Chapter 102

Chapter 102

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CHAPTER 102

The Kinsmen of the Ning-guo Mansion Fall Ill from Grief;

Sacred Water Is Used in the Garden to Drive Away Evil Spirits

When Lady Wang sent for Baochai, the latter hurried over and paid her respects. Lady Wang said, "Your third sister-in-law is to be married soon. You two sisters-in-law must do your best to counsel her—that is only proper between sisters. Besides, she is a sensible girl and you two get along very well together. But I hear that Baoyu has been inconsolable since he learned of her marriage, and you should try to comfort him. As for me, I have one ailment after another, and your second sister-in-law is well one day and sick the next. You are more level-headed than either of them; but don't just swallow everything to avoid giving offense. In the future, the management of this whole household will rest on your shoulders." Baochai promised to do as she was told.

Lady Wang continued, "There is another thing. Your second sister-in-law brought the wife of the Liu family's maid over yesterday, to be attached to your household." Baochai said, "Ping'er brought her over today, saying it was your idea and the Second Mistress's." Lady Wang said, "Yes, your second sister-in-law discussed it with me. I thought it was of no consequence and saw no reason to refuse. But I must tell you, that girl has a rather restless look about her eyes. In the past, when the maids in Baoyu's quarters behaved like little fox-spirits, I drove out several of them—you know all about that, or you wouldn't have moved back to your own home. Now that you are here, things are of course different from before. I mention this just so that you can keep an eye on her. As for the maids in your quarters, that Xiren girl is the only one who is reliable." Baochai promised and, after a few more words, took her leave. After the meal she went to Tanchun's quarters, where she spoke with great warmth and sympathy—but no need to dwell on this.

The next day, when Tanchun was about to set out, she came to take leave of Baoyu. Naturally he found it hard to part with her. Tanchun spoke to him of duty and propriety, until Baoyu, who had at first hung his head in silence, finally turned his grief to joy and seemed to show signs of understanding. Reassured, Tanchun took her leave of everyone and got into her sedan-chair to set off, traveling part of the way by water and part by road.

Previously all the young ladies had lived in the Garden. After the death of the Imperial Consort, however, it was no longer kept in repair. Then, after Baoyu's marriage, Lin Daiyu's death, Shi Xiangyun's departure, and Xue Qin's return to her own home, the number of residents had dwindled, and as the weather was cold, Li Wan, Tanchun, Xichun, and the others had all moved back to their old quarters. Still, on flowering nights and moonlit days they would meet as before for fun. Now that Tanchun too had gone, and Baoyu had not left his room since his illness, there were even fewer spirits inclined toward merriment. The Garden was desolate; only a few of its caretakers remained.

That very day, when Madam You had come to see Tanchun off and, since it was late, decided not to have a carriage harnessed, she took the shortcut through the side gate that had been opened the previous year between the Garden and the Ning-guo Mansion. She found the scene desolate beyond words—the pavilions and terraces were still there, but the inner walls on both sides had been turned into vegetable plots. A sense of loss came over her, and when she reached home she felt feverish. After struggling along for a day or two, she took to her bed. During the day her fever was bearable, but at night her body burned abnormally and she raved continuously. Jia Zhen promptly called in a physician, who diagnosed the illness as having started with a cold that had now penetrated the Stomach Channel of Foot-Yangming, causing delirium, hallucinations, and incoherent speech; once the bowels were moved, the patient would recover. But after two doses of medicine Madam You showed no improvement; on the contrary, she grew even more delirious.

