So, Yung Ge was beaten up by Wang Po and was feeling angry, so he grabbed a basket and hit the streets looking for Wu Dalang to take it out on him. After wandering for a couple of streets, he finally spotted Wu Da coming down the street with his load of flatbreads. Yung Ge quickly stopped him: "Long time no see, you've packed on some pounds!" Wu Da put down his load and said, "I've always been like this, where do you see the weight gain?" Yung Ge replied, "A few days back, I was looking for some wheat bran, but couldn't find any anywhere. Everyone said you had some." Wu Da said, "We don’t raise geese or ducks, so where would I get wheat bran?" Yung Ge retorted, "You say there’s no wheat bran, but you’re looking pretty plump! Even if I turned you upside down, you wouldn't drown in a pot!" Wu Da shot back, "You little punk, always throwing shade at me! My wife's not cheating on me, so why would I look like a duck?" Yung Ge quipped, "Your wife doesn’t cheat on men; she just goes after younger guys!" Wu Da grabbed Yung Ge: "Give me my money back!" Yung Ge said, "You can just grab me; why not take a bite out of him instead?" Wu Da said, "Come on, buddy, just tell me who it is, and I’ll hook you up with ten flatbreads!" Yung Ge replied, "Flatbreads won’t do; buy me a few drinks, and I’ll spill the beans after three rounds." Wu Da said, "You can actually drink? Let’s go, follow me!"
Wu Da shouldered a load and took Yun Ge to a small hotel. He set down the load, picked up some flatbreads and meat, ordered a jug of wine, and invited Yun Ge to drink. Wu Da said, "Hey bro, spill it!" Yun Ge replied, "Hold on, let me finish my meal first. Don't get mad, I’ve got a plan to catch the cheater!" Wu Da watched Yun Ge chow down, nudging him, "C'mon, hurry up!" Yun Ge said, "Want to know? Check out this bump on my head!" Wu Da asked, "How did you get this bump?" Yun Ge explained, "I went looking for Xi Men Qing with a basket in hand, but couldn't find him anywhere. People on the street said, 'He is fooling around with Wu Da's wife at Wang Po's teahouse, going there every day.' I thought if I saw him, I would demand some money from him. Unexpectedly, that shameless old hag, Wang Po, wouldn't let me in to look for him and even beat me up severely. So I came to find you on purpose. I was just messing with you earlier. If I didn't provoke you, you wouldn't have asked me." Wu Da asked, "Is this true?" Yun Ge said, "You know what? You're such a wuss! Those two are living it up, waiting for you to step out so they can get it on! Believe it or not, can I still deceive you?" After listening, Wu Da said, "Brother, to be honest, my wife goes to Wang Po's house every day to make clothes and shoes and comes back blushing. My ex-wife left a daughter, who is scolded and beaten every day and not given food. These days she hasn't been mentally well and doesn't have a good expression when she sees me. I also have some doubts in my heart. What you’re saying might just be true! I’m gonna catch them red-handed as soon as I drop this load!"
Brother Yun said, "You big guy, you have no experience at all! That old hag Wang Po, what hasn't she done! How can you stand up to her? Those two must have a secret signal. If you rush in, your wife will have already hidden. Ximen Qing is no joke! He can take on twenty of you. If you can't catch him, you'll end up beaten by him. He has money and power; he can sue you and drag you to court, and no one will help you. He'll take your life directly!" Wu Da said, "Brother, you are right. How can I vent my anger?" Brother Yun said, "I was beaten by Wang Po and didn't vent my anger! I'll teach you a trick: when you go home today, don't let on, act like nothing happened. Make fewer pancakes tomorrow; I'll wait for you at the alley entrance. If you see Ximen Qing going in, I'll call you. You carry the basket nearby. I'll go stir her up first; she'll definitely hit me. I'll throw the basket in the middle of the street, you rush in quickly. I'll block the old lady, you rush into the house and shout about your grievances. How about that?" Wu Da said, "Great idea! Thanks to you! I have two coins; I'll give them to you. You go to the alley entrance of Zishi Street early tomorrow." Brother Yun took the money and a few pancakes and left. Wu Da paid the bill, carried the basket, and went home.
