‘Why is it that girls have to get married as soon as they grow up? Once they’re married, they’re bound to change. Even dear Yun has to obey her uncle’s will. Now if we meet again, it will never be the same. She is bound to be distant towards me. What is the point of living, if I am to be forever shunned like this?’
He felt himself becoming tearful again. But for Grandmother Jia’s sake he endeavoured not to weep and instead sat there brooding silently to himself.
Jia Zheng was still concerned for Grandmother Jia’s health, and presently he came in to see how she was. Finding her somewhat improved he went out again and summoned the steward Lai Da, ordering him to bring the complete register of household servants employed in responsible positions. He went over this register with him entry by entry. Apart from Jia She’s servants, who had been taken away, there were more than thirty families on the register, with a total of two hundred and twelve male and female servants. Jia Zheng sent for the forty-one male servants at present employed in the mansion and interrogated them all about the accounts for the past years – checking with them the totals for income and expenditure in their various departments. The chief steward presented the ledgers for inspection, and Jia Zheng could see at a glance that none of the figures balanced. Expenditure outweighed income by far, and additional expenses had been incurred over several years in connection with Her Grace the Imperial Concubine. There were several entries revealing irregular loans raised outside. When he looked at the rents from the family estates in the Eastern provinces, he could see that in recent years income had shrunk to less than half what it had been in his grandfather’s time, while the family’s expenses were ten times as great. This palpable evidence of mismanagement came as a great shock to him, and he stamped his foot angrily:
‘This is monstrous! I thought Lian was competent to handle these things! And now I find that we have been mortgaging ourselves up to the hilt in order to keep up an empty show! We’ve been living far beyond our means. This recklessness was bound to lead to ruin. And it is too late now for me to start introducing economies!’
He paced up and down with his hands behind his back, unable to devise a remedy for the family’s deep-seated economic infirmity. His servants knew that their master had no head for business, and that he would only agitate himself to no avail on this score.
‘It’s no use worrying, sir,’ they advised him. ‘Every household is the same. Even princes of the realm! If you could but see their accounts, you’d find that they fail to balance their books too. They just keep up appearances and muddle along from day to day as best they can. You should think how lucky you’ve been. The Emperor’s been kind and allowed you to keep your part of the family property. Mind you, even if everything had been confiscated, you would still have been able to get by somehow or other!’
‘What nonsense you talk!’ cried Jia Zheng angrily. ‘You servants are worthless rogues, every last one of you! When your masters prosper, you spend their money as you please; and when there’s nothing left to spend, you beat a retreat at the first opportunity. What is it to you if we live or die? You say we are lucky not to have had everything confiscated – but what do you know? Do you realize that with our reputation as it stands at present, we’ll be hard put to it to avoid bankruptcy. And with you putting on airs, acting as if you were rich, talking as if you were important, swindling people left right and centre, we don’t stand a chance. When calamity strikes, you are quite content to see us take all the consequences. I am informed that it was one of your number, a servant by the name of Bao Er, who spread the very rumours that have incriminated my brother and Mr Zhen. Why is his name nowhere to be seen on this register?’
‘Bao Er isn’t officially on our books, sir,’ came the reply. ‘He was originally on the Ning-guo register. Then he caught Mr Lian’s eye as a trustworthy sort of person, and both he and his wife were taken on by Mr Lian. His wife died, and after that he went back to Ning-guo House. Once when you were busy at the Board, sir, and Her Old Ladyship and Their Ladyships and the other young masters were all away mourning at the mausoleum, Mr Zhen came over to inspect things on this side, and brought Bao Er with him. Bao Er went back with him to Ning-guo House again afterwards. It is so many years since you were involved in matters of this nature, sir, and it is hardly surprising if such details slip your mind. You probably think his is the only name not entered on the register. The fact is that every man has several dependants – even servants have servants of their own!’ ‘Preposterous!’ exclaimed Jia Zheng.
