21

Yuan’s Face-Reading Skills Impress the High and Mighty

Zheng’s Good Deed Wins Him a Hereditary Title

As the poem says,

The mighty heroes of Yan and Wu—

One put lead in his lute, the other knife in a fish.1

They died in acts of loyalty to their kings.

To them, Mount Tai could be as light as a feather.

The story goes that during the reign of Emperor Dezong [r. 780–804], there lived an untitled scholar named Lin Ji, courtesy name Shanfu. He was a native of Nanjian Prefecture [in present-day Fujian]. With his abundant intelligence, he was well versed in poetry and the classics and knew all there is to know about the nine classics and the three histories.2 He was also remarkably upright in character. While pursuing his studies at the Imperial Academy in the capital city, he took home leave to take care of his ailing mother. After his mother recovered, he was obliged to return to the capital to resume his studies, as was only to be expected. So he said good-bye to his mother for the time being, bade his relatives and neighbors farewell, and set out on his journey, with a servant named Wang Ji carrying their luggage on a shoulder pole. As they went along,

They passed wooded hills

Where woodcutters’ songs soared to the clouds.

They passed bodies of water

Where fishermen sang on the misty waves.

Their way led them through villages;

Their steps took them past city markets.

They saw green poplars and weeping willows

Embowering gazebos here and there.

They came upon chirping birds and fallen petals

And wondered which family’s yard it was.

There was no end to the scenic splendors;

There remained a long way for them to go.

They stopped for food and drink only when they felt the need, rested by night and traveled by day, and took a boat when no land routes were available. Several days later, they came to Caizhou [in present-day Runan County, Henan] and stopped when evening had closed in on them. Behold:

A fog spreads ten li long;

Radiant stars shine from the ninth layer of heaven.

Merchants from eight directions unload their goods;

All the seven-story stupas are brightly lit.

Birds, with their six-quilled wings, land on trees to rest;

Boats painted with five flowers are rowed back to shore.

Cattle and sheep from all four fields around

Return to the fold;

Fishermen working the three rivers

Come home with their gear.

Two merchants making a deal both lodge here;

One blow of the bugle warns of hardships ahead.

Lin Shanfu and his servant Wang Ji went into an inn. The desk clerk led them to a large, clean room of their choice, and Wang Ji found a spot to deposit his load. After resting for a while, Shanfu asked for warm water with which he washed his feet, ate whatever was served him by way of supper, and sat around idly with nothing better to do. The lamps having long been lit before he was aware of it, he instructed Wang Ji to make preparations for bed so that they could start out early the next morning. Wang Ji bedded down on the floor in front of his master’s bed. Lin Shanpu also removed his clothes and lay down, but he felt something bothering his back and could not fall asleep. Since the lamp on the wall had not yet burned out, he rose and raised the straw mat to see what was there. It was a cloth parcel. On opening it, he found a brocade bag containing a hundred large pearls. Shanfu put the parcel in his trunk. But more of this later.

When day broke, behold:

A morning fog has settled on the fields;

Fading sunrise clouds dye the wilderness red.

O’er the ridges of the fields sinks the pale moon;

By the weaving loom, the sun is about to rise.

The herdboys are still asleep,

The silkworm maids not yet astir.

Barking dogs are heard outside the farmhouses;

The monks are seen still abed in the monasteries.

At the crack of dawn, Shanfu rose and washed up. After getting dressed, he instructed Wang Ji to get the luggage ready. Then he went out of his room and asked the innkeeper, “Who occupied the room before I did?”

“A very rich merchant,” replied the innkeeper.

“He’s an old friend of mine,” said Shanfu. “He was supposed to be waiting for me, but we missed each other.” Looking directly at the innkeeper, he continued, “If he comes back to look for me, please tell him to go to Guandao Hall in the Imperial Academy in the capital and look for Student Lin Ji, courtesy name Shanfu. Please be sure to do this for me. Do not fail me!” With that, he paid his bill, bowed to the innkeeper with locked hands, and departed.

With Wang Ji carrying the luggage ahead of him, Lin Shanfu followed along the twists and turns of the road. Lest the innkeeper forget his request, Lin Shanfu had Wang Ji put up posters all along the way that read “On the _th day of the _th month of the _th year of the calendar cycle, Lin Ji, from Jianpu, stayed in the inn called such and such on his way to the Imperial Academy in the capital. He has with him some pearls belonging to an old friend of his. Please visit him at Guandao Hall.” (MC: Honest to the utmost degree!) On arriving several days later at his destination, he reported back at the academy after his leave of absence and returned to his hall to continue with his studies.

