sleeve.

Huicheng was woman of the world enough to know by the size of the packet that he had a favor to ask of her. While mouthing words of polite demurral, she took the silver and continued, “I thank you for your generosity. Do you have something to say to me?”

Mr. Teng insisted that he had nothing to say and that the donation was just a token of his goodwill. With that, he took leave of her and returned to his lodgings.

“How very strange!” thought Huicheng. “What could such a handsome young man want from this old nun? And no favor to ask of me for such a lavish gift!” And so she puzzled over the mystery.

Henceforth, Mr. Teng made daily trips to the nunnery, and, in his ever greater eagerness to please her, a certain familiarity began to grow between them. One day, Huicheng remarked, “Judging from the way you hem and haw, I guess there must be something on your mind. If you need me for anything, I’ll do everything to be of service to you.”

Mr. Teng said in response, “I really shouldn’t bring this up, and I don’t think you can pull it off anyway, but my life is at stake! Please save me, Reverend Mother! It will cost you only the slightest effort. If you fail, I’ll fall ill and die. Oh well, so be it!” (MC: It’s better to satisfy this man in love.)

Intrigued by his enigmatic words, Huicheng said, “What can’t I pull off ? Tell me what this is all about.”

After Mr. Teng told her about his encounter with Lady Di at West Pond, his admiration for her beauty, and his readiness to spend ten thousand taels of silver for the fulfillment of his predestined bond with that lady, Huicheng laughed. “This is a difficult mission,” said she. “I do visit her from time to time, but for all her beauty, she has a spotless reputation. You don’t have a chance.”

After reflecting for a moment or two, Mr. Teng said, “Since you do visit her from time to time, you must know what she likes.” (MC: A careful and meticulous man.)

“But she doesn’t seem to be especially fond of anything.”

“Has she asked you to do anything for her?”

“A few days ago, she did ask me to find her some high-grade pearls, and she mentioned this a couple of times. This is the only thing I can think of.”

Mr. Teng burst out laughing. “Excellent! I do have a predestined bond with her after all! I have a kinsman who deals in pearls. He has an ample supply of high-quality pearls, and I happen to be staying at his house. I can get as many as you want.”

Without the slightest delay, he bolted out of the nunnery, hired a horse, and rode off with the speed of the wind. (MC: He is indeed in love.) Before long, he came back with two bags of large pearls and showed them to Huicheng, saying, “These pearls are worth twenty thousand strings of cash. Out of regard for her beauty, I’ll knock off half the price and let her have them for ten thousand strings.” (IC: Bravo!)

“Her husband is on a mission to the north. How do you expect a stay-at-home woman to put together so much money?”

Mr. Teng said happily, “Four or five thousand strings will do. If that won’t work, how about one thousand or several hundred strings? If you can make a go of it, she can have them for free.” (MC: She is worth the price.)

Huicheng also laughed. “What kind of nonsense is this! However, with these pearls, I’ll put my well-oiled tongue to good use and come up with ingenious plans to lure her into visiting this nunnery. I’ll then find an opportunity for you to meet her. You do your stuff. Whether or not it works will depend on your lucky star. I’ll have no part in it.”

Mr. Teng said, “I’m totally in your life-saving hands, Reverend Mother!”

Carrying the two bags of pearls, Huicheng merrily went to Lady Di’s house. After the usual exchange of greetings, Lady Di asked, “What have you got in those bags?”

“These two bags are filled with the kind of high-grade pearls that you asked for the other day. Take a look, milady!” So saying, she opened the bags.

Lady Di picked up a handful of the pearls, examined them, and said, while making appreciative noises, “Nice pearls indeed!” She was so captivated by them that she could not put them down. (MC: Like a fish swallowing the bait.) “How much for them?” she asked.

“The asking price is ten thousand strings of cash.”

Lady Di said in astonishment, “That’s only half of what they’re worth. What a good price! But my husband is away, and I can’t come up with so much money on such short notice. What’s to be done?”

Huicheng tugged at Lady Di and said, “Let’s go talk in a quieter place.”

After they entered a private chamber, Huicheng said, “Since you like them so much, milady, you need not pay a thing, because there’s a certain gentleman who has a favor to ask.”

Storyteller, she can hardly tell such a decent lady point-blank that the man wants that kind of favor in exchange for the pearls, can she?

Gentle reader, please be patient. The nun, with her gift of the gab, will surely ease into the subject her way.

“What does the gentleman want?” asked Lady Di.

“That young man has lost his government post because of false accusations from a personal enemy of his. So he’s looking for a connection at the Ministry of Personnel so that he can establish his innocence and regain his post. And he’s willing to offer these pearls in exchange for the favor. Now, your brothers, your husband, and your uncles are all of high rank. If you can come up with a way of helping him, the pearls will be yours for free.”

“In that case, why don’t you take the pearls back to him for now? Let me think of a plan first.”

“He’s in such a hurry that he’ll turn to someone else and take the pearls with him. You can forget about seeing them again! The best thing is for you to keep them here for now. I’ll tell him that he does have a chance and that I’ll have an answer for him tomorrow.”

“All right,” said Lady Di.

So Huicheng left and reported everything to Mr. Teng.

“What’s to be done next?” asked Mr. Teng.

“Since she likes the pearls and is keeping them, I’ll make sure that she comes to you tomorrow. Let me show you what I can do!” (MC: How ruthless!)

Mr. Teng gave her another ten taels of silver and urged her to go earlier the next day to Lady Di.

In the meantime, Lady Di examined the pearls closely after Huicheng’s departure, and the more she looked at them, the more delight she took in them. She thought, “Asking my brothers for this favor should be easy, which means the pearls will be all mine.”

The truth is that one is not supposed to have desires. Once your desires become known, you are liable to fall into traps. (MC: Good advice.) If Lady Di had not asked the nun for pearls, nothing would have happened. Even if she did lay eyes on them, she should have bought them if she had the money or done nothing if she did not. If it had been that pure and simple, she would have remained staunchly impervious to the greatest tempter. As things were, however, she loved the pearls even though she did not have the money to buy them, and so she walked into the trap that had been laid for her and compromised her otherwise unsullied reputation.

