The poem says:
Hearing of the phoenix with two beaks, it's perfectly fine to wear the fishnet by itself. Who knows who the night’s fragrance is for? Longing gazes at the water, enveloped in smoke and shadows of owls.
With cloud-like hair before the wind, the green tresses and jade-like visage envision the crimson tide; don't let this pity-filled night go to waste, stepping gracefully under the moonlight by the twin bays.
Right tune: West River Moon
After the affair between Pan Jinlian and Chen Jingji, the two tasted sweetness and secretly met every day. Sometimes leaning on each other's shoulders laughing, sometimes sitting side by side flirting, playfully pinching and hitting each other without any reservations. Even if someone was nearby, they would still exchange glances, writing down what they wanted to say on notes, secretly passing them back and forth.
One day, in April's weather, Pan Jinlian wrapped her silver silk handkerchief into a sachet, with a strand of hair and a few cypress branches inside, wrapping it tightly, intending to give it to Jingji. However, Jingji was not in the room, so she threw it in through the window gap. When Jingji returned and saw a bulging package, he opened it to find the handkerchief and the sachet, along with a note that contained a poem titled "寄生草" (Parasitic Grass):
I send this silver silk handkerchief and sachet to you. Originally tied with a strand of blue silk hair. The cypress wishes to remain in your thoughts, tears fall to pen the words of longing. In the deep night, the lamp illuminates the lonely shadow of the servant, don't let the deep night betray the waiting on the mugwort trellis.
Jing Ji saw in the poem that he would meet her under the wisteria arbor, so he quickly wrote a poem in response, wrapped it in a Xiangfei bamboo fan decorated with gold, and secretly placed it in the garden. As it turned out, Yue Niang was sitting in Jin Lian's room. Jing Ji was unaware of this and called out as he entered through the side gate, "Is Jin Lian home?" Upon hearing Jing Ji's voice, Jin Lian, worried Yue Niang might overhear, hurriedly lifted the curtain and came out, waving to Jing Ji, saying, "Ah, it's you! Is Chen Jiefu looking for Da Jie? Da Jie was just here; she went with me to the garden pavilion to pick flowers." Jing Ji saw Yue Niang inside and quickly passed the fan to Jin Lian and slipped away. Yue Niang asked Jin Lian, "What did Chen Jiefu come for?" Jin Lian replied, "He was looking for Da Jie; I told him Da Jie went to the garden." In this way, she successfully misled Yue Niang. After a while, Yue Niang went back to the rear courtyard. Jin Lian opened it to find a Xiangfei bamboo fan with gold accents, adorned with green rushes and flowing water, along with a poem titled "Shuixianzi":
Purple bamboo and white gauze are quite carefree, green rushes skillfully crafted, golden hinges and silver coins are exquisite. A beauty can use it to shield herself from the heat and catch less of the wind. When there are people around, it’s often tucked in the sleeve; when it’s just you, it's gently swayed. Don’t let those common folks catch a glimpse of it being taken.
Jin Lian finished reading the poem and waited until the moon came out in the evening. She sent the two maids, Chun Mei and Qiu Ju, away, telling them to go have some drinks, and shut herself in her room. She lit the lamp, prepared the bed, lit some incense, took a bath, and waited for Jing Ji under the sandalwood pavilion. That night, Ximen Qing was called by Yue Niang to the backyard to hear Wang Guzi recite scriptures, leaving Yuan Xiao alone in the room. Jing Ji gave Yuan Xiao a handkerchief and asked him to keep an eye on the room, saying he was going to play chess with Wu Niang, and to come back quickly to tell him when the elder sister arrived. Yuan Xiao agreed. Jing Ji approached the garden and spotted Jin Lian in the distance, with her headpiece off and her hair loosely gathered, quietly standing under the sandalwood pavilion. Jing Ji suddenly emerged from behind the wisteria trellis and swept Jin Lian into a tight hug. Jin Lian jumped and exclaimed, "Pah! You little rascal! You scared me to death by suddenly jumping out! If it's you, then go ahead and hug; but if it were someone else, you'd be pretty bold!" Jing Ji laughed and said, "If I hugged the wrong person, what could I do?" The two embraced and entered the room together. Inside, the room was brightly lit, and there was food and drink on the table. They closed the door and sat side by side to drink. Jin Lian asked, "Where's the elder sister?" Jing Ji replied, "The elder sister went to the backyard to listen to the scriptures. I asked Yuan Xiao to keep an eye on things, and if anything happened, he would come to call me, saying I was playing chess here." After saying this, the two started joking and teasing each other. After drinking for a while, their faces flushed and hearts racing, they cuddled up in bed together. A line from "Liu Niang Zi" illustrates this:
As I enter, I hold you tightly in my arms. I spread the brocade quilt, and my charming partner is quite mischievous. Ah, lift up my feet. As the feet are lifted, they mess up the dark clouds, and my hairpin is askew.
