Lu Shu considers marriage to a prostitute;
Wu Zhen arranges dinner at a brothel.
When Cloud heard Jia Ming offer to serve as matchmaker, she replied, “I appreciate the generous thought. It’s all one might hope for, and I couldn’t possibly refuse. There’s just one problem, though. Fragrance is still a virgin, and although she has lost her parents, her uncle expects to make a fortune out of her, which is why matters have dragged on until now. Since Master Lu has taken a liking to her, he should first cultivate her friendship and then talk things over with the uncle. After that, congratulations would be in order.”
“Excellent!” said Jia Ming. He told Fragrance and Lu Shu to drink a pledging cup to confirm their friendship. Everyone drank a toast to congratulate the couple, after which they played several rounds of guess-fingers. Cloud and Lute each sang two popular songs, and Fragrance sang a “Floating Gossamer,” after which the party came to an end. Wu Zhen went off to smoke some more opium, while Lu Shu and Fragrance expressed their love with an even greater ardor. The other guests then persuaded Wu Zhen to finish his smoking and accompany them downstairs. The courtesans saw them as far as the landing and leaned over the railing to watch them leave. Fragrance pressed Lu Shu to come earlier the following day, which he promised to do. By this time the pages had already lit their torches to guide their masters home. After leaving the Jinyulou, they went through the Tianning Gate and as far as the crossroads, where they separated after arranging to meet at the Futura teahouse the following morning.
Lu Shu returned to his uncle’s house, where he sat musing in the study. Fragrance is a real beauty, he thought, and she has the most charming ways about her. My purpose in coming to Yangzhou was to buy a concubine, and now that I’ve met this enchanting girl, there’s no point in looking any further. Unfortunately, though, she’s fallen into prostitution, and because of her beauty and talent, it will no doubt cost the earth to buy her out. I think I’d better have a word with Brother Jia tomorrow. I need to find some way to bring this off if I’m ever to gain my heart’s desire. He lay down on his bed, but with tumultuous thoughts such as these running through his mind, he tossed and turned and never did get to sleep.
Early the next morning he hurriedly arose and washed, then headed for the Futura accompanied by Felix. He found Jia Ming, Wu Zhen, and Wei Bi already there. After thanking Wei Bi for his hospitality of the day before, he greeted the others and sat down and drank his tea. Yuan You came in to join them with a young man of about twenty who was wearing cotton clothes, shoes, and socks. The others stood up to call them over. Returning their greetings, Yuan said to his companion, “These four gentlemen are sworn brothers of mine. Come over and pay your respects.” Blushing furiously, the young man bowed before them.
“Who is he?” Jia Ming asked.
“He’s a cousin of mine who came to visit us yesterday.” The others promptly returned the young man’s greeting and invited him to join their table. The waiter poured two more cups of tea.
The others asked the newcomer his name and where he was from. “My name is Mu Zhu,” he replied. “When I was a little boy, my teacher gave me the style Ouren. We live at the south end of Huo Family Bridge.” Pointing to Yuan You, he continued, “He’s my cousin, and I’m his cousin. I’m getting married, and my father has sent me to Yangzhou to buy some odds and ends. I arrived yesterday, and I’m staying at my cousin’s house.” From this speech the others concluded that he was a country bumpkin and did not pursue the discussion any further.
“Would you gentlemen be kind enough to come to my mistress’s place in Qiang Da’s house on Ninth Street for an all-day celebration?” asked Wu Zhen. “I do hope you’ll honor me with your presence.” Jia Ming, Yuan You, and Wei Bi were happy to accept.
Lu Shu had been planning to host them all at the Jinyulou, but when they accepted Wu Zhen’s invitation, he could hardly do so and instead accepted the invitation himself. Turning to Jia Ming, he said, “There’s something troubling me, and I’d like to ask you for your advice. I’ve been married for three years without having a child. Since I’m an only son, my father is eager for me to produce a grandson, and he sent me to Yangzhou not just to see my aunt but also to find a concubine. Yesterday I found out that Fragrance is still a virgin. What I should like to do is to take her out of the brothel and bring her home with me to relieve my father’s concerns. I hope I can count on you and the others for help in deciding how to go about it? If it can be arranged, I shall be deeply grateful.”
Jia Ming turned to the others. “You see what a prophet I was yesterday?”
“If this can be worked out, it will truly be a match of the brilliant and the beautiful, which is one of the most gratifying things in the whole world,” said Wu Zhen. “You must do your level best to help him.”