To get on with our story, Lady Di was still turning this matter over in her mind the next day when Huicheng went to see her again. She asked, “So, do you think this job can be done or not, milady?”

“I gave his request careful thought last night. Pulling a few strings for him won’t be a problem.”

“But there is a problem: A transaction involving ten thousand strings of cash is no small matter. I’m just a poor and humble nun worth nothing. With me relaying oral messages back and forth between two parties who are strangers to each other, how will the other party trust me when the time comes to carry out the deal?”

“That is a problem, but what’s to be done?”

“I humbly suggest that you come to my nunnery for a prayer session and wait for that young gentleman to show up. When he does, just pretend that it’s an unplanned meeting. Will that do?”

Being a woman who observed the rules of proper conduct, Lady Di felt the blood rush to the roots of her ears on hearing that she was to meet a strange man. Waving her hand in disapproval, she said, “That will never do!”

Huicheng’s face hardened. “What’s so difficult about that? You need only hear his account and give him your promise so that he can put his mind at ease. If you refuse to see him, then the deal is off. I won’t presume to force it on you.” (MC: The trick is in doing it discreetly so as not to arouse suspicion.)

After another moment’s reflection, Lady Di said, “If that’s your idea, Reverend Mother, I don’t think there will be any harm done. The day after tomorrow is the anniversary of my brother’s death. I’ll come to your nunnery for a prayer session, but I’ll exchange only a few words with him without even sitting down and quickly send him on his way. Otherwise, it will be unseemly if he and I are seen or heard.”

Huicheng said, “That’s exactly what I had in mind! Why would you keep him after both have said what needs to be said? Of course not! That will be fine!”

Having fixed the date, Huicheng returned to the nunnery, where Mr. Teng was waiting. After she told him what had happened, Mr. Teng bowed gratefully and said, “Zhang Yi and Su Qin could not have accomplished more!”2

When the much-awaited day finally arrived, Huicheng rose bright and early, made preparations for the prayer session, and hid Mr. Teng in a secluded meditation room. After she set out exquisite wine and food on the table, she closed the door behind her and went to an outer room to wait for Lady Di’s arrival. Truly,

She laid out sweet-smelling bait

And waited for a big fish to swallow it.

Sure enough, later that afternoon, Lady Di showed up, dressed in all her finery. Afraid of attracting unwelcome notice, she had dismissed all the servants and came with only one young maid. When she saw Huicheng, she asked, “Is he here?”

“Not yet,” replied Huicheng.

“That’s all the better. Let’s do the prayer session first.”

After reading the prayers on her behalf and completing the formalities, Huicheng ordered a young novice to take the maid elsewhere for some fun (MC: Important.) while she herself said to Lady Di, “Follow me to a private room.” And so she took Lady Di through several secluded, winding corridors until they came to the private room. The portiere was raised, and Lady Di gave a start at the sight of a handsome young man alone in the room next to a table with a fine spread of wine and food. As she shrank back, intending to remove herself from this male presence, Huicheng said with mischief in mind, “He’s been waiting to say something to your face.” Turning to the young man, she continued, “Young Master, why don’t you greet her ladyship?”

Eager to show off his graceful deportment, Mr. Teng made haste to walk up to Lady Di and bowed deeply. Lady Di saw nothing for it but to bow in return.

Huicheng said, “The young gentleman has prepared some wine out of the most sincere gratitude for your ladyship’s kindness. Please don’t turn him down.” (MC: Slowing down and speeding up by turns. Most effective.)

As she was about to draw herself upright, Lady Di raised her eyes and recognized the young man as the one she had seen at West Pond. His youth and his dazzlingly winsome, refined looks softened her heart. In shyness mixed with delight, she heard herself say, “Please tell me straight out what it is you want to say.”

Seizing Lady Di by her sleeve, Huicheng said, “Milady, why don’t you sit down so that it will be easier to talk? How can the two of you remain standing like this?”

Mr. Teng filled a cup with wine, cheerfully made an exaggeratedly low bow, and offered the cup to her with both hands as they sat down. Finding it impolite to reject the offer, Lady Di resignedly took the cup and finished the wine in one gulp. (IC: He’s getting where he wants to go.) Huicheng picked up the wine flask and also filled one cup. Taking the hint, Lady Di took the cup and offered it to Mr. Teng in return. Exchanging significant glances with him, Lady Di forgot all about her prim and proper ladylike manners. She asked, “What government post do you have in mind, sir?”

Shooting a glance at Huicheng, Mr. Teng said, “I can’t very well say it in the presence of the Reverend Mother.”

“Let me get out of your way,” said Huicheng, jumping to her feet. As she went out, she closed the side door behind her.

In less time than it takes to tell, Mr. Teng had left his seat and was at Lady Di’s side. Gathering her into his arms, he said, “Ever since I saw you at West Pond, you’ve been in my thoughts day and night. My lovesickness for you is driving me to an early grave! My only wish is for you to save my life. If you’re willing to oblige, my whole body and my life will belong to you. I couldn’t care less about government posts!” With that, he dropped to his knees.

Smitten with his winning looks and moved by his sad words and pleas for mercy, she was overcome by alarm and tender emotions. She thought of screaming, but she knew it would have made no difference. She thought of pushing him away, but his grip was tight. From his kneeling position, he only found it easier to lift her with both arms. He carried her to the bed, put her down on it, and began to tug at her underwear. Lady Di found it hard to suppress her aroused desires (MC: She cannot but be aroused.) and was at a loss as to what to do. She did try to cover herself up here and there, but only half-heartedly. Eventually, she let him have his way with her. In the prime of his youth, Mr. Teng was a master in the art of lovemaking and threw her into raptures. Although she was a married woman, her husband had never given her such pleasure. After their passion had abated, she said to Mr. Teng, holding his hand, “What is your name? If it were not for you, I would have lived my life in vain. I must see you every evening from now on.” Whereupon Mr. Teng told her his name and thanked her profusely.

It was right at this point that Huicheng opened the door and entered. As Lady Di sat shame-faced in silence, Huicheng said, “Don’t blame me, milady. This young gentleman was on the verge of death for your sake. Since mercy is the guiding principle for a nun, I contrived to have you save his life, and saving a life is better than building a seven-story stupa, you know!” (MC: Sugary words.)

