The Warning Voice (27 page)

When the contents of this Rescript were made known, it was not only the members of the Jia family who expressed their gratitude: all the great officers of the Court were loud in their praises of this extraordinary example of Imperial magnanimity.

Cousin Zhen and Jia Rong at once set off on horseback, determined to ride both night and day until they reached their destination. About half way along their road they came upon a group of horsemen riding hell-for-leather towards them who turned out to be Jia Bin and Jia Guang at the head of a party of Jia family domestics. They threw themselves from their saddles as soon as they recognized Cousin Zhen and touched knee and hand to the ground in the Manchu salute.

‘Why have you come?' Cousin Zhen asked them.

‘Mrs Zhen was worried that when you and Rong left there would be no one to escort Her Old Ladyship,' Jia Bin replied, ‘so she sent us to take your place.'

Cousin Zhen expressed his approval of his wife's thought-fulness.

‘And what about things at home?' he asked. ‘How have you been managing?'

Jia Bin told him how You-shi had had the Taoists put under arrest, how she had Jia Jing's body moved to the family temple, and how, in order that there might be someone at home to keep an eye on things during her absence, she had persuaded her step-mother and two step-sisters to move into temporary residence at Ning-guo House. At mention of the two step-sisters the face of Jia Rong, who had dismounted when the others did, was observed to break into a grin. For his part Cousin Zhen merely nodded, observed several times over that these arrangements were ‘very sensible', and, touching the riding-whip to his horse's flanks, was on his way once more.

Cousin Zhen and Jia Rong rode on then through daylight
and darkness, stopping at post-houses along the way only long enough to obtain a change of mount. It was night-time when they approached the outskirts of the Capital and well after two in the morning when they reached the Temple of the Iron Threshold. Those keeping watch had to rouse the others up to meet them. Cousin Zhen and Jia Rong dismounted and lifted up their voices in loud wailing. Still wailing, they crawled on their knees all the way from the outer gate of the temple to the lying-in-state room inside. There, at the foot of the coffin, they knocked their heads repeatedly on the floor and wept with abandon until daylight, by which time they had all but lost their voices.

After a brief intermission during which Cousin Zhen was greeted by You-shi and the rest (for he had not, till that moment, had an opportunity of speaking to them) he and Jia Rong changed into the appropriate hempen mourning-garments before returning to bow once more at the foot of the coffin.

Cousin Zhen found it impossible to achieve quite that state of self-absorbed grief – ‘oblivious to all around' – which books of etiquette require of the bereaved son: there were too many things that needed attending to. For example, friends and relations had to be informed about the Gracious Rescript permitting a lying-in-state at the mansion and the receiving of offerings and condolences there. Jia Rong was ordered back home to make all preparations necessary for receiving the coffin.

Jia Rong was pleased with his commission. Hurrying to horse, he rode briskly into the city. As soon as he got back, he ordered the servants to begin clearing the furniture from the front reception hall at Ning-guo House and making a shrine for the coffin there out of screens and hangings. He also told them to put up awnings for the funeral bands outside the doorway, and a cloth and cane archway which should later be covered with funerary inscriptions. When he was satisfied that all this work was well in hand, he hurried into the inner apartments to meet his grandmother and two young aunts.

The Hon. Mrs You (the late Mr You – You-shi's father –
had been a mandarin of the sixth rank) was an elderly lady much given to taking naps. She was in fact recumbent upon the kang and refreshing herself with sleep at the moment when Jia Rong entered. It was the two daughters, sewing amidst their maids, who welcomed him.

‘I'm glad you've come, Auntie,' said Jia Rong, grinning broadly at the elder of them. (Her name was Er-jie.) ‘Father has been
longing
to see you.'

Er-jie turned red.

‘Now look here, young Rong,' she said, ‘you behave yourself! I suppose you are one of those people who, if they don't get a good telling-off every once in a while, don't feel comfortable. You are supposed to be a well-bred, educated young gentleman, yet a coolie would have better manners.'

She picked up the nearest object to hand, which happened to be a flat-iron, and made as if to aim it at his head. Jia Rong ducked in alarm, clasping his head in his arms; he ducked not away from her, however, but towards her, and ended up on her bosom, laughing and begging for mercy. At this the younger sister, San-jie, came over and tried to fasten her nails upon his mouth.

