38

To Stake His Claim on the Family Fortune, a Jealous Son-in-Law Plots against the Rightful Heir

To Continue the Bloodline, a Filial Daughter Hides Her Brother

As one poem puts it,

Children are given by Heaven above;

This is naturally beyond human control.

To produce something from nothing

Is a novelty and wonder to both ear and eye.

Our story takes place in the Yuan dynasty. There lived in the capital of the empire a Commander Li. A third-grade official, he enjoyed an immense family fortune, but he remained childless when he was already in his fifties. On hearing about a fortune-teller who had set up shop to the east of the Supreme Military Council and whose predictions of woe and weal were invariably borne out, the commander went to have his fortune told. The fortune-teller’s shop was filled with well-dressed patrons waiting in line. When it was his turn, Commander Li said to the fortune-teller, “You need not say anything about my career and my life span. More important is whether I’ll have a son.”

After working on his natal chart for a few moments, the fortune-teller broke into a smile and said, “Sir, don’t you already have a son? Why play this trick on me?”

“But, honestly, I don’t have a son, which is exactly why I’m here. How can I be playing any trick?”

Counting off on his fingers, the fortune-teller said, “Your son was born when you were forty years old. You are now fifty-six, and you insist that you don’t have a son. Aren’t you playing a trick on me?”

With one insisting that he did not have a son and the other insisting that he did, onlookers remarked in surprise, “What’s going on?”

“I can’t be mistaken,” declared the fortune-teller. “I advise this gentleman to give the matter some good thought.” (MC: This fortune-teller stands firm and unyielding.)

The commander lapsed into a thoughtful silence before he spoke up again, clapping his hands. “Yes! That’s it! When I was forty, one of my maidservants got pregnant, but I had to travel on a mission to Shangdu, the summer capital. By the time I returned home, my wife had already sold off that maidservant. I have no idea where she is now. Since you insist that a son was born to me when I was forty, that baby must be mine.”

“I’m right after all! You’re not fated to be heirless. Your son will be returned to you.”

The commander thankfully paid the fortune-teller and bade him farewell.

At this point, another patron, an officer also by the name of Li, invited Commander Li into a teashop. After they sat down, Officer Li said, “I just heard the conversation between you, sir, and the fortune-teller. May I ask you a question?”

“Please go ahead,” said the commander.

“I’m a native of Nanyang. I had no son until, fifteen years ago, I bought a maidservant who was pregnant. Right after I took her home, my wife conceived. So two boys were born, about two months apart. Both are now fifteen.1 Having heard what you said, I wonder if the maidservant’s son is yours.”

The commander asked for the maidservant’s age and a description of her appearance, and the answers convinced him that they were talking about the same person. (MC: Who would have known that this visit to the fortune-teller was fated to get him a son?) And so the two men exchanged names and addresses and took leave of each other with promises to see each other again.

After returning home, the commander told his wife about what had happened. Mrs. Li had done what she did at the time in a fit of jealousy, but now that her husband remained heirless, she was not without feelings of remorse and sorrow. How she wished what her husband told her was true! The next day, Commander Li invited Officer Li home. Since they shared the same surname, they acknowledged each other as members of the same clan, and a sumptuous feast was laid out in honor of the guest. They then set a date for the commander to see his son.

Officer Li returned to Nanyang first. After obtaining leave, Commander Li went to Officer Li’s residence, laden with gifts for the officer, his wife, and his concubines. (MC: Any gift for the boy’s birth mother?) After the guest had sat down and made himself comfortable, Officer Li said, “I found out after I returned home that the maidservant had indeed been in your employ.” Forthwith, he told his two sons to come out and greet the guest.

Two youngsters, age fifteen, entered the hall, wearing the same clothes and carrying themselves in the same way. Not knowing which one was his son, Commander Li appealed to Officer Li for enlightenment. Officer Li said, smiling, “Use your own judgment! You don’t need me to tell you!”

After close scrutiny, the commander picked the right one. After all, father and son were bound by ties of blood. He stepped forward and hugged one of the boys, saying, “This one is my son.”

Officer Li smiled and said, “Yes, exactly!”

As father and son wept in each other’s embrace, there was not a dry eye in the room. Officer Li set out a feast to congratulate Commander Li, and the party did not break up until everyone was happily drunk.

The next day, Commander Li reciprocated by hosting a feast in Officer Li’s house. During the feast, Officer Li said to the commander, “Now that I’ve returned your son to you, how can I tear the boy away from his mother? Shall I return her to you as well?” (MC: Officer Li is a righteous man.)