“A nice job you did, tricking me like that!” said Lady Di. “But now I’ll count on you to send him to my home every evening.” (IC: Yes, count on her!)

“No problem,” said Huicheng. And they all went their separate ways that night.

Henceforth, Mr. Teng was let into Lady Di’s house through a side gate every evening without exception. Lady Di was so taken with him that, afraid he might be displeased, she did her best to play up to him. Mr. Teng, for his part, also bent over backward to please her, and the flames of their passion burned high. After her husband returned home a few months later, the frequency of the trysts fell off slightly, but she would send for him as soon as her husband went away. After more than a year had elapsed, the husband began to sense that something was wrong. Under his watchful eyes, the trysts came to an end. Lady Di missed Mr. Teng so sorely that she fell ill and died. In fact, everything had been going well for her before the nun lured her into adultery, which in turn led to her death. But on the other hand, the nun was able to have her way only because Lady Di herself was, after all, a woman of easy virtue and lost all integrity after her desires were aroused.

Let me now tell of a woman of staunch integrity who, feeling bitter after falling victim to a nun’s diabolical scheme, joined hands with her husband in bringing about the nun’s ignominious death. Indeed, it was an exhilarating victory, of a kind that is quite unheard of. Just as is said in the “Universal Gateway” chapter in the Lotus Sutra,

Those who mean to do harm

By curses, spells, or poison—

They bring harm only to themselves

Thanks to the power of Guanyin.

Our story proper is about an untitled scholar named Jia of Wuzhou [present-day Jinhua, Zhejiang]. He was in the prime of his youth and an erudite scholar with outstanding abilities and intelligence. His wife, Wu-shi, was a ravishing beauty and was virtuous and kind by nature. The loving couple were as happy in their union as fish in water, and there had never been a cross word between them. The scholar taught in a tutorial school run by a prominent family and often had to stay away from home for six months at a stretch, leaving Wu-shi at home with a maid called Spring Flower. Wu-shi spent her time doing needlework, an art in which she excelled. A portrait of the bodhisattva Guanyin that she embroidered was so lifelike in the bodhisattva’s solemn dignity that she proudly asked her husband to have it mounted at a picture-mounter’s shop. Everyone who saw it broke into praise. After the finished scroll was taken back home, it was hung up in a scrupulously clean room, and incense was burned respectfully in front of it both morning and evening. Because of her devout worship of the bodhisattva Guanyin, a nun, surname Zhao, of the Guanyin Nunnery on the same street, often came to visit her. (MC: What a fine excuse!) When Scholar Jia was away from home, Wu-shi would keep the nun in the house for a couple of days for companionship. The nun also invited her to the nunnery from time to time, but Wu-shi, ever the good and dutiful wife, preferred not to leave home unless absolutely necessary and visited the nunnery no more than once or twice a year.

One spring day when the scholar was away, Zhao the nun came to see Wu-shi. After they chatted for a while, Wu-shi rose and saw the nun out. “What nice weather we have today!” said the nun. “Why don’t you join me and take a look outside?”

It was as if something was destined to happen. On reaching the gate with the nun, Wu-shi popped her head out for a look and found herself face-to-face with a rakishly dressed man sauntering down the street. Wu-shi promptly shrank back and took cover behind the gate. The nun, however, did not budge. It turned out that the man knew Zhao the nun. “Reverend Mother,” said he, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, and here you turn up! I need to talk to you.”

The nun replied, “Let me say good-bye to the lady of the house before I join you.” So she walked in and took leave of Wu-shi, who then closed the gate and went inside by herself.

Now, that rakishly dressed man who stopped to talk with Zhao the nun was called Bu Liang. A notorious debaucher in the town of Wuzhou, he took up with every pretty woman he happened to lay eyes on, and would not stop until he had his way with her. In fact, he had an insatiable appetite for all kinds of women, beautiful or otherwise, including many of the nuns. Sometimes the nuns served him as procuresses and sometimes as his lovers. Zhao the nun had a disciple whose Buddhist name was Benkong. Only in her early twenties, she was quite a delight to the eye. Far from being a nun in the true sense of the word, she was a de facto paid prostitute kept by Zhao the nun (MC: Such things happen in other nunneries as well.), but these goings-on were kept under tight wraps. Bu Liang was one of Zhao the nun’s patrons.

To return: Zhao the nun said good-bye to Wu-shi and caught up with Bu Liang. “Mr. Bu, what is it you want to talk about?” asked she.

“Were you at Scholar Jia’s house just now?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve long heard that his wife is a beauty. The one who was with you and then dived back behind the gate must be her?”

“None other, you wise man! You can’t find another woman as pretty as she is, not only in the Jia residence, but also throughout this neighborhood!”

“Yes, her beauty does justify her reputation. I’d like to see her again, up close.”

“What’s difficult about that?” said the nun. “There will be a street fair on the nineteenth day of the second month to celebrate Guanyin’s birthday. The streets will be filled to bursting. You can rent an upstairs room across from her house. While she’s home, I’ll go and take her to her gate to watch the street. We’ll surely be standing for a good while, so you’ll get to look your fill through your window!”

“Good idea!” said Bu Liang.

When that day arrived, Bu Liang rented a room across from Scholar Jia’s house, as planned, and fixed his eyes on the gate. Sure enough, Zhao the nun entered it and took Wu-shi out. Wu-shi complied partly because she did not suspect anything was awry and partly because she would only be standing by her own gate. She was on guard against being seen by people on the street. How was she to know that there were ogling eyes right across from her house? (MC: How abominable!) And so Bu Liang got to feast his eyes on her. It was after she turned back into the house that he went downstairs. It so happened that Zhao the nun left the Jia house at this time, and the two met. The nun asked, smiling, “Did you manage to look your fill?”

“I did, all right, but wishful thinking doesn’t help. The longer I looked at her, the more aroused I was. How I wish to lay hands on her!”

“You’re like a toad in the gutter lusting after a swan’s flesh! She’s the wife of a scholar, no less, and she doesn’t leave the house without a good reason. You’re not a relative of hers. In fact, you have nothing to do with her whatsoever. How am I supposed to bring her to you? You’ll have to settle for using your eyes only!”

