To honour the Flower of Rectitude, a host of heroes swear brotherhood;Strolling through Lin’an, by chance he meets Wang Tong

Now, Ji Gong was staying on at the Zhao house in Kunshan County with nothing to do. He had cured the old lady’s eyes completely and had tried again and again to leave, but the Second Squire would not let him go and pressed him to stay on in the study. Every day they chatted about poetry and prose, and Ji Gong answered everything as fluently as water flows, so that the Second Squire admired him more and more. “What a shame I met Ji Gong so late,” he said. “If I had known him sooner, my writing would surely have come on a great deal.” Ji Gong stayed on there, and before he knew it a full hundred days had gone by.

One day someone came in from outside with a message and brought in two head constables from the prefect’s yamen in Lin’an. They stood before Ji Gong and saluted him. “Holy monk,” they said, “you haven’t been in Lin’an these past days, and the whole place has been turned upside down. The two of us have come specially to ask you back, venerable sir.” “Head constables,” the monk asked, “what’s it all about?” And the two of them told him the whole story from beginning to end.

A word of explanation: a notorious bandit of river and sea had appeared in the Xichuan Circuit2. He was surnamed Hua, his given name Zhong, styled Yunlong, and people called him the Thieving Rat of Heaven and Earth (Qiankun Daoshu). He had roamed the greenwood since he was eighteen and had long kept company with Zheng Tianshou, the Demon-Head Saber (Guitou Dao). Both were accomplished in letters and arms alike; their one failing was a fondness for plucking flowers1. Both lodged at the home of Tian Guoben, the Mountain-Subduing Leopard (Zhenshan Bao). Hua had dozens of sworn brothers, but only five were really close to him, all greenwood men, and people called them the Five Ghosts (Wugui). They were Li Zhaoming, the Open-Wind Ghost (Kaifeng Gui); Zheng Tianfu, the Ghost in the Clouds (Yunzhong Gui); Quan Deliang, the Cockcrow Ghost (Jiming Gui); Yun Fang, the Tousle-Headed Ghost (Pengtou Gui); and Zhang Rong, the Black-Wind Ghost (Heifeng Gui). Everyone knew of the Five Ghosts and One Dragon of Xichuan. But their host, Tian Guoben, had moved away from Xichuan, no one knew where, and with nowhere to live they had all scattered to friends and relations. Hua Yunlong had gone flower-plucking in Xichuan and left nine murders behind him, every one a woman raped and then killed. The local officers and their chiefs were searching everywhere for his trail and pressing hard to catch him. He saw he could not stay there long, so he left Xichuan. When he reached Yushan County in Jiangxi, he heard people say there was an escort master3 there called Awe of the Eight Directions, Yang Ming, a true hero who loved making friends with the bold men of the world. Hua Yunlong went to Ruyi Village at Fenghuang Ridge to call on Yang Ming. A servant took his name in, and when Yang Ming heard it, he knew Hua Yunlong was a flower-plucking lecher and told the servant he would not see him. The servant went out and said, “My master is not at home.” Hua Yunlong could do nothing but leave.

