Soon the monk's bag was packed and he opened the door of the hermitage and led the ass out through it, Li following them Caption

Outside the gate there was a large pond.

unobserved. Outside the gate there was a large pond, and here the monk, having tethered his ass to a tree, plunged naked into the water and proceeded to wash himself all over. Then he dressed himself, led the ass into the water and washed it likewise.

When these ablutions were finished, he mounted the ass and set off at a smart pace. Li called after him, and from a distance the monk turned to salute him, clasping both hands together in a polite gesture of farewell. Li could not distinguish what it was he said, and the monk was soon lost to view.

Wang Meiwu said that this Li was a friend of his, and that he had once visited his little hermitage and seen a horizontal scroll hanging in the entrance hall, inscribed: Waiting Room for Death.

The wording testified to the unusually deep nature of the man.

97.

ROUGE.

In the city of Dongchang there lived a veterinarian named Bian, whose daughter Rouge was a girl of exceptional beauty and intelligence. Her father doted on her and wanted to find her a husband from a good family, but none of the local families of standing would consider an alliance with such a humbly born young lady, and as a result, when she came of age, she was still single.

Across the street from the Bians lived a family by the name of Gong. Mr Gong's wife, Madame Wang, was a somewhat loose woman, fond of having a bit of fun, especially at the expense of others. She used to come over regularly and chat with Rouge in the women's quarters of the Bian household, and the two became quite friendly.

One day, Rouge was seeing Madame Wang to the door when she caught sight of a man passing by in the street, dressed all in white. She was struck by the man's appearance and took an immediate fancy to him, staring at him with her bright glistening eyes. The young man for his part lowered his head and strode on down the street, but Rouge continued gazing after him as he walked away.

Madame Wang guessed at once what was going through Rouge's mind, and said playfully, 'What a fine pair the two of you would make, you with your brains and beauty, and a handsome young man like that!'

Rouge flushed coyly and said not a word.

'Do you know who he is?' asked Madame Wang.

'No, I don't.'

'Well I do. He's Li Qiusun, a promising young first-degree scholar, who lives in South Lane. His late father was a well-respected mandarin, and we used to be neighbours, so I know him quite well. There is not a man more gentle and considerate than he is. He is wearing white today because his wife has died and he is still in mourning. If you fancy him, I'll drop a hint or two for him to send over a matchmaker.'

Rouge said nothing in reply, and Madame Wang went away with a smile on her face.

Days went by without any news, and Rouge supposed either that Madame Wang had not had the leisure to drop her 'hint', or that the man himself was too proud to marry beneath him. She brooded about it miserably, gradually ceasing to eat and sleep, and lying on her bed listless and depressed day and night. After several days, Madame Wang called on her again and, seeing the state she was in, inquired as to its cause.

'I really can't say for sure,' replied Rouge weakly. 'I just know that ever since we last met, I have been utterly miserable. I only feel half alive.'

'My husband has been away on business and he still hasn't returned,' whispered Madame Wang conspiratorially. 'That's why I haven't been able to get word to the young man yet. This indisposition of yours wouldn't be on account of him, would it, my dear?'

Rouge flushed deeply.

'If things are as bad as that,' said Madame Wang, with a laugh, 'for goodness' sake do something about it! Don't go making yourself ill! Don't be coy! Take the plunge invite him over tonight. I am sure he won't refuse.'

Rouge sighed. 'It's true, I am in a bad way. And I know there's no sense in being coy. I'm sure you're right. If only he were to think of marrying me and sent a matchmaker, my illness would be cured at once. But I could never be so forward as to see him secretly before we were married.'

Madame Wang nodded and went on her way.

Now, when she had been a young woman, Madame Wang had had intimate relations with her neighbour, a man by the name of Su Jie, from an educated family. Since her marriage to Mr Gong, this Su had been taking advantage of her husband's frequent absences to revive their earlier intimacy. That very evening, he chanced to come over to visit his old flame, and Madame Wang thought to entertain him by telling him about Rouge's predicament, even jestingly suggesting that he might be the one to communicate the girl's infatuation to handsome young Mr Li. But Su immediately formed other plans of his own. He had himself long been aware of Rouge's good looks, and he now secretly rejoiced at this new amorous opportunity that had come his way. He even half thought of confiding in Madame Wang, but he reflected that she was bound to be jealous, and in the end affected indifference towards the young girl's plight, while at the same time casually extracting from his lover detailed information concerning the layout of Rouge's living quarters.

