Copper cash, seven thousand five hundred strings
All the furniture and properties bestowed by Imperial favour on the Rong-guo branch of the family had been itemized in a similar fashion, while property deeds and bonds for household servants had been put into separate covers and sealed.
Jia Lian followed this recital in detail, and was greatly puzzled to hear no mention of any of his own belongings. Presently one of the princes put an end to his bewilderment by asking Jia Zheng:
‘Among the items confiscated earlier, there were promissory notes bearing exorbitant rates of interest – who is responsible for these? You must tell the truth, Zheng.’
Jia Zheng knelt, kowtowed and said:
‘I have, alas, been insufficiently diligent in supervising my household. I was completely unaware of these activities. My nephew Jia Lian can doubtless answer your questions.’
Jia Lian hurried forward and fell to his knees.
‘Since the chest containing these documents was found in my apartment, how dare I disclaim knowledge of them? I can only beg Your Highnesses’ mercy. My uncle was quite unaware of their existence.’
‘Your father has already been arrested,’ said the princes to Jia Lian. ‘This offence can be dealt with at the same time as his. We commend you for having made a clean breast of it.’ They turned to their men: ‘Jia Lian must be detained. The others may be released, but are to be kept within the confines of the mansion.’ Finally they addressed Jia Zheng: ‘You, Zheng, must be more circumspect in future. Stay here and await His Majesty’s final Edict. We will now return to make our report to the throne, and in the meantime will leave guards here to keep watch over the house.’
They climbed into their princely sedans and were carried out of the mansion. Jia Zheng escorted them as far as the inner gate, where he knelt to see them off, and the Prince of Bei-jing stretched out a hand towards him as he passed, urging him to set his mind at ease. There was genuine concern written on the prince’s face.
After their departure Jia Zheng managed to compose himself somewhat, though he was still suffering from a deep sense of shock. When Jia Lian came and asked him to call on Grandmother Jia, informing him that she was indisposed, he roused himself at once and went in. At every doorway he encountered frantic maids and serving-women, all wondering what turn events would take next. Too preoccupied to stop and question them, he hurried on to Grandmother Jia’s apartment, and arrived to find Lady Wang, Bao-yu and the others gathered around Grandmother Jia, their faces wet with tears; there was silence in the room, broken only by the occasional fit of convulsive wailing from Lady Xing. The appearance of Jia Zheng brought cries of ‘Heaven be praised!’ and they hastened to reassure the old lady:
‘The Master is safe and sound! He’s here with us! Please don’t fret any more, Grannie!’
Grandmother Jia gave a faint little gasp and opened her eyes a slit:
‘Oh my son! I thought I’d never see you again!’
As she spoke, she burst out sobbing, and everyone in the room immediately followed suit. Jia Zheng was afraid that all this emotion might injure the old lady’s health and checked his own tears:
‘Please calm yourself, Mother. I cannot deny the gravity of what has happened. But thanks to the Emperor’s generosity and the gracious favour of the two princes, we have been treated with great compassion. Brother She has only been taken for questioning, and when his case has been investigated I am sure His Majesty will deal with him leniently also. And so far, not a thing has been removed from the house.’
When Grandmother Jia learned that her elder son had been taken away, she broke down again, and it was a while before Jia Zheng could finally calm her spirits.
The first person to venture out of the room was Lady Xing. She went to inspect her own apartment, and found all the doors sealed with strips of paper and padlocked, and her maids and serving-women held prisoner inside. There was nowhere for her to take refuge, and she let out a great howl of despair. Finally she made her way to Xi-feng’s apartment. Xi-feng’s side-rooms were sealed in a similar fashion, but the door leading into the main hall was still open, and from inside she could hear the sound of sobbing. She went in, and saw Xi-feng lying on her couch with eyes closed, her face ashen-pale; Patience stood by her side, quietly weeping. Lady Xing thought Xi-feng must be already dead and broke down again. Patience came up to her:
‘Please, Your Ladyship, don’t cry! We carried Mrs Lian back and she looked as good as dead. She had a sleep and then she woke up again and started crying. Now she’s more settled. Please try to be calm, Your Ladyship. How is Her Old Ladyship taking it?’