Overjoyed at this unexpected turn of events, Commander Li thanked Officer Li profusely and returned home with mother and son in tow. Later, the boy inherited the family fortune and privileges, and also rose to be a third-grade official, and the two families maintained uninterrupted relations.

It can thus be seen that whether or not one has children is a matter decreed by one’s fate. Commander Li thought he was heirless, but a fortune-teller figured out the truth, and a reunion came about in the end. Clearly, what is in your fate will be yours, whatever happens. Why did I tell that story? Because it leads to my next one, in which a childless rich man also turned out to be a father whose son had not been known to him. Later, father and son were brought together, to their immense joy. It is a story rich in details of the sweetness and sorrows of family relationships. Lend me your ears as I take my time telling the story. Truly,

It’s blood ties that bind people together;

Those without such ties do not warm to each other.

Vines that attach themselves to other plants

Remain aliens after all.

Libations are poured by one’s flesh and blood only,

And yet jealous wives do away with heirs.

The cause that gives rise to such a case:

Debts incurred in a previous life.

As our story has it, women are a jealous lot. They would rather die than buy concubines or maidservants for their heirless husbands. Even if a few of them are persuaded to let their husbands take on other women, they do so reluctantly, with resentment and bitterness. Even if a son is born, such a woman would still not accept him as her own, even though he is her husband’s flesh and blood and even though she is acknowledged as the boy’s principal mother. As the saying goes, “The belly, just like a mountain, can set people worlds apart.” There are also vicious women who will not be happy until they do away with the heirs. After the daughter marries, the mother goes out of her way to acknowledge the son-in-law as heir, even though he bears another surname and is all too clearly from another clan. She is so partial to him that she treats him better than she does a son of her own husband’s brother. Little does she know that her daughter, albeit her flesh and blood, becomes a member of another family once she is married. As for the son-in-law, never of a single heart and mind with the mother-in-law from day one, he turns to his own pursuits the first chance he gets. But it is only natural that, in terms of degrees of consanguinity, the son-in-law pales in comparison with the brother’s son and the brother’s son does not measure up to one’s own son. As for sons born of previous wives or of concubines or out of wedlock, they rightfully belong to the husband’s clan after all, being the husband’s own flesh and blood, and are therefore much better than those who are not clan members. It defies reason why such women fail to see the truth of it all.

Our story proper tells that in the Yuan dynasty, there lived in Dongping Prefecture [in Shandong], a rich man named Liu Congshan. Sixty years of age when our story unfolds, he was called “Squire Liu” by all and sundry. His wife, Li-shi, was fifty-eight years old. In spite of their fabulous wealth, they had no son and only one daughter, nicknamed Sister Yin, whose live-in husband, Zhang Lang, was thirty years old, three years older than Sister Yin. Zhang Lang was a mercenary-minded and grasping man hungry for even the pettiest gains. It was because Squire Liu had no son to inherit all the wealth that he engaged a matchmaker and became Squire Liu’s live-in son-in-law, basking in the thought that the family fortune would all be his eventually. (MC: A typical villain.)

As it turned out, Squire Liu held on tightly to his money without sharing any of it with the son-in-law. Squire Liu had his own ideas. First, he had a nephew, the son of his brother Liu Congdao and sister-in-law Ning-shi, who had both died. The nephew, pet name Yinsun, was now a well-read and sensible young man of twenty-five. Because his parents had died when he was still a child and the family fortune was all gone, he depended on his uncle for a living. Squire Liu treated him as his very own, but his wife, out of partiality toward her daughter and son-in-law and the grudges she had against her sister-in-law while the latter was alive, bore Yinsun ill will and looked on him as a thorn in her eye. Luckily for him, Squire Liu secretly looked out for Yinsun, but with his wife and son-in-law in his way, there was only so much he could do for the young man, and for this reason, Squire Liu always felt sorry for his nephew. Secondly, the squire had a maidservant called Little Plum. Impressed with her dedicated service, Mrs. Liu told her to wait on her husband. As a consequence, the squire made her his concubine and got her pregnant. At this point in our story, the squire was hoping for a son. With these two considerations, Squire Liu was disinclined to hand over the family fortune to his son-in-law.

However, that rascal Zhang Lang racked his brains for ways of sowing dissension between his mother-in-law and Yinsun, causing daily quarrels between them. Yinsun was driven beyond the limits of his endurance, and so, Squire Liu, also finding the enmity in the air too much to bear, privately gave Yinsun some money so that he could find another place to stay and make a living on his own. Yinsun did find a rundown house, but being a bookish young man, he had no idea how to make a living other than to subsist on what his uncle had given him. All too obviously, Zhang Lang had succeeded in driving him out. Zhang Lang’s greatest fear was that Little Plum would give birth to a son or a daughter. If a daughter, he would still be entitled to half the inheritance, but if a boy, nothing would be left for him. So he consulted his wife, Sister Yin, on ways of harming Little Plum.

