Before long the drum atop the house and the temple bells all sounded the first strokes of nightfall. Just imagine:

Squire Hu went to the study, pushed open the sliding door and entered. "All of you," he ordered the servants, "wait outside." After closing the door he lit the lamps and the fire under the teapot, bringing the water to a rolling boil. Then he took a couple of cakes of first class Longtuan tea and tossed them into the pot. Next he lit the incense burner and the two candles. Having set up the viewing rack and unscrolled the painting he found it to indeed depict a beautiful woman. The squire cleared his throat once and knocked three times on the table, and sure enough a tiny squall arose and blew across it. This poem about sums it up:

And then in the midst of that tiny storm he saw the beauty from the painting, jumping down to the table in one leap and then to the floor in another. Five foot three inches in height and lovely as flowers and jade, she was beautiful beyond description. It was like this:

The maiden just stood there and stared at Squire Hu before blessing him in a deep voice. Our lordship quickly regained his polite composure and went to the the stove, poured a cup of tea and passed it to her. Then he filled his own cup and joined her. After drinking up and clearing away the cups there was nothing to be said. Another little squall arose and up the maiden went, right into the painting.

Now, Squire Hu was incomparably pleased. "Why," he marveled, "the painting really has got a spirit, after all! Well, I'd best not bother her again today. Next time we meet I won't hesitate to say some gentle words to her." He then rolled up the painting and put it back in his collection, called the servants to tidy up and arrange the furniture and went to his bedroom to sleep.

The next day Squire Hu again said he was going to work on his accounts and that he wanted his staff to serve an early supper, and once more he retreated to the study. "He worked on his books last night, too!" thought Lady Zhang. "I can't believe he's got so many accounts to do. Just what's he doing with all his idle time during the day that he's got to get so busy at night?" It all seemed too suspicious and she couldn't help but have a slavegirl carry a lantern and lead the way down to the study with herself following behind. Eavesdropping at the sliding doors they heard what seemed to be the voice of a maiden or young wife inside. Wetting the tip of her thumb with saliva she reached out and peeled back the edge of a paper windowpane and peeped inside. Well, what greeted her prying eyes but the sight of a young woman sitting across from her husband and chatting with him! Two veins of anger lit up in her, flashing from her feet on the floor to the top of her head at the door, lighting her up with a fiery rage the likes of which were unknown to the world, as if shooting up eighteen thousand feet into the night sky. Unable to restrain herself she opened the door and rushed into the study. Squire Hu was terrified.

"What are you doing, Mama?" he asked, rising to his feet with Mama's anger clearly focused upon him.

"You old beggar!" she screamed. "You idiot! What a fine thing you've done!"

Amidst the commotion and rage the fairy maiden disappeared into the squall and back up into the painting.

"Meixang!" Mama commanded the slavegirl. "Come, help me find her! Don't be afraid!"

Squire Hu remained silent. "Turn this studio upside down and inside out if you like," he thought, "but you'll never find her."

Unable to find the girl Mama then became even angrier. Craning her neck about she spotted the painting on the wall of that same beautiful woman. She then tore it down and began to burn it over the lantern, throwing it down in flames upon the floor. Feeling the full force of Mama's awesome anger Squire Hu didn't dare go against her. By now the painting was blazing furiously, with sparks and bits of hot paper swirling round and round near the floor. Now they were swirling around Mama's feet and she jumped back a couple of steps, fearing her clothes would be set alight. But the swarm of sparks pursued her ankles and suddenly a tongue of flame belched forth from her mouth! Mama screamed and fainted to the floor in horror. And here's a poem:

Squire Hu had fallen on his hands and knees in fear and trembling and called the slavegirl to help him up. Having regained his balance he went to the kettle and poured some hot water to revive Mama. Back on her feet at last she then settled safely into a chair.

"You idiot!" she cried bitterly, "Look at the fine mess you've made. Have the maids carry me back to my room so I can rest."

Mama slept till daybreak and awoke feeling a bit unsettled. In the days that followed her brows appeared lower and her eyes dreamy and slow, her breasts became enlarged and her belly swollen with child. Squire Hu was delighted except for two details. For one, the fairy painting had been sadly burnt by Mama, and he could never again see that maiden's face. And for another, he feared the day when the gentleman would to redeem the painting. What would he do? Well, enough of that for now.

