A Flower’s Shade Read online

  Miss Yu arose and moved quickly to the portrait of her deceased father. Full of false fervor, she said to the portrait, "Father, I'm going to get rid of all your women. You don't mind, do you?"

  Now that the concubines had grasped Miss Yu's intentions, they became as anxious as lobsters in a pot. They could hardly believe her decision. Obviously, Miss Yu's plan was to disperse them all, to throw them off the Estate. It hadn't occurred to anyone that Miss Yu would be quite so ruthless.

  Miss Yu walked shamelessly up to her brother, and asked provocatively, "Brother, you don't mind, do you?"

  Naixiang's face, rigid and almost ludicrous, did not register any reaction.

  "Brother, in your condition, it's not really suitable to keep so many women around, is it? Don't you agree, sister-in-law?"

  Miss Yu's sudden and capricious decision had left Suqin at a loss. The concubines began to weep and shout. A concubine shouted loudly, "Miss Yu, his body isn't even cold yet, but you want to throw us out. Aren't you being too drastic?"

  And another concubine was whimpering, "Since we were brought into the Zhen Estate, we should be allowed to die in the Zhen Estate."

  "We'll die first."

  One concubine led them in a general weeping and wailing as they threw themselves towards the Old Master's coffin. Miss Yu seemed to have expected some such tearful scene, and she had returned to her seat where she sat erect and looked with a childish air at the weeping and wailing women. Then she turned earnestly to Seventh Grandfather, who was sitting there in silent rage, asking, "Seventh Grandfather, now what's your opinion on the matter?"

  "My opinion? I'm surprised that you would remember an old man like myself." It was evident that Seventh Grandfather regarded today's scene as altogether unspeakable, and now that matters had progressed to such a stage she still had the gall to ask his opinion. She truly had no shame. "I'm an outsider in this affair, a useless old man whose words aren't worth the trouble of listening to, and if heaven and earth are reversed, if the hen crows while the rooster is silent, then what's the point of talking of rules? In any event you have the say in the Estate now. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have to take my leave." Seventh Grandfather got up to depart, but several men rose quickly to prevent his going, pleading and flattering him to keep him seated where he was.

  Miss Yu seemed to want deliberately to provoke him, she mischievously stuck out her tongue and licked her lips saying, "Seventh Grandfather, now don't be angry."

  Seventh Grandfather heaved a great sigh of resignation.

  Miss Yu felt that she had tasted enough of her own power, and said vaguely, "Actually, my intentions are good. China's a Republic now, and we oughtn't to stand in the way of these women, don't you agree? In point of fact, I don't want to throw them out, it's that I want to give them a way out. I certainly won't stop those who want to go, and those who don't want to go will be asked to move out of the Estate. What's so wonderful about the Estate—and if they go out and find a man to marry, won't they be happier?"

  Peach Blossom's pretty face had turned deep red, and she walked out from her place by the coffin, behind the white curtain. As everyone stared, she put forth her ample bosom and walked up to Naixiang's wheelchair, embracing Naixiang and heavily pressing her lips to Naixiang's rigid features. The kiss was very noisy and when she turned around she laughed coldly as she looked Miss Yu in face, and when she was done looking she gritted her teeth and said, "Miss Yu, you really know how to look after people. An old maid like you, what do you know about what men are like, and how can you understand the hearts and minds of women?" Peach Blossom opened her bloodshot, almond-shaped eyes wide, and looked directly at Naixiang, "Master, it isn't that I'm hard-hearted, it's that you've let yourself down." Suddenly she raised her right hand, and delivered an unexpected slap to Naixiang, hard in the face.

  Chapter Two

  1

  The Zhen Estate was now being turned upside down to be redecorated according to the wishes of the new mistress of the house, Miss Yu. The concubines of Old Master Zhen and his son had all been ruthlessly thrown off the Estate by Miss Yu, with the exception of Ai'ai who was needed to continue looking after Naixiang. This world, once ruled by men, was now in total collapse. On the one hand, Miss Yu seemed to be deliberately imitating her father, but on the other hand she also seemed to deeply resent the old Zhen Estate, and so she had formed a clear determination to create an all-new world, to be ruled by a woman's hand.