Just after they finished, they heard Yuan Xiao calling from outside, "The elder sister has returned!" Jing Ji hurriedly put on his clothes.
Wild bees and butterflies sometimes appear, but they fly into the pear blossoms, lost without a trace.
Pan Jinlian lived in a three-room apartment, with a Buddha statue at the center and medicinal herbs and spices on both sides. One day, Pan Jinlian went upstairs to burn incense, and by chance, Chen Jingji came upstairs with a key to fetch some herbs, and the two unexpectedly bumped into each other. Jinlian saw that no one was upstairs, so she embraced and kissed Jingji, with her calling him "dear Fifth Master," and him calling her "my sweet, short-lived darling." Then she said, "No one is watching; let's just do it right here!" Saying this, they took off their clothes and started to engage in that act on the spring bench. Just at that moment, Chunmei came upstairs to get tea leaves and saw this scene. They were both startled, and Chunmei quickly retreated downstairs. Jingji quickly got dressed, and Jinlian hastily slipped on her skirt, calling out to Chunmei, "Hey, good sister, come up! I need to tell you something." After Chunmei came upstairs, Jinlian said, "Good sister, your brother-in-law is no one else; let me tell you, we are deeply in love and cannot be separated. Just keep it to yourself; as long as you know, that's all that matters." Chunmei replied, "Good lady, what are you talking about? I've served you for years; how could I not know your thoughts? How could I possibly tell anyone?" Jinlian said, "If you help me keep this secret, you should also sleep with your brother-in-law while he’s here; then I’ll trust you. If you don't agree, that would be too ungrateful." Chunmei blushed and reluctantly agreed. She took off her clothes, lay on the stool, and let Jingji have his way. Truly: both pearls are priceless, yet sadly, the suitor claims them all. A line from "Red Embroidered Shoes" illustrates this: Pretending to be a son-in-law, close and familiar, secretly stealing with the mother-in-law. Human feelings conceal devilish oils. Clearly stating filial piety, secretly binding the swallows and orioles, the two of them are now in a relationship. After Jingji and Chunmei finished, they parted ways. From that point on, Pan Jinlian and Chunmei became partners in crime, secretly meeting up with Jingji while keeping it a secret from Qiu Ju.
On June 1st, Granny Pan passed away, and someone came to announce her passing. Wu Yueniang arranged offerings for Jin Lian and had her ride in a sedan chair to pay her respects. The next day, on June 3rd, Jin Lian got up very early and sat in Yueniang's room for a good part of the day. After coming out, she squatted by the wall in the courtyard. Just as she was lifting her skirt to squat, Jing Ji, who lived in the east wing and had just woken up, heard the sound of her urinating by the wall. He quietly looked out the window and saw it was Jin Lian, and muttered, "Who has no decency to urinate here? Look, her skirt's soaked!"
Jinlian quickly pulled up her skirt and walked to the window, asking, "So you're in this room, huh? You woke up quite late! Is the eldest sister not in the room?" Jing Ji said, "She's in the back room, don’t know when she’ll come out! I only slept at three in the morning last night; my lady pulled me to listen to 'Xuan Hong Luo Bao Juan' and we listened until very late. My waist was almost broken, I couldn’t get out of bed today." Jinlian said, "Don't kid me! I wasn't home yesterday; when were you listening to books in the upper room? The maid told me you were having dinner at Meng Saner's place yesterday!" Jing Ji said, "Eldest sister saw it; I was in the upper room all along, how could I have gone to Meng Saner's place!" As he spoke, this kid stood on the kang and stretched out his member through the window. Jinlian took a look, laughed uncontrollably, and yelled, "You little brat, you scared me half to death! Quickly take it back; you better believe it or I will poke you with a needle!" Jing Ji laughed, "You've remembered again; give me a reward, accumulate some virtue." Jinlian shouted, "You shameless thing!" As she spoke, she took out a small bronze mirror from her waist, pretended to look in the mirror, and held his member in her mouth, sucking on it, making Jing Ji feel amazing all over. Just as he was getting into it, he heard someone approaching. Jinlian quickly put away the mirror, and Jing Ji also put away his member. It turned out to be a servant coming to inform him that Fu Dalang invited his brother-in-law to dinner. Jing Ji said, "Let him eat first; I'll freshen up and be right there." The servant left, and Jinlian quietly said to Jing Ji, "Don't go elsewhere tonight, stay in the room; I'll have Chunmei call you. Hang tight, I need to tell you something." Jing Ji said, "Got it." Jinlian returned to her room, Jing Ji finished freshening up, and headed to the shop to work.