‘We'll tell our sister about you when she gets back.'

Jia Rong knelt between them on the kang, entreating them not to, whereupon the two sisters collapsed in laughter.

He noticed that Er-jie was eating cardamums and made a grab at them intending to take some for himself. As he did so, Er-jie spat a chewed-up mouthful of them in his face. Quite unperturbedly, he began licking off the particles that he could reach with his tongue and nibbling them. This was more than even the maids could stomach.

‘Look at you, freshly in mourning and your old grannie lying there right under your nose!' they said. ‘These
are
your aunts, after all, even though they are so young: you ought to have more respect for your mother than to treat her family like this. Wait till we tell the Master when he gets back: he'll give you what for!'

Temporarily abandoning his aunts, Jia Rong went over to the maids, put his arms around two of them and began kissing them.

‘My darlings, you are so right! I shan't interfere with them any more.'

The maids pushed him off indignantly.

‘Pig!' The maid who said this spoke with feeling. ‘You have a wife and maids of your own; what do you need to come bothering us for? An understanding person would realize that this was only fun, but what about someone who didn't know? There are plenty of dirty-minded, gossiping busy-bodies who would be only too pleased to go tattling about this sort of thing to the other mansion, and before you know where you are the gossips there will be passing round the most terrible stories about us.'

‘Their household is completely separate from ours,' said Jia Rong, ‘why should they bother about what we do here? Anyway, they've got scandal enough of their own to keep them busy! Every family history has got a few scandals in it Look. at the stories they tell about the rules of the Han, and Tang dynasties: “Filthy Tang and stinking Han” they say, don't they? If even the families of emperors were like that, you can hardly expect ours to be any different. As for the household next door: look how strict Great-uncle She is, yet Uncle Lian still manages to get up to a few tricks with that little chamber-wife; and look what a tough nut Aung Feng is, yet that didn't stop Uncle Rui thinking he could settle her business. Do you imagine I don't know what they get up to over there – ?'

He seemed to be warming to the subject and would doubtless have treated them to other even less edifying examples of Rong-guo depravity, had not the old lady suddenly woken up at that point, necessitating an abrupt change of manner. At once he dropped down on his knee and began inquiring solicitously about her health.

‘It is so good of you to have gone to all this trouble for us, Grandma,' he said, ‘and for Auntie Er and Auntie San to put up with so much inconvenience on our behalf. Father and I don't know how to thank you. I expect after this business is over we shall all be coming round to your place and making you a kotow.'

‘Bless the boy, what eloquence!' said the old lady, nodding
appreciatively. ‘For our own kin, though: it's the least we could do. And how is your father?' she asked him. ‘When did he hear the news? When did you get back?'

‘We've only just got back,' said Jia Rong. ‘Father sent me on to see you immediately. He was particularly anxious that I should persuade you to stay here until everything is over.'

He winked at the two young aunts while he was saying this. Er-jie pretended to grind her teeth angrily, though she was trying not to laugh.

‘Glib-tongued little ape!' she said.' We're to be kept around here as second strings for your father, I suppose?'

‘Don't you worry!' said Jia Rong, his eye on the old lady. ‘My father has your interests very much at heart. He's been looking for years now for a couple of well-placed, rich, handsome young husbands for my two aunties. Now he's found one at last – someone he met the other day on the journey.'

He was only joking, but the old lady took it all as gospel truth and asked him what the name was of this prospective son-in-law. Er-jie, laughing, laid down her sewing and ran across to strike him.

‘Don't believe a word he says, Ma! He's a wicked liar!'

Even the maids were outraged.

‘If the Lord in Heaven can hear you, you'd better watch out for the lightning!' said one of them.

Just then a servant entered:

‘We've finished all the things you told us to do, Master Rong. Will you go back now and tell the Master it's all ready?'

Off went Jia Rong then, smiling all over his face.

But what happened after that will be told in the following chapter.