While engaged in this conversation, they reached the nunnery. Once inside, Bu Liang knelt down before Zhao the nun and said, “Since you have access to her house, you’ll have to come up with a plan to lead her on.”

Shaking her head, the nun said, “It will be too tough a job!”

“But I must have a taste of her so that I can die without regrets.”

“This woman is unlike any other,” said the nun. “She doesn’t even go in for lighthearted banter. If you want her to get horny and hook up with you, you can try for ten thousand years and she still won’t budge! But if you want just one little taste and do it the hard way, you may have a chance (MC: Ruthless.), although you must bide your time.”

“You’re not suggesting that I rape her?”

“No, not that, but she won’t be able to turn you down.”

“What ingenious plan do you have? Let me honor you as the mastermind!”

The nun said, “As the old saying goes, ‘Row your boat slowly and knock the fish senseless before catching them.’ If I see to it that she drinks herself senseless, you can do whatever you want to her. What do you say?”

“That all sounds very fine, but how are you going to get her drunk?”

“Well, she doesn’t drink even a drop of wine. If she’s determined not to drink any, you can hardly force it on her. If you go out of the way to press it on her, she’ll grow suspicious. If she loses her temper and rejects any offers of wine out of hand, there will be nothing you can do. Even if you manage to get her drunk on one or two cups, she’ll sober up just as quickly, and you still won’t be able to do a thing.” (MC: She does cover all the angles.)

“So, what’s to be done?”

The nun continued, “I do have a trick in mind, but don’t ask me about it.”

However, at Bu Liang’s insistence that she let him in on the secret, she whispered her plan into his ear. “What do you think?” she asked after she had finished.

Bu Liang stamped his feet and burst into hearty laughter. “Wonderful! Wonderful!” he said. “Nothing like this has ever been done since the dawn of history!”

“There’s one thing, though. After she wakes up, she may make a fuss and get angry with me for having tricked her. What if she cuts all ties with me?”

“My worst fear is that I won’t be able to succeed. If I have my way with her, how can she make a fuss? How will she turn against you? After I coax her with sugarcoated words, my relationship with her may even last a long time for all I know! If she does somehow hold you to blame, I’ll give you a hefty reward. Maybe after she warms up to me, I’ll ask her for favors for you!”

“You’re terrible!” said the nun.

After thus teasing each other for a while, they went their separate ways. From then on, Bu Liang went to the nunnery every day to make inquiries, and Zhao the nun racked her brains every day, trying to set a trap for Wu-shi.

A few days later, Zhao the nun went to see Wu-shi, carrying two boxes of delicacies. Wu-shi asked her to stay for dinner, and the nun jumped at the opportunity. She kept up a steady stream of chatter before saying, “You and your scholar husband—you two young people have been married for some years now. Isn’t it time you have good news to report, that you’re going to have a baby?”

“Quite so,” said Wu-shi.

“So why don’t you say a prayer and put all your heart into it?”

“I do make incense offerings mornings and evenings to the portrait of Guanyin that I embroidered, and I say silent prayers, but nothing has worked so far.” (MC: Echoes earlier content.)

“You’re too young to know the right way to pray for a child. It’s the White-Robed Guanyin (Pandaravasini) you must pray to for male offspring. There’s a volume of the sutra of the White-Robed Guanyin. It’s not the regular Guanyin you pray to, nor should you use the Universal Door Guanyin Sutra. The sutra of the White-Robed Guanyin can work miracles! The volume I have in my nunnery has an appendix with a complete record of successful cases. Too bad I didn’t bring it to show you. In Wuzhou alone, both in and out of the town, those who paid for its printing and circulation and chanted it aloud have all had sons. There hasn’t been a single exception.”

“If it works such wonders, could you please bring a copy to me so that I can chant it at home?”

“But you don’t know the right way to go about it, madam. This isn’t something you can rush into. You must first come to my nunnery and tell the White-Robed Guanyin bodhisattva which chapters you will chant. This poor nun will pray to the bodhisattva before helping you start chanting. I’ll chant the first few chapters for you. I’ll then follow you home and make sure that you learn the right way of chanting. After that, you can chant it every day on your own.”

“Good idea!” said Wu-shi. “Let me start off by observing a vegetarian diet for a couple of days before I go to your nunnery to make a vow and begin chanting.”

“Yes, observing a vegetarian diet for a couple of days will be a good way to show your faith. After you start chanting, you’ll still need to eat a vegetarian breakfast before chanting the sutra. But after your morning chanting is over, eating meat is all right for the rest of the day.”

“I see. That’s easy.”

And so Wu-shi and the nun set a date for Wu-shi’s visit to the nunnery. Wu-shi also gave the nun five maces of silver to cover the necessary expenses. Zhao the nun departed and immediately informed Bu Liang about the new development.

As promised, Wu-shi observed a vegetarian diet for two days. (MC: She is all sincerity. Poor thing.) On the third day, she rose before daybreak, dressed herself for the occasion, and, with her maid Spring Flower in tow, walked to the nunnery while the streets were still bare of pedestrians.

Gentle reader, mark this: Men and women of respectable families should not visit temples and nunneries without good reasons. If this storyteller had been born in the same year she was and had grown up with her and had overheard what was said in secret, I would have blocked the gate and stopped her, so as to preserve both her good name and Zhao the nun’s life. But as it was, this visit tarnished the name of a fine lady of distinguished lineage and led to a bloodbath in that nefarious nunnery. But I’m getting ahead of my story.

To resume: Zhao the nun greeted Wu-shi and, delirious with joy, ushered her in and offered her a seat. After tea was served, she took Wu-shi to pay homage to the image of the White-Robed Guanyin bodhisattva.

While Wu-shi was silently saying her own prayers, Zhao the nun said to the image of Guanyin on behalf of Wu-shi, “A devout worshipper, Wu-shi, the wife of Mr. Jia, wishes to intone chapters from the White-Robed Guanyin Sutra and pray for a son and good luck in the fulfillment of her wishes.” Having spoken these words, she began to rap on a wooden fish and intone the sutra.3 She recited the Pure Mouth Incantation and the Land Tranquilizing Incantation. Then she chanted the Buddha’s name for the longest time before moving on to the sutra and chanting it about twenty times in one breath.