Soon, it got dark. That night, the moon was dark and the stars were sparse, and the weather was sultry. Jin Lian had Chun Mei boil hot water for a bath and to trim her nails. The bed was made up with blankets and pillows, mosquitoes were swatted away, the mosquito net was lowered, and incense was lit. Chun Mei said, “Mother, today is the first day of the hot season, should we use balsam flowers to dye your nails? I’ll go find some.” Jin Lian asked, “Where will you find them?” Chun Mei replied, “There are some in the big courtyard over there, I’ll go pick some. Mother, ask Qiu Ju to find the mortar and pound some garlic.” Jin Lian leaned in and whispered to her, “You go to the side room tonight and invite your brother-in-law over, I have something to say to him.” Chun Mei left, and after Jin Lian finished her bath and trimmed her nails, a little while went by. Chun Mei returned with a few balsam flowers, and Qiu Ju had been grinding for quite a while. Jin Lian gave her a few cups of wine and sent her to sleep in the kitchen. In the light, Jin Lian painted her nails and had Chun Mei set up a stool in the courtyard, laying a mat and pillow to cool off. Around the time of the midnight watch, the red gate was silent, and the jade cord hung low, with the Cowherd and Weaver Girl gazing at each other across the Milky Way. A waft of floral fragrance filled the air, and a few fireflies danced. Jin Lian held a round fan, resting her head on a pillow, waiting patiently. Chun Mei left the corner door slightly ajar. It was just the right moment:
Waiting for the moon under the west wing, the door half-open to the wind. The shadows of flowers move across the wall, as if a beautiful woman is approaching.
It turned out that Jing Ji had arranged to shake the hibiscus tree as a signal, so that they would know he had arrived. When Jin Lian saw the flower branches sway, she knew he had arrived, and coughed in response from the courtyard. Jing Ji pushed the door open and stepped inside, and the two sat closely together. Jin Lian asked, “You’re here? Is anyone else in the house?” Jing Ji replied, “My sister hasn't come out today, I’ve already instructed Yuan Xiao to wait inside, just let me know if you need anything.” He then asked, “Has Qiu Ju gone to sleep?” Jin Lian said, “She’s fast asleep.” After that, the two embraced right there on the stool in the courtyard, making love passionately, entwined endlessly.
The love was harmonious, embracing her fragrant shoulders and face, stroking her cheeks. Her hand kneaded the fragrant breasts, soft and amazing! Lifting her feet to remove the embroidered shoes, her jade body nestled in his embrace. Her tongue tasted of cloves, opening her mouth, and the passionate lovemaking ceased. She reminded him, "Come early tomorrow morning."
After the two were intimate, Jinlian took out five taels of silver and gave it to Jingji, saying, "Your grandmother has passed away, and your father had prepared the coffin for her before he died. She will be laid to rest in three days, and your mother asked me to burn incense paper. The funeral procession will be tomorrow, but your mother said your father is in mourning, so I can only watch from the door. Here’s five taels of silver; go early tomorrow morning to send off your grandmother, pay for the coffin bearers, witness her burial, and then return home. Consider it as if I had gone." Jingji took the silver and said, "No problem, I will go early tomorrow and come back after finishing everything." After speaking, fearing his wife would come in, he hurried back to the inner room.
The night passed. The next day, during breakfast, Jingji returned. Jinlian had just woken up and was combing her hair in the room. Jingji came back and reported that he had brought two jasmine flowers from Zhaohua Temple for Jinlian. Jinlian asked, "Has the coffin been buried?" Jingji replied, "I didn’t have any say in it. I didn’t spend all the money, so I couldn’t come back! There are still two or three taels of silver left; give it to your sister to keep as pocket money. Thank you, please look out for us in the future." Jinlian heard that her mother had been laid to rest and shed tears. She called Chunmei, "Soak the flowers in water and make a pot of tea for your brother-in-law." After a while, he had two boxes of pastries and four plates of side dishes, finished his tea, and then left. From then on, he and Jinlian became even closer.