  In this world ruled by a woman, the first enormous change was that the formerly ever-present women were gone. Under male rule, women had been everywhere on the Zhen Estate. The women had been the living adornment of the Estate, the sex slaves of the ruling men, and it had always been universally remarked that even the female servants and maids had alluring outfits. For years, women had been no more than the toys of men, used to let off desire and then abandoned, and the women had based their principles of existence on whether or not they could attract the liking of men. The women had quarreled, competed and intrigued over petty trifles, fighting mercilessly and bitterly. Now, Miss Yu with her clear resolution, had entirely turned this phenomenon on its head.

  It was not only the coquettish concubines who were expelled, since the droves of female servants and maids were also largely exchanged for male servants. Miss Yu had established new rules for the management of the Estate. She gave orders almost arbitrarily, without any concern for their feasibility. Since she was in command, she could do as she pleased, and it didn't matter if others suffered. She often acted capriciously, making one ridiculous decision after another.

  One month after the death of Old Master Zhen, Kang Tuo, his white beard flowing chest-length, walked slowly into the Zhen Estate. Kang was a well-known calligrapher in the town, and he had been instructing Miss Yu in his art for a long time. He had been a good friend of Old Master Zhen, and they had shared a fondness for women. The word was that girl students was Kang Tuo's greatest hobby, and that he was fond of them in proportion to their beauty. Among his girl students, Miss Yu was the one in whom he took the greatest pride.

  Miss Yu's room was a terrible mess; a few sturdy man-servants were putting down a blazing red carpet. Kang Tuo was astonished to see so many strange men. He stood at the entrance, and could not understand what could have occurred. Fortunately Mrs. Wu happened past just at that time, and having hastened to greet him, now called loudly for Miss Yu.

  Miss Yu ran over from the red carpet, not yet fully laid down, and shouted, "Mr. Kang!"

  "Why are you turning everything upside down?" he asked her, twisting his beard. Miss Yu laughed, but did not answer. Mrs. Wu brought a chair over to him and motioned for Kang Tuo to lie down. Then she went into the room and came out with the opium tray, smiling as she said, "It's a terrible mess in there, you can have your smoke in this chair."

  "No matter, no matter." Kang Tuo said, grinning.

  Mrs. Wu knew all about Kang Tuo's addictions; he had a young man's spirit in an old man's body. Deliberately, she asked "Of course what you want is for our young lady to prepare the opium for you herself." He barely opened his mouth to murmur, "No matter, no matter." Mrs. Wu said gravely, "Of course it matters. It's not the same if it's not her."

  Miss Yu came smiling over to Kang Tuo and with practiced motions mixed the opium paste. She mixed it for a moment and then scooped up a small chunk which she molded in her hands. Then she put it in the bowl of the pipe and passed the pipe to Kang Tuo. Taking the pipe, he approached it to the opium lamp to smoke. Miss Yu said, "I'm really no better at preparing than Mrs. Wu, but it's in the order of things for a student to serve her teacher, to prepare the pipe for him, isn't that so?"

  Gulping down the smoke, Kang Tuo could not hear what Miss Yu was saying. He had smoked for many years, and having drawn a breath, he did not immediately expel it. Instead he put the pipe down on the little teapot and had a sip of tea, all the while keeping the smoke in his lungs. Only a moment later would he slowly exhale it. Most people seemed to gain energ
y by smoking, but it seemed like it drained Kang Tuo, like he had just woken up, and couldn't even keep his eyes open.

  "Your father has died. Death: there's a character you'll have to learn to write." he said with a sigh and a show of great dignity.

  Mrs. Wu had just happened to return, and hearing these words, interrupted: "Our young lady has been so busy these days, where could she find the time to do her calligraphy practice? Just look at the carpet she's having laid out—" Miss Yu rolled her eyes at her in anger, but Mrs. Wu failed to notice it, going on "Sometimes she overdoes it, our young lady. Nobody sleeps on the floor, so why does it need a carpet?"

  Miss Yu interrupted Mrs. Wu impatiently, telling her to fetch some of the calligraphy she had done for Kang Tuo to examine. Still jabbering, Mrs. Wu went to the room and returned with a few sheets of calligraphy. Miss Yu looked at her in displeasure, saying they were not the right sheets, and told her to go back and get the other ones. Mrs. Wu had to go back to the room, and this time she managed to bring in the right ones.

