Chapter 283: 281: The Red-Dust Nun

In the winter of the eleventh year of Chongzhen.

Hangzhou, West Lake.

Broken Bridge, the Quiet Dwelling.

The Grass-Robe Daoist, Wang Wei, was tending her garden.

The garden held not only flowers and trees, but also some vegetables. She first brushed the snow from the vegetable leaves, then made a round of inspection among the flowers and trees, and then picked up a broom to sweep the courtyard.

Wang Wei was forty-one this year. At the age of seven, her father had died. Clansmen seized her family property and sold Wang Wei into a brothel.

At fourteen, Wang Wei began to ply her trade, drifting by boat through the regions of Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou.

After accumulating modest savings, Wang Wei suddenly vanished. In plain cloth robe and with a bamboo staff, she traveled among famous mountains and great rivers, and wrote a book titled Records of Famous Mountains.

At eighteen, Wang Wei admired the talent, learning, and character of Mao Yuanyi, and together with her close friend Yang Wan, she married Mao Yuanyi as a concubine. Mao Yuanyi favored Yang Wan more, and Wang Wei felt herself increasingly neglected, so she chose to leave on her own.

At nineteen, Wang Wei came to Hangzhou and met the gifted scholar Tan Yuanchun.

Wang Wei fell for him at first sight and pursued him ardently.

Tan Yuanchun neither initiated, nor refused, nor took responsibility. A famous courtesan, after all — fine for a dalliance, but why bring her home as a wife?

Wang Wei fell gravely ill, left Hangzhou, and traveled among famous mountains.

Returning to Hangzhou once more, Wang Wei renounced the world to become a Buddhist nun, taking refuge in the empty gate, and styled herself "the Grass-Robe Daoist."

"Bang, bang, bang!"

The courtyard gate was pounded.

Wang Wei set down her broom and opened the gate to greet her visitors.

There stood Wang Mingran, the son of a wealthy merchant, outside the gate, with more than ten scholars behind him.

Wang Mingran, a great merchant of Huizhou, was generous with his wealth and fond of befriending famous scholars and famous courtesans. He and Wang Wei had been good friends for many years. Hearing that Wang Wei had renounced the world, he immediately built a house by West Lake and gifted it to her for quiet Buddhist devotion.

After Liu Rushi parted with Chen Zilong, she declared she would marry a man of greater talent than Chen Zilong. Wang Ranming also came to console her, urging her not to grieve, and later helped bring about the marriage of Liu Rushi and Qian Qianyi.

The woman Wang Mingran truly loved was the painter Lin Xue.

In his old age, Wang Mingran even traveled to Fujian, seeking Lin Xue over a thousand li, and the two, their faces lined with wrinkles, were reunited.

"Please, all of you, come in," Wang Wei said, pressing her palms together.

A woman living alone had to earn her living expenses; at forty-one, Wang Wei naturally could no longer sell her body.

In fact, ever since she began her Buddhist devotions, she had kept herself pure. But scholars often came to visit — no wine, only tea, composing poetry and rhapsodies, discussing the ancient and the modern.

It was the equivalent of a social platform for the elite, and an exceedingly high-end one at that; without a certain status and reputation, one could not possibly come here to spend money.

If a visitor's talent was truly overflowing, Wang Wei would take not a single coin, even allowing them to treat the place as a free inn.

Wang Mingran made introductions: "This is the Jiangxi notable Huang Ying."

"I am honored to meet you, Young Master Huang," Wang Wei said, performing a curtsy.

Xu Ying clasped his hands in salute and said, "I have long heard of your great name; it is a privilege to meet you today."

The remaining scholars were not introduced.

Wang Wei found it very strange. These scholars, dressed in Confucian robes, were all carrying long swords on their backs.

Not the swords of literary men, but two-handed war swords.

Wang Wei invited them inside, added firewood to the clay stove to boil tea. She also brought out more than ten rush cushions, spreading them on the floor for everyone to sit cross-legged.

"How have you been lately?" Wang Mingran asked.

Wang Wei replied, "I caught a slight chill a few days ago, but have already recovered. These past two months, why have I not seen you, young master?"

Wang Mingran said with a smile, "I have been traveling with worthy younger brother Huang through the lakes and rivers, and have not been in Hangzhou."

Wang Wei grew increasingly curious about this "Huang Ying," suspecting he was the son of some high official, for otherwise Wang Mingran would never treat him with such regard.