Lady Xing did not answer her question, but returned to Grandmother Jia’s apartment. There she was surrounded by Jia Zheng’s family. She reflected on her wretched fate: her husband and son were under arrest, her daughter-in-law was at death’s door, her newly married daughter was suffering maltreatment, and now she herself had nowhere to turn. Her whole world seemed to be collapsing around her. The others took pity on her distress and did what they could to comfort her; Li Wan sent a servant to prepare temporary accommodation while Lady Wang deputed some of her own maids and serving-women to wait on her.
Jia Zheng meanwhile had returned to his outer study and was sitting there, stroking his beard and nervously rubbing his hands together, waiting in a state of great trepidation for the outcome of the princes’ report to the throne. He heard one of the guards shouting outside:
‘Which part of the house do you belong to, for goodness’ sake? Since you’ve turned up here, we’ll have to enter you in our book. Bind him and hand him over to the Jackets.’
Jia Zheng went out to the gate and found that the man in question was Big Jiao, the ‘trusty old retainer’ from Ning-guo House.
‘What the devil brings you here?’ he asked.
Stomping furiously on the ground and calling heaven to be his witness, Big Jiao cried:
‘Hadn’t I warned these good-for-naught masters time after time – and they always said I was agin them! But you, sir, you know the wounds I had at my master’s side! And now look what we’ve come to! Mr Zhen and Master Rong both put in chains by some prince or other; the ladies manhandled and locked up in an empty room by some men from the whatsit guards; the slaves all penned up together, sir, like the worthless pigs that they are! Everything taken out for inventory and pushed to one side, lovely old furniture broken up, china smashed to smithereens … And now they want to get their hands on me! In my more than four score years I’ve tied men aplenty for my master: but let ’em do it to me – never! I gave ’em the slip at first and said I was from Rong-guo House; but they wouldn’t believe it and dragged me in. And now I find things are just as bad here. Nothing left worth living for. Whole place gone to the dogs. Well, I’m damned if I’ll knuckle under now. I might as well go down fighting!’
He charged head-first at the guards, who, out of respect for his age, and not wishing to contravene the princes’ orders, handled him with restraint.
‘Calm down, old man. We’re here to carry out an Imperial Edict. Now just take it easy and wait to see what His Majesty commands.’
Throughout this Jia Zheng said nothing, though he was cut to the quick by the old man’s words.
‘So it has come to this!’ he finally exclaimed to himself. ‘We are finished! I never thought we should be brought so low!’
He returned to his study and a little later was still sitting there, anxiously awaiting news from the Palace, when he heard Xue Ke come running into the courtyard and call out breathlessly:
‘I got through by the skin of my teeth! Where’s Uncle Zheng?’
Jia Zheng stepped out to greet him:
‘I am so glad you were able to reach us. How did you persuade them to let you in?’
‘I just begged and begged for all I was worth, and promised them money, and in the end they let me pass.’
Jia Zheng told him of the raid and asked him to try to find out on their behalf what was going on:
; ‘We can’t communicate with our friends and relatives. It would be too dangerous. You are the very person to carry word through for us.’
‘I had heard of the charges brought against Ning-guo House,’ said Xue Ke, ‘but I had no idea things were so bad on this side too.’
‘But what are the charges?’ asked Jia Zheng.
‘Earlier today,’ replied Xue Ke, ‘I was at the Board of Punishments on business of my own. I was enquiring about Cousin Pan’s sentence, but while I was there I happened to hear of the indictments brought by two censors against Cousin Zhen. One was for corrupting the sons of noble families, encouraging them to gamble and that sort of thing. That was the lesser of the charges: the other was for forcefully taking as a concubine the fiancée of an innocent man; when she resisted, or so the indictment reads, he subjected her to physical violence and drove her to her death. To corroborate the charges, the censor concerned has arrested a servant of ours named Bao Er and has also brought as witness a certain Mr Zhang. Even the Chief Censorate may be in trouble, as this fellow Zhang originally appealed to them some time ago and had his appeal quashed.’