Sister Yin, however, was a filial daughter, but being a woman without much sense, she loathed the thought of having to share her inheritance with her cousin Yinsun, for she was the daughter after all. And yet she found delight in the prospect of having a little brother. Moreover, noticing how eagerly her father was looking forward to the birth of the baby, she truly wished for her father’s happiness. (MC: She is a rare find among women.) Aware that her husband did not mean well and that her mother, not knowing better, had always shielded Zhang Lang, she was afraid she would not be able to ensure Little Plum’s safe delivery. So she spent much of her time thinking about the matter.

It so happened that Zhang Lang, glowing with triumph after getting Yinsun driven out, let on to her about his intention to do harm to Little Plum. Sister Yin thought, “It’s an easy win when two or three people gang up against one. I can’t let them deprive my father of an heir out of jealousy. If I don’t get involved and think of ways to protect Little Plum, I’ll be a traitor to my father and earn myself eternal infamy. (MC: She sees the larger picture.) But if my husband knows I won’t join them, he may act behind my back. I might as well turn his trick against him and help Little Plum out on the quiet.” (MC: Those willing to help are the best.)

You may ask, how did she turn Zhang Lang’s trick against him? Well, Sister Yin had an aunt who was her father’s cousin. The aunt, living in East Village with her husband, was very close to Sister Yin. Now Sister Yin wanted to send Little Plum to her aunt’s home so that she could give birth there and have her aunt take care of the baby. Consulting Little Plum, she said, “My husband drove Young Master Yinsun out, meaning to have the entire family fortune to himself. He’s very jealous of the baby you’re carrying, and my mother is so partial to him. You should watch your moves, Auntie.”

“It’s so kind of you to say so. I know you do this out of regard for your father, and I’m very grateful. But what can I do, being all alone? I’ll have to count on you.”

“I do want to help you, but when it comes to money matters, even husband and wife may not trust each other. (MC: Very insightful.) I have no way of knowing if he does something underhanded or not.”

Her eyes tearing up, Little Plum said, “What’s to be done then? Maybe I should tell the squire about this. I’ll see what he can do for me.” (IC: Stupid girl!)

“In his old age, there’s only so much he can do for you. What’s more, if everything comes out into the open, there will be a loss of face for everyone and more bad blood. The responsibility for all of it will be too much for you to bear. Now I’d like to talk with you about an idea I have.”

“What good idea have you got?”

“My aunt who lives in East Village is very close to me. My idea is for you to live with her and give birth at her home, so that she can take care of you and the baby after you give birth. I’ll pay for your food, clothes, and other expenses. I’ll tell my mother and my husband that you went off in anger. They won’t try to track you down because they’ll be only too happy to see you gone. When my husband has shelved his plan to harm you, when my mother comes around a little, and when your child is a little older, I’ll look for a chance to tell my father everything. By then, the time will be right to bring you back, and they won’t be able to do anything to you. (MC: She does take the long view.) This is the only surefire plan.”

“You’re so kind! I won’t ever be able to repay you!”

“I just don’t want to see my father heirless and you put in harm’s way. I had no choice but to consult you behind my mother’s and husband’s backs. If you have a son and your luck changes for the better, don’t forget what I’ve done for you!”

“Your kindness is stamped on my memory. I’ll never forget it.”

And so they came to an agreement and waited for an opportunity to put Sister Yin’s plan into action.

One day, the squire wanted to go to his farm to supervise the harvesting. With Little Plum pregnant, he was afraid that his son-in-law would be jealous and that his daughter would take her husband’s part, and so he thought he might as well hand the family fortune over to them. Afraid that his wife might also make things difficult for Little Plum, he called his wife to him and said, “Mother, do you know anything about brewing wine in a borrowed jar?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you borrow a jar from someone and brew your own wine in it, you’d return the empty jar to its owner after your wine is done. So the jar is simply something on temporary loan. (MC: The woman doesn’t want to borrow the jar to begin with! What does she care if there is wine or not?) When Little Plum gives birth, I’ll look on the boy or girl as yours. Little Plum can then be sold. You decide what you want to do with her. I’m interested only in what’s in her belly. Isn’t this a case of brewing wine in a borrowed jar?”