The days and nights flew by. Nearly a year later Mama was in labor. Squire Hu went to the family's high hall to burn incense and make pledges to Heaven in return for a safe childbirth. Suddenly he heard a commotion at the door, and the voice of a servant calling him.

"The gentleman who pawned the painting is at the door."

Hearing this Squire Hu suddenly felt as if his heart was tied in knots but could only receive him.

"Good sir, another year has passed since we last met. I feel a bit awkward telling you this but my wife is in labor just now so your visit really is good fate."

The gentleman laughed. "I've got some medicine for your wife's pain," he said. Then reaching into that old thorn basket of his he took out a little dried gourd shell vial of medicine, poured out a red pill, and telling him that it was to be taken with plain water handed it to the Squire who carefully wrote it all down. "Your home is too busy now so I'd better not bother you any longer. I'll come again some other time and we'll have a prayer meal together." And having so spoken he left, not even having brought up the matter of the painting.

Well, let's forget about that gentleman for now. Squire Hu gave the pill to Mama and not long afterwards a girl was born, bringing him great joy. Caught up in the capable arms of the midwife, she had to have her "sanzhao" bath at three days of age, for as folks say this assures a hundred years of life. Then after a week had passed they named her Yong'r, "Li'l Leaping Flame", after the flames that surged through Mama and bellowed out of her mouth just before the baby was conceived. And later they found the Chinese character to be unsuitable so they changed the "Yong" to another of that pronunciation meaning "eternal"..."Eternal Child".

Time flashed by and before they knew it little Yong'r was seven years old. She'd been born ever so pure and gentle looking with such an innocent face and rich black hair, a truly beautiful woman just like the images of the young Goddess Guanyin ridin the dragon. Her parents both treated her like the finest treasure in the world, and Squire Hu invited a professor to the house to instruct her in reading the classics. Now, this scholar was named Chen Shan, and was known to all as a fine and loyal old man with years of experience as an educator. He was welcomed in their home to the praise and reverent appreciation of the hopeful and trusting parents and exhorted to do his best. What followed was like this:

But let's put that story aside for awhile and get back to Grand Eunuch Lei. Missing his bride he had despatched men all over the land without turning up a trace. Fearing that Zhang Ying would be terribly angry he called on him personally, hoping to perform a big favor in compensation. Now, Zhang knew better than to get involved in this affair and received Lei with outward respect. He knew that although Lei had a fawning relationship with Prime Minister Ding, he was no real confidant of the Crown Prince. The Emperor Zhenzong was getting on in age, and was having seizures; there were times when he couldn't preside over court, and although Lei might seriously have wanted to help Zhang he now had nowhere to use his influence. Moreover, Zhang Ying had heard a message in ghost talk from the little sorceress, to the effect that she'd been reincarnated as Squire Hu's baby daughter. And he'd had some other dealings with spirits, too, so he felt that advancing his worldly career was not so important for the time being. So after another last night in that garden he slipped out of the city walls of the capital. For one thing he wished to find Holy Auntie, and for another he wanted to learn more about the birth of Squire Hu's daughter.

Well, time flew by and soon it was the first year of the Kaiyuan reign. Zhenzong had passed away and the Crown Prince had ascended the throne as the Emperor Renzong. Lei Chonggong was put in charge of building the mausoleum and was accused by Hanlin academician Wang Zeng of having improperly moved the Imperial tomb, and ugly charges spread out to include Prime Minister Ding Wei. The dragonlike countenance of the Emperor Renzong was angered and he banished Ding Wei to a faraway district as a private soldier. Grand Eunuch Lei was immediately executed and his home and property was all confiscated as official property, even the Garden of Tranquility. Zhang Ying had lived there for a long time but had seen this trouble coming before he slipped out, and by this time he was far away, gone back to haunting the countryside.

One day he wandered into Puzhou, Shandong Province. It was late spring, in the fourth lunar month, and a really terrible drought was in progress. All the counties had been seeking Daoist wizards to pray for rain, but none were to be found. Word now had it that was a certain Daoist nun who had erected an altar in Boping County where she was making rain with her charms. "That must be Holy Auntie," thought Zhang Ying. "I'll get right over there and see what she's up to!" And so he quickly found his way to Boping County. Just consider:

Conclusion, Chapter 16 Click to Continue to Chapter 17 Table of Contents