Jia Zhen, in a state of anxiety, summoned Jia Rong to find out whether there were any good physicians in the outside world whom they might invite to come and have another look. Jia Rong replied, "The imperial physician we had the other day was the most fashionable one in practice at the time. I'm afraid Mother's illness may not be curable by medicine." Jia Zhen said, "Nonsense! Are we to let her go without taking medicine?" Jia Rong said, "I don't mean she shouldn't be treated. It's just that the other day, when Mother came back from the Western Mansion, she walked through the garden to get home. The moment she arrived, she began to run a fever. Could she have run into an evil spirit? There's a fellow outside called Mao Banxian, a southerman, who casts very accurate divinations. We might as well invite him to cast a hexagram. If there's something to it, we'll follow his advice; if it doesn't work, we can invite other good doctors." Upon hearing this, Jia Zhen immediately ordered someone to invite the man. After he had sat in the study and drunk some tea, he said, "The mansion has sent for me—what would you have me divine?" Jia Rong said, "My mother is ill. I would ask you to cast a hexagram for us." Mao Banxian said, "In that case, fetch clean water for me to wash my hands, and set up an incense table. Let me cast a reading for you." The servants made the arrangements at once. He then drew a divination tube from his bosom, walked up to the table, and made a respectful bow. Shaking the tube in his hands, he recited: "Behold, the Supreme Ultimate and the Two Forms, intertwining and responding. The Charts emerge and transformations are inexhaustible; the sages act and sincere prayers are answered. Here is the devout official Jia, who, on account of his mother's illness, reverently petitions the four great sages—Fu Xi, King Wen, the Duke of Confucius, and Confucius—to look down from above. Where there is sincerity, there is spiritual response; where there is ill fortune, it is reported as ill; where there is good fortune, it is reported as good. First, I request the inner three lines." With that, he shook the coins out of the tube onto a tray and said, "The first line, being responsive, is a changing line." He picked them up, shook the tube again, and poured them out—it was an unchanging line. The third line was again a changing line. He gathered up the coins and said, "The inner lines have been shown; now I request the outer three lines to complete the hexagram." The result was unchanging, changing, unchanging. Mao Banxian put away the divination tube and the copper coins, then sat down and said, "Please sit, please sit. Let me examine this carefully. This is the hexagram 'Weiji' [Before Completion]. The third line is the line of self, and the fire of the Brother line is seizing wealth—bad luck is certainly indicated. Now, since you ask about your mother's illness, the governing line is the first line, which is indeed the Parent line producing the Officer Ghost line. Moreover, there is another Officer Ghost line on the fifth line. It seems your honored mother's illness is not light. Still, fortunately, the water of the Zi and Hai positions is in a state of rest, and the wood of the Yin position moves and produces fire. The self line produces an Offspring line, which does suppress the Ghost line. Furthermore, the day and month sustain the body, and in two more days, when the water of the Officer Ghost line falls empty, by the day of Xu she will be well. However, since the Parent line has changed into a Ghost line, I'm afraid your honored father may also encounter some trouble. And the self line itself is overburdened by Brother lines—on days when water flourishes and earth declines, things will not go well." When he had finished, he sat stroking his beard. Jia Rong, who at first had thought him a humbug and could barely keep from laughing, now found that his exposition of the hexagram was lucid and reasonable, and when he added that his father might also be in danger, he said, "Your divination is extremely insightful, but may I ask exactly what illness my mother has?" Mao Banxian said, "According to this hexagram, the self line's fire changing to water and overcoming it indicates that the ailment must be a congelation of cold fire. If you want a precise diagnosis, the stalk-divination method is not very clear; only the Greater Six Ren method would give an accurate reading." Jia Rong said, "Are you proficient in all these methods?" Mao Banxian said, "I know something of them." Jia Rong then asked for a consultation and reported a time. The master drew a chart and arranged the spirits and generals. The calculation showed White Tiger above Xu—this was called the "Soul-Transformation Lesson." In general, White Tiger is a malignant general; when it rides a prosperous and vigorous image but is restrained, it cannot do harm. But now it rides upon the spirit of death, the killing煞, and the season's imprisonment and starvation—it becomes a hungry tiger that will surely injure someone. It is as though the soul-spirit is frightened and disperses, hence the name "Soul-Transformation." This lesson's image speaks of a person's body harboring a ghost, with grief and worry following one another—much illness and death in mourning, and anxiety and alarm in litigation. According to the image, the tiger arrives at sundown, so the illness must have been contracted in the evening. The image further says that whoever casts this lesson will certainly have a lurking tiger causing trouble in an old residence, or some visible manifestation. Now, since you are casting this on behalf of your parent, it corresponds to the tiger in the yang position troubling a man, or in the yin position troubling a woman. This lesson is extremely ominous." Jia Rong, before he had even finished listening, turned pale with fright and said, "What you say is quite true. But it doesn't quite agree with the hexagram—is there really danger?" Mao Banxian said, "Don't panic. Let me look again carefully." He lowered his head and muttered to himself for a while, then said, "Good—there is a saving star! I have calculated that there is a noble spirit in Si to rescue and resolve it, called 'Soul-Transformation and Spirit-Return.' First sorrow, then joy—there is nothing to fear. Only be cautious."