A few days later someone else mentioned that Yang Ming was at home, and Hua Yunlong went to call, but again he did not see him. He went three times in a row. Then one day Yang Ming had him shown in. As soon as they began to talk — and Hua was a smooth talker to begin with — he answered everything fluently. He looked Yang Ming over. Yang Ming stood eight feet tall, slim at the waist and broad in the shoulder. On his head was a sapphire-blue satin warrior’s cap with a gold brow-band showing two dragons contending for a pearl and a peach-shaped velvet pompom set over the forehead. He wore a sapphire-blue robe with arrow sleeves4, a silk phoenix sash at his waist and light black satin boots on his feet, and a blue satin cloak patterned with flower roundels hung loosely over his shoulders. His face was pale as the ancient moon, his brows of eight bright hues, his eyes like shining stars. The tip of his nose was straight and well formed, the Three Mountains of his face well matched, his mouth broad and square, and under his chin a full black beard parted in three strands that floated over his chest. His features were fine and clean, his bearing upright and dignified. Hua Yunlong admired him greatly. “Your younger brother has long revered your great name, sir, and thought of you constantly. To have the good fortune of meeting you today is the greatest blessing of three lifetimes!” “What virtue or ability have I?” said Yang Ming. “I’m much obliged for your kind regard. You’ve troubled yourself to call so many times, and I wasn’t able to meet you.” After a few modest words on both sides, Hua Yunlong said, “I am a stranger far from home, sir, young and ignorant. I beg you to teach me.” Yang Ming was pleased to find Hua Yunlong so pleasant-spoken, and kept him in the reception hall to drink. When talk turned to his past crimes of flower-plucking in Xichuan, Hua Yunlong was full of remorse. Master Yang wanted to hold a celebration for him to wear the Flower of Rectitude and Chastity5 — whoever wore the flower was forbidden to pluck flowers — and Hua Yunlong was willing. Yang Ming sent out invitations. Among those invited were Huang Yun, the Cloud-Chasing Swallow (Zhuiyun Yanzi); Ma Jing, the Iron-Faced Yaksha (Tiemian Yecha); Yang Derui, the Lone Traveller of a Thousand Li (Qianli Duxing); Yang Shun, Thousand-Li Legs (Qianli Tui); Qin Yuanliang, the Flying Fire Patriarch; Ma Zhaoxiong, the Plague God on Earth; Yao Dianguang, the Wind-Chasing Swallow (Zhuifeng Yanzi); Lei Tianhua, the Meteor Crossing the Water (Guodu Liuxing); Tao Fang, Duckweed Treader, Water Crosser; Liu Rui, No Footprints in the Snow; Tao Ren, the Boat-Pusher with the Current (Shunshui Tuizhou); Dai Kui, the Star-Plucker and Dipper-Strider (Zhaixing Budou); Shi Chengrui, the Flying Ghost (Feitian Gui); Guo Shun, the Night-Walking Ghost (Yexing Gui); Yao Dong, the Thrice-Angry Ghost (Sanfen Gui); Jiao Liang, the Golden-Faced Ghost (Jinlian Gui); He Qing, the Command Ghost (Lüling Gui); Ma Cheng, the Flower-Seeking Ghost (Tanhua Gui); Bao Lei, the Short Mountain Peak (Ai Yuefeng); Lei Ming; Chen Liang; and others — thirty-six men in all, who swore brotherhood and celebrated Hua Yunlong’s Flower of Rectitude and Chastity. They all drank blood wine6, and afterwards the others went their ways, while Hua Yunlong stayed on at Master Yang’s home. When there was nothing to do, he would go along to the escort agency too, and he learned dart-throwing from Master Yang, and a routine of the Eight Trigrams Circling Saber. He stayed there a full three years.

One day he wanted to go and see the sights of Lin’an. Yang Ming gave him a hundred taels of fine silver, and as he left told him, “Out there you mustn’t do anything reckless. If nothing keeps you, come back early.” So he set off on his own from Ruyi Village at Fenghuang Ridge in Yushan County, Jiangxi, and on the road he travelled by day and rested by night, eating when hungry and drinking when thirsty.

One day he reached Lin’an. He came first to the area outside the Qiantang Gate and looked about the main street. The place was thronged with people and full of shops and businesses. On the north side of the street he saw a wine house called the Wangjiang Tower, with a wine banner and a tea sign hanging out, and a couplet on the pillars to either side that read: “In drink, heaven and earth grow vast7; in the pot, the days and months run long.” Hua Yunlong thought he would have a couple of cups there. He stepped inside and looked: upstairs and down it was noisy and crowded. He climbed the stairs, found a table and sat down. He had only just ordered wine when he looked up and saw a man sitting below the window on the east side. On his head was a stiff six-panelled turban of purple satin; he wore a purple satin robe with arrow sleeves, a stiff leather belt at his waist, a saber hanging at his side and thin-soled satin boots, and a hero’s cloak of green satin embroidered with flower roundels was thrown about his shoulders. His face was faintly purple, a purple shot through with red. His two heavy brows were jet black, and in his strange eyes the black and white stood sharply apart. The tip of his nose was full and fleshy, the Three Mountains of his face well matched, his mouth broad and square; two locks of whiskers pressed over his ears, and under his chin hung a long, stiff beard. He fairly bristled with menace, an air of slaughter about him. Hua Yunlong saw that the man was sitting alone at a table spread with wine. He hurried over and saluted him. “Second Brother, it’s been a long time! Since you and I parted in Xichuan, four years have flown by. I never thought we’d meet here. Have you been well, brother?” The man looked at him and roared with laughter. “So it’s you, Hua Number Two, my worthy brother! It’s true what they say: when fate wills it, men a thousand li apart will meet; without it, they pass face to face and never know each other.”