“Courtesans are always rare merchandise in the eyes of their families,” said Jia Ming. “And on top of that, Fragrance has such talent and beauty, and she’s still a virgin—why, she’s a regular money tree! They’ll never let her go for anything less than a fortune. I don’t need to repeat what Cloud told us yesterday. In my opinion, Brother Lu ought not to be too hasty about this. The first thing is to win Fragrance over with a series of small favors. Brother Lu is such a handsome young fellow, how could she fail to be attracted? He ought to wait until they’re in love and her heart belongs to him. I understand her only relative is an uncle. If Brother Lu lays out two or three hundred taels, and we do some quiet matchmaking with Fragrance, we’re bound to succeed.” The others chorused their approval.
When they had finished their breakfast, Yuan You said to Mu Zhu, “Let me take you back now. There’s some business I need to see to today, and I won’t be able to keep you company.”
Mu Zhu stood up to go, but Wu Zhen held him back and said to Yuan You, “I don’t mean to criticize, Brother, but since he’s a relative of yours, why shouldn’t we entertain him? What harm would there be in bringing him with us?”
“You don’t understand,” said Yuan You. “That isn’t the sort of place we should be taking him to.”
Wu Zhen insisted, however, and after settling the bill, he took Mu Zhu’s arm and led him and the others out of the back door of the teahouse, along Paragon Street, around into North Willow Lane as far as Tianshou Temple, then down the South Spur landing to the moat. They crossed over by ferry and walked through one of the gaps in the wall to a house on Ninth Lane.1
After Wu Zhen had invited them inside, they found themselves in a large reception room, behind which were five or six side rooms. Greeted by servants, they were shown into a room on the east side. It had a speckled-bamboo door screen, embroidered bedding, and a brocaded coverlet, as well as furnishings in the finest taste. On the paneled walls hung four paintings of beautiful women as well as a pair of scrolls on green wax paper:
The cassia tree’s fragrance spreads further yet in the breeze;
The forest flowers’ colors seem lovelier still in the sunlight.
The first line of the attribution read, “Elegantly composed by the courtesan Cassia.” The second read, “Written by the Guardian-of-Flowers Immortal.”
There was a prostitute in the room when they arrived, a girl of seventeen or eighteen who had put her hair up but had not yet washed her face. She had slender eyebrows and sparkling eyes. She wore a white imported cotton robe with an embroidered collar piece; on top of it a green woolen padded sleeveless jacket lined with pale pink silk and possessing an embroidered collar piece; crimson imported-crepe lined over trousers; blue nankeen trousers; and a jade green foreign crepe belt with an embroidered hem, from one side of which hung two silver bells and a crimson purse. She had not yet put a skirt on. On her feet, which were four inches long, she wore white water-crepe stocking wrappers and wooden-soled shoes of which the uppers were dark blue embroidered with bright yellow satin. She had merely slipped into her shoes, which were not yet laced up. On her wrists she wore bracelets of silver filigree. Although hardly beautiful, she had a certain charm that was distinctly pleasing. She had been sitting at her veneered dressing table, silently brooding over something, when the six men came into her room, and she sprang to her feet to welcome them. “Gentlemen,” she said, “all five of you, please sit down.”
“Why do you say five when there are six of us?” said Yuan You impulsively. “I take it you’re Brother Wu’s mistress?”
Wu Zhen smiled but said nothing.
Yuan You went on. “I still haven’t asked you your name.”
“Her name is Cassia,” said Wu Zhen.
Cassia asked each of the guests his name, by which time an elderly maid had served them tea and filled the water pipe. Cassia told her to light the lamp so that Wu Zhen could smoke his opium, then turned to him. “You haven’t been here in days. I sent someone out every day to invite you, but you never deigned to set foot here. I wonder what fair wind has blown you to our humble establishment today?”
Wu Zhen pointed at Lu Shu. “Brother Lu here is on his first visit to Yangzhou, and the last couple of days we’ve been showing him around. That’s why I’ve not been to see you.”
“What a pack of lies! But I’ve no time to argue with you now—I need to have my wash. Later on, when I get you on your own, I shall have a score to settle with you.” She called out to the maid to bring her the water for washing.