Jia Rong presented the diviner's fee, saw him out, and reported to Jia Zhen, saying, "Mother's illness was contracted at the old residence in the evening—she ran into some corpse-like thing or a white tiger spirit."

Jia Zhen said, "You said your mother came back from the garden the other day—could she have run into it there? Don't you remember that when your Second Aunt went into the garden, she fell ill as soon as she came back. She didn't actually see anything, but later all the maids and old servants said there was a hairy creature on the hill, with eyes as big as lanterns, that could even speak, and it chased your Second Aunt back and frightened her into this illness."

Jia Rong said, "How could I not remember? I also heard Baoyu's servant Mingyan say that Qingwen had become the goddess of the hibiscus flowers in the garden, and that when Miss Lin died there was music in the empty air—she must be in charge of some flower too. With so many demons and spirits in the garden, it's terrible! In the past, there were many people around and the yang energy was strong, so coming and going was no problem. But now that it's desolate, Mother must have stepped on some flower spirit there, or run into one of those creatures. That divination was fairly accurate after all."

Jia Zhen said, "But did he say whether there would be harm or not?"

Jia Rong said, "According to him, she'll recover by the xū day. I only hope it's a couple of days earlier, or a couple of days later."

Jia Zhen said, "What does that mean?"

Jia Rong said, "If the diviner is that accurate, I'm afraid even the Old Master might have some trouble."

Just then, a shout came from inside: "The mistress wants to get up and go to that garden—the maids can't hold her down!" Jia Zhen and the others went in and managed to calm her. They heard Mrs. Ye babbling incoherently: "The one in red came to summon me, the one in green came to chase me." The people below ground were both frightened and amused. Jia Zhen then ordered people to buy paper money and burn it in the garden. That night, she indeed broke into a sweat and became somewhat calmer. By the xū day, she gradually recovered.

From then on, one person told ten, ten told a hundred, and everyone said there were demons and spirits in the Grand View Garden. This so frightened the garden keepers that they stopped pruning the flowers, mending the trees, and watering the fruits and vegetables. At first they dared not walk about at night, until even the birds and beasts pressed in on them; eventually they went about even in daylight only in groups and carrying weapons. After some time, Jia Zhen indeed fell ill. He did not even call a doctor for treatment—at best he would go to the garden to burn paper and make vows, and at worst he would study the stars and perform ritual prostrations. When Jia Zhen recovered, Jia Rong and the others fell ill one after another. This went on for several months, throwing both mansions into terror. From then on, the sound of the wind and the cry of cranes made them panic, and every plant and tree seemed possessed of evil spirits. All income from the garden was completely remitted, and monthly allowances for each household were reinstated, which actually made the Rong Mansion even more straitened. The garden keepers lost all incentive and each wanted to leave the place. They constantly made up stories, attributing them to flower spirits and tree demons, and each wanted to move out. They sealed the garden gates, and no one dared enter the building again. As a result, lofty towers and high pavilions, jade halls and precious terraces alike became roosting places for birds and beasts.