The very next evening, he climbed over the wall of the Bian compound, made his way directly to Rouge's apartment and tapped with his finger on the window.

'Who's there?' she asked.

'It's me Li Qiusun!' he replied.

'My heart yearns for a loving union with you,' replied Rouge, 'one that will endure a lifetime, not a single night. If you truly love me, then send a matchmaker to ask for my hand. If you are asking me to sleep with you tonight, then the answer is no.'

Su pretended to respect her scruples but pleaded with her to vouchsafe him one touch of her slender wrist as a sign of their love. She had not the heart to refuse him this request. Struggling feebly from her bed, with some considerable effort she opened the door. Su hurried into the darkened room, threw his arms around her and without further ado attempted to have his way with her. Rouge was far too weak to resist and fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Su pulled her forcefully towards him.

'You are so rough and cruel!' she cried. 'Not at all how I imagined you to be! I thought you would be kind and caring! I never thought you would treat me violently knowing I have been poorly! Stop this minute, or I shall raise the alarm and both of us will be ruined!'

Su was afraid of being exposed and pressed her no further. But he did ask her for another assignation, to which Rouge replied that the next time they met would be on their wedding day. Su protested that this was unbearably far in the future and insisted on something sooner, whereupon Rouge, finding his pestering most disagreeable, eventually relented and agreed to see him again once she was fully recovered. Su asked for a token of her consent, and when she flatly refused, he seized hold of her foot, pulled off one of her embroidered slippers and went away with it.

'I have promised myself to you, body and soul!' she called after him. 'You know I would happily give you anything. The one thing I fear is that your family will think me too humble to be your wife, and that I will end up a laughing stock. Whatever happens, I know you will never give me back my slipper. I beg you, do not abandon me now. If you do it will be the death of me!'

After leaving the Bian house, Su went straight to Madame Wang's to spend the night. He was already in bed when his thoughts turned to the slipper and he reached into his sleeve to feel for it, only to discover that it was gone. He jumped up and lit a lamp, then shook his clothes and searched for it everywhere. When Madame Wang asked him what he was looking for, he made no reply, suspecting her of having hidden it. She laughed at him, and this only strengthened his suspicions. In the end he could conceal the truth no longer and confessed to what he had done. He went outside with his lamp and looked for the slipper everywhere, but it was nowhere to be found. He returned to bed greatly dismayed, comforting himself as best he could with the thought that it must be somewhere in the neighbourhood and that nobody else would have seen it or picked it up at such a late hour. The next morning, he rose early and went out looking for it again, but in vain.

Now, there lived in the district a disreputable character by the name of Big Mao, who had already made several fruitless attempts to seduce Madame Wang. Aware of Su's greater success in this connection, he had wanted to catch the two of them at it, thinking that he could thereby put pressure on Madame Wang to let him have his share. Going past her house that very night, he tried the gate and, finding it unbolted, was sneaking his way in on tiptoe towards the window of her room when his feet encountered something soft and silky. He picked the object up from the ground and found it to be an embroidered slipper wrapped in a silk handkerchief. Putting his ear closer to the window he overheard Su's confession his detailed account of his frustrating encounter with the delectable Rouge. Beside himself with delight and excitement, Big Mao crept back out again.

Several days later, it was Big Mao's turn to climb over the wall of the Bian compound and into the courtyard. But unlike Su he had not been briefed on the topography of the house, and ended up making his way towards the father's room by mistake. Old Bian saw a silhouette through his window and, guessing from the suspicious way he was behaving that the man must have come to do some harm to his daughter, he angrily snatched up a knife and ran outside. Big Mao took to his heels in terror, but Old Bian caught up with him just as he was about to scale the wall. In desperation, Big Mao turned around and snatched the knife from the old man. By this time Rouge's mother was also awake and had raised the alarm, and Big Mao, unable to extricate himself from Old Bian's grasp, struck him down with the knife.