To pick up another thread of our story, that bag of pearls belonged to a rich merchant named Zhang Ke. He did not realize his loss until he was at the market, trying to retrieve them as payment for his merchandise. Shocked out of his senses, he said, “Woe is me! It took me years of hard work to acquire this bagful of pearls. Now that I’ve lost it, what am I going to say to my wife and children after I get home?”

He searched his memory, but it yielded no clue as to where he could have lost it. He saw no choice but to go back the way he had come, asking from inn to inn. On reaching the inn where Student Lin had stayed, he asked the desk clerk, but the latter said, “I don’t know anything about your lost item.”

“After I left, did anyone else stay in the room I occupied?”

The innkeeper put in, “Yes, I forgot! After you left, another gentleman stayed in it for one night and left early the next morning. Before his departure, he told me that anyone coming to look for him should go to Guandao Hall of the Imperial Academy in the capital and ask for Student Lin Ji.”

Mr. Zhang was puzzled. Without saying anything out loud, he thought, “Could this be the man who’s holding my pearls?” So he left the inn and set out for the capital. All along the way, the sight of posters mentioning “pearls” took some of the weight off his mind.

After a few days, he arrived in the capital. Before he went to find lodgings and rest for a while, he headed straight to the Imperial Academy. There was a teahouse across the street from the academy. Behold:

A wooden board sits high over the door;

A paper scroll hangs across the wall.

The famous paintings on display

Are all by Wu Daozi of the Tang;3

The newly picked tea leaves in the cups

Would have pleased the tea expert Lu Tong.4

Mr. Zhang entered the teahouse for a cup of tea. After finishing his tea, he asked the waiter, “Is there a Student Lin around here?”

“There are a lot of students named Lin. Which one might you be looking for?”

“Lin Ji, courtesy name Shanfu, of Guandao Hall.”

“Oh, him! He’s a very kind person.”

This remark took some more weight off Mr. Zhang’s mind. “He’s a distant relative of mine whom I haven’t seen for so long that I’m afraid I may have forgotten what he looks like. If he comes here, please point him out for me.”

At this point, the waiter said, “The gentleman who just came out of the academy is him! He’s coming here, and he’ll be checking his gown and hat with us.”

Mr. Zhang saw the man but dared not make a rash move. It was only after Lin Shanfu had entered the teahouse and removed his hat and outer gown that Mr. Zhang walked up and, looking him in the eye, chanted a greeting and dropped to his knees.

Student Lin said, “Why do this? Don’t you know the saying ‘Men’s knees are as precious as gold’?”

Knowing nothing about what had brought this man to him, Student Lin watched him shedding copious tears and suppressing his sobs without being able to get one word out. Only after he calmed down did Mr. Zhang come up with the reason he was there. After hearing him out, Lin Shanfu said, “Don’t worry! The object is with me. But let me ask you: What’s inside it?”

“It’s a cotton parcel containing a brocade bag within which are one hundred large pearls.”

“Yes, you’re right,” acknowledged Student Lin, whereupon he took Mr. Zhang to his place and returned the parcel to him.

At the sight of the parcel, Mr. Zhang said, “Yes, that’s it! I’m not going to take all the pearls. If I could take only half of them to provide for my family, I’ll be deeply grateful.”

Lin Shanfu objected, saying, “What kind of talk is that! If I wanted half of them, I wouldn’t have put up posters all along the way hoping you’d come and claim them.”

Again and again, Mr. Zhang refused to take all the pearls and insisted on taking only half of them while Lin Shanfu adamantly rejected the offer. After multiple rounds of back and forth, Mr. Zhang yielded to Student Lin’s strenuous resistance and departed with effusive thanks. He then sold half the pearls at the market and donated the proceeds to the monks of a celebrated monastery for the dedication of a hall in honor of Student Lin as repayment for his kindness in returning the pearls. (MC: This man is by no means an ingrate.)

Later, Shanfu passed the civil service examinations at the national level on the first try. As the poem says,

Lin Ji’s return of the pearls is quite unheard of.

Money did not motivate him; virtue did.

Heaven blessed him for his good deeds;

On the first try, he gained fame and a title.

Later, Shanfu rose to the highest echelon in officialdom, and both of his sons had successful careers as government officials. As the ancients put it, “Good is returned with good; evil is returned with evil. Families that do good deeds will be blessed; families that do evil will be punished.” Truly,

The heavenly designs are all too clear.

Who can dissolve a crisis in one’s fate?

The road to lasting bliss is there for all to see,

But the human heart too often yields to greed.

The story above is titled “Accumulate Good Deeds That Gain You Credit in the Unseen World.” It is a story passed down by previous generations of the capital’s storytellers. Why did this humble storyteller repeat it? Because people in this world of ours are mercenary-minded. The sight of other people’s possessions stirs their greed and prompts them to act against the dictates of their conscience and to pocket other people’s lost items. Who would be willing to return such items to their rightful owners? But as a matter of fact, the credits accumulated in the unseen world carry a great deal of weight. Duke Pei, judged by his physiognomy, was destined to die of hunger, but because he returned a jade belt to its rightful owner, he later rose to be prime minister.5 Inspector Dou Yujun of the Song dynasty was destined to be heirless, but because he returned lost silver to its rightful owner, he came to sire five sons who all passed the civil service examinations. Other small acts of kindness that brought heavenly blessings are too many to enumerate here.

Now let me tell another story, one about a poor man’s act of kindness that led to his extrication from poverty and his rise to prominence. Gentle reader, you will then know that my exhortations to virtue are not without good reason. You may well ask, where does the story take place?

Well, when His Majesty Emperor Yongle [r. 1403–25] of this dynasty [Ming] was still the Prince of Yan, a physiognomist by the name of Yuan Liuzhuang, courtesy name Gong, happened to see a group of military officers, by the looks of them, drinking in a wineshop in the capital. After studying one of the men, Liuzhuang gave a violent start and bowed deeply, saying, “You, sir, are destined to be an emperor.”

The man waved a hand in objection and said, “You’re talking nonsense!” But he did ask for Liuzhuang’s name before he left.

The next day, an order came from the Prince of Yan, summoning the physiognomist. Once in the prince’s mansion, Liuzhuang raised his head and saw that the prince was none other than the man he had met in the wineshop. As a matter of fact, the Prince of Yan had donned the uniform of a military officer when traveling incognito with several of his personal guards and had now quietly summoned Liuzhuang so that the latter could take his time reading the prince’s face again. At the end of the face-reading session, Liuzhuang offered his congratulations, and at this time the Prince of Yan made up his mind about his grand plan. Later, after his campaign to restore order, the prince ascended the throne and rewarded the physiognomist with a third-grade official post in the capital. Liuzhuang’s son Zhongche was appointed Holder of the Great Seal. Liuzhuang’s divine skills as a physiognomist were known far and wide, but very few people knew that Zhongche, a disciple of his father’s, was also most accurate in his prophecies as a physiognomist and that every eminent person in the capital at that time sought his company and engaged him in face-reading sessions.

There was a Vice Minister Wang, whose family members suffered from recurrent bouts of ill health. One day, Holder of the Great Seal Yuan Zhongche came for a visit and, observing his worried look, asked, “Sir, I detect a blockage of the energy field in your face, which means trouble for members of your family. But rather than something you were born with, it seems to have come from outside and can therefore be removed.”

“Please tell me how to remove it,” said the vice minister.

In the midst of the conversation, a page boy came in with a tray, to serve tea. Mr. Yuan looked him over and said to himself in alarm, “This explains it!” Soon after the tea was finished and the page boy cleared away the teacups and left, Mr. Yuan asked the vice minister in a subdued voice, “What’s the name of that little boy with the tea tray?”

“Why ask about him?”

“He’s the very reason for the illnesses in this house.”

“He’s Zheng Xing’er. I hired him locally less than a year ago. He’s honest, hardworking, and very competent. How can he be the reason for the illnesses in this house?” (MC: I’m afraid that this is also absurd.)

“His physiognomy dictates that he’s an obstruction to anyone who employs him. If you keep him for more than a year, the consequences will be far worse: Death will descend on your family.”

“Is that so?” The vice minister was not convinced.

“Sir, don’t you know the stories about inauspicious Dilu horses bringing misfortune to their masters and inauspicious tablets of court ministers bringing harm to kings?”

Light dawned on the vice minister. “In that case, I’ll have to fire him.”

After walking the Holder of the Great Seal to the gate, Vice Minister Wang went to the inner quarters of the house and repeated to his wife what Mr. Yuan had said. Women tend to be most gullible when it comes to such allegations. Plus, who had not heard of Mr. Yuan’s skills as a physiognomist? The vice minister, being a scholar, at least had a streak of stubbornness in him and was not easily influenced, but his wife’s mind was darkened with suspicion. And so the vice minister summoned Xing’er and told him that his services were no longer needed.

Aghast, Xing’er said, “I’ve never done anything wrong, Master. Why are you firing me?”

“It’s not because you’ve done anything wrong. It’s just that members of this family get ill every so often, and Mr. Yuan, Holder of the Great Seal, read your face and said that you’re the cause. I have no alternative but to send you away for now. We’ll see what happens after a while.”

Xing’er, having also heard about Mr. Yuan’s divine skills as a face-reader, knew that it was impossible for him to stay on. Loath to part with his master, he burst into sobs and prostrated himself on the floor. (MC: A good servant, not one of those heartless people.) It also pained the vice minister to see him go, but out of necessity he forced himself to send Xing’er packing. Sure enough, after Xing’er’s departure, the family members regained their health. The entire Wang family put even greater faith in Mr. Yuan and gave full credence to his words.

Our story forks at this point. Let us follow Xing’er after he mournfully left the Wang family. Without a patron to turn to for help, he made his home in an old temple.

One day, when relieving himself in the outhouse, he noticed a package hanging on the wall. He took it down and found it to be quite heavy and tightly stitched up. He opened it and saw more than twenty packets of silver in it. Sticking out his tongue in amazement, he thought, “Lucky me! With this much silver, my days as a poor man are over! It’s all right even if I’m out of a job.” But then again, he thought, “But I was born to be poor. I found a job as a servant, but my face was said to be bringing harm to my master, and for that I’ve been fired without having done anything wrong. My fate will never allow me to enjoy this windfall. (MC: If this is the way he thinks, fate will dictate otherwise.) The money must have been left here by someone who needed it urgently but forgot to take it after hanging it on the wall and doing what he had to do in this outhouse. Lives may be involved, for all I know! If I take it, even though no one will know, I’ll only be ruining my credit record in the netherworld. I’d better wait here for the owner to show up and return it to him.” Turning his thoughts this way and that, he kept vigil at the outhouse, parcel in hand. Thus, he brooded in silence until evening, but no one came. Still feeling uneasy, he found a straw mat, spread it across the cover of the latrine pit, and slept on it, with the parcel serving as a pillow. (MC: This alone is a difficult thing to do, not to speak of returning the silver.)

At first light the next morning, a man with disheveled hair and puffy eyes entered the outhouse. On noticing a man in it, he checked the walls and said, appalled, “It’s gone! How can I go home now?” So saying, he charged headfirst at the wall.

Xing’er hastened to stop him and said, “Take it easy! Tell me what this is all about.”

The man said, “My master sent me on business to the capital with a bag of silver. Yesterday, when I was in this outhouse, I found a bamboo nail on the wall and hung the parcel on it. After I finished my business, I went off, forgetting all about the parcel. And now the silver’s gone, and I can’t do what my master wants me to do for him. How can I go back to face him? Why would I want to hold on to this life?”

“Don’t worry, my brother! The silver is right here, with me. It’s all yours!”

The man broke into a happy smile. “If you return it to me, I’ll give you half of it by way of thanks.”

Xing’er replied, “If I wanted a reward, why didn’t I take the parcel last night and run? Why did I bother to sleep through the whole night here in spite of the terrible stench? Please don’t make me do anything against my conscience!” With that, he swung the parcel into the man’s hands.

Impressed by the youth’s honesty and generosity, the man asked, “What’s your surname?”

“My surname is Zheng.”

“My master is also a Zheng. He’s a native of Hejian Prefecture [in present-day Hebei] with a hereditary military title. He sent me to the capital to ask for a job for him and gave me the silver to offer bribes. I lost it yesterday and, surprise, surprise, got it back today from you! After my mission is accomplished, I’ll take you to my master and tell him about your good deed. He’ll surely do something for you in return.” (MC: As they say, “One good turn deserves another.”)

Cheerfully the two of them went to a restaurant, where the man eagerly treated Xing’er to wine and asked him about his background, whereupon Xing’er told him everything about how he had worked for the Wang family, how he had been fired because of a face-reader’s words, and that he was now in desperate straits with nowhere to go.

The man said, “You came upon money when you were in desperate straits but didn’t take it. This makes you even more of a rare exception. You need not look elsewhere for a job. Stay with me for now. After my mission is accomplished, I’ll take you to Hejian Prefecture.”

When Xing’er asked his name, he replied, “My surname is Zhang. I’m the majordomo of the Zheng family. People all call me Majordomo Zhang. I’ll be able to provide for you for a couple of months with my salary alone, not to speak of my master.”

Naturally, in his desperation, Xing’er was delighted to hear this. And so Xing’er kept watch over Majordomo Zhang’s luggage at the inn while the majordomo went about his business at the Ministry of Defense. Greasing palms left and right, he accomplished his mission, as was only to be expected. (MC: If everyone in this world were like Xing’er, gold would be as useless as muck.) Officer Zheng won an appointment as the standard-bearing commander under the provincial governor.

Majordomo Zhang triumphantly returned to his lodging and said to Xing’er, “Thanks to your kindness, my master has received an appointment. This is clearly all thanks to you. Let’s go back and report the good news. We need not stay here a moment longer.” Without delay, they got their things together, hired two pack animals, and set out on the journey together.

On arriving at home, Majordomo Zhang settled Xing’er outside and went inside alone to report to his master. Overjoyed that he had received an appointment, Zheng praised his steward, saying, “You made all this possible with your able hands.”

Majordomo Zhang said, “I mustn’t claim all the credit. It’s partly due to your good luck and partly thanks to a benefactor. If it were not for him, I wouldn’t have kept my life, let alone gotten a job for you.” (MC: This man is also quite exceptional in not claiming credit for himself and not forgetting a kindness done to him.)

“What benefactor are you talking about?”

Thereupon, Majordomo Zhang gave a full account of everything that had happened, from his loss of the silver, to his encounter with Zheng Xing’er, who had slept the whole night on the cover of a latrine pit, to the return of the silver, untouched.

Commander Zheng was astounded. “What a man of honor!” he exclaimed. “Where is he now?”

“I couldn’t forget his kindness, so I invited him here to greet you, Master. He’s outside.”

“You did the right thing. Invite him in!”

Majordomo Zhang went outside and brought Xing’er to greet Commander Zheng.

With his background as a page boy, Xing’er made the obligatory kowtow at the sight of a master. Commander Zheng also dropped to his knees and, stopping Xing’er with a hand, said, “You’re my benefactor. How can you stand on such ceremony?”

After Xing’er stood up, Commander Zheng surveyed him intently and commented, “You don’t have the looks of a lowly man. In addition, your largeness of spirit and kindness will do you good.” (MC: How quickly his physiognomy changed!) Commander Zheng then offered him a seat, but he adamantly declined. It was only after many demurrals that he finally obliged and sat down.

“What’s your surname?” asked Commander Zheng.

“My humble surname is Zheng.”

“The same surname as mine! This is even more of a wonder! I’m going on sixty, still childless, and I have nothing with which to repay your great kindness. Not that I want to take advantage of you, but I’d like to adopt you as a son so that I can do for you what you did for me and repay one fraction of your kindness. What do you think?”

“I was born to be a servant. How could I aspire to such a high status?”

“Don’t put it like that. The good faith you have shown me eclipses that between friends in ancient times. I thought of offering you a reward of gold and silk, but since you value moral principles more than money, it wouldn’t make sense for you to forgo a windfall only to receive a trifle. And if I do nothing, wouldn’t you think of this old man as an ingrate? The very fact that we share the same surname shows that there’s a predestined bond between us. I’m only afraid that I’d be shortchanging you. Why go the other way and make yourself out to be a stranger?”

With Commander Zheng pressing his point and Majordomo Zhang egging them on from the sidelines, Xing’er could not do other than agree. Then and there, he made four bows and honored Commander Zheng as his adoptive father. (MC: With his broadmindedness, Mr. Zheng fully qualifies as Xing’er’s father.) Henceforth he became known to all and sundry as Young Master Zheng. His name was changed to Zheng Xingbang. Even Majordomo Zhang called him “Young Master.”

Being a northerner, the young master had learned archery and horse riding at an early age. After Commander Zheng moved to Jizhou to take up his new post, taking Young Master with him, competent teachers were easy to find. Every day, the young master practiced under their guidance, and Commander Zheng was even more favorably disposed toward him because of the progress he made. In addition, Young Master was amiable, discreet, and cautious—qualities that endeared him to the entire family. Commander Zheng applied for a hereditary title on his behalf, a request that was granted.

Commander Zheng, working under the provincial governor, gained the latter’s approval. At the end of the year, Commander Zheng was transferred, through repeated recommendations, to the garrison in the capital as a mobile corps commander. His family, including Young Master Zheng, followed him to the capital. Once there, the young master mounted a tall horse and rode down the streets. As memories of the old days flooded back to him, sad tears trickled down his cheeks. There is a poem in testimony:

He had come upon lost silver at this spot

When he was in a beggar’s tatters.

Dressed in finery now and on a high horse,

He found himself in tears, just as before.

Commander Zheng went to more expense on behalf of the Young Master and obtained the hereditary title of commander for him, to await further assignment. As the Young Master went about the capital city, paying courtesy calls in grand style, it is useful to recall that he had risen to this status only three years after his departure from the city. As Vice Minister Wang was also in the capital, the young master thought, “One must not forget one’s roots. Granted, I was driven out of the Wang family, but the master had in fact treated me well. It was because he believed what Mr. Yuan said about my getting in the way of the family that he fired me. He hadn’t meant to do that. But since I joined my adoptive father’s household, I haven’t gotten in anyone’s way, have I? My old master shouldn’t take the blame for Mr. Yuan’s nonsense. Now that I’ve come so far, I should go see him, to show that I bear him no hard feelings. But I’m not sure my adoptive father will approve, because he may think that dredging up the past would put me in a bad light.” So he acquainted his adoptive father, Commander Zheng, with all the details of the past events and sought his opinion.

The commander burst into words of praise: “It’s only right that he who achieved higher status shouldn’t turn his back on his humble past, and he who has made new friends shouldn’t forget his old ones. What’s wrong with these useful, good personal qualities? Since ancient times, there have been any number of mighty kings and princes, emperors, and prime ministers who rose from humble beginnings. (IC: Words of a wise man.) Men of true worth shouldn’t harbor ill feelings in such situations.”

Thus advised, the young master changed into simpler clothes, adorned only with a golden waistband made of rhinoceros horn, and went straight to Vice Minister Wang’s residence. His visiting card read: “Zheng Xingbang, your servant, hereditary commander, requests an audience.”

Card in hand, Vice Minister Wang thought, “Who is this person asking to see me? Since he calls himself a servant, I must have met him somewhere.” Let us leave him as he was thus wondering to himself and explain that civil officials in the capital were not richly paid and usually stood to gain from visits from military officials, with their deeper pockets. And so Vice Minister Wang called out, “Invite the visitor in!”

At the sight of the minister, Young Master Zheng quickly dropped to his knees and kowtowed, although his old master, Vice Minister Wang could hardly be expected to recognize him immediately in his changed attire. The minister promptly helped him up and said, “Why stand on ceremony when you’re not a subordinate of mine?”

“Master, don’t you recognize Xing’er from the past?”

Upon a closer look, the vice minister did recognize him from his bearing, if not from his build. Much taken aback, the minister said, “You’ve come a long way! What happened?”

Thereupon, Young Master told him that he had been adopted as a son, that he had obtained a hereditary title as an officer, and that his adoptive father was now a mobile corps commander of the garrison of the capital. He added, “I ventured to come and see you out of gratitude for your past kindnesses to me.”

Having heard him out, Vice Minister Wang felt obliged to offer him a seat, but the Young Master declined the offer over and over again, saying, “I should remain standing in attendance.”

“But you’re a court-appointed official now. You mustn’t be bound by rules that are no longer applicable to you.”

The Young Master gave up and sat down off to one side.

“Since you’ve attained such prospects, you’re just not meant for a life in my household. It’s too bad that Mr. Yuan’s nonsense misled me and made me do you an injury. I’m so ashamed of myself.”

“Everything is dictated by fate,” said the Young Master. “If I’d stayed in your household, Master, I wouldn’t have been adopted and got to where I am today.”

“It might very well have been so, but Mr. Yuan’s skills as a physiognomist are so laughable. Clearly, his reputation is quite undeserved.” (MC: He does Yuan an injustice.)

Preparations for dinner in the Young Master’s honor were about to begin when the gatekeeper delivered a visiting card and said, “Mr. Yuan, Holder of the Great Seal, requests an audience.”

Bursting into hearty laughter, the vice minister rubbed his hands and said, “That joke of a fortune-teller is here! Just in time for a good teasing!” Turning to the Young Master, he said, “You go inside and change into clothes befitting your former status. After he has sat for a while, come out with a tea tray. Let’s see if he can still recognize you.”

Thus instructed, the Young Master went inside, took off his hat and his waistband, asked a former coworker for a blue robe, and put it on. On hearing an order for tea from Mr. Yuan, who had sat down comfortably outside, he proceeded to the reception hall, respectfully holding a tea tray with both hands. Mr. Yuan looked at him intently and suddenly rose to his feet and asked, “Who is this person serving tea in this place?” (LC: His status has changed.)

The vice minister replied, “The very page boy Xing’er who was fired some time ago. With no place to go, he has come back to serve this family.”

Mr. Yuan exclaimed, “How can you lie to me like that! I won’t talk about the future, but at this moment, he’s a military official worthy of a golden waistband. He’s no page boy of yours!”

With a hearty guffaw, the vice minister said, “My dear Mr. Yuan, have you forgotten what you said about his obstructing the fortunes of his master and bringing ill health to the family?”

Only then did the Holder of the Great Seal recall his own words. After another careful examination of the Young Master’s physiognomy, he said affably, “How very strange! I did say those words before, but I wasn’t wrong then, and I’m not wrong now.”

“Pray explain!” said the vice minister.

“This gentleman has multiple facial lines that bespeak an excellent credit record in the netherworld. He must have either saved someone’s life or returned lost property to the rightful owner. His physiognomy has changed, and it appears that his good deed has been repaid. This explains his exalted status today. This humble student did not make a mistake.”

A cry escaped the Young Master. “Mr. Yuan is divinely accurate!” With that, he launched into a detailed account of his return of the silver forgotten in an outhouse, his adoption as a son in Hejian Prefecture, and his hereditary title with its attendant hat and waistband. Then he added, “I’m here today because I missed my old master.”

Vice Minister Wang had been told before about the adoption but not about the return of the lost silver. Now that he had heard the whole story, awe surged through him. He said, “Mr. Zheng’s moral character and Mr. Yuan’s divine skills both deserve to be immortalized.” Turning to the servants, he continued, “Bring Mr. Zheng’s hat and waistband here, quick!”

After the young master was properly attired, he exchanged greetings anew with the Holder of the Great Seal. The vice minister invited Mr. Yuan to join them at the dinner table, and the three of them did not part company until they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

The next day, Vice Minister Wang went to pay Commander Zheng a courtesy call, which doubled as a return visit to Young Master Zheng. Henceforth, the two families formed close ties and made frequent mutual visits. Later, Young Master Zheng rose to be a mobile corps commander before he passed away, and his descendants were all given privileges in honor of his meritorious service. It was thanks to his kindness that he virtually gained a new lease on life and got to enjoy such imperial bounty. Hence, this advice to everyone: Do good deeds only; Heaven will not shortchange you. There is a poem in the classical style in testimony:

Yuan’s face-reading skills are no less divine

Than those of Tang Ju and Xu Fu of old.6

One word from him astounds the gods and spirits;

One roll of his eyes predicts fortune’s rise or fall.

The boy who brought harm to his master

Wandered homeless on the streets, poor thing!

His return of lost silver deserved praise;

His kind thoughts led quickly to actions.

Mr. Zheng, untrammeled in his ways,

Tried every means of thanking his benefactor.

By fate they shared the same surname;

The title with its trappings was a repayment.

In the capital, he called on his old master;

The meeting with Mr. Yuan was a shock.

Divine rewards for good deeds are nothing new,

And Mr. Yuan fully deserved his fame.