Wu Da's wife constantly nagged and bullied him. Recently, she started being a bit nicer to him. When Wu Da came back carrying the basket in the evening, he didn't mention anything unusual. His wife said, "Big brother, buy some wine to drink?" Wu Da said, "I bought three bowls with my colleagues." His wife then made dinner for him. It was a quiet night. The next day, after breakfast, Wu Da only made three or four pancakes and put them in the basket. His wife was preoccupied with Ximen Qing; she didn't care how many pancakes Wu Da made. Wu Da went out to sell pancakes carrying the basket; his wife was eager for him to leave, so she headed over to Wang Po's teahouse to wait for Ximen Qing.
Wu Da shouldered his load and arrived at the entrance to Zishi Street, where he saw Yong Ge holding a basket and looking around. Wu Da asked, "How is it?" Yong Ge replied, "It's still early. You go make a sale, and those two will arrive soon. Wait nearby, don’t wander too far." Wu Da quickly went to make a sale and returned. Yong Ge said, "As soon as you see me toss the basket, rush in!" Wu Da set down his load and got ready to move.
Yong Ge rushed into the teahouse with the basket and yelled at Wang Po, "Old witch! Why did you hit me yesterday?" Wang Po's temper flared up again, and she jumped up yelling, "You little punk! I don’t have anything to do with you, why are you cursing at me?" Yong Ge said, "I’m calling you out, you old hag, supporting that old whore Pan Jinlian, you're just an old dog!" Wang Po was furious and lunged at Yong Ge to hit him. Yong Ge shouted, "You hit me!" and threw the basket into the street. Just as Wang Po was about to keep hitting, Yong Ge's shout accidentally knocked into her waist, hitting her in the stomach and nearly toppling her over; fortunately, she hit the wall and didn't fall. Yong Ge pressed up against the wall.
At this moment, Wu Da rushed in from outside, bare-chested, and ran into the teahouse in large strides. Wang Po saw Wu Da coming and quickly tried to intercept him, but was firmly stopped by Yun Ge and couldn't move at all! Wang Po could only yell, "Wu Da is here!" Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing were up to no good in the main room and rushed to the door in a panic to block it. Ximen Qing quickly hid under the bed. Wu Da rushed to the door, pushed hard, but couldn't open it! He cursed, "You wicked woman!" Pan Jinlian blocked the door, in a panic, yelling, "Usually you only know how to talk big and show off, but at a critical moment, you’re useless! You’re scared of a paper tiger!" Pan Jinlian's words clearly meant to let Ximen Qing come out and fight Wu Da so she could escape. Ximen Qing, under the bed, heard Pan Jinlian's words, had an idea, and emerged, saying, "It's not that I can't do it; I just didn’t think of it right away." Then he opened the door and shouted, "Don't come over!" Wu Da was about to grab him, but Ximen Qing kicked him; Wu Da was short, and the kick knocked him to the ground. Ximen Qing took advantage of the chaos and ran away. Yun Ge saw the situation looked grim, also left Wang Po behind, and ran away. The neighbors all knew that Ximen Qing was not to be messed with, so no one dared to intervene. Wang Po quickly helped Wu Da up, saw him spitting blood and his face pale, and asked Pan Jinlian to fetch water to wake him up. The two of them helped Wu Da and sent him back home through the back door, laying him down on the bed. Nothing happened that night, though. The next day, Ximen Qing heard that nothing happened, so he went to Wang Po's house again, continuing to have an affair with Pan Jinlian, hoping Wu Da would just die already.