Jia Zheng stamped his foot before Xue Ke had finished speaking.
‘What have things come to! This is truly the end!’
He sighed, and his cheeks were wet with tears. Xue Ke tried to console him, and then went out again to gather more news.
‘Things look bad,’ he reported later that day. ‘At the Board of Punishments, I could discover nothing about the two princes and their report to the throne. But I did learn something else. Early this morning a censor named Li presented an impeachment against the magistrate of Ping-an, accusing him of toadying to a metropolitan official, of pandering to his superiors and of oppressing the common people – together with a whole string of serious related offences.’
‘What has that to do with us?’ replied Jia Zheng somewhat impatiently. ‘What about our own people?’
‘The two cases are connected,’ said Xue Ke. ‘The metropolitan official referred to in Censor Li’s impeachment is in fact Uncle She: which means that he is implicated in a miscarriage of justice – which is a serious offence. His friends at court want to keep their hands clean if they possibly can, and there is no one even willing to keep us informed. It’s the same with the guests who fled from the party just now – they have either gone home, or found some other hiding place in which to lie low until the storm blows over. A few members of the clan are even publicly asking who will be the lucky one to get the title now that the family has been disgraced. They all have an eye on it …’
Jia Zheng stamped his foot and interrupted him again:
‘This is all the consequence of my elder brother’s folly! And of the disgraceful ways into which Ning-guo House had fallen! But enough of this. Who knows if Lady Jia and Lian’s wife are even still alive! You had best return and continue your enquiries, while I go and see how Lady Jia is. If you have any news, bring it as quickly as you can.’
As they were speaking, a confused cry was heard from within:
‘Her Old Ladyship is sinking!’
Jia Zheng hurried away in great alarm. To learn if she lived, you must turn to the next chapter.
Chapter 106
Wang Xi-feng feels remorse for the consequences of her past misdeeds
And Grandmother Jia prays for the family’s deliverance from further calamity
Jia Zheng hurried straight in to Grandmother Jia’s apartment. The shock of the day’s events had finally taken its toll, and she was unconscious again and breathing fitfully. Lady Wang, with the help of Faithful and the other maids, eventually brought her round. They persuaded her to swallow one of her combined dispersant and sedative boluses, which brought some slight relief. But she remained tearful and distraught. Jia Zheng stood by her side and tried to comfort her and rally her spirits:
‘It is Brother She and I who have brought this misfortune on the family and caused you all this distress, Mother. Please try to take heart a little. We will do our utmost to set things to rights. If you should suffer in any way, our burden of guilt will be unbearable!’
‘I am over eighty now,’ replied the old lady, ‘and ever since the day I came here as a girl and was married to your father, I have led a sheltered life. I have been blessed and protected by the family ancestors. I’ve never even heard of such terrible goings-on as these. I am too old for it all. I couldn’t bear to see you punished. I’d rather die, and be spared the ordeal.’
She burst into tears once again, and Jia Zheng grew more and more agitated about her condition. Suddenly a voice was heard outside calling:
‘News from court for the Master!’
Jia Zheng hurried out. The Prince of Bei-jing’s aide-de-camp was waiting for him in the main reception hall, and greeted him with the words:
‘Excellent news, sir!’
Jia Zheng thanked the aide for coming and begged him to be seated.
‘What are my instructions from His Highness?’ he asked.
‘My master and His Highness the Prince of Xi-ping presented a joint report to His Majesty, and spoke at some length on your behalf, sir, stressing your penitence and your great appreciation of the clemency shown to you by the throne. His Majesty was most sympathetic, and mindful of the recent demise of Her Grace, he has resolved not to punish you, but instead to restore you to your former post as Under-Secretary at the Board of Works. Of the family property held under restraint, only that portion belonging to Sir She is to be confiscated. The rest will all be returned to you. His Majesty urges you to resume your official duties with diligence.
