Report to the young master: There was an accident and the Grand Lady Gu died of choking on sputum. Your mother’s uncle sent a servant to report to us and your mother asked you to go there with her.
Upon hearing these words, Kuibi was astonished
Feeling as if his soul had slowly come out of him from his head
Pushing away the armchair, Kuibi suddenly stood up
Hurriedly he requested for his friend Shaohua to drink alone:
“We were supposed to catch up and chat today
But this sudden sad news was unexpected
Must go pay my respects to the deceased together with my mother
I have no other choice but to leave you and go”
Finished these words Kuibi held Shaohua’s hands again tightly
Shaohua stepped out of Xiaochun Courtyard
The young master Liu rushed out of the garden
He came across the one who received his order
Hastily Kuibi warned—again and again—
“Be careful about what I have entrusted you with
Do not share it with any outsiders
Not even to your own mother
If we were able to succeed tomorrow
I promise to be extremely grateful to you”
Jinxi repeatedly said he understood
He had kept the words in mind and did not need any more exhortations
Finishing the words, Kuibi and Jinxi split up
In a great hurry Kuibi quickly went inside
Only heard the lady weeping in the room
Who were beating her chest and stamping her feet with a loud cry
Kuibi lift up the curtain and entered the room
Bending down to comfort his mother sadly:
“No one thought that a tragedy would occur in uncle’s family
Grandmother has unexpectedly gone back to the nether world
If you, my mother, go with me your son
I worry that our house will not have a host”
Lady Gu sorrowfully cried
Hearing that, she kept instructing to quickly make arrangements:
“Once their grandmother went on the road to the nether world
How could sons and grandsons not be there to accompany her?
Yanyu will be able to keep running the house
Let us promptly leave right now
The delicate commandery mistress answered in a low voice:
“Please rest assured to leave the house to me”
The lady of the Liu family hurried to pack her belongings
In a moment she was prepared to leave
Two sedans were readily prepared
The mother and son rushed to leave
The lady opened her mouth and called Yanyu:
“You should keep house together with the wet nurse
Your grandmother went to the nether world tonight
Be careful as we will not be back until tomorrow
For the whole night, you need to take care of the households
If nothing occurs, it will show that you are capable”
The young lady answered in affirmation:
“Please rest assured and leave, my brother and mother”
The commandery mistress gallantly sent them out
Only then did she return through the gate to the inner hall
Her boudoir was named Wanyun1 Pavilion
It had three rooms which all faced south
There were no other rooms except the left and right wings and the main hall
The garden was deep hidden behind hanging bamboo curtains
Accompanying her was a young maid
Who was thirteen years old and named Feiyan2
Though the wet nurse helped the young lady
She stayed in the wing room when she was free
At the time the commandery mistress returned to her boudoir
She sent away the young maid Feiyan
With her jaded hands holding onto the wet nurse Jiang’s arm
They sat in front of a small lamp together
Red lips opening—beautiful eyebrows frowning—
In a hushed voice she asked the wet nurse to listen to her:
“When I had just fallen asleep last midnight3
The aunt, my mother4, came into my dream speaking of my fate
She said: “You are already fifteen years old
Yet not engaged with anyone
An honorable man will come here tomorrow
Your brother will invite him to stay overnight in the garden
That man shall encounter trouble early in the evening5
My daughter, you can find an opportunity to save him
He once was—God of the Eastern Dipper who came down to earth
He is going to become a noble prince or minister
You, my daughter, are destined to marry him
You should not treat him like a stranger
Like this, the secret is now revealed to you without restraint
The rest of your life can be dependent on this virtuous hero
If you only treat this dream as a hallucination
I am afraid that—everyone in your family will be in trouble’
Finishing these words, she turned her head and urged me again and again
Telling me to pay attention and not to be late
Later I woke up from this vivid dream6
Not able to figure out whether these words were true or not
If you, nanny7, do not have other things at hand
Please go outside and find out where these words arise from
If that man truly exists
Nanny, please help me attain this dream”
Finishing speaking, the commandery mistress blushed
Hearing that, Nanny Jiang started saying comforting words:
“Since you have had this peculiar dream
Allow me to go ahead and covertly ask around
If there is any guest staying here
I will then come back and let you know of the situation”
Finishing these words she straightened right away
Yanyu in a low voice told her to keep it secret
Nanny Jiang answered as she stepped out
Hurriedly she walked out of Wanyun Pavilion8
When she entered the winding corridor
Inside she happened to encounter her son9
He repeatedly asked where his mother was going
Whether she had had dinner at dusk
The wet nurse Jiang replied: “I just had dinner
Then what did you come here for?”
Jinxi hurriedly said that there was a matter to discuss
Asking his mother to enter the side room with him
Upon hearing that, Nanny Jiang stopped and followed Jinxi’s steps hastily
They entered the wing-room together and talked secretively
Jinxi first mentioned the dream given by the god
Then the secret task requested by the young master:
“Only because your son was struggling in dealing with this matter
Therefore, I came and told you my mother all these
I should not do terrible things that harm the heavens and damage the principles10
I could not bear the consequences of killing a person and setting the fire
As the lady and the young master went out tonight
The time is also adequate to save the person
If you, my mother, object this task
I will try my best to make it appropriate”
After hearing the reasons behind all these matters
Surprised and delighted, she opened her mouth and said:
“Ah, is that true? The power of our great aunt manifested!”
She relayed what the commandery mistress dreamed of
Narrating in detail from the very beginning with heartfelt emotion:
“It is truly the power of our great aunt manifested
Previously she instructed the young lady to save the hero
If the dream turns out to be true like this
We ought to deliver the message tonight
Wait for me to report to the commandery mistress
You must hold up and stay calm
Since she—asked me to go find out whether the information is true
Her delicate heart must care about this matter
Just keep quiet and do not let the secret out
Your mother will go to explain what happened”
With these words, Nanny Jiang hurried away
Straightforward, she entered the young lady’s boudoir
Yanyu was just lighting up a lamp and sitting alone
She smiled when seeing Nanny Jiang coming inside
She directly asked about the matter:
“Is there anyone staying here same as told in the dream?”
The wet nurse shared her son’s words in detail
For Liu Yanyu—a sense of delight climbed up her eyebrows
[1] Wanyun 晚云, literally means “evening cloud.” [2] Feiyan 飞烟, literally means “flying mist.” [3] The original text is sangeng 三更 [the third geng]. It refers to the time around midnight. See the entry of Chinese Zodiac Time. [4] The original text is yiniang 姨娘 [aunt]. Yanyu and Kuibi share the same father. However, Kuibi is borne by the principal wife Lady Gu, while Yanyu is borne by the concubine. So Yanyu calls her birth mother yiniang, the title the whole family used to call a concubine, while the title “mother” is saved for Lady Gu. [5] The original text is chugeng 初更時分 [time of the first geng]. It refers to the first of the five shifts at night, which is at around 19:00-21:00. See the entry of Sangeng and Chinese Zodiac Time. [6] See the entry of Nanke Meng. [7] The original text is mama 媽媽, which is a common prefix to call an old female servant. [8] In the zhongzhou guji chubanshe 中州古籍出版社 edition (1982), the place is called xiaoyun xuan 曉云軒 [Morning Cloud Pavilion]. But according to the plot, it should be the same place as mentioned before, Yanyu’s room, wanyun xuan 晚雲軒 [Evening Cloud Pavilion]. [9] Nanny Jiang’s son is the servant Jinxi. [10] Link to Shangtian haili.