An immediate solution to these economic ills still failed to present itself to Jia Zheng’s mind, and he sent the servants away. He had already resolved what general course of action to follow, but decided to wait first to see the nature of the sentence passed on Jia She and Cousin Zhen.
A day or so later, he was in his study puzzling his head over some figures, when a servant came hurrying in to inform him that his presence was immediately required at court. Jia Zheng set off at once, in a state of extreme trepidation. To learn whether the outcome was favourable or otherwise, please turn to the next chapter.
Chapter 107
Impelled by family devotion, Grandmother Jia distributes her personal possessions
Favoured with an Imperial dispensation, Jia Zheng receives his brother’s hereditary rank
Jia Zheng arrived at the Palace, and greeted the various princes and ministers of the Privy Council assembled there to meet him.
‘His Majesty has instructed us to send for you,’ said the Prince of Bei-jing. ‘He would like us to ask you one or two questions.’
Jia Zheng fell hastily to his knees, and the inquisition proceeded:
‘Were you aware that your elder brother had connived with a provincial official for personal gain? That he had abused his influence and bullied a defenceless citizen? That he had permitted his son to indulge in gambling and loose living, and that this same son forcefully took to his bed the fiancée of an innocent person and drove her to her death when she would not gratify his desires? Were you aware of all this?’
Jia Zhen replied as best he could:
‘Upon the expiry of my term of office as Education Commissioner, an appointment I owed to the gracious favour of His Majesty, I was engaged at first in supervising relief measures, and then on my return home at the end of last winter I was deputed by my superiors to inspect reconstruction work and was subsequently appointed Grain Intendant for Kiangsi Province. From this last post I returned to the capital under impeachment, and have now resumed my former position at the Board of Works. I have truly endeavoured to be diligent in the performance of all these official duties, but I fear that I have completely neglected to keep my own household in order. For this inexcusable shortcoming on my part, for my abject failure to instruct my sons and nephews in the true principles of conduct, for my base ingratitude to the throne, I can only beg that His Majesty will punish me with fitting severity.’
The Prince of Bei-jing went in to communicate this to the Emperor, and after a short while returned with the Imperial Edict, which he declaimed to the assembled company:
‘We have received an indictment from the Censorate stating that Jia She connived with a provincial official and abused his own personal influence to bully a defenceless citizen. The provincial official named by the censor was the prefect of Ping-an. Jia She, so the impeachment reads, was in communication with this prefect with a view to perverting the true course of justice. When closely interrogated, however, Jia She testified that the prefect was in fact a relation of his by marriage and that their connection was a purely personal one. The censor has therefore been unable to substantiate this part of the charge. Another part, however, has been verified, namely that Jia She abused his personal influence in coercing the man named Stony to part with a set of antique fans. These fans were none the less trifles, and the case must therefore be distinguished from serious cases of extortion. Stony’s subsequent suicide can also be ascribed to his own eccentricity, and he cannot be st
rictly considered to have been “driven to his death”. We see fit to show leniency to Jia She, and hereby sentence him to penal service at a military post on the Mongolian border, where he shall redeem himself by diligent service.
