Chapter 19: A Pack of Ghost Stories

The main hall of the Loyal Diligence Court.

A household boy helped carry things inside. As he was leaving, a maid stopped him: "Don't rush off. The Mistress has questions for you."

The household boy halted at once and followed the maid toward the inner rooms.

Mistress Ling, wife of Fei Lin — the general steward of Jingxing Court — now wore a crimson gauze robe, her head bristling with hairpins and ornaments. At a glance, one might mistake her for some family's young mistress.

A subject oversteps when, without the Emperor's bestowal, he privately dares to wear a python robe.

A household slave oversteps when, without the master's consent, he privately dares to wear silk gauze.

This is what the collapse of rites and music looks like.

Mistress Ling held a cat in her arms and asked offhandedly, "Been fighting with someone again?"

The household boy knelt and answered, "Replying to the Mistress — I fell by accident."

"Nonsense. Can a fall leave a slap mark on your face?" Mistress Ling sneered.

The household boy had no choice but to say, "Words were exchanged, so we had a fight."

Mistress Ling asked, "Those two new household boys in the east wing — I hear you went to give them trouble?"

The household boy replied, "Brother Jiandan said we should give them a hazing, so he led us over. That fellow fights fiercely — we were no match. I hear he's a disciple taught by Master Wei."

"Wei Jianxiong?" Mistress Ling's brows furrowed. She instructed the household boy, "Keep a closer watch from now on. Those new boys don't know the rules. Whatever they do wrong, you must note it down and report to me."

The household boy said quickly, "I'll do as the Mistress says."

Mistress Ling summoned a maid: "Give him some tea money."

The maid at once produced a string of copper cash. The household boy accepted it delightedly, kowtowed with profuse thanks, and departed.

Once out of the room, the household boy counted carefully — only thirty wen of Yunnan-minted coin.

And not the fine-condition, full-weight Jiajing tongbao, but those crudely made, shoddily cast Wanli tongbao!

The household boy grumbled inwardly, "What kind of Mistress Ling? Petty and mean through and through — nothing but a servant's wretched fate, yet she foolishly dreams of being a young mistress. Thirty wen of rotten coin, and she expects me to betray Brother Zhao?"

Qinxin, Jiandan, and Jiupo each got two taels of silver. Though Jiandan was somewhat displeased, he never spoke a word of complaint.

The remaining four taels of silver were divided equally among the twelve household boys.

But after converting it to copper cash, they fought again over the uneven split. The boy before us got the bruises on his face from that brawl — even though he lost the fight, he still came away with eighty wen!

Win or lose the fight, much or little the share — the household boys had, in any case, already accepted Zhao Han.

Eighty wen of good coin from Zhao Han, thirty wen of rotten coin from Mistress Ling — need one even ask which way their hearts now lean?

…

This so-called Mistress Ling was formerly the Old Madam's maid, and later became the maid of the eldest young mistress, Madam Lou.

Because she tried to seduce the eldest young master, Madam Lou decisively married her off to Fei Lin, who at the time was still just a page boy.

The page boy Fei Lin gradually rose to power and was promoted to general steward of Jingxing Court. His wife then began styling herself as a mistress, compelling the household slaves to address her as Mistress Ling.

Fei Lin and Mistress Ling have two sons. One of them is precisely the page boy of the young master — that is, Fei Yinghuan's simple-minded son.

The couple had already gotten word that the children Fei Yinghuan brought back were also to be assigned as the young master's page boys.

This would not do. Such a fine post — companion to the Crown Prince — could not be allowed to fall into anyone else's hands!

They dared not act rashly, of course, for that would surely enrage Fei Yinghuan. So they planned to observe slowly and lay snares, sooner or later driving Zhao Han and his sister out of the Fei household.

The court has no shortage of foul affairs, and great clans have their share too.

"Mistress, the Young Mistress summons you," a maid suddenly came to report.

At these words, Mistress Ling rose at once. She pulled out all the ornaments from her hair, washed the makeup from her face, stripped off the splendid crimson gauze robe, changed into an ordinary garment, and trotted toward the inner court with a humble smile.

…

Madam Lou was thirty-eight this year, still charming, dignified and elegant. She came from the Lou clan of Jiujiang.

After the great battle at Lake Poyang, Zhu Yuanzhang relocated a group of refugees and settled them in Jiujiang for military farming. The ancestors of the Jiujiang Lou clan were among those military farmers, and during the Hongwu years they had been reclassified as civilian households.

Back when the Prince of Ning rebelled, the Princess of Ning was a daughter of the Lou clan. And the Princess of Ning's younger sister was married to Fei Cai.