Being as crafty as she was, Zhao the nun had guessed that Wu-shi must have skipped breakfast, partly because she had arrived so early and partly because she had been on a vegetarian diet the past two days. So the nun refrained from serving breakfast, pretending to have forgotten about it, and did not even ask Wu-shi if she had eaten breakfast. The nun meant to stall for time in order to prolong Wu-shi’s hunger so as to better take advantage of her. (MC: Extremely diabolical.)

Wu-shi, always frail, was by this time feeling tired and hungry, having gotten up so early in the morning and praying to Guanyin for so long on an empty stomach. Thinking it improper to bring this up with the nun, she whispered to her maid, “Go to the kitchen and bring me a bowl of hot water.”

Zhao the nun saw them. Deliberately she said, “I’ve been so preoccupied with our proper business, chanting the sutra, that I forgot to ask if Madam has eaten breakfast or not.”

Wu-shi replied, “No, I haven’t, because I came so early.”

“Oh, I’m really getting senile! I didn’t prepare breakfast, and it’s too late now. What’s to be done? Well, why don’t I serve an early lunch?”

“To be honest with you, Reverend Mother, I’m starving. Anything you have will do.”

Zhao the nun played for more time by making some long-winded apologetic remarks. Then she went to her own room, where she dillydallied a while before she went to the kitchen. (MC: How cunning!) There, she again dragged her feet before finally sending the novice Benkong out with a tray of food and a pot of tea. By this time, Wu-shi was ravenously hungry. Fresh fruit and tidbits were laid out on the table, but most were not the kind that could stay the pangs of hunger, except for a plate laden with steaming-hot cakes. So she took a piece and found it appealingly soft and sweet. Gnawed by hunger, she wolfed down several pieces in a row without realizing what she was doing. Then she took two sips of the hot tea that Benkong the novice offered her, did justice to a few more pieces of cake, and picked up another cup of tea. After a couple of sips, she felt the blood rush into her face. The ceiling and the floor changed places. Yawning, she sank, a senseless heap, into her chair.

Zhao the nun said in feigned alarm, “What’s the matter with her? She must be feeling dizzy because she rose too early. Let’s carry her to bed and let her take a nap.” She and the novice carried Wu-shi and the chair to a bed and laid her flat on it so that she could take a nap.

You may ask, why were the cakes so powerful? What happened was that Zhao the nun had done something with the cakes, knowing Wu-shi did not drink. She had ground glutinous rice into a fine flour, mixed it well with wine, baked the mixture dry, ground it again, and added more wine. After repeating the process a couple of times, she stirred in excessive amounts of two powdered drugs. Then she put the cake mixture into the steamer. The hot water, the drugs, and the wine combined to work like the yeast used for fermenting wine. The strength of the mixture would have been too much for any other person, let alone Wu-shi, who could get drunk on just the dregs of wine and on this occasion, she had consumed too much of that stuff while in the grip of hunger. With hot tea making the effect of the mixture even worse, how could she stand it all? Indeed,

However clever you may be,

You still end up the victim.

So Zhao the nun drugged Wu-shi into a stupor. With her mistress asleep, Spring Flower the maid was only too happy to gain a few moments of leisure. The novice offered to take her away for a snack and some fun, so she was certainly not prepared to stay and wait on her mistress. Without a moment’s delay, Zhao the nun brought Bu Liang out from his hiding place and said, “The bitch is asleep in bed. Go and enjoy her! I wonder how you plan to thank me?”

Bu Liang closed the door behind him and raised the bed curtain. There, reeking of alcohol, lay Wu-shi, her face flushed and as lovely as a red crabapple flower in bloom. Finding her all the more attractive, Bu Liang burned with lust and planted a kiss on her mouth. As Wu-shi remained unconscious, he noiselessly took off her pants, exposing her snow-white legs to view. (MC: Taking advantage of her unconscious state further incriminates them and justifies their violent deaths.) Mounting her, he said proudly, “Lucky me! I never thought I’d be so blessed!” Wu-shi, although still incapable of movement and in a trance, was just conscious enough to imagine herself at home with her husband. (IC: Poor thing.) And so, quite oblivious of the truth, she let him have his way with her. At the height of their union, she even moaned in her drunken stupor. Wild with joy, Bu Liang held her in a tight embrace and cried out, “My sweetheart, I’m a dead man!” With that, he ejaculated. As Wu-shi still lay in a befuddled state (IC: Poor thing.), Bu Liang lay down next to her to sleep, cheek to cheek and with one arm resting on her body.

It was a long time before Wu-shi regained consciousness as the power of the drugs wore off. Shocked on realizing that she was sharing a bed with a strange man, she broke into a cold sweat. “Horrors!” she cried. As she abruptly sat up, all remnants of the drugs’ effects evaporated without a trace. “Who are you?” she shouted at the top of her voice. “How dare you defile a respectable lady!”

Somewhat unnerved, Bu Liang quickly got down on his knees and asked for forgiveness. “Please have mercy!” he said. “Please forgive me for my impudence!”

Noticing that her pants were down, Wu-shi realized what had happened. Ignoring the man, she pulled up her pants and, calling out her maid’s name, jumped down from the bed and headed for the door. Afraid of being seen, Bu Liang did not follow her but remained hiding in the room. Wu-shi opened the door, went out, and cried again, “Spring Flower!”

The maid, having gotten up too early that morning, was taking a nap in the novice’s room. When she heard her mistress call her, she rose and, yawning her head off, walked up to her mistress.

“You lowlife!” Wu-shi cursed. “Why didn’t you stay with me when I was sleeping in that room?” Without an object on which to vent her anger, Wu-shi made as if to hit Spring Flower hard. As Zhao the nun arrived on the scene to play the peacemaker, the sight of her only stirred Wu-shi to greater fury. Slapping Spring Flower twice, she said, “Get my things ready. I’m going home immediately!”

Spring Flower said, “But don’t you need to chant the sutra?”