Wu Da has been sick for five days and hasn't gotten any water or soup. Pan Jinlian goes out every day with heavy makeup and comes back blushing. Wu Da's daughter Ying'er was also stopped by Pan Jinlian, not allowed to approach, and Pan Jinlian scares her: "You little slut, if you don't listen to me, it's your fault he's thirsty!" Seeing Pan Jinlian say this, Ying'er didn't dare to give Wu Da any water! Wu Da fainted from anger several times, and no one cared. One day, Wu Da called Pan Jinlian over and told her, "You've done a great job. I caught you red-handed in bed, and you instigated your lover to kick me. Now I’d rather be dead, while you all are living it up. If I die, so be it; I have nothing left to fight you over. My brother Wu Song, you should know his temper. If he comes back sooner or later, will he let it go? If you pity me, take good care of me, and when he comes back, I won't say anything. If you don't care about me, when he comes back, explain it to him yourselves." After hearing this, Pan Jinlian said nothing and turned to head over to Wang Po's house, telling Wang Po and Ximen Qing what Wu Da had said in detail. When Ximen Qing heard this, it felt like he had fallen into ice water. "It's over! I heard early on that Wu Song is the head of the Wu family who fought the tiger in Jingyanggang. Now I'm in love with Pan Jinlian and can't be separated. What should I do? This is a disaster!" Wang Po sneered, "I'm fine, but you're in a panic! You, a man, can't handle such a small matter." Ximen Qing said, "I'm really useless as a man. Do you have any ideas? Help us think of a solution." Wang Po said, "Since I'm helping you, I have an idea. Are you looking for a long-term thing or a short fling?" Ximen Qing said, "Mother, you tell me, how can we be together for a long time?" Wang Po said, "If you want a short-term thing, you should split today, wait for Wu Da to recover, and apologize to him. If Wu Song comes back and doesn’t say a word, you can meet up again. That’s short-term. If you want to be together for a long time, be together every day, without worry. I have a good idea, but it’s a bit difficult." Ximen Qing said, "Mother, as long as we can be together for a long time, anything is fine." Wang Po said, "This plan needs something that no one else has—only the nobleman’s family has it." Ximen Qing said, "I’d even dig out my eyes for you if that's what it takes. What is it?" Wang Po said, "With Wu Da seriously ill, now’s the perfect time to act. Get some arsenic from the nobleman's house, let Pan Jinlian buy some medicine from the pharmacy, put the arsenic in it, poison Wu Da, then burn him up, leaving no trace behind. Even if Wu Song comes back, what can he do? As the saying goes, 'If you marry young, you can remarry within the family.' Can the younger brother still control private matters? Wait six months to a year until the mourning period is over, and the nobleman will marry her again. Isn’t this a solid long-term plan? Always together! What do you think?" Ximen Qing said, "That’s a brilliant idea, Mother! As the ancients said, 'If you want to live happily, you have to be ruthless.' Let's do it!" Wang Po said, "Good! This is about cutting off the roots and avoiding future problems. Go home and get the arsenic, I'll teach Pan Jinlian to do it. Once it’s done, you’d better thank me properly." Ximen Qing said, "Of course, no need for you to say."
Looks like the Chinese text didn't come through. Could you send it over for translation? Thanks!
The clouds and rain entwine, while love for beauty lingers without rest. After all, life is but a fleeting illusion; why resort to murder? It was said that Ximen Qing quickly returned, holding a package of arsenic to give to Wang Po. Wang Po looked at Pan Jinlian and said, "Madam, I will teach you how to poison. Now that Wu Da won’t let you help him? You can take this opportunity to be nice to him, sweet-talk him a little. If he asks you for some medicine, just mix the arsenic into the medicine for heart pain. Once he falls asleep, pour the medicine down his throat. If he gets poisoned, his intestines will surely rot, and he will surely let out a scream. Quickly cover him with a blanket, don’t let anyone hear, and hold the corners down tightly. First, boil a pot of water and prepare a cloth. After he’s poisoned, he will definitely bleed from all seven orifices, and there will be bite marks on his lips. If he dies, just lift the blanket and clean up the bloodstains with the boiled cloth. Then throw the blanket away and burn it; there will be no trace left!" Pan Jinlian said, "This plan is good, but I'm a bit timid; I might panic when the time comes." Wang Po said, "That's easy enough; just knock on the wall over there, and I'll come right over to help you." Ximen Qing said, "You both do your best; I'll come to check on the results at the fifth watch tomorrow." After saying this, he went home. Wang Po ground the arsenic into a fine powder and gave it to Pan Jinlian to hide away.