One July morning, his wife called out to him early, "Don't go anywhere else today, just wait in the house; I will come to your room later, and we will have some fun." Jingji agreed, not expecting to be called away by Cui Ben that day to hang out with some friends. After a whole day of drinking and having fun, he returned home drunk and fell asleep as soon as he lay down, completely unaware of anything.
At dusk, Jinlian suddenly came to his room, saw him lying on the bed, unable to rouse him, and knew for sure that he must have been drinking outside. However, when she brushed against his sleeve, she found a golden petal hairpin, with two lines engraved on it: "Golden bridle horses neigh in fragrant grass, jade tower people drunk in apricot blossom heaven." Jinlian recognized this as Meng Yulou's hairpin and thought, "How did this end up in his sleeve? They must have something going on; otherwise, how could her hairpin be in his sleeve? No wonder he's been so distant with me lately. If I don’t leave him a note, he’ll think I never showed up. I'll grab a pen and jot down four lines of poetry on the wall." So she grabbed a pen and jotted down four lines of poetry on the wall:
Alone in the study, still sleeping,
Goddess in vain descends from the clouds.
King Xiang himself is indifferent,
Neglecting love day and night.
After finishing writing, Jinlian went back to her own room. As for Jingji, he slept until he woke up from the alcohol; the lamp was still lit in the room, and he suddenly remembered that his wife was supposed to come and meet him today, but he ended up getting himself drunk. He turned around and saw four lines of poetry written on the wall, the ink was still fresh. After reading it once, he realized his wife had come and gone. He felt a wave of regret. "What time is it now? Sister, Yuanxiao (maid's name) are still in the backyard; if I go now, the side gate will be shut." He made his way to the hibiscus tree, shook the branch to signal, didn’t hear anything moving inside, so he stepped onto the Taihu stone and climbed over the low pink wall.
His wife saw him drunk and asleep, feeling a mix of anger and resentment. She sullenly got dressed and lay down on the bed. Unexpectedly, he sneaked back over the wall in the dead of night. Seeing that there was no one in the courtyard and thinking that the maids were all asleep, he stealthily approached his wife's room. Noticing the door was cracked open, he entered quietly. Moonlight shone through the window onto the bed, where she lay on her side. He whispered, "My dear," but there was no response. He said, "Don't blame me. Today, Brother Cui and a few friends invited me to Wuliyuan Zhuang to shoot arrows. We played all day and I came back drunk. I didn't know you were here, so I missed our date. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." His wife ignored him. Seeing her silence, he grew anxious and dropped to his knees, pleading with her. In the end, she slapped him and snapped, "You unfaithful man, speak softly so the maids won't hear! I know you have someone else outside and you don't care about me at all! Where the hell have you been?" He replied, "Brother Cui dragged me to shoot arrows, and I fell asleep drunk. I didn't keep our promise, please don’t be mad. I saw the poem you wrote on the wall, so I knew you were upset." His wife said, "Don't try to deceive me, stop talking! Your tricks can't fool me. Even if Cui got you drunk today and you stumbled home, what's that hairpin doing in your sleeve?" He said, "I found it in the garden a few days ago."
"His wife said, 'You're still trying to argue! Go ahead and pick up another one, then I'll believe you! This hairpin belongs to that sly fox Meng Yulou; I recognize it clearly, and it even has her name engraved on it. You're still lying to my face! I wasn't home that day, and she called you to her room for dinner. It turns out you two have been colluding for a long time! Tell me, why won’t you just admit it? If there's nothing going on between you two, how could her hairpin end up in your hands? You must have spilled all my secrets to her; no wonder she was smiling at me that day. It turns out you tipped her off! From now on, let's just go our separate ways and never speak to each other again!'"
When Jingzhi heard this, he was so anxious that he swore and cried, saying, "If I, Jingzhi, have any relationship with her, let the City God of Dongyue bear witness. I swear I won't live to see thirty; I'll end up with a sore the size of a bowl, and in another three or five years, I'll have jaundice and won't be able to eat or drink!" His wife still didn't believe him, saying, "You little brat, you're just spouting nonsense!" After arguing for a while, they realized it was late and decided to get into bed. His wife turned away from him on purpose, ignoring him, and no matter how he begged, she just gave him a slap. Jingzhi was so scared he barely dared to breathe, spending the whole night in fear. As dawn broke, Jingzhi was afraid that the maid would get up, so he climbed back over the wall to sneak into his own room. Who can we blame when the three lights cast their shadows? All things have no roots; they only grow on their own.