‘The matter of the promissory notes will be investigated personally by my master. Any such notes referring to loans made at usurious rates of interest will be confiscated outright according to the relevant statute; notes negotiated at permissible rates, together with title-deeds of houses and land, will all be returned. Jia Lian is to be deprived of his position and rank, but otherwise will be exempted from further punishment and released.’
Jia Zheng rose from his seat and kowtowed in the appropriate direction for this act of Imperial clemency. He also bowed to the aide to express his profound gratitude for the prince’s intervention on his behalf.
‘Be so good as to convey my thanks to His Highness. Tomorrow I shall attend court in order to express my gratitude to His Majesty in person, and shall also present myself at His Highness’s palace to make my kowtow.’
The prince’s aide took his leave. Shortly afterwards a court official arrived to proclaim the Edict, followed by the officers entrusted with its execution, who supervised the proceedings scrupulously, confiscating only what had been specified, and restoring everything else to its owner. Jia Lian was released, while Jia She’s domestic staff, men and women alike, were all taken away into public service.
Jia Lian’s position was not to be envied. Some of the promissory notes and documents were returned, and none of his other property had been officially confiscated, but his apartment had been ransacked and nothing but the bare furniture had been left in place. His initial relief at being set free and escaping the punishment he feared soon gave way to a profound sense of loss, when he beheld his own and Xi-feng’s possessions of a lifetime – altogether about sixty thousand taels’ worth – gone in a morning’s work. His father’s imprisonment, Xi-feng’s critical state of health: the strain was almost more than he could bear. And now he had to face Jia Zheng, who summoned him and berated him, barely suppressing a sob:
‘I have, alas, been too busy of late with my official duties, and have paid insufficient attention to family matters. I thought I could rely on you and your wife. I can hardly remonstrate with your father for his misconduct; but this usury that has come to light – who in heaven’s name is responsible for that? Families like ours simply do not dabble in such things. The documents have been confiscated, and both principal and interest are forfeit: but it’s not the money, it’s the appalling blow this will deal to our reputation!’
Jia Lian fell to his knees:
‘In managing our family’s affairs, Uncle, I have never acted with a view to private gain. All the accounts have been kept by the stewards – Lai Da, Wu Xin-deng, Dai Liang and the others. Please summon them and hear the truth from their lips. These past few years, our expenditure has far exceeded our income, and there have been deficits in the accounts that I have simply been unable to make good, despite the numerous unsecured debts I have had to negotiate. Aunt Wang will be able to tell you all about it. As for the money loaned out, even I have no idea where that has come from. You’d better ask Zhou Rui and Brightie.’
‘So, you are telling me you don’t even know what goes on in your own apartment, let alone the rest of the household! I shall not pursue this matter any further with you at present. Consider yourself extremely lucky to have been let off so lightly. Now you’d better stir yourself and find out what’s happening to your father and Cousin Zhen.’
Jia Lian felt very hard done by, but swallowed his tears and departed in obedience to his uncle’s instructions.
Left alone, Jia Zheng ruminated on the family’s misfortunes, heaving many a heartfelt sigh:
‘It was in vain that my grandfather and my great-uncle served the throne so loyally, winning the family great honour and two hereditary titles. Now both our houses have been disgraced, both titles have been stripped from us. And if I look further ahead, I can see no respite, no rising star in the younger generation capable of stemming this tide of degeneration! Great Heaven! That our noble line should have come to this! Thanks to an act of exceptional clemency on His Majesty’s part, I have been spared, and my property has been restored. But both households must now look to me for their daily sustenance, and how can I hope to support them all? This latest revelation of Lian’s is another grievous blow; not only have we no reserves, we are seriously in debt. We have evidently been living under false pretences for years! And I have only my own stupidity to blame! How can I have been so blind? If only my eldest son were still alive! In Zhu I might at least have had some support. But Bao-yu, for all that he is my son, and now a grown man, can offer me no help whatsoever.’