The poem says:
After spending a few days in the secluded boudoir embroidering, it seems to evoke deep human emotions. A warm jade gliding over the water, two lotus petals drifting down gently. Treading the southern path, traces of spring linger; in the west chamber beneath the moon, a silent night. Gazing at the flowers damp with moss and dew, then drying them in the late afternoon sun by the window. Ximen Qing gently wrapped his arm around the woman's neck, taking sips of wine together, very tenderly. He looked at the woman's slightly messy hair, her half-exposed chest, her eyes glancing at him like the drunken Yang Guifei, her slender hands constantly exploring his body. His member was excited, still adorned with a silver ring, hanging there, soft and long. Ximen Qing joked, "You frightened it; now it's gone soft." The woman asked, "What illness?" Ximen Qing replied, "Since it's not an illness, why is it so soft and can't get hard? You should hurry and take care of it." The woman smiled at him, then squatted down, resting on his legs, took a belt, tied his member, and said, "You! So arrogant just now, now pretending to be dead!" She toyed with it for a moment... desire flared anew, and the two began to embrace passionately. The woman begged, "My darling, spare me, you are going to tire me out again!" That night, the two surrendered to their passions without restraint.
As the words attest:
Amidst the heat of passion, the clouds and rain subsided, her enchanting eyes cast a sidelong glance. With the jade stem still firm in hand, the skilled lover had to adapt. Sipping from the golden cup, both lost in love, as if intoxicated and entranced.
The next morning, Ximen Qing went out. When the woman got up for breakfast, she wanted to change her shoes, but discovered that one of the red shoes she had worn yesterday was missing. She asked Chunmei, and Chunmei said, "Yesterday when Master and I helped Madam inside, Qiujie was holding Madam's blanket." The woman called Qiujie to ask. Qiujie said, "I didn't see Madam wearing shoes when she came in yesterday." The woman retorted, "Nonsense! Did I come in without shoes? Am I barefoot?" Qiujie said, "Madam, you were wearing shoes; why aren't they in the room?" The woman scolded, "You silly girl, stop playing dumb! The shoes have to be in this room; you better find them for me!" Qiujie looked through three rooms, on the bed and under the bed, but couldn't find them. The woman said, "There must be a ghost in my room that stole my shoes. Even the shoes on my feet are missing! Why do I even keep you here?" Qiujie said, "Madam, did you forget? Maybe you left them in the garden." The woman said, "Do I not know whether I'm wearing shoes or not? You're confused!" She called Chunmei, "You follow this girl and go to the garden to look. If you find them, it's fine; if not, make her kneel in the courtyard as a punishment!" Chunmei really took Qiujie to the garden, near the grape arbor, looked everywhere but still couldn't find them! Everything was taken away, and now the reeds and bright moon feel impossible to find.
After the two returned from searching, Chunmei scolded, "You little fool, you're really a dunce!" Qiujun said, "I don't know who stole the lady's shoes; I didn't see the lady come in wearing them. Could it be that you let someone in yesterday when you opened the door, and they took the lady's shoes?" Chunmei shot back, scolding, "You little girl, you're messing up my plans again! When Liu Niang knocked, you think I would just let her in? How could I just let someone in? You're holding the lady's quilt and not even looking carefully, and you still dare to say anything!" While pushing Qiujun back into the room, she told the woman that they hadn't found the shoes. The woman ordered Qiujun to kneel in the yard. Qiujun, looking sad, said, "Let me go look in the garden again; if I can't find them, let the lady punish me." Chunmei said, "Lady, don't believe her. The garden has been cleaned thoroughly; even a needle could be found, so where would the shoes be?" Qiujun said, "If I can't find them, let the lady punish me. Why are you just standing there making snide remarks?" The woman said to Chunmei, "Alright, you follow her and see where she goes to look!"