A word of explanation: this man was surnamed Wang, his given name Tong, and people called him the Iron-Legged Ape (Tietui Yuanhou). He was a notorious bandit of river and sea from the Xichuan Circuit, and he and Hua Yunlong were sworn brothers who had exchanged cards8. The two had not seen each other for a long time, and now that they had met here, each told the other what had happened since they parted. They sat down and ordered wine and dishes afresh. Over the wine, Wang Tong asked, “Second Brother, since we parted in Xichuan, where have you been staying, my worthy brother? And what brings you here today?” Hua Yunlong told him the whole story from beginning to end: how in Jiangxi he had called on Awe of the Eight Directions, Yang Ming, and how the Thirty-Six Heroes had sworn brotherhood and celebrated his Flower of Rectitude and Chastity. Only then did he ask, “Brother, are you here to see the sights, or on business?” “I’ve come here looking for an enemy,” said Wang Tong. “My elder brother was a clerk in Chengdu Prefecture. Over two hundred taels of dirty silver, that dog of an official threw him into prison, and he was smothered to death in there. I wasn’t home at the time; I only found out when I got back. I mean to find that dog of an official and avenge my brother. But the dog had already left his post, so I’ve come to the capital to look for him. I only got here today and haven’t taken a room yet. You and I can stay together.” “Good,” said Hua Yunlong. “I’ve only just arrived too.”

While the two were talking, they heard the stairs go thump, thump, and a man came up carrying a fruit basket. He was about forty, and wore a black cloth turban, a short lined jacket of black cloth, lined trousers of black cloth, white socks and black slippers. He had a sallow face, thin brows and round eyes, a nose hooked like a hawk’s, pinched cheeks and jaw, and a few wisps of beard — seven hairs above and eight below. He came up among the drinkers and looked round at the tables, then hurried over to Hua Yunlong’s table, set down his basket and said, “Oh my! So it’s Your Lordships! Your humble servant pays his respects!” And he dropped to the floor and kowtowed. Hua Yunlong looked at him. “And I was wondering who it was! It’s Liu Chang.” Liu Chang had in fact grown up in Xichuan and had long kept company with these greenwood men, working for them as a scout9, a minor hand. Being caught up in some affair, he had fled to Lin’an and set up in a small way of trade. Today, meeting these two, he had hurried over to pay his respects. “Get up,” said Wang Tong. “Liu Chang, are you doing well here? Where are you living? Where are the lively places worth seeing? Tell us. We two have only just arrived and don’t know the place or the people.” “If Your Lordships want to see the sights,” said Liu Chang, “there’s West Lake, and the three main streets with shops of every kind. The Ten Views of West Lake and Chenghuang Hill10, the finest in the world — those are all the lively spots. If you two gentlemen want to look around, come along with me. When it gets late you needn’t bother with an inn. I’ve a good room at my place, the courtyard’s quiet and pleasant and there’s no riffraff about. You could stay there.” Hua Yunlong was delighted to hear this. Liu Chang sat down and drank with them.

When the three of them had finished eating, Wang Tong paid, and they went down from the wine house. Out in the streets the crowds never thinned. Strolling at random, they came up Chenghuang Hill, and it was indeed a fine wooded spot, the trees dense and dark, with plenty of sightseers coming and going. As they walked on, a small sedan chair came toward them with a young woman seated inside. Truly she had a face like pear blossom and cheeks like apricot buds; the immortal maidens of the Jade Pool and Chang’e of the Moon Palace could not compare with her. Hua Yunlong was a seasoned flower-plucker, and only a true beauty could catch his eye — he was one of those for whom ‘once you have seen the sea11, no other water will do; apart from the clouds of Mount Wu, no clouds are clouds.’ Now, seeing this woman, he followed behind the sedan chair all the way outside the Qiantang Gate, where there was a nunnery on the north side of the road, the Wuzhu Nunnery, and the sedan chair went in. He turned his head and saw Wang Tong and Liu Chang following behind him. When they reached a spot with no one about, he asked Liu Chang, “Do you know who this woman is?” “That one, Second Grand Master, sir — don’t you go getting ideas,” said Liu Chang. “She’s the daughter of Assistant Prefect Zhao, betrothed to the son of Provincial Graduate Sun. Before she could be married, the Sun boy died. The Zhao girl insisted on going to mourn him and said, ‘Your son and I had the name of husband and wife, but not the lot of it. Open the coffin and let me see him.’ The Suns had someone open the coffin, and the girl cut off her own hair and vowed to stay a widow to the man she never married12. Both her husband’s family and her own urged her not to, but in her anger she went off to the Wuzhu Nunnery and took up the religious life, keeping her hair13. Her own family often has her fetched home for visits. Since you ask, sir — if you’re thinking of anything else, I’m afraid it won’t work.” At this Hua Yunlong’s heart stirred. He meant to slip into the nunnery by night and pluck this flower.

To learn what happened next, read the next chapter.