  Kang Tuo sat up in his chair and took the sheets from Mrs. Wu's hands. He unfolded them and looked at them closely, all the while nodding or shaking his head. Having examined them for a while, Kang Tuo said slowly, "A renowned teacher has produced a skilled disciple; you have indeed improved through my instructions, and this calligraphy is already a cut above the common crowd: no ordinary achievement. But the art of calligraphy knows no end. Your copy of Ode to the Stone Gates or of the inscription from the Zhou Dynasty bronze basin—they need to be bold and unconstrained yet well-arranged, you must bear in mind that these are the authentic characters of the official script, you must try carefully to understand them out, first with your heart and then your hands, without cutting corners."

  Mrs. Wu was nearby and had understood only "without cutting corners" , so with the prerogative of age, she interrupted, "Sir, you don't know, now that the old master's gone, no one here's to look after our lady, and she's hardly in the mood to do her calligraphy." Miss Yu's blanched in anger, but Mrs. Wu continued jabbering, "No cutting corners, did you hear that, you must only do it if you're going to work hard at it."

  "Are you done yet?" asked Miss Yu.

  2

  Bright sunshine outside, it was truly a glorious spring day. Miss Yu was in her room copying Ode to the Stone Gates. Huaifu stood in front of Miss Yu, and was respectfully pulling the sheets over for Miss Yu. A strong manservant, named Fourth was running in and out and taking the indoor flowerpots outside to get some sun. Miss Yu was copying intently, and Huaifu was staring at her fixedly. Miss Yu wrote a few characters and motioned to Huaifu to pull over the next sheet of calligraphy paper, but he was busy looking at her. Although he had both hands on the sheet, he was simply mooning foolishly at her without knowing what to do. Miss Yu raised her head and gave him a look, then took her brush and drew it over the back of his hand.

  Huaifu was astonished. After that, he did not dare again to be distracted, but pulled the sheets earnestly over until Miss Yu had finished her calligraphy. At the meeting of the Zhen Clan, it had been decided that Huaifu would help Miss Yu tend to the Estate affairs. Tend to Estate affairs—what that meant was that since there was no man on the Zhen Estate who could discharge social obligations, Huaifu's role was to be a kind of steward of the Estate. But Miss Yu did not let him interfere in any of her arrangements, and he had quickly become an indispensable companion in her daily life. To put it another way, he had quickly become a servant who was not a servant. Huaifu discovered that there were only two duties for him to discharge at the Zhen Estate for the nonce. One of them was to turn the paper overleaf when she did her calligraphy, and the other was to learn how to prepare the opium ball, so that he could blow the smoke for her.

  At the beginning, Huaifu had crawled up onto the opium bed like a bear to learn how to vaporize the opium, Mrs. Wu instructing on the side. Huaifu had been subject to coughing fits and had been unable to learn the skill. The opium bed was small, but Huaifu was tall and burly, so that crouching on the opium bed he looked very silly. He couldn't figure out why preparing the opium clump, which looked so easy, should be so hard to master. While he was learning how to prepare it, Miss Yu and Mrs. Wu were always ridiculing him. Once, Miss Yu was looking gleefully at his awkward movements, when she teased him: "You know, Huaifu, having come to this, it's like you've stepped in to be my father's adoptive son."

  Huaifu was absorbed by his attempt to learn the skill, but also had to listen to what Miss Yu was saying. If he got distracted, he began to choke, and then would begin to cough violently. If the smoke did drill down his trachea and into his lungs, he felt a pain in his chest like the blade of a knife. This made Miss Yu glow with laughter, saying, "Hey have you thought about this? You're the only man to be taken seriously in this whole Estate. Oh yes, and Huaifu, I still haven't figured out? What's the relationship between the two of us? Your grandfather's grandfather and my grandfather's grandfather—were they the same person? Or were they brothers?"

  Huaifu's face was red with choking, and he was still trying to vaporize the opium, and he also had to answer Miss Yu's question—his mind couldn't handle it all. He stopped and thought about it with great effort, but still could not answer. All he knew is that all those called Zhen were one family, and that he and Miss Yu were paternal cousins. She was the older, and he was the younger. He was the younger, and she was the older.

  Mrs. Wu saw him struggling and interrupted, "It's not hard, your grandfather's grandfather was also her grandfather's grandfather."