‘With reference to the first charge brought against Jia Zhen, that he forcefully took to his bed the betrothed of an innocent citizen and drove her to her death when she would not gratify his desires: upon consulting the original records at the Censorate, We find that the lady in question, a certain Miss You Er-jie, was betrothed to a certain Zhang Hua when both were still in their mothers’ wombs. The marriage was never solemnized, indeed Zhang himself wished to annul it on the grounds of his own poverty. The lady’s mother was also quite willing for her daughter to be taken as a concubine, not by Jia Zhen himself but by his younger cousin. So clearly this was not a case of forceful appropriation. Then the case of Miss You San-jie: the charge here is that following her suicide she was buried secretly and the facts of her death were concealed from the authorities. On further investigation it has been found that this Miss You San-jie was the younger sister of Jia Zhen’s wife, and that it was his original intention to arrange a marriage for her. The widespread and malicious rumours circulating about her character, her own subsequent feelings of shame and remorse and the insistence of her fiancé that she should return his betrothal gifts were the cause of her suicide, not any direct maltreatment or coercion on the part of Jia Zhen. As the holder of a hereditary rank, however, Jia Zhen deserves to be severely punished for his ignorance of the law and for his failure to report the burial of a deceased person. In view of the fact that he is a descendant of a loyal and distinguished subject, We cannot bring ourselves to impose the heavy penalty strictly required by law, but choose to exercise Our discretion, hereby sentencing him to be stripped of his hereditary rank and sent to a maritime frontier region, there to redeem himself by diligent service. Jia Rong, who is too young to have been involved in these affairs, is acquitted. Jia Zheng has for many years held provincial posts in which he has served conscientiously and prudently, and he is absolved from the consequences of his failure to govern his household correctly.’
Jia Zheng responded to the Edict with tears of gratitude, and hastily kowtowed, first in the direction of the Imperial throne, then towards the prince, whom he begged to convey to the Emperor a humble plea of devotion.
‘A simple kowtow will suffice,’ said the prince. ‘There is no need of anything further.’
‘My gratitude to His Majesty, for so graciously absolving me of blame, and for restoring my portion of the family property, knows no bounds,’ said Jia Zheng. ‘I feel a great sense of inner remorse. Please allow me to donate to the Imperial purse all my hereditary emoluments and accumulated property.’
‘His Majesty is indeed humane and compassionate towards His subjects,’ replied the prince. ‘He is wise and discriminating in his judgements, and never errs, whether it be in recompensing virtue or in punishing vice. In having your property thus restored, you have been blessed with his exceptional favour. There is really no call for any further gesture on your part.’
The other gentlemen present concurred.
So Jia Zheng kowtowed again, first towards the Emperor and then to the prince, and left the Palace, hurrying home to bear the news to Grandmother Jia, knowing the anxious suspense in which she would be awaiting his return. The entire Jia household, menfolk and womenfolk, were waiting anxiously at the entrance of Rong-guo House to learn the outcome of his interview, and breathed a huge sigh of relief when they saw him return safely home. None dared to question him as he hurried past them and on into Grandmother Jia’s apartment. He recounted to her the details of the latest Edict; and Grandmother Jia, though pleased that some of the charges had been dropped, was understandably distressed to learn that the two titles were lost to the family and that both Jia She and Cousin Zhen were sentenced to penal servitude. Lady Xing and You-shi simply broke down when they heard the news.
‘You must not distress yourself, Mother,’ pleaded Jia Zheng. ‘Although Brother She will have to work at the Mongolian frontier post, he will still be serving the nation, and will not be maltreated. If he acquits himself creditably, he may be fully reinstated. As for Zhen, he is still a young man and a bit of hard work certainly won’t do him any harm. This is a lesson we would have had to learn sooner or later. We cannot rest for ever on the laurels of our forefathers.’
He added a few more words of this kind, which comforted Grandmother Jia. After all, she had never been particularly fond of Jia She, and Cousin Zhen was not her own grandson. But Lady Xing and You-shi were inconsolable.
‘We are ruined!’ thought Lady Xing to herself. ‘With my husband sent into exile in his old age, who can I turn to? Lian is supposed to be my son, but he has always attached himself more to his uncle Zheng than to his own father. Now that we are all dependent on Zheng, Lian and Xi-feng are bound to lean even more towards that side of the family. I shall be completely abandoned; I have nothing to look forward to but loneliness and misery for the rest of my days.’
You-shi had always been in charge of Ning-guo House, and apart from Cousin Zhen she was the only one of the family to have earned the respect of the domestic staff. She and Cousin Zhen had a happy marriage moreover. Now he was to be sent away in disgrace, everything they had was confiscated, and they would be obliged to look to the Rong-guo branch for support. Grandmother Jia loved her well enough, but still, she would be the recipient of charity, and she would have to bring Lovey and Dove along with her, not to mention young Rong and his wife, who were still too young to be independent.