“That’s not for you to say, you lowlife!” said Wu-shi. Livid with rage, she stormed out of the nunnery with Spring Flower and went home, all in one breath, paying no attention to Zhao the nun and saying nothing about what had happened.

On reaching home, she opened the gate, went in, and sat down in her room, sulking. After she had calmed down somewhat, she said to Spring Flower, “I remember I was hungry and ate a few pieces of cake. But how did I end up sleeping on a bed?”

“Ma’am, after you ate the cakes and drank some tea, you collapsed in your chair. The Reverend Mother and the novice carried you to bed.”

“Where were you?”

“When you were sleeping, ma’am, I ate the leftover cakes because I was also hungry, and then I went to the novice’s room for tea. Then I got sleepy and took a nap. I came to you when I heard you call me.”

“Did you see anyone enter the room I was in?”

“No. Only those two could have entered the room.”

Wu-shi fell silent. Recalling what she seemed to have been dimly aware of in her sleep, she placed a hand on her private parts and found the area clammy to the touch. With a sigh she said to herself, “I’m done for. Who would have thought that the nun could be so diabolical! Now that she has helped that accursed scoundrel defile my spotless body, how am I going to hold my head up again?” With tears in her eyes, she seethed with silent anger. She thought of committing suicide, but she could not bring herself to do so without seeing her husband one more time. She turned to the image of Guanyin that she had embroidered and prayed tearfully, “This worshipper has grievances in her heart. Please manifest your holy power and avenge her.” With that, she broke down in sobs. Sorely missing her husband, she cried her heart out and went to bed in low spirits. Spring Flower had no inkling of what had happened.

Let us leave Wu-shi in her distress and return to Zhao the nun. Watching Wu-shi leaving in a huff without saying good-bye to her, she knew that Bu Liang had got what he wanted. She entered the room and saw Bu Liang still lying in bed, one finger in his mouth, unseeing, concentrating on a replay of the scene of pleasure. Despite her advanced years, the nun’s desires stirred at the sight. She mounted Bu Liang and said, “Come on! Show your matchmaker some gratitude!” So saying, she began to make her move. However, having just ejaculated, Bu Liang failed to perform. Frustrated, the old nun bit him and said, “You landed a good deal, but you got me all worked up for nothing!”

“I can’t thank you enough,” said Bu Liang. “I’ll spend tonight with you, and we’ll enjoy ourselves to the full! I need to talk to you anyway about a follow-up plan.”

“Didn’t you say you just wanted one little taste? What follow-up plan can there be?”

“It’s human nature to push the advantage one has gained. Once I’ve had a taste, how can you expect me to stop? I had my way by forcing myself on her, but the real fun lies in having her come to me gladly and of her own free will.”

“There’s just no satisfying you!” said the nun. “After you forced yourself on her, she smoldered with rage and left without even saying good-bye to me. Without knowing what she’s thinking, how can you plan for next time? You’d better wait and see. If she doesn’t cut me dead, you’ll have a chance.” (MC: How fearsome!)

“Good point, good point. I’m totally in your hands, master strategist!”

Bu Liang spent that night holed up in the nunnery in order to return the favor. How they cavorted with each other is no part of our story.

Meanwhile, Scholar Jia had a dream that night at his school: He was at home when a white-robed woman entered the gate. He was about to go out and ask who she was when she walked straight into his bedroom. Taking large strides, he followed her, only to see her disappear into the embroidered scroll of Guanyin on the wall. He raised his eyes and saw two lines of characters on it. He looked harder and saw the following:

What comes from the mouth goes into another mouth;

My disciple will wreak revenge.

After reading the couplet, he turned around, only to see his wife prostrated on the floor. As he hastened to help her to her feet, he woke up with a start. He thought, “The meaning of this dream eludes me. Could it be that my wife is ill and the Guanyin bodhisattva was giving me a signal with her divine power?”

The very next day he took leave of his employer, left the school, and headed for home. All along the way he pondered the meaning of the dream and felt ill at ease.

When he arrived at home, Spring Flower opened the gate at his knock. “Where’s your mistress?” he asked.

“Madam is still in bed.”

“Why is she still in bed at this hour?”

“Madam is feeling a little low. She’s calling your name and weeping all the time.”

On hearing this, the scholar hastened to the bedroom. At the sight of her husband, Wu-shi jumped out of bed. The scholar saw that her hair was disheveled, her face unwashed, and her eyes bloodshot. She walked up to him and prostrated herself on the floor, sobbing.

In alarm, the scholar asked, “What makes you do this?”

As he helped her up to her feet, Wu-shi said, “You must do right by me!”

“Who has wronged you?”

Wu-shi sent the maid to the kitchen to boil water for tea and cook lunch before she said in tears (IC: She’s prudent.), “Since I married you, we’ve never had a cross word, and I’ve never been guilty of the slightest offense. But I’ve now committed a horrible crime. I’m still alive only because I waited for your return so that I could tell you all the facts. If you take action on my behalf and see that justice is done, I’ll leave this world without regrets.”

“What makes you say such ominous words?”

Thereupon, Wu-shi told him about how Zhao the nun had lured her to the nunnery to chant sutras, how the nun had tricked her into eating drugged cakes, and how, with the nun’s help, a man had raped her while she was in a drunken stupor. Again, she burst into a flood of tears and sank onto the floor.

The scholar’s hair stood on end after he heard this account. “This is outrageous!” he exclaimed. “Do you know who that man was?”

“How would I know?”

The scholar drew out his sword from the head of the bed, rapped it against the table, and said, “What kind of man am I if I don’t wipe such scum off the face of the earth? But not knowing who did this, I’ll have to be extra careful. Otherwise he’ll get away. Let me work out a plan first.”

“Now that I’ve told you everything, my work is done. Give me your sword. This is the moment of my death. No more need be said.” (MC: How sad! How worthy of respect!)

“No suicide! You didn’t offer yourself to him. You were a victim! And your good faith is clear enough. If you take your own life so rashly, you’ll only make things worse in many ways.”

“I don’t care!”

“If you die, your parents as well as other people will ask why. If I tell them, your name will be tarnished even in death and my career will also suffer. If I don’t tell them, members of your clan won’t let me get away with it, and I’ll be stung by my own conscience. When will I ever be able to avenge you?”