  Huaifu nodded his head, looking like he half-understood. He still had to keep learning how to vaporize the opium from Mrs. Wu. He was doing his best to pick it up so that he could learn this skill, which could earn him Miss Yu's favor. But he was too clumsy, and the more anxious he was to please, the worse he was at it. Miss Yu saw him bathed in sweat and was less and less impressed with what she said. Mockingly, she said "Hey, why are you so useless? You really are a country bumpkin!"

  Finally, Huaifu learnt how to vaporize the opium. He did the work Mrs. Wu had done in the past, drawing one full breath of opium after another and exhaling it over Miss Yu's face. Although she was still less than fully satisfied with his technique, she unhesitatingly gave Mrs. Wu her marching orders. She had long harbored many objections to Mrs. Wu, whose old-fashioned ways impeded her actions and filled her with anger.

  "Mistress, how can you be so cruel, without any warning you just throw me out like this?" Never in her dreams would it have occurred to Mrs. Wu that Miss Yu could make such a cruel decision so abruptly. With her bag of things she came to bid her farewell, standing furiously aside as she watched Huaifu, her replacement, obediently exhaling the opium for Miss Yu. Miss Yu knew who had come, but deliberately kept her eyes closed, and only the flaps of her nose quivered as she breathed in the smoke in the air.

  Mrs. Wu knew that there was no prospect of Miss Yu changing her mind. She looked at her askance and gave Huaifu a ferocious stare. By chance, Huaifu happened to glance over at Mrs. Wu, and quickly averted his gaze. He had a bit of a bad conscience, since at the bottom of his heart he was very much looking forward to Mrs. Wu's departure from the Zhen Estate. Mrs. Wu prided herself on her years of service and went about dictating and finding fault with everything. She was often snapping at him to do this or that, and was sometimes was even sharper with him than Miss Yu.

  "Since the mistress is really so hard-hearted, what else can I say! I raised you on my own milk, and now this is how I'm treated?" Sullenly, she turned on her heels, and as she left, rolled her eyes at her own mistress, the wholly indifferent Miss Yu.

  3

  Miss Yu ran into Xiaoyun in the corridor. The girl, familiar when Miss Yu had been young, had now become quite a stranger. It was a day in March, fine and clear, with all kinds of flowers in bloom. The Estate was filled with their fragrance. Over the last few days, they had had several rainfalls, and the air still held a hint of dampness. Miss Yu led Huaifu swiftly over the r
ed carpet, now properly laid down. They crossed the courtyard and took the round door into the long corridor. As they were walking down it, they discovered that a bicycle was leaning against the corner of the wall. It was the first time either Miss Yu or Huaifu had seen such a thing, and they looked at it with great curiosity. Miss Yu approached the bicycle, and pushed it with an air of childish mischievousness.

  The shadow of a thin man appeared behind them. Huaifu, turning around, was startled to see him. Miss Yu turned around and gave an involuntary start.

  Standing in front of them was a young man wearing dark glasses, holding a birdcage in his hand. On account of the dark glasses, which were in the old style, nothing more than two little black disks, giving him an expression that seemed to be simultaneously serious and rather ludicrous. He was evidently the owner of the bicycle, and was looking coldly at Miss Yu, as though accusing her of tampering with it.

  Once she had gotten over her start, Miss Yu approached the young man, scrutinizing him with great curiosity. She looked and looked, and took advantage of his momentary inattention to stretch her hand out and remove his glasses. This startled the young man as well as herself. Though the young man in front of her seemed somehow familiar to Miss Yu, she hadn't been able to place him. But, having thought about it for a moment, she recognized him by the visible mole under the corner of his left eye.

  "Xiaoyun? Is it you, Xiaoyun?" Miss Yu tried asking, "Hey, is it you?"

  The man she had called Xiaoyun began to look acutely embarrassed. Since he did not deny being Xiaoyun, it was certain that he was who Miss Yu said he was. Xiaoyun was the younger brother of her sister-in-law Suqin. Because Suqin's and Xiaoyun's parents had died soon after Suqin's marriage, Xiaoyun had been brought to live at the Zhen Estate when he was very small. One could say that he had grown up in the Zhen Estate, and one could also say that he had been the only companion of her girlhood, since in the isolation of the principal quarters, there had never been other children for Miss Yu to play with.