Rouge, who was by now somewhat recovered from her earlier indisposition, had also been roused by all the noise, and mother and daughter came hurrying together into the courtyard bearing lanterns, to find Old Bian lying there on the ground unconscious, bleeding profusely from a great gash on his head. The old man died before he could utter a single word. At the foot of the wall, they found an embroidered slipper, which the mother soon recognized as belonging to her daughter. She questioned the girl sternly, and Rouge tearfully told her how several nights earlier a young man had broken into the house. She did not want to implicate her neighbour Madame Wang, and insisted that young Li (for she was still under the impression that it was he who had assaulted her) had come to see her on his own initiative.

At daybreak the following day, the Bian family brought charges against Li, who was duly arrested by the Magistrate. Li was not an eloquent person and, though he was nineteen Caption

He overheard Su's confession.

years old, in the presence of strangers he became as tongue-tied and awkward as a child. He was terrified at being arrested, and when he appeared before the Magistrate he began trembling and was utterly at a loss for words. The Magistrate was all the more convinced that he must be guilty of the killing of Old Bian, and had him tortured on the rack. The extreme pain drove him to make a false confession of guilt, whereupon he was sent under escort to the local Prefectural Yamen and tortured all over again. Throughout this ordeal his heart was filled with indignation at the injustice he was suffering, and he wanted more than anything else to confront Rouge (whom he himself had never met) and tell her of his innocence. As it was, every time they were brought together in court she denounced him angrily, as a result of which he became more tongue-tied than ever and even less able to vindicate himself. He was sentenced to death, and although his case was reviewed several times, each successive judge confirmed his guilt.

The matter finally came before the Prefect of the provincial capital Ji'nan, who happened at that time to be a gentleman by the name of Wu Nandai. Wu observed to himself straightaway that this young prisoner did not look at all like a murderer, and secretly sent one of his assistants to have a private talk with him, thereby presenting him with an opportunity to put his own case. The assistant's report convinced Wu more than ever that Li had been wronged and that there had been a miscarriage of justice. He deliberated for several days before proceeding to hear the case formally.

First he questioned Rouge.

'Did anyone else know about your secret encounter with the young man?'

'No one,' she replied.

'Was there anyone with you the very first time, when you saw young Mr Li passing by in the street?'

Again she insisted that there had been no one else present. The Prefect now summoned the young man and, speaking in a measured and reassuring tone of voice, asked him for his account of the facts.

'One day,' Li finally began, 'I was walking past the Bian residence when I saw my old neighbour Madame Wang and a young girl standing in the doorway. I hurried away and did not exchange a single word with either of them.'

On hearing this, Prefect Wu immediately berated Rouge. 'A moment ago you said there was no one with you. What was this neighbour of yours, Madame Wang, doing there?'

He threatened her with torture, and the girl was too frightened to stick to her story.

'It's true, Madame Wang was with me. But honestly, she had nothing to do with what happened.'

The Prefect adjourned the case and ordered the arrest of Madame Wang, who was brought in a few days later and questioned upon her arrival, before she had a chance to talk to Rouge.

'Who murdered this girl's father?' asked the Prefect.

'I don't know.'

'Rouge has told me that you know who the murderer is. How dare you try to conceal anything from this court?'

'She's lying!' cried Madame Wang. 'That little slut is obsessed with men. Perhaps I once said something about acting as a matchmaker for her, but it was all just a joke. How was I to know she would try and get the man in bed with her?'

Prefect Wu went on to cross-examine her in minute detail, and Madame Wang gave him a full account of what she had said in jest. He summoned Rouge.

'You told me that Madame Wang had nothing to do with the case!' he declared angrily. 'And yet now she herself has confessed to offering you her services as a matchmaker!'

Rouge burst into tears. 'I have been a bad daughter! I've already been responsible for my father's death, and now I've caused this court case, which is dragging on endlessly! I couldn't bear to involve her too.'