“I’ll live only if that evil nun and that monster both die before my eyes. Otherwise, I won’t be able to live down the shame and hang on to life.”

After a moment’s reflection, the scholar continued, “After you were tricked, what did you say to Zhao the nun?”

“I headed straight for home in high dudgeon. I didn’t say a word to her.”

“In that case, we mustn’t go about our revenge in the open. If we do, we’ll have to report to the authorities, and we won’t be able to hide the facts. As the story spreads from mouth to mouth, your spotless reputation will be sullied. I’ll have to come up with a plan to bump off every guilty person without leaving a trace.” (MC: The scholar is also ruthless, but his cunning is more than equal to dealing with Nun Zhao.) He lowered his head and gave himself up to thought. Suddenly he said, “I have it! My plan corresponds exactly to the words of Guanyin that appeared in my dream. This is wonderful!”

“What’s the plan?” asked Wu-shi.

“If you want vindication and revenge, you must do as I say. If not, no revenge or vindication will be possible.”

“I wouldn’t dream of rejecting any idea of yours, but it must go without a hitch.”

“Since you didn’t confront that nun and didn’t fall out with her, she might think that you were only bashful at the time and, assuming you’re a woman of easy virtue, that you might have fallen for him. Now let’s turn the tables on them: You’ll go trick Zhao the nun into coming here. I have a brilliant idea.” He whispered his idea into her ear, adding, “Isn’t this a sure-fire plan?”

“It is a good plan all right, but I’ll be so ashamed! Oh well, for the sake of revenge, I don’t care!”

And so, husband and wife had everything worked out.

The next day, while Scholar Jia was hidden in a secluded spot behind the rear gate, Wu-shi sent Spring Flower to the nunnery to ask Zhao the nun over for a chat. At Spring Flower’s invitation, the nun thought, “That bitch must have enjoyed the sweet taste of the affair, and now, unable to fight off her desire, she has changed her mind.” With her rolling gait, she followed Spring Flower as quickly as she could to go see Wu-shi.

Once brought into Wu-shi’s presence, Zhao the nun said, “I gave you offense the other day, and I wasn’t a good hostess. Please don’t hold it against me.”

After dismissing Spring Flower, Wu-shi took the nun’s hands in her own and asked in a subdued voice (MC: With assumed docility.), “Who was the man the other day?”

Encouraged by her manner, the nun said, also under her breath, “He’s Bu Liang, a most romantic man who lives in the neighborhood. He has such a way with women that there isn’t a girl who doesn’t fall for him. He’s such an admirer of your beauty that he kept pestering me day and night for a rendezvous with you. I felt sorry for him. He was indeed very sincere, and I found it hard to turn him down. What’s more, I thought you were too lonely, living by yourself in the house. You should make the most of your youth and have a couple of lovers while you’re still young. (MC: She sounds so caring that a less determined woman would have taken the bait.) That’s why I brought you two together. What cat can stay away from fish? This old woman knows what’s what. So don’t take things too seriously. Enjoy life while you can! What’s so bad about that man putting you on a pedestal and making a fuss over you?”

“But you should have consulted me beforehand and not tricked me into it. But what’s done is done. No more need be said.” (IC: Very clever.)

The nun continued in her own defense, “But you didn’t know him. If I’d leveled with you, you would never have agreed. Now that you’ve met him once, it would be better to turn it into a long-term relationship.”

“I made a fool of myself without even getting to see the man clearly. I have no idea what he looks like and what kind of man he is. Since he cares for me, please ask him to come to my home. If he’s really nice, I’ll agree to keep up the clandestine visits.” (IC: Ingenious!)

Believing Wu-shi was playing into her hands, Zhao the nun was beside herself with joy. Not even the shadow of a doubt crossed her mind. (IC: Of course she has no doubts.) She said, “If you so wish, I’ll have him come tonight. He’s a really handsome man, close-up.”

“I’ll wait for him behind the gate at lighting-up time. My cough will be the signal for ushering him in.”

Jubilantly, Zhao the nun returned to the nunnery and relayed the message to Bu Liang. Bu Liang danced for joy. How he wished the sun would take a nosedive and the moon would shoot up that very instant! By dusk, he was already prowling around the Jia residence, wishing he could take off that member of his and toss it through the gate. When dusk deepened into night, he saw the gate close. Wondering if the nun could be playing him false, he began to feel uneasy. Just as he was weighing his options, he heard a cough from inside. He also coughed. Gently, the gate opened. After Bu Liang coughed again, someone inside coughed back. Quickly, Bu Liang slipped through the gate. A few steps took him to a courtyard. There, by the dim light of the moon and the stars, he saw the hazy contours of Wu-shi. He went up and, gathering her into his arms, said, “Your kindness to me is boundless!”

Although burning with indignation, Wu-shi calculatedly refrained from pushing him away. Instead, she clasped him tightly with both hands as if she was taking him into custody. Eagerly, Bu Liang kissed her and stuck his tongue into her mouth. As his tongue rolled around, Wu-shi tightened her grip on him and sucked his tongue. In his excitement, Bu Liang thrust his tongue farther into her mouth. Seized with a rush of rage, Wu-shi sank her teeth into his tongue and held it. (MC: She retaliates with the same strategy—act when the other party is unsuspecting.) In searing pain, Bu Liang let go of her, but by the time he struggled out of her grip, Wu-shi had bitten off about half an inch of his tongue. In a panic, Bu Liang bolted out through the gate.

Wu-shi spit the tip of Bu Liang’s tongue into her hand and quickly closed the gate. Then she went to the back gate, where her husband was, and said to him, “Our enemy’s tongue is here.”

In great glee, the scholar took the tongue, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and, sword in hand, made straight for the nunnery by the feeble light of the moon and the stars. (MC: Merciless.)

Believing that Bu Liang must have scored another success and was in bed at the Jia residence, Zhao the nun had closed the nunnery gate and gone to sleep. But then there were knocks at the door. The young novice had flopped down to sleep and was not likely to wake up even if the gate was battered down. The old nun, however, was wide awake, aflame with desire at the thought of Bu Liang and Wu-shi. On hearing the knocks, she thought Bu Liang must have returned from his tryst. She called out the novice’s name, but, not getting a response, she rose from bed to answer the gate. The moment she opened it, Scholar Jia aimed a frontal blow at her and chopped into her. She fell backward, spouting blood, and died instantly.