On hearing this, Mrs. Liu said obligingly, “I get what you mean. I’ll take good care of her while you’re away at the farm. Don’t worry!”

Squire Liu had Zhang Lang bring him all the loan receipts from his debtors that had accumulated over the years and told Little Plum to light a lamp. As he tossed the documents into the flame, Zhang Lang reached into the flame to snatch them but cried out in pain as the fire burned his fingers. (IC: Wonderful! Wonderful!) The squire commented with a laugh, “No pain, no money!”

Mrs. Liu said, “The loans are part of the family fortune that you saved over many years. Why burn the documents?”

“Maybe I would have had a son if I didn’t have so much cursed money. Now that a baby is on the way, things wouldn’t have come to this and I wouldn’t be an object of calculation if I didn’t have those strings of cash. I’ve been thinking: What’s so good about money? Why rack my brains making designs on other people’s money? (MC: Words of the wise.) Far better if I accumulate some hidden merit and burn up a few of those papers. We have no use for so much money anyway. Maybe Heaven will take pity on me and bless me with a son so as not to cut off my bloodline.” That said, he went off to the farm.

Zhang Lang took those words to be a veiled attack on him. Even more resentful, he said to himself, “He all too obviously suspects me of plotting against Little Plum. Since anything good that I do will go unappreciated anyway (MC: This is how the wicked act: they first blame others for everything.), why don’t I go into action in his absence? That way, the problem won’t come back to haunt me in the future.”

So he took his wife’s counsel, thus inadvertently alerting her to the urgency of the matter. In fact, she had just confided everything to her aunt in East Village and had told Little Plum to go there for shelter. To her husband, she said artfully, “That girl must have guessed that we’re up to something. I told her this morning to buy some yarn, and she hasn’t come back yet. She must have taken the opportunity to give us the slip. What are we going to do?”

“It’s nothing out of the ordinary for a maidservant to give her master the slip. That’s actually a good riddance that will make our lives easier.”

“But Father will be upset when he hears of this.”

“We didn’t beat her, yell at her, or give her offense, did we?” said Zhang Lang. “Father can’t blame us if she sneaked off on her own. Let’s tell Mother about this and talk it over together.” And so husband and wife went to inform Mrs. Liu about this new development.

“The two of you are taking this too lightly,” said Mrs. Liu. “At your father’s age, he’s pleased to no end that there’s a glimmer of hope for a son, and he’s waiting at the farm for good news. And now this happens! Don’t tell me you did something you shouldn’t have done! (MC: Mrs. Liu does still have a spark of conscience in her. She is not beyond all remedy. It’s just that she dotes too much on her daughter and son-in-law.)

Sister Yin was quick to add, “She left of her own accord very early this morning. We had nothing to do with it.”

In spite of her apprehensions, Mrs. Liu was eager to believe that nothing was amiss, for the sake of her daughter and son-in-law. To her, the news also came as a relief, so it never crossed her mind to look into the matter. Afraid that the squire would be upset and grow suspicious, the three of them hastened to the farm to inform him of the situation.

The sight of all three of them confused Squire Liu. He thought that they must be there with glad tidings about the birth of his son. But on hearing their report, he was petrified with astonishment. He thought, “They may have made things difficult for her and driven her out. Too bad the baby is gone with her.” With a sigh, he said aloud, “The way things are in this family, even if a son is born, the baby wouldn’t manage to survive. It’s just as well that Little Plum found a good place to go. Why put the lives of mother and child in danger?” His eyes misting over, he swallowed his anger and lamented his fate. (MC: Poor man!) And then he thought, “They trick me like this out of designs on my money. Why should I hang on to it for them to enjoy? I have no male heir anyway. I might just as well give some of the money away.”

Filled with resentment, he put up large posters announcing that he would be making cash donations to the poor and needy the very next day at Kaiyuan Temple. Zhang Lang’s heart sank, but he dared not contradict his father-in-law when the old man was in such a foul mood. The next day, he could not do otherwise than take a liberal amount of money and go to Kaiyuan Temple with the other members of the family to give it away.

On reaching the temple, they saw a stream of paupers arriving. Behold:

With arms around one another’s’ shoulders,

They come with hands in slings and heads wrapped in cloth.

Those who can’t walk move on their behinds, wrapped in blankets;

Those who can’t talk rattle their bells;

Bumping into each other,

They take others’ staffs by mistake and raise a clamor;

With their hands on the wall for support,

They still fall into the sewers and exchange insults.

Some have the lively company of children;

Some come by their forlorn selves with no spouse.

Money donated now may come back in disguise;

Just do it today, whatever tomorrow brings!