At this point two more prostitutes came into the room. One was twenty-one or -two, with a chignon in the Suzhou Drop style held with a green bone double-headed hairpin. She had not yet put any flowers in her hair. She had a round face, arched eyebrows, and large, circular eyes. Her complexion showed faint traces of pockmarks, which were endearing rather than otherwise. She had two deep dimples and sparkling white teeth. On her ears she wore a pair of earrings that were between white and yellow, to which were attached a pair of imitation-jade pendants. She had on a worn white nankeen gown with a collar piece embroidered in jade green thread; on top of it an equally worn Suzhou-blue sleeveless jacket lined with white cotton; and a skirt of black imported cotton that offered a glimpse of jade green imported crepe over trousers. On her feet, which were less than four inches long, she wore a pair of white cotton stocking wrappers and wooden straight-soled and round-heeled shoes of import-blue cloth embroidered in fine white wool with images of butterflies flying among trees. The laces of the shoes were of greenish blue imported crepe. She wore no bracelets on her wrists. Although she was dressed only in cotton cloth, the simplicity of her makeup and the elegance of her demeanor set her apart from the typical prostitute with her crude vulgarity.
Her companion, who looked about twenty, also had a Suzhou Drop that was fastened with a gilt hairpin, to which was attached a gilt double-ruyi2 symbol holding two roses. The rest of her hair was brushed into a Liu Hai hoop. She had an oval face, fine eyes and eyebrows, and brownish teeth. On each ear she wore three white-jade flattened-circle pendants. On her slender figure she wore a bleached white pongee gown with a collar piece embroidered in black silk; on top of it a jade green imported silk sleeveless jacket lined with pink silk and possessing a collar piece embroidered in black satin thread; a pleated skirt of black imported crepe; and pink imported-crepe over trousers. On her feet, which measured a little over five inches, she wore white water-crepe cotton stocking wrappers and wooden-soled shoes with white imported crepe uppers embroidered with flowers in many colors, openings decorated with symbols of goodwill, and laces of crimson imported crepe. On her wrists she wore foreign-engraved silver bracelets that were round on the outside and square on the inside.
On entering the room, they greeted the guests in unison, “Gentlemen, Brother-in-Law!” then took seats near the veneered door and asked the guests their names, where they were from, and what work they did.
“We haven’t yet asked you your particulars,” said Jia Ming.
The girl in the Suzhou-blue jacket said, “My style is Phoenix, and I’m twenty-one. I was born in Yangzhou, but from the time I was a child I lived in Qingjiang. I’ve only been back in Yangzhou for less than half a month.”
The girl in the jade green jacket said, “My style is Lucky, and I’m fifteen. I’m from Yancheng.”
As they said this, a tinkling of bells was heard outside the door and in walked another prostitute of about sixteen or seventeen. Her hair was drawn back in an ingot-style chignon, in which she wore a gold hairpin and a gold ruyi. A gilt and kingfisher feather toothpick hairpin with a phoenix flying toward the sun motif was inserted at an angle in her hair; a rose hoop held two roses; and two more roses were inserted at an angle. She had a round, rather chubby face, and the rest of her hair was brushed into a fringe of curls. She had long, arched eyebrows and almond eyes. Two silver enamel patches adhered to her cheeks.3 She had a plump figure. She was wearing a pink nankeen gown with a collar piece embroidered in a large stitch with black satin thread, and over it a sleeveless jacket of purple-red wool lined with jade green silk panels and possessing an embroidered collar piece; a Moon Palace skirt of multicolored imported crepe; and crimson over trousers of foreign crepe. Two small gold bells and a crimson purse hung down beside her skirt. On her feet, which measured four and a half inches, she wore white imported cotton stocking wrappers and wooden-soled shoes with dark blue uppers embroidered with pink satin and silver openings with bat motifs4 and crimson imported-crepe laces. On her wrists she wore tortoiseshell and gold filigree bracelets inset with symbols representing the Eight Treasures. On the fourth finger of her left hand she wore a red-gold hoop-style ring.
She entered the room with a broad smile on her face and greeted the guests with a “Five gentlemen,” then walked over and sat down beside the bed. “Master Wu! By not coming here the last few days, you’ve almost driven Sister Cassia to her death. I heard someone say the other day that you had a little unfinished business somewhere else.”
“Enough of that!” said Wu Zhen. “I’ve just been ragged by her. The last thing I need is a red-hot girl like you laying it on.”
The others began laughing and asked the girl her particulars. “My style is Paria,” she said. “I’m seventeen and I come from Yancheng.” At this point, Phoenix and Lucky got to their feet and, after urging the guests to stay, left the room.
