chapter 3
As the year drew to a close, business at the House of Crimson Delight boomed.
Every day, Sai Yuhuan was either invited out for drinking games or taken boating on the lake and to performances.
On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Young Master Zheng of the southern quarter sent a sedan chair to invite her to a winter crab feast at Liu Wu’er’s house.
Liu Wu’er was a famous private courtesan in Yangzhou. Sai Yuhuan had little to do with her in ordinary times and was deeply reluctant to go.
“If she and her girls are already entertaining him, tell Young Master Zheng that I won’t intrude.”
But Zheng’s grinning servant pressed a gold hairpin into her hand.
“Please take pity on me, Sister. My master misses you terribly. Come with me just this once.”
For the sake of the gold hairpin, Sai Yuhuan grudgingly agreed and took me to the Liu household.
I was only a maid and naturally had no place at the table, so the Liu servants settled me in a side room in the front courtyard.
Music and revelry rang from the rear compound. I waited idly from noon until deep into the night.
Just as I was nodding off, the back courtyard suddenly erupted like a boiling pot. Curses, shattering cups, and ripping silk sounded one after another.
Before long, Sai Yuhuan staggered out, supported by two maids.
Her cloudlike hair hung crooked, powder streaked her face, and her dress bore marks of having been pulled and torn.
I stared in shock. “What happened?”
“Wahhh—Liu Wu’er, that—that little whore—I’ll never forgive her—”
Sai Yuhuan, who usually showed her claws at the slightest provocation, was streaming with tears and snot. Her broken sobs made her look as pitiful as a defeated calico cat.
She cried without stopping. Once we returned to the House of Crimson Delight, she buried her head beneath the covers and wailed even louder.
When the other women heard, they all came running to watch the spectacle.
At the sight of Sai Yuhuan’s tear-streaked face, Chang An was torn between laughter and anger.
“Aren’t you usually formidable? Two years ago, you tore out a lock of my hair in a fight. What happened? All your courage works only at home? How did you turn into such a coward today? Stop howling. You’re making me despise you.”
“D-don’t stand there making clever remarks! Today I was in—in that Liu woman’s house. There were too many of them. Even a hero can’t fight four hands, and a tiger can’t—can’t defeat a pack of wolves.”
“Tch. You’re like a mouse with an abscess on its tail—not much pus in you after all! The only hard thing about you is your mouth.”
Madam Chen soon thundered up the stairs. The moment she pushed through the door, she was so shocked that powder flaked from her face.
“My child! Did that pack of little whores bully you?”
Sai Yuhuan had been loud enough before. At those words, she howled even harder. “Madam Chen! Madam! Five or six of those Liu women ganged up and tore at me—”
I dabbed at her tears by the bed and urged, “Dear Sister, lower your voice. If word gets out, every pleasure house in Yangzhou will laugh at the House of Crimson Delight for being weak and easy to bully. Let it go, Sister. Endure it. Is any of this worth boasting about?”
“Hmph!” Madam Chen gave a cold laugh and flung her handkerchief into my face.
“Don’t try to fan the flames, you wretched girl. I know exactly what you’re doing! That said, I spent silver and sweat raising my daughters to live in luxury. I can hardly bear to lay a finger on them myself, so I certainly won’t let anyone else slap them around! Everyone in this house, listen up. If you have hands and feet and can still breathe, you’re coming with me. We’re going to smash that old Liu nest to pieces.”
I volunteered at once. “Madam Chen, I’ll lead the way!”
“Good!”
In the dark hours before dawn on New Year’s Eve, Madam Chen led several dozen women out beneath the stars and through the biting frost. We surged from the north of Yangzhou to the south, kicked open Liu Wu’er’s front door, and smashed her house to ruins.
As we returned in triumph, a wealthy family somewhere in the city set off fireworks.
The sky blazed. The morning wind was cold. The women chattered in breathless delight, their voices waking all of Yangzhou as the old year gave way to the new.
Of course, our expedition had not been without losses.
Some faces were scratched; some sleeves had been torn from dresses. Chang An suffered the worst injury. A censer opened a bloody gash across her forehead, frightening everyone who saw it.
The day after we returned, Chang An developed a high fever. Madam Chen summoned a physician, and after several doses of medicine, the fever subsided—but Chang An herself grew increasingly listless.
The sisters of the House of Crimson Delight gathered in a noisy council and finally decided to spend heavily on a ginseng root to restore her strength.
When they went back to their rooms, however, they discovered that the private savings hidden away there had somehow dwindled once again.
“That damned old harpy must have sent people to search our rooms while we were smashing the Liu house.”
Sai Yuhuan’s chest swelled several degrees higher with outrage. Then she noticed everyone staring at her and instantly became wary.
“Why are you all looking at me? I don’t have any silver either. This—this is all I have.”
After a painful hesitation, she took a two-tael piece of clipped silver from her purse and handed it to Chang Ning.
“Black Wuchang, ginseng isn’t something people like us can afford. Buy your sister some astragalus and make her chicken soup.”
Chang Ning curled her lip. “You could chew through Mount Tai without thanking the soil! Where’s your conscience? My sister was hurt defending you.”
“But I truly don’t have any money!”
She blinked her beautiful eyes, earnest and innocent.
Under everyone’s contemptuous gaze, I suddenly smiled and tugged at her skirt.
“Dear Sister, have you forgotten? I still have some on me.”
I untied the red ribbon around my hair and pulled a piece of silver from my little bun, weighing it in my palm.
“This is more than a tael.”
Sai Yuhuan’s face remained livid all day. Every look she gave me promised to poison me mute on the spot. I ignored her and pretended to know nothing.
Deep that night, after tossing and turning in bed, she suddenly sprang upright and planted her hands on her hips.
“Yan Susu, you did that on purpose, didn’t you? When did you become so close to White Wuchang?
“You’re my maid. You’re supposed to love me, stay close to me, and take my side. You’re not allowed to turn your elbow outward!
“I’ll let it go today. But if it happens again, I’ll skin you!”
Lying on the beauty couch beneath the window, I yawned and yawned.
“If you’d been able to skin people at the Liu house, no one would have bullied you.
“Sister Chang An was hurt because of you. By every measure of feeling and reason, you should contribute more silver. Otherwise, who will ever stand up for you next time?
“You have a vicious tongue, you’re greedy and stingy, you always have to win, and you don’t understand how to deal with people. Apart from being beautiful as a heavenly immortal, you’re completely useless. Dear Sister, perhaps you should change your ways.”
The speech left Sai Yuhuan both offended and delighted. Much of her anger vanished without a sound. In the darkness, she reached up and stroked her own face.
“Am I—I truly as beautiful as a heavenly immortal?”
“Of course.”
“What part of me is beautiful?”
“Your face is like a silver moon, your brows like distant mountains painted blue-black, your lips redder than spring cherries—” I praised her with whatever nonsense came to mind, until a thought suddenly occurred to me.
“Why did you and Liu Wu’er fight that day?”
Even in the dim light, I could see Sai Yuhuan’s chest heave again. “Young Master Zheng’s lust got the better of him. He insisted on playing some ‘one dragon, two phoenixes’ game. I refused, and Liu Wu’er didn’t want it either, so we quarreled. Wasn’t he treating us like dirt?”
I froze as sorrow welled up in my chest.
“In the end, two powerless women were hurt. What for? The man was the one who deserved the beating.”