Squire Liu announced that each adult would get one thousand coins and each child five hundred. Among the beggars was a Liu the Ninth who had a child with him. He said to the beggar chief, “If I take my son along, I’ll get a thousand only. But if my boy goes up by himself, that means I get an extra five hundred. You can be a witness and help me out. When the money is mine, I’ll share it with you and buy a few drinks.” So he and his son went up separately as two applicants.

Zhang Lang asked, “Is the child alone?”

The beggar chief, off to one side, said, “Yes, he’s by himself.”

After the child received his entitlement of five hundred coins, Liu the Ninth took them. When the chief came to demand his cut, Liu said, “The boy is mine. Why should I share it with you? Go get a son of your own!”

The chief rejoined, “Didn’t we agree on the deal? How can you take more than your share? You think you can throw your weight around just because you have a son?” As the two men came to blows, Squire Liu asked what had happened and, on being told the details, asked Zhang Lang to pacify them.

As it turned out, Liu the Ninth didn’t know better. He burst into curses against the beggar chief, calling him a sonless man who would bring an end to his family line (MC: Touching a very raw nerve. Wonderful detail.), saying, “I got the money because I have a son. What concern is it of yours, you who will die without a son?”

Zhang Lang, his face ablaze, was not able to stop him. Hearing the curses all too clearly, Squire Liu broke into violent sobs and said, “Such is the misery of those of us who have no sons!” As he wept, his wife and daughter also broke down in tears of grief. Zhang Lang was at a loss as to what to do.

After the commotion was over, a man who had been at the end of the line walked up to the squire and his wife and bowed. You may wonder, who was this man? It was none other than Liu Yinsun.

“Why are you here?” asked Squire Liu.

“Uncle, Aunt, I have used up the money you gave me. I heard that you were giving out money here today, so I came to borrow some.”

Feeling uncomfortable in the presence of his wife, although she said nothing, Squire Liu said, choosing his words carefully, “Why didn’t you use the money I gave you to start a business? How could you have spent all of it?”

“All I’m capable of doing is reading a little. I don’t know the first thing about starting a business, and my daily expenses ate away at my pile of cash until all the money was gone.”

The squire flared up. “You’re just another good-for-nothing! I don’t have the kind of money that could keep you well supplied!”

As the furious squire made as if to hit him, Mrs. Liu false-heartedly intervened, and Sister Yin and her husband said to Yinsun, “Father is so angry! Go away now!”

But Yinsun refused to budge and kept asking for money. Brandishing his cane, Squire Liu ran him out of the temple. Believing him to be genuinely angry, his family members made no attempt to mollify him. With Yinsun walking in front and Squire Liu giving chase, they covered about half a li when a mystified Yinsun wondered, “Why is Uncle behaving so strangely today?” (MC: Old man Liu is indeed behaving strangely.)

Only when there was no one else in sight did Squire Liu call out, “Yinsun!”

As Yinsun fell to his knees, the squire said tearfully, caressing him, “My child! Because I have no son, I have to put up with a lot of nonsense from people. You’re the only male heir with blood ties to me. Your aunt may not know better, but she’s a kind person, deep down. It’s just that she’s biased at this time and doesn’t see the right way. She just doesn’t realize that blood is thicker than water. But Zhang Lang is no decent sort. Someday he’ll distance himself from us. I’ll try to talk your aunt around. Just be sure to visit the family graveyard on festivals. In one or two years’ time, I’ll make you a really rich man. Now, I have two ingots of silver in my boot. They know nothing about this. I pretended to run you out of the temple in order to give the money to you. Take it and make it last for a while. And don’t forget what I said!”

Yinsun promised and went off. Squire Liu returned to the temple, put his things together, and went home.

Zhang Lang was upset by his father-in-law’s largesse, but he believed that henceforth, with no more disbursements, the family fortune would be all his. Glowing with complacence, he gave himself license to establish the Zhang clan’s authority in the Liu household and began to ignore his parents-in-law as if they were no longer master and mistress of the house (MC: A petty rogue.) Squire Liu found his behavior offensive. Even Mrs. Liu, who had always been partial to him, also grew a little resentful. Sister Yin, to her credit, did her best to smooth things over between them, but the stubborn man, bent on having his own way, did not care in the least about their feelings. Since married women are used to obeying their husbands, Sister Yin gradually shifted to her husband’s way of thinking with the passage of time. This change was imperceptible to her but not to those with a discerning eye.