Chunmei once again pushed Qiuju, searching thoroughly under the rockery in the garden, by each flower pond, and in the corner of the wall, but still couldn’t find it. Qiuju was also flustered; after Chunmei slapped her twice, she dragged her back to face the mistress. Qiuju said, "Have you checked the snow cave?" Chunmei replied, "That's the master's warm room; the lady usually doesn’t go there. I don’t think we’ll find it, so stop looking!" So she pressed her to the snow cave in Cangchunwu. In front of them was a low couch, and they searched the incense table next to it thoroughly, but found nothing. After rummaging through the book box, Chunmei said, "This book box is full of the master's cards and paper; how could the lady's shoes possibly be here? Don’t waste any more time! If the master sees it, he’ll be angry again, you dead girl!" After a long time, Qiuju exclaimed, "Found it! It's the lady's shoe!" Wrapped in a paper bag along with some incense and herbs, she took it out to show Chunmei: "How could this possibly be here? Just now you wrongly accused me!" Chunmei took a look; it was indeed a large red flat shoe, and she said, "It's the lady's shoe. How could it be in the book box? It's really strange!" So they went to see the woman. The woman asked, "Did you find my shoe? Where was it in the end?" Chunmei said, "We found it in Cangchunwu, in the master's warm room book box, along with cards, herbs, and spices." The woman took it and compared it with the other shoe; both were large red satin flat shoes embroidered with seasonal flowers, with green roots and blue mouth gold. The only difference was the stitching on the shoes: one had light green thread, the other had emerald blue thread, which was not easily distinguishable at first glance. The woman tried them on and found that the one she found was slightly tighter than the old shoe, and then realized it belonged to Laiwang's daughter-in-law: "I don’t know when it was taken by a thief; I didn’t dare to bring it inside, so I secretly hid it there. I never expected this girl would find it." After looking at it for a while, she said, "This shoe is not mine. You, girl, kneel down!" She ordered Chunmei, "Hold her down with a rock!" Qiuju cried and said, "If it's not the lady's shoe, whose shoe is it? I helped the lady find her shoe, and she still wants to punish me; if I can’t find it again, I can only imagine how she’ll punish me!" The woman scolded, "You dead girl, stop talking!" Chunmei brought a large stone and pressed it on her head. The woman put on another pair of shoes, felt warm in the room, and instructed Chunmei to move the vanity to the flower pavilion, and she went to comb her hair.
Chen Jingji returned from the store that morning and wanted to find some clothes to wear, so he walked to the garden gate. Xiaotieguner was playing there and saw Chen Jingji holding a silver hairpin, so he asked, "Brother-in-law, can I play with it?" Chen Jingji said, "This isn't mine; it's a hairpin that someone pawned. I'm just about to find it for him." The little guy smiled and said, "Brother-in-law, let me play with it. I'll exchange it with something good." Chen Jingji said, "Silly child, if you want it, I'll find another one for you to play with. What do you have that’s good? Let me see." The little monkey pulled out a red embroidered shoe from his waist and held it up for Chen Jingji to see. Chen Jingji asked, "Where did you get this?" The little monkey smiled and said, "Brother-in-law, let me tell you! Yesterday, I was playing in the garden and saw my dad carrying my fifth sister's two legs, swaying under the grape arbor. Later, my dad went in, and I went to find Miss Chunmei for some fruit to eat, and I picked up this shoe under the grape arbor." Chen Jingji took a look: the shoe color was like the moon in the sky, red like newly opened lotus petals, probably about three inches long. He recognized it immediately as Jinlian's shoe, so he said, "Give it to me, and tomorrow I'll find you a better hairpin for you to play with." The little monkey said, "Brother-in-law, don't lie to me. I'll ask you for it tomorrow!" Chen Jingji said, "I won't lie to you." The little monkey ran away laughing. Chen Jingji hid the shoe in his sleeve and thought to himself, "I had some fun with him several times, and he was pretty clever, but then he went off on a tangent at the key moment. Unexpectedly, luck is on my side, and this shoe has fallen into my hands. Today, I'll have some fun with her and see if she keeps up the act." It is true: When you don’t have to sew, how can you give gifts?
