Zhao Bin himself did not understand what could have happened to Wang Xing, or what it was all about. After leaving Guo Four, he asked in many places without learning anything. It was very dark and now at the second watch. He quickly went again to the estate of Prime Minister Qin and climbed stealthily over the roofs. Looking down from a rooftop, he was surprised to see in the courtyard below, lit by flickering candlelight, those household people who truly resembled a troop of demons. Trembling with fear and very cautious, Zhao Bin leaped from roof to roof and hurried off to the west.
Arriving at a distant flower garden, Zhao Bin stopped, looked east and west, and then said to himself, “This flower garden is not part of the prime minister’s mansion. Whose home is it?”
When he had looked about for some time, he saw that at the northeast corner there was a courtyard where he could see a twinkling light. He jumped down and moved in for a closer look. He saw that the flower garden was surrounded by the saplings of cassia trees. When he went through the gate, he saw before his eyes a short section of an ornamental wall that closed off the view to anyone standing in the gateway. In the center of the wall there was a design like a chessboard done in gray plaster. Beyond, to the north, was a building of three sections on a high platform with appropriate lower buildings on the east and west, each with three sections. A bamboo curtain was hanging in the door of the north building, and because of the light it was possible to see quite clearly into the room from the outside. He could see a square table inside. On the table was some fruit, hot and cold dishes with meat and fish, and the best quality strong wine. It was a most finely set table.
Zhao Bin thought to himself, “It would suit me just right to have such a meal prepared for me to eat and drink my fill, before going to kill that beastly person.”
He took a couple of steps forward. Just then he began to feel quite differently and said to himself, “Zhao Bin, you are too simple-minded. What if there is someone in the room and you simply walk in? How could you avoid being seen? That would be most inconvenient. I will have to find a small stone with which to try to find out whether anyone is there.” He searched about in the courtyard until he found some small stones, and threw one against the lattice. It was an oft-repeated saying among the brotherhood of the Greenwood that, if one threw stones in this way and the sound was heard, there would be a reply. More importantly, if there was a guard dog it would bark, and the one who had thrown the stone would swiftly depart.
Zhao Bin threw the stone, but there was no apparent movement within. Feeling satisfied that there was no one there, he walked forward. Not until he was on the first step did he hear someone say, “Ai yah! Big Brother has come. Quick, come and save us!”
Zhao Bin was greatly surprised. As he looked about carefully, he saw Wang Xing and his wife hanging upside down from a beam. Both were covered with blood.
CHAPTER 12
Qin Da practices a cruel deception; Qin Da seeks to separate a faithful couple
A thousand ounces of the yellowest gold
Would not suffice to buy that little body.
It is her love that made her rouge besmeared
And left a puzzle in the library.
ZHAO Bin could hardly help but be terribly shocked at the sight of his friend Wang Xing and Wang Xing’s wife both hanging there from a beam, certainly injured. How could they have been so mistreated?
Now this was the flower garden of Qin Da, the second noble son of Prime Minister Qin. Ordinarily, Qin Da made no attempt to behave in ways proper to his position. He took advantage of the fact that his father was prime minister. Since Qin Da’s elder brother had died some time earlier, Qin Da was now the only remaining son. He was quite unrestrained in his vicious behavior. Under his patronage he had a considerable number of hired thugs, whom he had gathered and trained. Frequently they went out robbing, plundering, and taking young wives and girls by force. Then the ruffians treated them without mercy. Qin Da even permitted his uncontrolled thugs to kill these unfortunate females. If anyone came to the prefectural offices to complain, the guards would not accept their petitions. They all knew that Qin Da was the noble son of Prime Minister Qin. Because of this, they gave Qin Da the nickname of “Demon of Doom.”
On this particular day he had been reading a book in the flower garden. When he read, he never looked at proper books. They were always licentious books with perverted viewpoints. The one he had been reading was The Emperor Tang Minghuang Vows to Make Yang Gueifei His Favorite Concubine. He had just reached a very satisfying place when he slapped the table in astonishment.
There beside him was one of his household servants, Qin Yu, who commonly was most eager to do any service for him. “Which good part has pleased the honorable young master so much?” Qin Yu asked.
“Do you know, it is not surprising that one of the Tang-dynasty poems tells how the emperor’s wife frankly expressed her opinions, how she openly rode her horse through the palace gates, and how she made it the fashion to use delicately applied adornments and to complain about impurities in the rouge and other cosmetics,” said Qin Da.“This Yang Gueifei was certainly a fine woman!”
“Honorable young master, did you see these things yourself?” asked Qin Yu.
“This toady is always showing how addle-brained he is by his talk,” Qin Da said. “That was the Tang Dynasty. This is the Song Dynasty. How could I have seen these things with my own eyes?”
“But there is one person now before the eyes of men who is more beautiful than Yang Gueifei,” said Qin Yu. “Truly she is one of the few beneath heaven. There is not another such in the world. Since the time when I was born, I have seen only one such beautiful woman. She is neither tall nor short, fat nor thin, with eyebrows and eyes and everything else of great beauty.”
Qin Da was not a good person at all. When he heard these words, his eyes became fixed and staring and he quickly spoke up. “Qin Yu, where did you see her?”
Qin Yu replied, “At the gate of our estate there is a man named Wang Xing, who has spread his carpet and displayed there the fruit that he sells. He lives in the city. One day this small person, myself, went to buy two chairs of hard yellow cedar. I wanted to hire someone to take them to my home for me, but there was no suitable person around. I therefore went to the home of Wang Xing to ask him to carry them. Just as I knocked, his wife was leaving the house. When this small person saw her, he knew beyond any doubt that hers was a very rare beauty. She was at the highest level among beautiful women. Since the day that I saw her, I have wanted to tell the young master about her, but there was no suitable time. She is just right for you.”
“Impossible!” Qin Da said, “I would like to have her, indeed, but it is not an easy matter. Can I simply say that someone in Wang Xing’s home belongs to me? Do you know of any way to drop this beautiful woman into my hands? I would certainly give you much silver for your efforts.”
Qin Yu replied, “If the young master wants this beautiful woman, it is not difficult. If you can spend two hundred ounces of silver, this toady has a suitable plan that will ensure this beautiful woman will be in your hands today. If only you, young master, will give me the two hundred ounces of silver, I will put my plan into operation for you.”
Qin Da said, “Go to my treasury, get the silver, and bring it here.”
When the two hundred ounces of silver was in his hands, Qin Yu came close to Qin Da and told him his plan. When Qin Da heard it, he laughed loudly, “Ha, ha! You just go and call him.”
After
