[Chapter Summary]
Liu Kuibi was furious at the failure of his attempt to kill Huangfu Shaohua with a fire in his own garden. So, he wrote a letter to his father, twisting the truth of the archery competition and the fire to frame the Huangfu family. Liu Kuibi’s father was Liu Jie, whose daughter Liu Yanzhu was married to the late emperor’s grandson Temür Khan . After Temür Khan became the new emperor, Yanzhu became the empress, and the Liu family acquired exalted status, wealth, and power as the emperor’s relatives. Reading his son’s letter, Liu Jie became agitated and was determined to take revenge on Huangfu’s dismissive attitude. Therefore, Liu Jie advised the emperor to send Huangfu Jing to the battlefield of Chosŏn, and later framed him for treason. Concerned about the family’s safety after his leaving, Huangfu Jing suggested Lady Yin return to their hometown Jingzhou.
The poem goes:
The flying dragon ruled the five clouds for the first time
People under the heavens did not yet feel stable
The sycophant recommended the virtuous to the emperor[1]
The hero received the order and offered sacrifices to the golden altar[2]
In the camp, flag shadows were rolling with the clouds
At midnight, nomadic reed pipe sounds blew matching the cold water
With my flowery brush, I exhaust all the grand warfare
Immediately, my readers vied to read it in their leisure time
By midwinter the weather was freezing cold
With whistling westerly wind, all the plants withered
Trees bathed in the last ray of sunshine at twilight
Fallen leaves scattered the steps and surrounded the thin door curtain
On my inkstone the first sheet of thin ice formed
Thick snow in the courtyard was still waiting to be shoveled
At night I stuck the fire in the stove and sat quietly
In the day I seized the daylight to write carefree pieces[3]
Unable to withstand constantly doing needlework in the short daylight
I am back here to continue writing this story of Destiny of Rebirth
In the previous chapter we talked about the situation in the minister’s mansion
Now let us turn our attention to matters happening in the Liu family
Staying at home, Kuibi’s heart was filled with frustration
And an extremely worried face revealed his anxiety
He was terrified that Jinxi might undergo torture and interrogation
Which may force Jinxi to blurt the truth completely:
“If they know that it was me who committed arson
The Huangfu family will report it to the emperor
Since the government decrees were clearly written
It will be hard even for the emperor to shield me”
Kuibi was frightened to the core by the possibility of his secret emerging
Round and round, he paced inside the main room
Guessing what he was thinking in his heart
Nanny Jiang lifted the window curtain to look at the sky
With tightly knit brows, she said: “It is no good
According to the oblique sunlight, noon has passed
Could it be that Jinxi suffered from some misfortunes
And has not returned because he is being interrogated with torture?
My young master[4] should have plainly told the truth just now
Why was he so timid and afraid of opening his mouth?
There was no such trespass against heaven and reason
It is my child who is going to set the fire
There were many servants both inside and outside the house
Why did he only push Jinxi to receive the blame?
How influential and dignified is Master Huangfu
How could he make the whole marquis mansion yield to his power?
Now that he has publicly taken Jinxi to the yamen
It is definitely—to grill Jinxi about everything without ceasing concentration
It seems that Jinxi is destined to be low on luck
Today he will suffer a gross injustice for no reason
If anything unfortunate happens to my child
I will risk my—remaining life and weak body to fight for him”
While the wet nurse Nanny Jiang was complaining about her young master
Lady Liu next to them also began to talk:
“If Jinxi really encounters an inquisition
I am afraid that he will spout nonsense in a fluster
If Commissioner-in-chief Huangfu sets himself against us
No doubt he will report everything to the emperor
Even though our father is currently a marquis
He cannot act against the emperor and the law
I cannot understand how this accident happened
It was so strange that the garden caught fire”
At that time Kuibi was bothered by this matter
He wore a worried and ashamed look on his face
Suddenly he heard the servant girls shouting together
Chirping to Sister Jiang the Third that brother Jinxi had returned
Hearing this, Nanny Jiang was thrilled
And Kuibi looked out in a hurry too
Entering the room through the curtain, Jinxi called his young master
Putting on an extremely pitiful appearance
The brim of his hat hung slantingly above a gloomy face
And the sleeves of his robe trailed lowly behind a weak body
Pulling a handkerchief and pretending to wipe tears
Jinxi said—“I, the humble one,[5] deserve to die for being implicated
I was involuntarily taken by him to the yamen
A court session was immediately held to investigate this incident
I said that I was not privy of any internal matters
So the commissioner-in-chief became angry and passed an order for torture
In no time the leg press was thrown in front of me
Instantly long whips were put beside me
I was so scared that I felt as though my heart and gallbladder broke
But I already could not—fly back home to escape from the torture
Just when I was anxious for a sound solution
Young Master Huangfu opportunely came back
I do not know how Young Master Huangfu got there
I only heard that he whispered something to his father, the commissioner-in-chief
In a moment I was released and went back home
It was truly a narrow escape for me to preserve my wretched life”
Jinxi wiped his tears again after finishing his words
Liu Kuibi—was seized by a fit of anger that rushed onto his brows
Even though he immediately resumed a normal expression
His pale face, blue lips and algid body gave him away
After thinking for a while, the fury enveloped his heart
Stamping the heels of his boots while gnashing his teeth:
“Oh heavens! I, Liu Kuibi, am exceedingly resentful!
Only because I intended to take my revenge
I, therefore, falsely invested in cordiality
All the time I invited him to explore scenery through hiking
Yesterday I had just sent him an invitation to go boating
The sudden emergence of a great chance to kill him had made me excited
But who would have thought that all my efforts would still go up in smoke
I sacrificed my Xiaochun Courtyard for nothing
My enemy—is still alive now
Woe to Shaohua, how could you unexpectedly escape from the garden and make my plan fail!
Most likely, because he had not retreated to bed at that time
Jinxi came early to set the big fire
As soon as the fire started, he fled away
Thus, he could return home safe and sound
Most likely, he has guessed my plan
And therefore, swiftly went back alone
In fear that his family discovers the whole truth
I must act as early as possible again
Hah, this is called ‘setting out to draw a tiger but ending up as a dog.’
[1] Refers to Liu Jie (the sycophant) recommending Huangfu Jing (the virtuous) to fight against Chosǒn, which is a dangerous task. [2] Offering sacrifice to the golden alter is a ritual before setting off to the war. [3] The original text is xianpian 閑篇, a dialectal way to express "idle chatter", which the author used to humbly refer to Destiny of Rebirth. [4] Refers to Liu Kuibi. [5] Xiaode 小的 is a modest word to refer to oneself, usually used by commoners when speaking to officials or servant to masters