Chen Jingji was hiding his shoes and went straight to Pan Jinlian's room. Turning around the screen, he saw Qiuju kneeling in the yard and joked, "Little sister, what are you doing? Enlisting in the army? Or moving stones?" Jinlian upstairs heard it and asked Chunmei, "Who said she was moving stones? This girl really needs a good talking to!" Chunmei said, "It's brother-in-law who came. Qiuju is indeed moving stones." Jinlian shouted, "Brother Chen, there's no one up here, come on up." Chen Jingji walked upstairs and saw Jinlian there, with the two front windows open, draped with Xianglian curtains, getting ready in front of the mirror. Chen Jingji sat on a small stool beside her, seeing Jinlian's black and shiny hair, with a comb in her hand, her hair dragging on the floor, a red silk rope tied to a bunch of hair, with a silver hair bun on her head, and a faint fragrance, with rose petals woven into her hair bun, revealing her temples, dressed like a living Guanyin. After a while, Jinlian finished fixing her hair, walked to the dressing table to wash her hands, changed her clothes, and asked Chunmei to bring her brother-in-law some tea. Chen Jingji just smiled and didn't speak. Jinlian asked, "Brother-in-law, what are you laughing at?" Jingji said, "I laughed because you must have lost something!" Jinlian said, "Bah! What did I lose? What’s it to you? How did you know?" Jingji said, "You see, I'm just being kind, and you turn on me. In that case, I’m outta here!" He got up and was about to go downstairs. Jinlian grabbed him and said, "You silly ghost, you really know how to talk! When Wang's wife died, you didn't even care, how do you still remember me?" Then she asked, "Guess what I lost?" Chen Jingji took out a shoe from his sleeve, shook it, and said with a smile, "Whose is this?" Jinlian said, "Silly ghost, it turns out you stole my shoe! You made me let the maid look for it everywhere." Jingji said, "How did you know it was in my hands?" Jinlian said, "Is there anyone else in my room? It must be you sneaking around and stealing my shoes!" Jingji said, "Don't be embarrassed, old lady. I haven't been to your room in the past two days. How could I steal from you?" Jinlian said, "You silly ghost, wait until I tell your father you stole my shoes, and you think I'm not embarrassed." Jingji said, "You're just scaring me with my father." Jinlian said, "You really are a coward. You know that you're not clear with Wang's wife, and you still flirt with her. When have you ever been scared of anyone! Since it wasn't you who stole it, how come the shoes are in your hands? Tell the truth quickly, give me back my shoes, and maybe I’ll let you off the hook. It’s always been the case that lost things should be returned to their owner. If you dare say a word against it, I'll let you die in my hands!" Jingji said, "You really know how to be tough. There's no one here, let's talk: if you want your shoes back, you need to trade something for them." Jinlian said, "Silly ghost! My shoes must be returned to me, what do I need to trade?" Jingji smiled and said, "Sister Wu, give me the handkerchief in your sleeve, and I'll give you the shoes." Jinlian said, "I’ll get you a better one tomorrow, your father sees this handkerchief every day, it's not good to give it to you." Jingji said, "No. I won't trade for anything else, not even a hundred bucks, I want that handkerchief from you." Jinlian laughed and said, "You silly ghost, you’re really persistent! I don’t have the energy to argue with you." So she took out a fine white silk handkerchief embroidered with nightingales burning incense from her sleeve and handed it to him, silver characters and all.
As the poem goes, there is poetic evidence:
The gentleman saw the concubine coming down the orchid steps, asking for the delicate red embroidered shoes. She didn't care about the mud hidden in her sleeves; she only said that this matter could be resolved harmoniously. Chen Jingji quickly took it from her and bowed deeply. Jinlian instructed, "Hide it well, don't let the eldest sister see it; she's a chatterbox." Jingji said, "I know." As he handed the shoes back, he said, "It was Little Iron Rod who found them in the garden yesterday and asked me to exchange them for a headband today." He detailed the whole story. Jinlian blushed and said, "Look at this little rascal, making my shoes so dirty! I'll make sure his dad gives him a good talking-to!" Jingji said, "You can take it out on me instead! It's fine to punish him, just don't blame me, saying it was my idea. Just keep it quiet, okay?" Jinlian said, "I'll let this little rascal off the hook, but only if I can let a scorpion go too."
Once upon a time, two people were chatting enthusiastically when suddenly a servant ran over and shouted, "The master in the front hall wants her brother-in-law to write an invitation!" The woman hurriedly urged him to hurry. After going downstairs, she asked Chunmei to bring a stick to punish Qiujie. Qiujie refused to get down and said, "First find my mother's shoes; she still wants to punish me!" The woman showed her the shoes brought by Chen Jingji and scolded, "You thieving servant, you're trying to pass this off as my shoe! Where did you hide my shoes?" Qiujie took a look, stared wide-eyed for a moment, and said, "This is too strange; why does my mother have three pairs of shoes?" The woman said, "You bold little servant! Whose shoes did you use to deceive me, and how dare you say I have three feet?" Without another word, she had Chunmei hold her down and gave her ten whacks. Qiujie cried, hugging her legs, and looked at Chunmei, saying, "It's all your fault for letting people in and hiding my mother's shoes; now Mom is punishing me!" Chunmei scolded, "You put away the bedding of Tenth Sister but lost my mother's shoes. Mom gave you a few whacks, and you still have the nerve to blame others! It was originally this old shoe. If Mom's hairpin goes missing, are you going to blame someone else too? Mom has been lenient and didn’t hit you too hard. If I were you, I would’ve called a servant ages ago and given him a good thirty or forty whacks to see if he still dares!" A few choice words left Qiujie too scared to say anything.