Scholar Jia closed the gate and, sword in hand, went inside to search, thinking, “If that Bu Liang is in the nunnery, I’ll finish him off, too.” Seeing the eternal flame burning in front of the Buddha’s image, he picked up the lamp to look around the nunnery but saw no one except the novice in her room. He also made short work of her. Quickly, he turned up the lampwick, untied his handkerchief, took out the tongue, pried open the novice’s mouth with his sword, and placed the tongue inside. (IC: Ingenious.) Then he put out the lamp, closed the gate behind him, and went home. To his wife he said, “I’ve killed both the nun and the novice. Our revenge is complete!”

Wu-shi said, “No! That scoundrel lost only part of his tongue. He’s still alive!”

“That’s all right. Someone will take care of him. (IC: Hurrah!) From now on, let’s play ignorant and not bring this up again.”

Let me now turn to the nunnery’s neighbors. With the sun high in the sky but the nunnery gate still closed, and with no sign of anything astir, the neighbors began to worry. They tried to push the gate open. It was unbolted and yielded easily to them. Alarmed on seeing the old nun’s corpse by the gate, they pushed farther in and found the dead body of the novice in her room. One had died of a split head, the other of a slashed throat. In consternation, the neighbors brought the local community headmen to the scene to examine the bodies so that a report could be drawn up and submitted to the government authorities. While checking the corpses, the headmen noticed that there was something between the novice’s clenched teeth. They took it out and saw that it was part of a human tongue. One headman said, “Needless to say, this is a case of rape and murder, but since we’re unable to establish the identity of the murderer, we should report the crime to the county yamen first.”

A report was drawn up and immediately submitted to the magistrate in the county court, which happened to be in session. The magistrate said, “It doesn’t take much to find the culprit. Just search the whole town and the surrounding areas for a man missing part of his tongue. Tell the community leaders at the county and ward levels, as well as the neighborhood mutual-security units, to go on a house-to-house search. They’ll surely find him.”

Sure enough, soon after the order was issued, the local headmen found their man.

Here’s what happened: After his tongue was bitten off, Bu Liang realized that he had fallen into a trap. Overcome with panic, he ran helter-skelter and lost his way in his confusion. Afraid of being caught, he spent the whole night squatting under the eaves of a house in a back alley, hoping to be able to find his way home after daybreak. But divine justice was destined to catch up with him at this time. After daybreak, he walked up and down the alley, trying to find the main road, but in his desperation, he just could not figure out which way to go, and he could hardly ask around for directions. (IC: Wonderful detail.) Passersby found his behavior suspicious and became watchful. In a matter of moments, news about the nunnery murders got around, and posters from the county yamen were put up. A few inquisitive people stopped to question him but could hear only mumbles from a blood-smeared mouth. A commotion ensued, and the crowd around him swelled. “Who can he be if not the killer?” they said.

Without further ado, they trussed him up with a rope and took him to the county yamen. Several people gathering in front of the yamen recognized him, saying, “This man is not a decent sort. It’s no surprise that he committed this atrocity.”

After the county magistrate declared his court in session, Bu Liang was brought into his presence. He answered the magistrate’s questions with such gibberish that no one could make out even one word. The magistrate ordered a few slaps across his face and ordered him to stick out his tongue, but he was seen to have only the stump of his tongue left, and the bloodstains were still fresh. (MC: Only now does the ingenuity of the plan reveal itself.) The magistrate asked the local headmen, “What is this villain’s name?”

In answering this question, those who had always found him hateful not only gave his name but also poured out accounts of all his nefarious doings over the years.

“You need not go on,” said the magistrate. “That villain must have been planning to defile the novice. When the old nun opened the gate, he struck her down and then went to rape the novice. Hating him, the novice bit off his tongue. In the heat of the moment, he killed her.” Turning to Bu Liang, he continued, “What do you have to say for yourself ?”

Bu Liang gesticulated desperately, trying to say something in his defense, but he could not get even half a word out.

In a towering rage, the magistrate said, “Why waste paper and writing brush on such a depraved rogue? Since he can’t talk and the murder weapon hasn’t been found, I won’t be able to get a confession. Just give him a hundred strokes with the heaviest rods until he’s dead!”

A dashing womanizer, Bu Liang did not have what it takes to withstand torture. Fifty strokes of the rods, and he was dead. The magistrate ordered that the headmen notify Bu Liang’s kith and kin to claim the dead body and that the nuns’ corpses be cremated and buried. Then he wrote a memorandum with these lines:

Bu Liang’s tongue—where has it gone

After an affair that tore it apart?

The novice’s neck—what happened to it?

It succumbed to the rapist’s sword.

Death is fully justified for the man,

His guilt beyond the shadow of a doubt.

This memorandum is hereby placed on record for future reference.

So the magistrate closed the file on the case. Of this, no more.

Scholar Jia and Wu-shi rejoiced inwardly on hearing the story from pedestrians on the streets. Wu-shi’s humiliation and the killings remained a watertight secret. This was made possible by Scholar Jia’s good judgment as well as by the Guanyin bodhisattva, who, moved by Wu-shi’s piety, exercised her divine powers and gave him those instructions. So the act of revenge was accomplished without tarnishing Wu-shi’s reputation in any way. Wu-shi was impressed by her husband’s decisiveness, and Scholar Jia was impressed by his wife’s staunch integrity. Both held each other in even higher esteem.

Comments of later times on this event said that although revenge had been achieved, no word had leaked out, and the plan had worked perfectly, Wu-shi’s purity, nonetheless, had been defiled. Others were none the wiser, but when all is said and done, she herself must have been deeply distressed. And it was all because she had thoughtlessly associated with a nun. (MC: Serious and good admonition for women.) Women proud of spirit, be warned!

In the words of a quatrain,

Lovely flowers fall and lose their fragrance

Because, sadly, they have been defiled.

Listen to this word of advice:

Women should not leave their boudoirs!