On Clear and Bright Festival [around April 5], all families went to their family graveyards to pay respects to their ancestors. Having taken charge of the Liu family property, Zhang Lang, as expected, was the one to make arrangements for the trip. (MC: When his position is not justified, his actions are questionable.) Zhang Lang picked up a load of sacrificial food offerings and set out with his wife, before his parents-in-law. In previous years, they used to go first to the Liu family’s graveyard and then to the Zhang family’s, but now Zhang Lang decided on his own to visit the Zhang family graveyard first. (MC: He does this out of selfish motives but also by the will of Heaven.)

Sister Yin asked, “Why don’t we follow our usual practice and visit my family’s graveyard first? We’ll wait until my parents have paid their respects before going to your family’s.”

“You’re married to me, which means that you’ll be buried in the Zhang family graveyard after death. It follows that the proper decorum is for you to visit the Zhang family graveyard first.”

Yielding to his insistence, Sister Yin obliged him, but of them, no more for now.

Mr. and Mrs. Liu left the house after the younger couple. On the way, Squire Liu commented to his wife, “They should have been there for a while now.”

“Yes. Zhang Lang must have laid everything out nicely and is waiting for us with our daughter.”

On reaching the graveyard, they saw no one around. Amid the silence, they noticed a layer of fresh soil, ashes of burned paper coins, and some wet stains from libations on the ground. Knowing that his nephew must have been there, Squire Liu said deliberately, “Who has been here to pay respects to our ancestors?” Turning to his wife, he continued, “How very strange! Our daughter and son-in-law aren’t here yet, so who could have come? It can’t be anyone outside the Liu clan, can it?”

After waiting for some time without seeing Zhang Lang and their daughter, Squire Liu lost his patience. “Let the two of us bow to the graves first. There’s no telling when they’ll show up.”

After making their bows, the squire asked his wife, “After we die, where would you like to have us buried?”

Pointing to a high hilltop, Mrs. Liu said, “The trees up there are shaped like umbrellas. That will be a nice burial spot.”

With a sigh, the squire said, “You and I don’t have that kind of luck.” Pointing down at a waterlogged piece of land with the worst feng shui features, he continued, “That’s where you and I will end up.”

“We’re not short of money,” said Mrs. Liu. “Why can’t we pick a good burial spot? Why a waterlogged piece of land with the worst feng shui?”

“That high hilltop has an auspicious aura about it. It’s for those with sons, so that their family lines will prosper. You and I have no son, so who would yield such a spot to us? Our bones are good enough only for that waterlogged piece of land. Since we have no offspring anyway, why would we need a nice burial spot?”

“Who says we don’t have offspring? What about our daughter and son-in-law? (IC: Extremely stupid!)

“Oh, I forgot. While waiting for them, let’s have a little chat. Let me ask you: What’s my family name?”

“Who doesn’t know you’re a Liu? Why even ask?”

“So I’m a Liu. What’s your family name?”

“Li.”

“Why is a Li in a Liu household?”

“What a funny question! Am I not your wife?”

“Do people call you ‘Mrs. Liu’ or ‘Mrs. Li’?”

“As the saying goes, ‘Marry a rooster, follow the rooster. Marry a dog, follow the dog.’ All of me—my bones, my flesh—belongs to the Liu family. How can I be called ‘Mrs. Li’!”

“Oh, even your bones belong to the Liu family. So, what’s our daughter’s family name?” (MC: With his teasing tone and his probing questions, he could be an effective preacher.)

“Also Liu.”

“What about our son-in-law?”

“Zhang.”

“So, after our daughter dies, will she be buried in the Liu family graveyard or the Zhang family graveyard?”

“The Zhang family graveyard, of course.” At this point, Mrs. Liu found herself stung by a pang of sadness.

Seeing that his wife was beginning to catch on, the squire said, “There you go again! How can you say they’re the offspring of the Liu family? Isn’t our family line coming to an end?”

Mrs. Liu burst out crying. “How did you arrive at this conclusion? Yes, we who have no male offspring are wretched indeed!”

“Mother! Now you’re talking! Even if we don’t have a son, any kinsman bearing the Liu family name will have some connection with us. Alive, he’ll bow at the Liu family graveyard and, after his death, be buried in the same graveyard. A daughter, once she joins another family, stops having anything to do with us!”

Her husband having put things in such explicit terms, a light dawned for Mrs. Liu. And what with her son-in-law’s high-and-mighty airs and the young couple’s absence at the graveyard, she began to feel irritated.

In the midst of their conversation, Yinsun came to the graveyard to pick up his shovel. As he bowed to his uncle and aunt, Mrs. Liu asked, feeling much closer to him than usual, “What brought you here?”

“I’m here to add some soil to the graves.”