‘It was really Lian’s fault that my sisters came to such a wretched end,’ she reflected. ‘And yet he and Xi-feng have survived unscathed, while we are reduced to this desperate state of affairs.’
Grandmother Jia was greatly affected by You-shi’s disconsolate sobbing, and she turned to Jia Zheng and asked him:
‘Now that their sentence has been pronounced, will your brother She and young Zhen be allowed to come home to say goodbye? Rong has been acquitted, so I assume that he will be set free.’
‘In the normal course of events such a visit would not be allowed,’ replied Jia Zheng. ‘But I have already asked if as a personal favour Brother She and Cousin Zhen could be allowed home to make preparations for their departure, and the Board of Punishments has most graciously agreed to make this concession. I assume that Rong will be set free and will accompany them. Now, please don’t you worry, Mother. I shall do all I can for them.’
‘I’m growing old and senile,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘It’s years since I last enquired about the family’s finances. The Ning-guo side has had everything confiscated, I know, and that of course includes the house itself. On our side, your brother She and Lian have had their things taken too. Now, you’d better tell me: how much money do we have left? And what are our estates in the Eastern provinces worth? When those two have to go, we must give them a few thousand taels of silver to take with them.’
Jia Zheng saw himself caught.
‘If I tell the truth,’ he thought to himself, ‘I fear it will come as a great blow. But if I conceal it, heaven alone knows how we will be able to pay for our present needs, let alone manage in the future.’
‘Had you not asked, Mother,’ he began, ‘I would never have bothered you with this. But since you have asked, and since Lian is present, I am bound to say that yesterday I examined the family accounts, and discovered the truth. Which is this: our exchequer has for a long time been completely empty – in fact, more than empty. There are substantial debts. I must somehow find money, and without delay, to mollify the officials involved in Brother She’s case. Without such intervention I fear they will both suffer, despite His Majesty’s generous concern. I am still not certain how this money can be raised. The Eastern estates cannot be depended on for anything. The rents for the forthcoming year have long been borrowed against. Our only recourse will be to sell what clothes and jewellery they a
re lucky enough to have left in their possession, and to let Brother She and Cousin Zhen take the proceeds of that sale with them. How we ourselves will manage afterwards is another matter altogether.’
Grandmother Jia was once more reduced to floods of tears.
‘Is it really so desperate? Can we have fallen so low? I’ve never experienced anything like this. I can remember my own family in the old days; they were ten times as grand as us, yet they managed to live beyond their means for years. And even in the end, no such calamity as this ever befell them. It was more gradual. It must have been a year or two before they were finished. But you seem to be saying that we may not even last another year!’
‘If only we still had the two hereditary state emoluments to fall back on,’ said Jia Zheng. ‘Then we might be able to procure a loan. But as things stand, no one is going to lend us a penny.’
Even his cheeks were now streaming with tears.
‘It’s certainly no use turning to our own relatives for help,’ he continued. ‘The ones that owe us a favour are penniless, and the ones that don’t are unlikely to come forward and help us now. I did not examine the accounts in any detail yesterday, but I did glance at the register of household staff. We can barely afford to keep ourselves alive, let alone such a host of servants.’
These final details in Jia Zheng’s tale of financial woe plunged Grandmother Jia in still deeper gloom. Presently Jia She, Cousin Zhen and Jia Rong arrived and paid her their respects. The sight of them somehow brought home to her the true horror of their predicament. She took Jia She by one hand, Cousin Zhen by the other and burst out sobbing. The two men hung their heads in shame and, when she began weeping, fell to their knees and cried:
‘We have dishonoured the family! We have forfeited the glory won by our forefathers! We have brought you grief! We are not even worthy to be buried when we die!’