The Fei clan refused to support the Prince of Ning's rebellion. Their ancestral home was burned, their ancestral graves destroyed. The retired Grand Secretary Fei Hong survived multiple assassination attempts; Fei Hong's elder brother was killed, his younger brother kidnapped. The entire clan took refuge behind the walls of Yanshan County town and held out.

Both the Fei and Lou clans suffered grievously from the Prince of Ning's rebellion. The two families had intermarried for generations and were long since bound as one.

When Fei Yinghuan returned to Jiangxi, he stayed several days in Jiujiang — precisely to pay his respects to his father-in-law.

"My respects to the Young Mistress." Mistress Ling knelt and kowtowed.

Madam Lou smiled. "Rise. No need for such formality."

"Thank you, Young Mistress." Mistress Ling rose carefully and stood there with lowered eyes and a submissive air.

Madam Lou said, "Three days from now, His Excellency the Governor is coming to visit the Fei household. He will go first to the old family residence at Henglin, then to Ehu, and may stop at Jingxing Court to sit awhile. Prepare some refreshments — dried fruit, melon seeds, peanuts, fine wine, and tea must all be ready. I hear Governor Wei enjoys fried peanuts with his wine."

Mistress Ling responded at once: "This servant will remember. I shall ensure His Excellency the Governor is well satisfied."

Madam Lou continued, "Governor Wei's visit is mainly to pay homage at Ehu Academy. The eldest young master will certainly accompany him. The arrangements for going up the mountain need not be handled by our Jingxing Court. You need only select a few servant boys — sturdy ones — to follow and attend them the entire way."

Mistress Ling asked, "How many servant boys would be suitable?"

Madam Lou said, "Not too many. Four will be just right — more might displease the Governor. Oh, and whether household boys or servant boys, their clothing must be plain. I hear Governor Wei dislikes extravagance."

Mistress Ling replied, "This servant will go back and make the arrangements at once."

Madam Lou said, "There is nothing else. You may withdraw."

Mistress Ling hastily knelt, kowtowed in farewell, and withdrew cautiously from the room.

The moment she returned to the Loyal Diligence Court, her entire bearing transformed. Her mannerisms and gestures all deliberately imitated Madam Lou. Putting on airs, she declared, "Assemble every servant in the court — I have important orders to give!"

…

Qinxin, Jiandan, and Jiupo were all earnestly studying at this moment.

Fei Yinghuan had been away from home for over half a year. Now that he was back, whenever he had a spare moment, he would certainly test their lessons.

The three were scratching their heads over their books. Once they had managed, barely, to recite one passage, they immediately set off together to find Zhao Han and amuse themselves — and, incidentally, to probe Zhao Han's depth and substance.

Mistress Ling thought Zhao Han was to be the young master's page boy; they thought Zhao Han was to be the eldest young master's servant boy.

Zhao Han was practicing the spear inside the house, while his little sister held a wooden doll and helped him keep count.

"Brother, is Brother home?" Three household servant boys pounded on the door and shouted.

The little sister ran over, stood on tiptoe, and opened the door.

The three had a sense of drama — they cupped their fists in unison: "Greetings, Elder Sister."

Zhao Zhenfang had no idea how to respond, so she just bared her teeth in a smile; another front tooth had fallen out today.

Once inside, Ji'an Dan saw the long spear and said delightedly, "Brother practices weapons too?"

Zhao Han answered ambiguously, "Mm, Uncle Wei is teaching me the spear."

Ji'an Dan asked, puzzled, "Doesn't Master Wei use the staff?"

"Uncle Wei is highly skilled — he's proficient in all eighteen weapons," Zhao Han said with a smile.

Ji'an Dan nodded in agreement: "Master Wei is indeed superb."

Jiu Po asked, "Does Brother not usually read books?"

Zhao Han replied, "I only read random leisure books for fun. I haven't even finished the elementary Little Four Books."

The three servant boys immediately relaxed, no longer afraid of being outclassed by Zhao Han in learning.

Qin Xin had a relatively steady temperament, while Ji'an Dan was far more forthright, and that fellow Jiu Po was simply a chatterbox. The one trait they all shared was delicate, handsome features — presentable enough to be brought out to keep up appearances.

Before they had even settled in, Jiu Po started rambling: "When the money was divided up yesterday, I heard those lads got into a fight."

Zhao Han asked with a smile, "No hard feelings, I hope?"

"No chance of that — we're all brothers here," Jiu Po said. "The ones with bigger fists got a few extra cash, the ones with smaller fists got a few less. Still, Brother, you're the generous one — ten taels of silver, given away just like that. I've been saving for years and only managed to scrape together three mace."

Zhao Han said, "Since we're all brothers, why split silver into mine and yours?"