Turning to her husband, Mrs. Liu said, “A kinsman is after all a kinsman. (MC: This is Heaven speaking.) Now even Yinsun has visited the graveyard and added soil, but they still haven’t shown up.”

Squire Liu said, deliberately provoking Yinsun, “Why didn’t you carry a load of sacrificial food offerings and make it a proper visit? Why such shabbiness?”

“As poor as I am, I begged for three cups of wine and one piece of paper from others and brought them here as a token of my regard.”

“Mother! Did you hear that? The one carrying a nice load of offerings is still dragging his feet because he’s no offspring of ours!”

Mrs. Liu was deeply embarrassed.

Squire Liu asked Yinsun, “See that huge manor that stretches beyond the flight range of a crow? Why don’t you go to their graveyard, which is adorned with stone goats and tigers? Why come here?”

Mrs. Liu answered instead, “How do we know to what family that graveyard belongs? He’s an offspring of the Liu family. Why should he go to any other graveyard than the Lius’?”

“Mother!” exclaimed Squire Liu. “Now you know that Yinsun is a Liu. Didn’t you say that our daughter and son-in-law were offspring of the Liu clan?”

“I was mistaken. From now on, Yinsun will live with us as one family. Don’t bear a grudge against me for what I did before.”

“I wouldn’t dream of doing that!” said Yinsun.

Mrs. Liu went on, “I’ll take care of your food and clothing.”

Squire Liu told Yinsun to bow his thanks to Mrs. Liu. Yinsun bowed deeply and said, “Aunt, please take good care of me out of regard for the Liu family line.” Mrs. Liu’s tears fell thick and fast. (MC: These tears do not come easily.)

In the midst of the sadness, Zhang Lang and Sister Yin arrived. When Mr. and Mrs. Liu asked the reason for their lateness, Zhang replied, “We went to the Zhang family graveyard first. That’s why we’re late.”

“Why didn’t you come here first?” asked Mrs. Liu. “You kept us waiting for so long!”

“I’m a Zhang. Of course the Zhang family comes first in matters relating to rituals like this.”

“What about Sister Yin?” asked Mrs. Liu.

“She’s a member of the Zhang clan by marriage,” said Zhang Lang.

These remarks could not have corresponded better with what she had just heard from her husband. Her eyes popping wide, her jaw hanging open, her face darkening, she said in a rage, “Since you’re the Zhang clan’s son and daughter-in-law, why should you be the ones to control the Liu family’s money?” With a quick swipe of her hand, she wrested the key box from her daughter’s hands and said, “From now on, the Zhangs and the Lius part ways.” Handing the box to Yinsun, she continued, “From now on, a Liu will be running the Liu household.” (MC: Her righteous courage comes spontaneously. Bravo!) Even her husband was surprised by her sudden decisiveness.

Zhang Lang and Sister Yin, used to being pampered by the old lady, wondered where all this anger was coming from and were very much put out, thinking, “What happened to turn Mother against us?” Little did they know that Father had completely changed Mother’s mind.

As Zhang Lang fired off instructions for laying out the offerings (IC: He still doesn’t know better.), Mr. and Mrs. Liu said in a fit of rage, “Ancestors of the Liu clan do not eat leftover food from the Zhangs. We’ll come back another day for a proper offering!” They parted in bitterness.

After returning home, Zhang Lang said resentfully to Sister Yin, “Who would have guessed that going to my family’s graveyard first would lead to such an outburst? What’s worse, Yinsun now has control of the family property. How are we going to swallow the humiliation? And it was Mother who did this. This is even more of a mystery!”

Sister Yin said, “My parents take Yinsun to be the only flesh and blood of the Liu family. That’s what led to this mess. When you were planning to harm Little Plum, she sensed something and slipped away. If she had stayed put and given birth to a son, Yinsun would not have been able to rise so high. I wouldn’t have minded if it had been my own brother. But to yield everything to Yinsun—I just can’t accept that!”

“We’ve made an enemy of him, and now that he manages the household, we’ll have to take our cue from him in everything. What’s to be done? We’d better appeal to Mother.”

Sister Yin objected, “It was Mother’s idea in the first place. How will she come around? I have an idea that will prevent Yinsun from becoming head of the household.”

“What is it?”

Sister Yin refused to let on, saying only, “You’ll know soon enough. There’s no need to ask for details.”