Now, Qingwen's cousin Wu Gui was living just outside the garden gate. His wife, ever since Qingwen's death, had heard that she had become a flower goddess and dared not go out in the evenings. One day, Wu Gui went out to buy things and returned late. His wife had already caught a cold, and having taken the wrong medicine during the day, by the time Wu Gui reached home she was already dead on the kang. The people outside, because the wife had been unwell, all said that a demon had crawled over the wall and sucked out her life-essence, killing her. The old lady was so anxious that she assigned many additional people to surround Baoyu's quarters, patrolling and keeping night watch. The young maids said that some had seen a red-faced creature, and others had seen a very beautiful woman, and they kept shrieking and clamoring. This frightened Baoyu so that he was terrified every day. Fortunately, Baochai had a firm grip on things—when she heard the maids talking nonsense, she threatened to beat them, so the rumors quieted down somewhat. But there was no helping it—the people in every household were all suspicious and uneasy, so they added more people for night watches, which in turn increased the expenses considerably. Only Jia She was rather skeptical. "It's a perfectly good garden," he said. "How could there be any ghosts or demons?" He picked a day with a clear breeze and warm sun, took several servants with him, each carrying weapons, and went into the garden to investigate. Everyone tried to dissuade him but he would not listen. When they entered the garden, the yin energy was indeed oppressive. Jia She pressed forward, while his followers poked their heads out and pulled them back in. Among them was a young servant whose heart was already filled with fear. Suddenly, with a whooshing sound, he turned his head and saw something brilliantly colorful leap past him. He cried out "Ai-yo!" His legs gave way and he collapsed. Jia She turned back to question him, and the young man replied between gasps: "I saw with my own eyes a demon with a yellow face, a red beard, and blue-green garments, who went into a cave in the hill behind the grove of trees." Jia She, hearing this, also became somewhat frightened. "Did you all see it?" he asked. Several, taking the easy way out, replied, "How could we not have seen it? It was because you were in front, Old Master, that we dared not make a disturbance. We could hold out." This made Jia She afraid, and he dared not go any farther. He hurried back and ordered the young servants: "Don't mention this. Just say we looked everywhere and there was nothing." In his heart, however, he believed it and intended to go to the residence of a Taoist master to invite an exorcist. Little did he know that those servants would make trouble even when there was none. Now that they saw Jia Jia was frightened, they not only did not keep the matter quiet but embellished it with fabrications, making everyone gasp in astonishment.

Jia She had no choice but to invite Taoist priests to the garden to perform rites for driving out evil spirits and expelling demons. An auspicious day was chosen, and first an altar was set up in the main hall where the imperial consort had once received her family, with offerings placed before the holy images of the Three Pure Ones. The Twenty-Eight Mansions were depicted on either side, along with images of the four Great Generals Ma, Zhao, Wen, and Zhou, and below them the images of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals. Flowers, incense, lamps, and candles filled the hall, bells, drums, and ritual implements were arranged on both sides, and banners of the Five Directions were planted. The Taoist Registry assigned forty-nine Taoist practitioners to their duties, and the altar was purified for a full day. After the three chief priests had performed the rites of offering incense and fetching water, the ritual drums were beaten. The priests all donned the Seven-Star Crowns, put on the Nine-Palace and Eight-Trigrams ritual robes, stepped into the Cloud-Treading Shoes, and held ivory tablets in their hands, then presented a memorial invoking the saints. They also spent a full day reciting the *Dongyuan Jing*, a scripture for dispelling calamities, driving out evil, and receiving blessings. Afterward, they issued a proclamation summoning the generals. The proclamation bore the inscription in large characters: "Order issued by the Great Preceptor of the Great Unity and Primordial Origin, the Upper Pure Three Realms, the Numinous Treasure Register and Evolved Teaching, commanding all local deities to come to the altar and await orders."

On that day, the gentlemen of both mansions, relying on the priests to capture the demons, all went to the garden to watch. They all exclaimed, "What a grand ceremony! With such summoning of gods and dispatching of generals, no matter how many demons there are, they'll be scared away!" Everyone crowded to the front of the altar. The young Taoists raised the banners and flags, taking their positions at the Five Directions, awaiting the chief priests' commands. The three priests stood before the altar—one holding a precious sword and a bottle of consecrated water, another carrying the Seven-Star Black Banner, and the third raising the Peach-Wood Demon-Beating Whip. When the ritual implements fell silent, three strokes of the command token sounded from above, and the chief priest chanted incantations. The banners of the Five Directions then swirled and spread in all directions. The priests descended from the altar and had the master of the house lead them through every pavilion, hall, tower, corridor, room, mountain crag, and waterside, sprinkling consecrated water everywhere. The sword was pointed and traced in the air for a time, then they returned, struck the command tokens repeatedly, and raised the Seven-Star Banner. The Taoists gathered the banners and flags together, then took the Demon-Beating Whip and struck the empty air three times. The family members all said the demons had been captured and crowded forward to see, but when they reached the front, they could see or hear nothing. They only saw the priests instruct the Taoists to bring out bottles and jars, "capture the demons," and seal them with strips of paper. The chief priest wrote talismans in vermilion ink to imprison them, and ordered them to be taken back and sealed under the pagoda in their own temple. Then the altar was dismantled and the generals thanked and dismissed.