Prefect Wu turned to Madame Wang. 'Did you speak to anyone else about this little joke of yours?'

'I spoke to no one,' she replied.

'Surely husband and wife have no secrets from each other!' exclaimed Wu angrily. 'Are you saying you didn't even tell your husband about it?'

'My husband has been away from home for a long time and has still not returned,' she replied.

'Nevertheless,' said the perceptive Prefect, 'human nature being what it is, when people like yourself have their little jokes, more often than not they like to make fun of the stupidity of others and to parade their own cleverness. Don't expect me to believe that you did not tell a soul.'

He gave orders for Madame Wang to be tortured with the ten-finger rack. The prospect of this was too much for the poor woman, and she finally confessed that she had indeed mentioned Rouge's infatuation to Su Jie. The Prefect at once set young Li free and ordered the arrest of Su Jie.

When Su came before the court, he denied any knowledge of the murder or the events leading up to it.

'Do you expect me to believe the word of a known frequenter of brothels such as yourself!' declared the Prefect. He had him severely tortured, and Su made a confession.

'Yes, I did take advantage of Rouge. But when I lost the slipper, I never dared to go there again. I know nothing about the murder.'

'A man who scales the walls of other men's houses and abuses a young woman as you did will stop at nothing!' said the Prefect angrily. Further torture reduced Su to a wreck, and he eventually made a false confession to the murder of Old Bian. The case was reported to the higher authorities, and Prefect Wu's perspicacity was universally praised. The evidence against Su seemed ironclad, and he lay in prison, awaiting his execution after the Autumn Assizes.

Now, Su may have been a dissolute character, but he was nonetheless an educated gentleman of some repute in the province of Shandong. When he learned that the newly appointed provincial Education Commissioner was none other than Shi Runzhang, a distinguished man of letters, well disposed towards scholars and literary talent in general, Su drew up a petition, protesting in eloquent terms that he had been unjustly treated. Commissioner Shi read the petition, examined the records, and after much reflection he struck his desk and exclaimed, 'This scholar has clearly been wronged!'

He obtained permission from the highest provincial authorities to have the case transferred to his jurisdiction, and questioned Su Jie himself.

'Where did you drop the slipper?'

'I cannot remember. I only remember that it was still in my sleeve when I knocked at Madame Wang's door.'

Commissioner, now Judge, Shi proceeded to question Madame Wang.

'How many lovers do you have besides Mr Su?'

'None,' she replied.

'Are you asking me to believe that a promiscuous woman like yourself has but one lover?'

'Su and I have known each other since we were children, so I couldn't refuse him. Of course other men have tried to seduce me, but I turned them all down.'

She was asked to give the names of these other men.

'My neighbour Big Mao for one. He has tried several times, but each time I have refused him.'

'What prompted you to be so virtuous all of a sudden?' asked the Judge sarcastically, and ordered that she be flogged. The woman immediately began knocking her head on the ground until it bled, protesting that she had never had relations with Big Mao. The Judge changed his mind and decided to dispense with the flogging.

'Tell me,' he went on to ask, 'while your husband was away, did anyone else come to your house on any pretext?'

'Yes, one or two people came to borrow money or to give me presents.'

The men she named were all local loafers, men who secretly fancied her. The Judge recorded their names, five all told including that of Big Mao, and had them arrested. When they arrived, he had them all taken to the City God Temple and made them kneel before the altar.

'The City God has spoken to me in a dream,' he declared. 'He has told me that the murderer is one among the five of you. Now today you are here in the presence of the god and must be sure to speak the truth. If one of you confesses, he will be treated leniently. Anyone caught lying will be severely punished.'

They all with one voice protested their innocence. The Judge ordered the instruments of torture to be brought in the neck-rack, the hand- and foot-racks and prepared the men for torture. Their hair was tied up and they were stripped down to the waist. But even when they were ready, they still protested their innocence. The Judge announced that they would proceed without the use of torture.

'Since none of you is willing to confess, I have no choice but to let the god himself identify the murderer.'