Moreover, Ximen Qing called Jing Ji to the front hall, wrapped the gifts, and went to bid farewell to He Qianhu, who had just been promoted to the position of chief magistrate of the Huai'an penal office. Ximen Qing sent Yue An to deliver the gifts, had a meal with Jing Ji in the hall, and then returned to Pan Jinlian's room. At this time, Pan Jinlian brought up the incident of the little servant boy stealing shoes again, scolding him and saying, "It's all because of you, you good-for-nothing! Letting that little thief steal my shoes and take them outside without anyone noticing. I found out about it, and he must be punished. If you don't give him a few beatings, he will get used to it by tomorrow." Ximen Qing did not ask who told her, but got angry and went to the front. The little servant boy Lai Wang did not know what was going on; he was playing on the stone platform when Ximen Qing grabbed him by the hair, punched and kicked him, making him scream like a stuck pig before finally stopping. The servant boy lay on the ground without moving for a long time, and was so scared that Lai Wang's wife hurried over to help him, and it was a while before he finally woke up. Seeing blood streaming from his nose and mouth, they took him back to the room and slowly asked him, only to find out that it was because of the shoe-stealing incident that had caused trouble. Wu Dalang's wife angrily ran to the back kitchen, pointing fingers and cursing, shouting, "Damn whore, bastard! What grudge do you have with my child? He's only eleven or twelve; what does he know? How could he be stealing shoes here? For no reason, you beat him like this, causing him to bleed from his nose and mouth. If he dies, you'll have hell to pay!" After cursing in the kitchen, she went to the front and continued to curse, cursing non-stop for a day or two. Pan Jinlian was in the room drinking with Ximen Qing, completely oblivious to what was going on.
When Ximen Qing went to bed at night, he saw the woman wearing a pair of green silk slippers with red heels on her feet and said, "Oh, why are you wearing those shoes? They look so odd." The woman replied, "I only have one pair of red slippers, and one got dirty thanks to that little servant. I don't have a second pair." Ximen Qing said, "My dear, why not have another pair made for you tomorrow? You don't know, I especially like wearing red shoes; they make me happy to see." The woman exclaimed, "That damn servant! I just remembered something." Then she called to Chunmei, "Bring that shoe for him to see." "Do you recognize whose shoe this is?" Ximen Qing said, "I don't know whose shoe this is." The woman said, "Look at him acting all innocent! Keeping it from me, sneaking around; you've really outdone yourself! You kept that filthy shoe of Wang Xifeng like it was a prized possession, hidden in the Baijie box in the Xiangdong Pavilion, along with paper and incense. What a treasure, never taken out to use! No wonder that whore ended up in hell!" She pointed at Qiujie and scolded, "This servant hid my shoes and then had me hit her a few times." She instructed Chunmei, "Quickly throw it out for me!" Chunmei threw the shoe on the ground, looking at Qiujie and said, "Take it and wear it!" Qiujie picked up the shoe and said, "This shoe can only fit one of my toes." The woman scolded, "You treacherous little servant, how dare you call me 'mother'? She was the mistress's mother in her past life! Otherwise, why would she hide her shoes like treasures? Keeping them to pass on to the next generation! Shameless thing!" Qiujie was about to leave with the shoe, but the woman called her back and ordered, "Bring a knife; I want to chop her into pieces and throw her into the latrine! May this whore never be reincarnated behind Yinshan Mountain!" Then she said to Ximen Qing, "The more you feel sorry for her, the more I want to chop her up just to see your face." Ximen Qing laughed, "Stop playing around, let it go. I don't have that intention!" The woman said, "If you really don't care, then swear it. Even though that whore's dead and we have no idea where she went, why are you still holding onto her shoes? There will be retribution sooner or later; think about her well. It's just like this with you; you’re indifferent, yet expect everyone to be devoted to you!" Ximen Qing laughed, "Forget it, this little troublemaker just loves to stir things up! When she was alive, she never disrespected you in front of you." Then he pulled her close and kissed her, and they ended up having a steamy moment. It goes like this: the enchanting spring colors are still captivating, making butterflies' hearts flutter with softness and intensity.
Poetry serves as evidence:
To whom should the fragrance of my heart be expressed? Where should these thoughts be directed?
Thoughts may fade, but feelings are never fully spent;
They come ceaselessly, hour after hour.