Jia She bowed in respectful gratitude to the priests. Jia Rong and the younger cousins, behind their backs, laughed without stopping. "With such a grand display, I thought they'd catch the demons and show us what they looked like. Who'd have known it would end like this—I wonder if the demons were really taken or not?" Jia Zhen, hearing this, scolded them: "Foolish creatures! Demons take form when they gather and become dispersed energy when they scatter. With so many divine generals present, how dare they show themselves! The evil aura has been collected, and that's what stops them from causing trouble—that's the power of the ritual." The others were half-convinced and half-doubtful, and decided to wait and see if there were no further disturbances before judging. The servants, knowing only that the demons had been captured, suspected they were gone, and no longer paid much attention to the matter. Afterward, no one mentioned it again. When Jia Zhen and the others recovered from their illnesses, they all praised the priests' divine power. Only one young servant laughed and said: "I don't know about those noises earlier, but the day I followed the Old Master into the garden, it was clearly a big wild pheasant that flew past. Shuan'er got startled and let his imagination run wild, making it sound so real. We all helped him cover it up with a lie, and the Old Master took it seriously. And so we got to watch quite a lively altar ceremony!" The others had heard this, but who would believe it? And so no one stopped to dwell on it.

One day, Jia She, having nothing to do, was about to summon some household servants to move into the garden and guard the houses, fearing that villains might hide there at night. He was just about to give the order when Jia Lian came in, paid his respects, and reported that he had gone to his maternal uncle's house that day and heard a rumor. "They say that Second Uncle has been impeached by the military governor for failing to supervise his subordinates and over-collecting grain taxes, and that an edict has been requested to dismiss him from office." Jia She was alarmed and said, "I'm afraid it's just rumor. A few days ago, your Second Uncle sent a letter saying that Tan Chun had arrived at her post on such-and-such a day, and on an auspicious day had sent your sister to the coastal region. The journey was calm and peaceful, and the whole family need not worry. He also said that the military governor had acknowledged the family connection and even held a celebration—how could he impeach someone after becoming relatives? Say no more for now. Go quickly to the Ministry of Personnel and find out the truth, then come back and report to me."

Jia Lian left at once and returned in less than half a day. "I've just been to the Ministry of Personnel and found out that Second Uncle has indeed been impeached. The memorial was presented, but thanks to His Majesty's grace, it was not referred to the ministry; instead, an edict was issued directly, saying that for failing to supervise his subordinates, over-collecting grain taxes, and oppressing the people, he should have been dismissed from office. However, in consideration that he had just taken up his first provincial post and was unfamiliar with administration, having been deceived by his subordinates, he was demoted three grades but graciously allowed to continue serving as an assistant director in the Ministry of Works, and was ordered to return to the capital immediately. This news is reliable. While I was still at the Ministry of Personnel, a magistrate from Jiangxi who had been summoned for an audience came and spoke of our Second Uncle with great gratitude, saying he was an excellent superior but simply chose the wrong people. Those servants of his had been swaggering about outside, swindling and bullying the local officials, ruining his good reputation. The military governor had long known this and also said our Second Uncle was a good man. I don't understand why he was impeached this time. Perhaps things had gotten so bad that he feared a greater disaster would result, so he used the matter of failing to supervise subordinates as the grounds for impeachment—it may have been a way of dealing lightly with a serious matter." Before Jia Lian had finished speaking, Jia She told him, "Go first and let your aunt know, but don't tell the Old Lady for now." Jia Lian went to report to Lady Wang. What was said will be told in the next chapter.