Jiu Po exclaimed in admiration, "Brother, you're so free with it — we could never do that. Our monthly allowances all go straight into our parents' hands, and most of the tips the masters give us get taken by our parents too. If one day I could be like you, Brother, and give away ten taels of silver just like that, I'd probably wake myself up laughing from my dreams."

"Filial devotion to one's parents is only right — you three brothers have my respect," Zhao Han said with perfect earnestness.

Qin Xin couldn't help but speak up: "The exact same sentiment, but when Brother says it, it just sounds better."

Ji'an Dan asked, "We've never traveled far from home. Brother, tell us about it — on that journey with the Young Master, what strange and curious things did you see?"

"Ah, this year the north suffered a great drought…"

Zhao Han began recounting the severe disaster. When he got to the part about people eating human flesh, the three listened in utter horror.

Then he told of the refugees rising in revolt, how Zhao Han stepped forward with a plan in the crisis, and how Magistrate Wang led the troops in a night raid — at this, the three immediately burst out in admiration and excitement.

This last part, heavily embellished, was practically storytelling now, and Zhao Han placed himself on the battlefield in the tale: "The Young Master, Uncle Wei, and I followed Magistrate Wang, traveling by night and hiding by day. We force-marched eighty li in one stretch and reached the outskirts of Duliu Town by the fifth watch. The night was dark and the wind was high. The rebel army's camp stretched for several li — the scouts reported back that there were tens of thousands of them. And on our side, we had just over five hundred brave men. Not even proper government troops — all temporarily recruited local militia…"

The three listened, utterly dumbstruck.

Zhao Han continued, "Those five hundred-odd brave men were split into two companies, surrounding three sides and leaving one open…"

Ji'an Dan cut in, "Split into two companies — how do you surround three sides and leave one open?"

Zhao Han explained, "The town was built beside the Grand Canal. The canal helped us surround one of the sides."

"Ah, so that's it," Jiu Po said in sudden understanding.

Zhao Han started spinning nonsense again: "Uncle Wei and I stood to the Young Master's left and right. Each of us had carried over ten torches on our backs. We planted all the torches in the ground and lit them, then held one more in each hand. When the war drums sounded, we raised our torches high and brandished them — battle cries shook the heavens. Five hundred militia made the racket of tens of thousands."

Jiu Po slapped his thigh and declared, "Ha! The rebel army must have been scared pissless!"

"Weren't they just?" Zhao Han went on fabricating: "Tens of thousands of rebels, scared witless by our five hundred-odd men — wailing for their mothers and fathers, scattering in chaos everywhere. I followed the Young Master as we charged the rebel camp. Whenever we saw a tent, we set it ablaze. In no time, fires raged across the ground, turning night into day. Uncle Wei raised his wrought-iron staff and smashed every rebel he saw — one staff, one kill. He never needed a second strike!"

Ji'an Dan, his blood boiling with excitement, asked, "And the Young Master?"

Zhao Han said, "The Young Master was, of course, fiercely valiant too — he swung his sword and cut down several men in a row. But the Young Master is kind-hearted; he said the rebels were just pitiful souls who couldn't fill their bellies. After fighting for a while, unwilling to add to the slaughter, he actually sheathed his sword, took out his folding fan, and admired the moon right there in the rebel camp!"

The three servant boys exchanged glances. They were now certain Zhao Han was not making this up — because Fei Yinghuan really was the sort who could pull something like that.

Jiu Po asked, "How many rebels did Brother kill?"

Zhao Han said, "I was young and couldn't run fast — I only killed six."

Hiss!

The three sucked in a sharp breath. Zhao Han actually had six lives on his hands. How could they possibly afford to cross a killer like that?

After all that wild boasting, Zhao Han said, "When we returned to the county yamen, for the merit of offering the plan and killing the enemy, Magistrate Wang rewarded me with twenty taels of silver."

Qin Xin couldn't resist asking, "So that means, Brother, half the silver you had on you — you took it out yesterday and shared it among us?"

Zhao Han laughed. "Wealth is but a thing outside the body. What are a few tens of thousands of taels compared to the friendship of three good brothers like you?"

The three were filled with deep respect, suddenly and profoundly moved.

Just as they were about to speak again, a shout came from outside: "Madam Ling is addressing the household — all servants in the courtyard, come quickly!"

(Thanks to Yun Wai Piaoyao, Shu You Ruci 12, Qidian Eight Million Great Eagle Knight Grand Instructor, Han Feng Xiaose, Ti Pu Shu Wu, and Nai Wen Moer for their alliance-leader tips, and thanks as well to the many elders, protectors, hall masters, helmsmen, stewards, disciples, students, and apprentices for their tips — too many to name individually. Thank you, everyone!)

(End of chapter)