After a few inhalations of opium, Wu Zhen said to Cassia, “Call Sanzi in.” She told the maid to go and call him. The man who now walked in and stood respectfully by the door was in his early twenties. After he had greeted the guests, Wu Zhen turned to Mu Zhu and asked him, “Which one of those girls do you fancy? Later on she’ll keep you company.”
Mu Zhu’s face turned scarlet, and he said nothing. Wu Zhen winked at Sanzi. “Master Mu isn’t saying anything, which must mean that none of your courtesans meets with his approval. Go to some other house and find him a good one. Then go on to the Jinyulou in the Scripture Repository and invite Miss Fragrance over. Tell her Master Lu is here.”
“Brother, there’s no need to invite her,” put in Lu Shu.
“But you won’t enjoy yourself unless she’s here. You’ll be too distracted.”
“Now you’re making fun of me again.”
Wu Zhen turned back to Sanzi. “For lunch, order us eight plates and four dishes, and for dinner two more dishes and four small bowls. Get them from a large restaurant. First and foremost the food has to be good; I don’t want any of your standard house fare. These five gentlemen are here today at my special invitation. Tell your staff to give them the best possible treatment and not neglect them in any way.” Sanzi left on his various errands.
Meanwhile Cassia had washed and combed herself, put on her rings, and inserted two roses in her hair. She now wore a skirt and had her shoes properly laced. Lying down on the bed beside Wu Zhen, she satisfied her opium habit.
The other guests bantered with Paria to the accompaniment of much laughter, but Mu Zhu drew Yuan You out into the courtyard and said, “Cousin, just now you were sitting beside that woman and cracking jokes with her. If her parents or husband or brothers caught you doing that, it’d be no laughing matter! Please let me go home.”
Yuan smiled. “Don’t be afraid, Cousin,” he said. “Even if we do have a little fun with her, she’s a courtesan. Anyway, you have me here with you.”
“You’re my cousin, and I’m your cousin. Now you tell me that she’s a cousin, too.5 I simply don’t understand that relationship.” Yuan You couldn’t help laughing, but he didn’t like to deride his cousin. He pulled Mu Zhu back inside and sat him down.
Outside the room someone was heard calling out, “Oh, there you are, Miss Wenlan. Come in and take a seat.” The door curtain opened, and in came a prostitute of twenty-six or -seven. She had a coarse complexion covered in freckles that she had powdered heavily, leaving her face with a smooth, pallid look. She wore a blue-green imported cotton gown and a black imported cotton skirt. On her feet, which measured something over six inches, she wore imported cloth shoes with small soles and large uppers, rendering her completely dependent on the strength of the laces. On coming in, she called out “Gentlemen!” and then greeted Cassia and Paria. Cassia asked her to take a seat. Apart from Yuan You, none of the guests knew her, and they asked her particulars. “You really don’t know her, Brother?” Yuan You asked Jia Ming. “Her name is Wenlan, and she comes from Xinghua. She’s now at the Qingzi house beside the landing on Seventh Lane. I went there once with a few fellows for an introductory tea party. There were four or five women present, but Miss Wenlan stood out among them. Even if she gets cross with me for saying it, the others were a bunch of gorgons, too hideous for words. I’ve heard a lover of hers say that she keeps the best bed in town!”
“I remember your face, sir, but not your name,” said Wenlan with the trace of a smile, “and yet you start critiquing my humble self as soon as we meet. Now, if we were drinking, I’d fine you a very large cup of wine for that!” The riposte had her audience laughing. She then asked the men their names, and went on to ask Cassia and Paria theirs.
In the midst of their conversation, Sanzi came in and said to Wu Zhen, “Lunch and dinner have been ordered from the Sunset Cloud. Miss Fragrance has been invited and will be along shortly.”
Wu Zhen nodded and turned to Lu Shu: “You’d never have been happy if I hadn’t invited her, you know. When she gets here in a little while, you’ll have to use a very careful strategy in that matter we spoke of. When you succeed, your brothers will expect you to throw a gigantic party.”
“There’s no need to make fun of me, Brother,” said Lu Shu. “If I’m lucky enough to succeed, of course I’ll treat you all.” They went on chatting for some time, until outside the door they heard talk and laughter from many different voices, together with the tinkling of bells and the clatter of wooden-soled shoes.
If you are wondering who had arrived, please turn to the next chapter.