Xu Ying produced three books, all the latest editions: one titled The Great Unity Collection, one titled Record of the Great Unity Heroines, and one titled Travels in the Great Unity.

Handing the books over, Xu Ying asked, "Has the lady dharma master ever heard of such books?"

Wang Wei nodded and said, "I have seen The Great Unity Collection."

Xu Ying smiled slightly. "Dharma master, you might leaf through Record of the Great Unity Heroines."

Read it right now?

Wang Wei swept her gaze over the group. Seeing that no one spoke, she curiously opened Record of the Great Unity Heroines.

Spending the time it takes two quarter-hours, Wang Wei finished reading the book, and at once felt her heart deeply stirred. Were she twenty years younger, she would cast everything aside and set out at once for Jiangxi to join Zhao Han.

Closing the book, Wang Wei asked, "Is Young Master Huang one of Heavenly King Zhao's men?"

"Indeed," Xu Ying said with a smile.

In Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, Xu Ying's identity was already nearly an open secret. Not only was he in no danger, he was received with courtesy — a shift that occurred after Zhao Han seized Guangdong and Hunan.

These dozen or so sword-bearing scholars had all formerly been members of the Restoration Society.

Whether the Donglin Faction or the present Restoration Society, the main members came from merchant and small-to-middling landlord backgrounds. Great landlords and great merchants were also among them, but their proportion was very small.

Once the Great Unity theories were disseminated, merchants and small landlords took to them enthusiastically, because The Great Unity Collection also voiced their demands.

These sword-bearing scholars, uniformly small landlords, were now all members of the Great Unity Society.

They followed Xu Ying as he traveled to various places, and in their spare time they practiced sword formations. When they encountered official arrests or bandits and ruffians, they simply drew their swords and answered in kind, and to this day had never suffered a defeat.

Wang Wei asked curiously, "I am but a woman who has renounced the world — why has the young master come seeking me?"

Xu Ying said, "To ask you to write a letter."

"To whom?" Wang Wei asked.

Xu Ying answered: "Master Shimin (Mao Yuanyi)."

Wang Wei was stunned for a moment, then gave a bitter smile.

Mao Yuanyi was her true first love; she had even been married to him as a concubine for several months.

Mao Yuanyi had fought in Liaodong, and was Sun Chengzong's right-hand man. He had also gone to Jiangnan to raise warships to strengthen the Liaodong naval forces, and had once led a dozen riders to protect Sun Chengzong as they broke through an encirclement.

This man excelled in both civil and martial pursuits: in civil matters, he authored the *Nine Studies, Ten Sections Catalogue*; in martial, the *Treatise on Military Preparedness*. The *Treatise on Military Preparedness* has been called by later generations "an encyclopedia of military science."

At this time he was in Fujian, demoted to garrison duty at a guard station.

Historically, just over a year later, the Tartars would breach the passes again. Mao Yuanyi requested to lead troops to relieve the throne, but was obstructed by powerful officials. In grief and indignation, he drank himself to death.

Wang Wei asked, "What should I write?"

Xu Ying replied, "The wretched conditions in the prefectures of Jiangnan — write them down truthfully."

"Does Heavenly King Zhao intend to attack Fujian?" Wang Wei asked again.

"Sooner or later," Xu Ying said ambiguously.

Wang Wei pressed further: "Why not have someone from the Mao family write the letter?"

Xu Ying sighed. "The Mao family has too much land. They will certainly face land redistribution in the future. I went to pay a visit, but not only did they shut the door on me, they also reported me to the authorities and had the County Magistrate send men to arrest me. Ah, it was a wretched affair."

Wretched indeed — Xu Ying's sword-bearing scholars had cut down and wounded over a dozen bailiffs, sending the County Magistrate fleeing back into the city in utter disarray.

Wang Wei rose to fetch paper and brush. In a flowing torrent of several hundred characters, without pausing to punctuate, she dashed off the letter in a single stroke.

Xu Ying took it and read, exclaiming with emotion, "Fine calligraphy, fine literary talent — I am not her equal."

According to what Fujian merchants said, throughout all Fujian, because of the earlier great defeat in Jiangxi, the government troops had long since lost their will to fight. Only the guard station where Mao Yuanyi was garrisoned and the naval forces, through long drilling and training, had become the strongest army in Fujian.

If this man could be persuaded to surrender, half of Fujian would be taken, and they would also gain this military theorist.