Pan Jinlian went back upstairs and saw Wu Da, who was already gasping for breath and on the verge of death. Pan Jinlian sat on the edge of the bed faking tears. Wu Da asked, "Why are you crying?" Pan Jinlian wiped her tears and said, "I was confused for a moment and was deceived by Ximen Qing. I inadvertently hurt you deeply. I heard there's a good remedy, and I wanted to buy it to cure you, but I was afraid you would suspect me, so I didn't dare to go." Wu Da said, "If you can save me, everything will be forgiven, and we won't mention it again. When Wu Er comes back, don't say anything. Please hurry and get the medicine!" Pan Jinlian took the money and went directly to Wang Po's house, asking her to buy the medicine. After buying it, she held up the medicine for Wu Da to see and said, "This is a medicine for heart pain. The doctor said to take it at midnight, get some good rest, and cover up with a thick blanket, sweat a bit, and you will be fine tomorrow." Wu Da said, "Great. Thank you, sister-in-law. I will sleep for a while tonight; you help me take the medicine in the middle of the night." Pan Jinlian said, "You can rest assured, I will take care of you." When it got dark, Pan Jinlian lit a lamp in the room, boiled a pot of water downstairs, and soaked a cloth. By the middle of the night, Pan Jinlian poured some arsenic into a bowl, scooped a bowl of boiling water, and called upstairs, "Brother, where is the medicine?" Wu Da said, "It's under my pillow on the mat, hurry up and give it to me!" Pan Jinlian lifted the mat, poured the medicine into the bowl, added boiling water, and stirred it evenly with a silver hairpin. She helped Wu Da up with her left hand and poured the medicine down his throat with her right hand. Wu Da took a sip and said, "Sister-in-law, this medicine tastes awful!" Pan Jinlian said, "As long as it cures the disease, it doesn't matter if it tastes awful!" Just as Wu Da took the second sip, Pan Jinlian poured the entire bowl of medicine down his throat. Then she laid Wu Da down and quickly got off the bed. Wu Da groaned and said, "Sister-in-law, after drinking this medicine, my stomach hurts so much, it's so bitter, so bitter! I can't stand it anymore!" Pan Jinlian quickly pulled over two blankets to cover him. Wu Da shouted, "I can't breathe!" Pan Jinlian said, "The doctor said that once you sweat it out, you’ll be fine."
"Wu Da was about to say something when Pan Jinlian, worried he might resist, leapt onto the bed and straddled him, gripping the corner of the blanket tightly, refusing to let go!"
Fried lungs and charred liver and intestines. It feels like icy knives are piercing my heart, while steel knives are churning my stomach. Ice-cold all over, blood flowing from my seven orifices. Teeth clenched, my three souls are trapped in the City of Death; my throat dried up, seven spirits yearning for the homeland. Hell adds a poison-eating demon, the mortal world loses its demon-catchers.
Wu Da groaned twice, took a few breaths, his intestines snapped, and he died. Pan Jinlian pulled back the covers and saw Wu Da gritting his teeth, blood streaming from his seven orifices. Frightened, she quickly got out of bed and knocked on the wall. Wang Po heard it and came out coughing from the back door. Pan Jinlian went downstairs and opened the back door. Wang Po asked, "Is it all taken care of?" Pan Jinlian said, "It's done, but I was a little nervous and my hands were shaking." Wang Po said, "What’s so hard about it? I’ll help you out." Wang Po rolled up her sleeves, scooped a bucket of hot water, threw a cloth in, and went upstairs. She first wiped the blood from Wu Da's mouth, then cleaned the blood from his seven orifices, and then covered him with clothes. The two of them carried Wu Da downstairs and laid him on an old door. They combed his hair, dressed him in a hat, clothes, shoes, and socks, and covered his face with a white cloth, then covered him with a clean blanket. After cleaning up upstairs, Wang Po left. Pan Jinlian pretended to cry. Folks, there are three kinds of crying for women in this world: crying with tears and sound, crying with tears but no sound, crying with sound but no tears. Pan Jinlian wailed through the night.
The next day at the fifth watch, while it was still dark, Ximen Qing arrived. Wang Po explained everything in detail. Ximen Qing gave Wang Po money to buy a coffin for burial and then discussed it with Pan Jinlian. Pan Jinlian said to Ximen Qing, "My Wu Da is dead; I can only depend on you now! You can't let me down." Ximen Qing replied, "You don't need to worry about that!" Pan Jinlian asked, "What will you do if you let me down?" Ximen Qing said, "If I let you down, it'll be just like what happened with Wu Da!" Wang Po interjected, "Sir, the most important thing right now is that the body must be prepared for burial before dawn, worried that the coroner might spot any inconsistencies. He Jiu is very careful; he might refuse to do the embalming." Ximen Qing chuckled and replied, "No problem, I will instruct him; he wouldn't dare to go against me." Wang Po urged, "Sir, hurry up and tell him; don’t waste any time." Ximen Qing went to give instructions to He Jiu.
In the shadows cast by the three lights, who can linger? Everything is rootless and grows on its own.
Snow conceals the herons, their flight is first noticed; willows hide the parrots, and their chatter is just now heard.