The procession, needless to say, was of dazzling magnificence, and troops of mourners took part in it. It provoked varying reactions from the crowd numbering many thousands who lined the road to watch it, all the way from the Temple of the Iron Threshold to the gates of Ning-guo House. Some took a simple pleasure in the spectacle; others admired the wealth which had created it; but there were also a few sour-faced Confucian scholars who looked down their noses and muttered something about sumptuousness being no substitute for grief. A buzz of discussion followed its passing all along the route.

The procession reached the mansion at about three in the afternoon; the coffin was deposited in its shrine in the main hall; offerings were made; the lament was raised. After that the mourners began gradually to depart. Only those members of the Jia clan remained who had undertaken to lend the family a hand with the reception. Among relations not of the Jia surname the only one to stay behind was Lady Xing's brother, Xing De-quan.

As long as there were visitors around, convention obliged Cousin Zhen and Jia Rong to remain in appropriately grief-
stricken attitudes beside the coffin, conforming, as far as possible, to the scriptural canons on mourning which enjoin the bereaved son, among other things, to ‘lie upon rushes with a sod of earth for his pillow'; but as soon as the last guest had gone, they were off like a shot to enjoy the society of their young female relations inside.

Throughout this period Bao-yu too was expected to put on mourning and go over every day to Ning-guo House to spend the whole day there beside the coffin. Xi-feng was not well enough to go over daily, but on days when there were sutra-readings and the callers were numerous, she would drag herself over and lend You-shi a hand in entertaining the wives.

One morning after the early offering, when Cousin Zhen and Jia Rong, worn out by a succession of short nights and long, exhausting days, lay dozing beside the coffin, Bao-yu thought that as there were no visitors he might just as well go back home and see Dai-yu. Calling at Green Delights on the way, he found the courtyard silent and deserted. In the coolness of the surrounding gallery a few old women and junior maids were sitting or lying about in various postures of sleep. He had no wish to disturb them, and would have made his way into the house alone; but just as he was approaching the doorway, Number Four caught sight of him and started up, intending to raise the blind for him to enter. She had not time to do so however, for at that very moment Parfumée came rushing out and very nearly ran into him. She checked herself just in time.

‘What are you doing here?' There was an expression of pleased surprise on her face. ‘Don't let Skybright get me! She's trying to hit me.'

Inside the room there was a clatter of numerous tiny objects striking the floor and a moment later Skybright burst through the doorway in pursuit.

‘Where are you, you little wretch? If you've lost, you have to have a slap. It's no good running to Bao-yu to protect you: he isn't here today.'

Bao-yu laughingly intercepted her.

‘She's only little. I don't know how she's offended you, but won't you forgive her for my sake?'

Bao-yu's sudden appearance at that moment was so unexpected that Skybright found it comical.

‘Parfumée must be a little witch! I wouldn't have thought even magic spells could bring someone so quickly! Well, I don't care!' she said, having recovered somewhat from her surprise. ‘Magic or no magic, I'm going to get her!'

She wrested the arm free that Bao-yu was holding and darted at Parfumée; but Parfumée dodged behind Bao-yu's back and clung to him. Bao-yu took Skybright by one hand and Parfumée by the other and walked with them into the room. There, on the kang under the west wall, Musk, Ripple, Emerald and. Swallow sat playing dibs: melon-seeds for winners and slaps for losers. Parfumée had lost to Skybright and run out to avoid the slap. The clattering noise that Bao-yu had heard was the sound of dib-stones falling from Sky-bright's lap when she got up to chase her. Bao-yu surveyed the scene approvingly.

‘I thought you'd be a bit quiet here with me away,' he said. ‘And as the days are so long now, I was afraid you might be going to sleep after lunch and making yourselves ill. I'm glad you've found a way of keeping yourselves amused – Where's Aroma?' he asked, suddenly noticing that she was not with them.

‘Oh, Aroma,' said Skybright. ‘Aroma's gone religious. She's sitting on her own in the next room like Bodhidharma with her face to the wall. I haven't dared disturb her so I haven't the least idea what she's doing. Whatever it is, she's being very quiet about it. You'd better go in and have a look: perhaps she's attained Enlightenment!'

Bao-yu laughed and went into the inner room. He found Aroma sitting on the couch by the window making knots in a length of grey silk cord. She rose to her feet as he entered.