Wang Wei rose again to refill everyone's tea. Raising her cup, she said, "In place of wine, let tea serve — I toast you all, righteous heroes."

"Please!" Xu Ying raised his cup.

Wang Wei asked, "Are the women of Jiangxi truly as recorded in the *Register of Great Unity Heroines*?"

Xu Ying smiled. "Not only that. Under Heavenly King Zhao's rule, three years of education are gradually being made universal. Even children deep in the mountains may study for three years free of charge. Girls and boys — no distinction whatsoever."

"Girls can enter the school halls too?" Wang Wei said in astonishment.

"Indeed," Xu Ying said. "Many gentry and great clans, holding that men and women should not touch hands in giving and receiving, have therefore pooled funds to establish girls' schools. In these girls' schools, the teachers and students are all women. Girls entering school not only study poetry and women's crafts, but may also study the Four Books and the Five Classics. Heavenly King Zhao's own wife teaches at the Swept-Brow Girls' School, where she specially instructs in the *Four Books*."

"Swept-Brow Girls' School, Swept-Brow Girls' School," Wang Wei murmured over and over, her face full of envy and longing. Then, her expression darkened. "What a pity…"

Xu Ying said with a smile, "No need for pity. If the lady of the law were to return to lay life, she could also go and be a teacher at the Swept-Brow Girls' School."

"I was once a courtesan — could I truly become a teacher?" Wang Wei grew agitated.

"In Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangdong, there is no distinction between the respectable and the debased," Xu Ying said. "Has the lady of the law forgotten that *Register of Great Unity Heroines*? Many of the women in it were once courtesans too. So long as one commits no crime or villainy, once one reforms, one is a law-abiding commoner. If the lady of the law wishes to go to Ji'an, I can dispatch a boat to escort you, and write a letter of recommendation to Heavenly King Zhao."

"Then it is settled!"

Wang Wei suddenly plucked off her nun's cap, revealing a shaven head. She flung the monastic cap to the ground and declared resolutely, "Eating vegetarian meals and chanting Buddha's name — all is empty silence. I am not one to sit idle. Chanting Buddha's name for over ten years, I have yet to grasp the profundity of the Dharma. Better to go to Ji'an and live as an upright, dignified person!"

Seeing these words and actions, Xu Ying at once praised her: "Truly a heroic spirit among women!"

Wang Wei was indeed a woman of true feeling. At sixteen or seventeen, a celebrated courtesan, she suddenly ceased her trade and went traveling alone. When her money ran out, she returned to her trade, and discussed with her close sisters marrying Mao Yuanyi together. Sensing that Mao Yuanyi had little real feeling for her, she left alone once more. Finally encountering a faithless lover, she straightaway fled into the monastic life and became a Buddhist nun.

Such free-spiritedness is rarely seen in this world.

Wang Wei sat cross-legged on the rush cushion. "Young Master Huang, tell me more of the affairs of Jiangxi. I truly love to hear them."

Xu Ying pointed to the *Great Unity Travelogue*. "The lady teacher may read this book. Though it is fiction, it is entirely adapted from real people and real events, merely touched up with a little legendary embellishment."

"Very well, I shall read it myself," Wang Wei said. "When may I go to Jiangxi?"

Xu Ying said, "After the beginning of spring."

Wang Mingran suddenly laughed. "The next time we meet, this Grass-Cloth Recluse will be a schoolmistress."

Wang Wei, poised and unconstrained, joked at her own expense: "Perhaps the next time we meet, I will already be married as a wife, become some good man's second spouse."

"Ha ha ha ha!" Wang Mingran roared with laughter.

Xu Ying rose and cupped his hands. "Lady teacher, I take my leave."

Wang Wei urged him to stay. "Eat before you go. I shall have the wine shop send over some wine and dishes."

"No need. We shall meet again in Ji'an." Xu Ying still had matters to attend to. He had only recently arrived in Hangzhou and had just settled his family. The intelligence contact point was not yet established, and he was also due to pay a visit to Liu Rushi today.

Wang Wei saw them to the door, then returned to her room to read the *Great Unity Travelogue*.

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As she read on, experiencing the joys and sorrows of the characters in the book, she grew ever more enchanted by the life over in Jiangxi.

Suddenly tears rolled down. Wiping them away, she spoke to herself through laughter: "It truly seems like an immortal realm among mortals. If it is even one ten-thousandth as good as the book describes, one could live an upright and dignified life in Jiangxi."

(End of chapter)