The next day, with Mrs. Liu’s ready consent, Squire Liu hosted a party and handed over management of the family fortune to Yinsun in the presence of neighbors. On learning the news, Sister Yin sent her husband away on an errand, lest he feel awkward. In the meantime, she dispatched a messenger to her aunt in East Village to bring Little Plum back. The fact was that Little Plum had given birth there to a son who was already three years old. Sister Yin had been secretly sending clothes and food to mother and son and visiting them, without the knowledge of her parents and her husband, fearing that her husband might think up other evil ideas. Also, she had wanted the boy to be a little older before letting her parents know the truth. But now, resenting Yinsun’s rise in status, she saw no better alternative than to bring mother and son out of hiding and to her own house. (MC: She is just a woman after all.)

The next day, she went to see her father and said to him, “It’s one thing if you don’t take your son-in-law to be your son, but quite another if you reject even your own daughter.”

“When did I ever reject you? It’s just that Yinsun’s blood is thicker.”

“I’m your own flesh and blood. Why is his blood thicker?”

“You’re now a member of the Zhang clan, but he’s a member of our Liu clan.”

“His Liu blood shouldn’t necessarily entitle him to the family property.”

“The family fortune is his, unless there’s someone else with closer blood ties to me, but there isn’t, is there?”

Breaking into a smile, Sister Yin said, “Maybe there is.”

Believing she was just being contrarian in her bitterness, her parents did not give that remark a second thought.

Sister Yin took herself off, only to reenter the central room of the house with Little Plum and the little boy in tow. “Here comes one with closer blood ties to you than Yinsun!” she announced.

On seeing Little Plum, Mr. and Mrs. Liu were astounded. “Where have you been all this time? We thought you’d fled from this house.”

Little Plum said, “I didn’t. I’ve been taking care of the baby.”

“What baby?” asked the squire.

Pointing to the boy, Little Plum said, “You’re looking at him!”

In joyful surprise, the squire said, “Could this be the child you gave birth to? What happened? Am I dreaming?”

Little Plum said, “Just ask your daughter, and everything will be clear.”

With her parents urging her to tell them what had happened, Sister Yin said, “This will surprise you, Father. Let me tell you everything from the beginning. When Auntie Little Plum was about six months pregnant, Zhang Lang planned to do harm to her out of jealousy. The way I looked at it, at Father’s age, the family line would come to an end if something happened to Little Plum. So I talked with her and sent her to Aunt’s house in East Village, and that’s where she gave birth to this child. For the past three years, Aunt has been taking care of mother and son, with me providing them with food and clothing. I was waiting for him to grow a little older before coming out with the truth, but now that Father believes Yinsun is his only heir, I decided to bring the little boy home. Doesn’t he have closer blood ties with you than Yinsun, if your daughter doesn’t?”

Little Plum put in, “This is all thanks to Young Mistress. (MC: Little Plum is the best witness.) If she hadn’t done all this, this child wouldn’t be here!”

Feeling as if he had just awoken from a wine-induced dream, Squire Liu was filled with gratitude toward his daughter. At Little Plum’s urging, the little boy kept calling him “Daddy.” His heart melting the moment the boy began, he said to his wife, “Indeed, your own flesh and blood is closer to you than anyone else. (MC: It just so happens that his daughter does the right thing and looks out for the interests of the Liu family rather than the Zhangs. But this world abounds in daughters who conspire with their husbands in order to lay hands on their fathers’ money.) Our daughter, a Liu, sides with the Lius after all and refused to let Zhang Lang do harm to her little brother. Now that I have a son born to me so late in life, I won’t be heirless, and I won’t have to be buried in that miserable waterlogged spot. I owe all this to my loyal daughter. This old man is not one who lets acts of kindness go unreciprocated. I have an idea: I’ll divide the family fortune into three portions—one for our daughter, one for my nephew, and one for my son, to be managed separately by each of them, so as to maintain harmony in the family.”

Later that very day, he sent for Zhang Lang, led Yinsun and the little boy out to greet the neighbors and other relatives, and laid out a feast to mark the occasion of the division of the family fortune. The party did not break up until they had all thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Henceforth, Mrs. Liu took the little boy under her wing and cherished him wholeheartedly. As for Squire Liu and Little Plum, their love for the boy could be taken for granted. Sister Yin and Yinsun did their best to protect the boy, one working from inside the family and one from the outside. There was nothing Zhang Lang could do, however jealous he was. The boy grew up peacefully, a result attributable to Squire Liu’s many good deeds. In the end, he gained an heir, and his kindness to his own flesh and blood was repaid. This case illustrates that the closer the degree of kinship, the warmer the bond. There is a quatrain in testimony:

Why would sons-in-law have other designs?

Greed is what estranges kith and kin.

Had the filial daughter not cared,

Would the Liu family line have come to an end?