‘What lies has that wretch Skybright been telling about me? I wanted to get on with this knotting, that's what I came in here for. I hadn't got time to fool about with the others, so I pretended that I wanted to take advantage of your being away by sitting here quietly on my own and meditating for a bit. Bodhidharma, indeed! I'll pinch that girl's mouth!'

Bao-yu laughed and sat down beside her to watch her knot.

‘The days are so long now, you
ought
to take a break of some kind. If you don't fancy playing with the others, why not come with me to see Cousin Lin? Surely it's much too hot for knotting?'

‘I noticed that you're still wearing that old black fan-cover we made for you when you went into mourning for Mrs Rong. As long as you were only wearing it once or twice a year, it didn't seem worth the trouble of replacing it; but now that you have to wear summer mourning every day at the other House, I thought it was high time I made you a new one. As soon as I've finished this cord for it, you can take the old one off and put it on. I know
you
don't care very much about this sort of thing, but if Her Old Ladyship were to see you wearing the old one when she got back, she'd be sure to blame me for neglecting you. She'd say I was too lazy even to notice what you were wearing.'

Bao-yu smiled.

‘It's very nice of you to have thought about it. But don't drive yourself too hard. You don't want to give yourself a heat stroke.'

At that moment Parfumée came in carrying a cup of water-cooled tea for him on a tray. Because as a little boy he had been delicate, Bao-yu was never given ice-cold tea to drink in summer. To cool his tea they plunged the tea-pot into a basin of water freshly drawn from the well. The water was changed several times until the tea inside the pot, though not chilled, had reached a pleasant freshness. He drank half the contents of the cup while Parfumdé held it to his lips, then turned his head back again to address Aroma.

‘I told Tealeaf when I left that if anyone important turns up at Cousin Zhen's, he is to let me know immediately; otherwise I shan't be going back there.'

He got up to go. As he was leaving the house, he called back to Emerald and the others in the outer room:

‘If I'm wanted for anything, you'll find me at Miss Lin's.'

On his way there, just as he was about to cross Drenched Blossoms Bridge, he came upon Snowgoose followed by two old women carrying an assortment of caltrops, melons and lotus-roots.

‘What are they for?' Bao-yu asked her. ‘I know your mistress never eats that sort of thing. Is she expecting Mrs Zhu or someone?'

‘If I tell you, you mustn't let on when you see her,' said Snowgoose.

Bao-yu nodded.

‘You can go on ahead and give that stuff to Miss Nightingale,' Snowgoose said to the two women. ‘If she asks you why I'm not with you, tell her I'm doing something and I'll be back directly.'

The women made some reply and continued on their way. Snowgoose waited until they were out of earshot.

‘The Mistress has been feeling a bit better this last day or two. But when Miss Tan looked in after lunch today and wanted her to go with her to call on Mrs Lian, she wouldn't go. She appeared to be thinking about something and had a little cry. Then presently she picked up her writing-brush and did a lot of writing – poetry I think. She told me to send out for some melons and things. While I did that, she said, Nightingale was to clear the
qin
-table in the inner room, move it into the outside room, and put the dragon incense-burner on it. She said she'd tell us what to do with the melons when I got back. If she's planning to entertain someone, I don't see what she wants the incense-burner for – certainly not for burning incense in, because she doesn't like incense as a rule. She likes to have fresh flowers and fruit and gourds about her but not incense because she doesn't like the smell of it in her clothes. Anyway, if she does want to burn some, why not in the inner room, where she spends all her time? Unless it's because the old women have made the outer room a bit smelly and she's burning it to get rid of the smell. The fact is, I really don't know. You'll have to go and find out for yourself.'

While she was speaking, Bao-yu had unconsciously lowered his head.

‘From what Snowgoose says,' he thought, ‘there must be some other reason for this. She wouldn't have things put out specially if she were merely entertaining one of the girls. Perhaps today is the anniversary of Aunt Lin's death. No, just a bit: it can't be. When it is, Grandma always sends her
the stuff for the offering and she's done that already this year. Perhaps it's for a seasonal offering. Perhaps she's been reading the
Doctrine of the Mean: