5

Zhang Derong Encounters a Tiger Sent by the Gods as a Matchmaker

Pei Yueke Becomes the Lucky Mate Just in Time for the Blissful Date

As the poem says:

Marriages are always said to be a matter of fate,

Decreed by the Old Man under the Moon.1

Unions not so destined hardly ever come to pass;

Even timing is predetermined, to the day.

It is said that all marriages are predestined and that, with a red string, the Old Man under the Moon ties together the ankles of couples who are meant for each other, even if they are a thousand li apart. But if no such predestined bond exists, there will be no marriage, however hard you may try to bring one about. And even if there is such a bond between a couple, their wedding will not take place even one day ahead of the predestined time. Conversely, if the predestined time has arrived, everything you try to do to postpone the date by even one day will be of no avail. It is the god of marriage who runs everything behind the scenes. Human efforts make no difference.

There lived in the Tang dynasty a Magistrate Li of Hongnong County [present-day city of Lingbao, Henan], who betrothed his daughter, of marriageable age as our story unfolds, to a Mr. Lu. A powerfully built man with a long beard and an elegant bearing, young Mr. Lu favorably impressed the whole Li family. So a day was chosen for the wedding, after which the young man was to live in the Li residence.

The Li family had frequent mutual visits with a sorceress whose predictions of future events were reputedly quite accurate. On the wedding day, she also came to join the festivities. With full faith in this woman, Mrs. Li sought her opinion, asking, “As you see it, what are the prospects for my son-in-law Mr. Lu’s career as an official?”

“Isn’t Mr. Lu that young man with a long beard?”

“Exactly.”

“In that case, he’s not meant to be your son-in-law, my lady. Your son-in-law doesn’t look like this at all.”

“How does my son-in-law look, pray?”

“He’s of medium height, fair-complexioned, and beardless.”

Mrs. Li said in alarm, “If it’s as you say, there will be no wedding for my daughter this evening!”

“Why? Of course there will be!”

“What kind of nonsense is this! If the wedding is to take place, who can the bridegroom be if not Mr. Lu?”

The sorceress said, “Even I have no clue about the reason for why things happen the way they do.”

Before the words were quite out of her mouth, the earth-shaking sound of drum music outside fell upon their ears. Mr. Lu arrived to present the betrothal gifts and knelt down in the main hall. Holding the sorceress’s hand, Mrs. Li pointed to Mr. Lu with her other hand through the chink between the double doors of the rear room where they were standing and said, “Look at the one making the bows. Obviously, he’s going to consummate the wedding tonight. How can he not be my son-in-law? You’re being ridiculous!”

The maidservants present burst into laughter on hearing their mistress’s words. “Telling flat-out lies is second nature to that old granny. But she’s caught this time!” The sorceress kept silent.

In the meantime, more and more relatives arrived for the grand wedding ceremony. For the families of officials during the Tang dynasty, you see, the wedding night was so important to the wedding ceremony that all the friends and clan members of both the bride and the groom would descend on the place. The usher and the announcer—the two masters of ceremony—were by no means social inferiors but close friends or family members chosen for their knowledge of ritual, their good looks, and their sonorous voices, and it was an honorable profession.

Now let us come back to Mr. Lu in the main hall. Having made his bows in the presence of the usher and the announcer, he went into the bridal chamber with the bride. As soon as he lifted Miss Li’s bridal head scarf by the lamplight, he gave a start, and a cold chill went down his spine. “Oh no!” he cried as he turned and darted for the door. Ignoring all questions from friends and family, he bolted out of the house, mounted his horse, and, flicking it with his whip, raced off with the speed of the wind. (MC: Horror smote him.) Several of his friends who wished to get to the bottom of this gave chase, as did a few people close to the Li family, worried that the auspicious hour would be missed, and they were eager to see the completion of the wedding ceremony. Some gave up the chase because Mr. Lu was too fast for them. Those who did catch up with him showered him with questions and words of admonition, but he refused to explain his actions and just kept waving his hand and saying, “This is not going to happen! Not going to happen!” And he adamantly refused to turn his horse back. In resignation, the guests returned to the house and gave a report of what they had witnessed.

Rage seized Magistrate Li. His eyes popped wide open, and his jaw dropped. Then he burst out with a cry, “This is outrageous! Simply outrageous!” To himself he said, “Since my daughter is as pretty as a flower, what could have caused this uproar? Why don’t I talk to all the guests and show her to them?” So he led the guests to the door of the bridal chamber, had his daughter come out to greet the assembled company, and said, pointing to her, “This is my daughter, betrothed to Mr. Lu. Can she be so hideously ugly as to have frightened Mr. Lu away? If I don’t show her to you, you may very likely take her to be a monster.”

All those present raised their eyes and saw that Miss Li was indeed a ravishing beauty second to none. Some lamented that Mr. Lu was a luckless man, some commented on the lack of a predestined bond between Mr. Lu and the young lady, and others blamed it all on the wrong choice of the date, which must have run afoul of the evil spirits. While everyone was thus jabbering away, Magistrate Li’s angry voice boomed out, “I don’t suppose that scoundrel will go through with the ceremony, so I’m not going to beg him. Now that my daughter has greeted all of you, tonight’s celebration can’t be called off. Anyone willing to take the marriage offer will be my son-in-law as of tonight! With so many people as witnesses, anyone present can serve as a matchmaker.”

Lo and behold! One of the two hosts of the ceremony stepped forward and said, all calm and composed, “However unworthy I am, I’ll be more than happy to serve you, sir, as your son-in-law.” (MC: He is the big winner!)

Everyone peered more intently and saw that it was Mr. Zheng, who held a government post. He was a handsome man with a complexion as fair as if by powder and lips as red as if rouged, and, as for a beard, his chin did not sport a single hair. The guests broke into cheers and said, “Now this is the right man for such an outstanding young lady! What a perfect match in age, appearance, and family status!”

Two elderly men were chosen to be the matchmakers, and a young man was picked to fill the vacancy for master of ceremonies. The young lady was brought out to exchange bows with the groom so as not to miss the chosen auspicious date. All other necessary formalities were to be completed after the wedding. And so, Mr. Zheng and Miss Li became man and wife that very night. Mr. Zheng’s looks indeed corresponded to the sorceress’s description. Only then did they believe that she had the divine eye.

After the wedding, Mr. Zheng met Mr. Lu, who was in fact a close friend of his. When asked why he had behaved as he had, Mr. Lu replied, “When I lifted the bridal head scarf, what I saw was that the bride had saucer-size bloodshot eyes and protruding teeth that were inches long. It was no human being but the very image of a yaksha painted on the walls of a Buddhist temple.2 I was frightened out of my senses. How could I not run for dear life?”

Mr. Zheng said with a grin, “The bride is now mine.”

“How are you managing? Having a hard time?”

Mr. Zheng said, “Follow me home. I’ll introduce you to each other.”

And so Mr. Lu followed Mr. Zheng home. The bride, all properly done up, came out to greet the visitor. Seeing this ravishing beauty, decidedly not the monster he had seen the other night, Mr. Lu was eaten up with remorse. Later, when he heard about what the sorceress had said, he realized that it had all been dictated by destiny. With a sigh, he dismissed the matter from his mind. This bears out the old saying,

Those with a predestined bond will meet,

However great the distance between them.

Those without will never meet,

Face-to-face though they may be.

Our story proper takes place in the Qianyuan reign period [758–59] of the Tang dynasty. There lived a minister of personnel named Zhang Gao. His second daughter was called Derong. During his term of office in the capital, Secretary Zhang was best friends with Pei Mian, vice director of the Imperial Secretariat. Director Pei’s third son, Pei Yueke, had served as county sheriff at Lantian. Since the two families were well matched in status, Secretary Zhang betrothed his daughter Derong to the young man, and a wedding date was duly chosen.

Now let me tell of an elderly fortune-teller who had a stall in West Market in the capital city of Chang’an [present-day Xi’an]. Li Zhiwei by name, he was a clansman of Li Chunfeng’s and a master astrologist.3 When telling fortunes, he invariably gave specific dates on which his predictions of disaster or good fortune were supposed to come true. And sure enough, he never got them wrong, not even by a fraction of an hour.

One day, a Mr. Liu went to him. This Mr. Liu was from an official’s family and entitled to inherit a government post, but after spending several years in the capital trying to land a job, he was still getting nowhere. Earlier that year, after he had pulled a few strings in the offices that mattered most, given all the proper instructions, and taken a Ministry of Personnel examination in which he was asked to make judgments on baffling court cases, he thought he was bound to succeed. Then he heard about the reputation of Mr. Li of West Market, and so here he was, to have his fortune told.

After doing a divination, Mr. Li said with a smile, “You won’t get what you want this year, but it will come to you of its own accord next year.”

Mr. Liu did not believe him, but when the Ministry of Personnel published the list of successful candidates, he saw that his name was indeed not there because he had dropped a few words in his judgments on the court cases. The following year, he again took the Ministry of Personnel examination without begging for favors. With no confidence in his judgments on the court cases in the examination, he again went to West Market to seek Mr. Li’s advice.

Mr. Li said, “Didn’t I tell you last year that you’d surely land an official post this time around? Don’t worry!”

“If I do land a government post, where will my duty station be?”

“It will be in the Kaifeng area. After you get the job, come see me again. I’ll have something else to tell you.”

Mr. Liu’s name did appear on the ministry of personnel’s list of successful candidates, and he was appointed Kaifeng County’s vice magistrate in charge of police affairs. With surprise mixed with joy, Mr. Liu paid Mr. Li another visit, this time fully convinced of Li’s divine power. Mr. Li said to him, “Once in your post, you need not try to be a clean and incorrupt official. Just take as much as you can. No harm will come to you. (MC: This advice could not have been better suited to the greedy.) When your term is up, you can ask for an assignment to the capital. I’ll have another session with you then.”

Mr. Liu made a mental note of these words as he took leave of the fortune-teller, after which he reported for duty. His superior, the prefect, impressed with his distinguished family background, put great trust in him. Recalling Mr. Li’s advice, Mr. Liu took bribes left and right without the slightest hesitation. Officials high and low all liked him. No one raised any objections. By the time his term was up, he had amassed a fortune worth ten million taels of silver. The prefect granted his request for an assignment to the capital and told him to deliver the prefectural taxes to the imperial court.

Once he was in the capital, he paid another visit to Mr. Li. “You’re due for a promotion in three days,” said Li.

Mr. Liu responded, “While I’m in the capital, I’m planning to find an opportunity to obtain another government appointment, but how will three days be enough? And this isn’t the usual time for promotions. I’m afraid you’re off the mark this time.”

“No, absolutely not! And your new, higher post will be in the same prefecture. After you get the position, come see me again. I’ll have more to say to you.”

Mr. Liu took himself off. The next day, when approaching the Imperial Treasury to deliver the prefectural taxes, he saw a large multicolored bird flying from a southeasterly direction and landing on top of the treasury building in a blaze of radiance. Flocks of chirping birds also flew over, blocking the sky. “How very strange!” exclaimed Mr. Liu. His cries and the commotion caught the attention of eunuchs inside, and they rushed out to see what it was all about. Some recognized the large bird as a phoenix. After pausing for a while, the bird spread its wings and flew away from the raucous scene, after which the other birds gradually dispersed.

On hearing reports of this incident, the emperor was delighted and issued a promotion order, saying, “We grant a one-grade promotion to the man who saw it first.”

Investigators checked the facts and established that Mr. Liu had been the one to see it first. Whereupon the ministry of personnel was instructed to appoint him deputy magistrate of Junyi County [northwest of the city of Kaifeng]. And sure enough, this happened before three days were out, and the new post was indeed in the same prefecture. All the more impressed with the fortune-teller’s powers, Mr. Liu again went to see him and asked for advice on his new job. Mr. Li said, “You need only do as you’ve done before.” (MC: Wonderful.)

Following his counsel, Mr. Liu gave free rein to his greed as before and grew richer by another ten million. When his term of office expired, he traveled to the capital to await a transfer order and paid Mr. Li another visit.

Mr. Li said, “This time, you’re going to be appointed a county magistrate. Don’t take bribes, not even a penny. Be careful!”

Mr. Liu was indeed appointed magistrate of Shouchun County. Bribery having become second nature to him during his previous two terms of office, how could he kick the habit now? Shortly after arriving at his post, he succumbed to his old weakness and cast Mr. Li’s admonition to the winds. And so he obeyed Mr. Li because the idea of bribery appealed to him and dismissed Li’s advice against such behavior as hypocritical and lacking credibility. (MC: Such are the ways of the world.) Before long, his superiors reported against him to the emperor. The government recovered the ill-gotten money, and he was stripped of his post.

He went to Mr. Li again and said, “The first two times you told me to take freely, and the last time you warned me against it. You were right all three times. Why?”

“Let me explain. In your previous incarnation, you were a rich merchant with a fortune of twenty million. You died in Bianzhou, and your wealth got scattered among the people there. As an official in this life, you were entitled to take back what had rightfully belonged to you. (MC: So most officials of our day must have had their wealth scattered in all directions from their earlier incarnations.) That’s why you weren’t disciplined the first two times. However, no one in Shouchun County has ever owed you anything. How could you take from them? You brought all this on yourself because you sought what was not rightfully yours.” Overcome with awe and shame, Mr. Liu went away. Examples of Mr. Li’s accuracy in his fortune-telling are too numerous for me to cite them all.

Let us now return to the main story. Vice Director Pei, having chosen the wedding date for his son, sent the matchmakers to Minister Zhang’s home to inform the Zhangs of his choice. Minister Zhang, for his part, having heard about Mr. Li the fortune-teller’s divine accuracy, had him brought over to the Zhang residence. Minister Zhang then presented him with the eight characters representing the year, month, day, and hour of Miss Zhang’s birth as well as the proposed wedding date, so that Mr. Li could check for any signs of a mismatch. Mr. Li looked at the eight characters and said, “The wedding is not meant to take place this year, nor will it take place here.”

Minister Zhang said, “If the date is not a lucky one, we can change it. But why isn’t it supposed to be sometime this year? And, since both our families live in the capital, where is the wedding to take place if not here?”

Mr. Li resumed, “As I see it, fate decrees otherwise. No wedding is to take place this year. The wedding is meant for the third day of the third lunar month next year, to be preceded by a shocking event, and it will be in the south. Since this is all a matter of destiny, you need not bother to pick a date on your own. It’s not going to happen one day earlier or later.”

Still dubious, Minister Zhang said, “This is quite unbelievable!” With that, he had a housekeeper prepare a packet of gift money and gave it to Mr. Li before bidding him good-bye.

Scarcely had Mr. Li gone out through the gate when the Pei family came and asked him to check if the match portended good or ill. Once at the Pei residence, Mr. Li did a divination and said, “How very strange! This tallies exactly with the divination I did for Secretary Zhang’s family.” With the four treasures of the scholar’s study,4 he wrote these lines:

The third day of the third month,

Not a day earlier, nor a day later.

When the boat is stuck in shallow water,

A tiger will show up with the lady.

It will be a shattering shock;

It will be a heavenly blessing.

The meaning of these lines was lost on Pei Yueke. He said, “My wedding with Minister Zhang’s daughter is coming up soon, later this year, so I’d like to ask if the date portends good or evil. What do you mean by ‘the third day of the third month’?”

Mr. Li replied, “That is the wedding date.”

“But the date has already been fixed, and it’s way ahead of your date. You’re not making sense!”

“Be patient, young man. The predictions of this old man never miss the mark.”

“Those lines ‘When the boat is stuck in shallow water, a tiger will show up with the lady’ surely portends evil.”

“Not necessarily. You’ll see after it’s confirmed.” With that, Mr. Li took leave of young Mr. Pei.

Just when joyful preparations for the wedding were in full swing, several remonstrance officials vied to impeach the secretary of the ministry of personnel over improper assignments of government posts.5 By an imperial decree, Minister Zhang Gao was demoted to revenue manager of Yi Prefecture [in present-day Guizhou] and was ordered to set out on his journey the very next day. With a sigh, Minister Zhang said, “Li Zhiwei’s predictions have been born out.” He asked one of the matchmakers to notify the Pei family that the wedding was to be held in Yizhou, on the third day of the third month of the next year. With his family members in tow, he left for Yizhou before the night was out.

In the Tang dynasty, demoted high officials were a sorry lot. Relatives and friends avoided them like the plague, on alert at all times of the day for any strikes against them by the imperial court. And so Minister Zhang did not expect the marriage alliance with the Pei family to materialize.

The note from Secretary Zhang gave Pei Yueke a start. He said to himself, “So Li Zhiwei’s predictions were right on target. We’ll have to go by his date after all.” The happy date already in sight had now gone up in smoke. After a gloomy New Year’s Day, Pei Yueke began to pack for his journey to Yizhou for the wedding ceremony.

Extravagant spender that he was, Pei Yueke hired a large boat in a show of pomp and ceremony. Laden with baggage and household supplies, more than twenty male servants, seven or eight female domestics, and seven or eight page boys, the boat set sail on a chosen auspicious day. How Pei Yueke wished he could grow a pair of wings, rise on a cloud, and arrive at Yizhou in the twinkling of an eye! But many days went by, and the end of the second lunar month was upon them. The boat was so heavily laden that it could hardly make a hundred li a day, and sometimes, when it got stranded, it could take days to resume its journey. When they were still about three hundred li from Yizhou, Pei Yueke began to grow frantic. He was afraid that the Zhang family, not knowing he was on his way, would not start preparations for the ceremony and therefore miss the designated day. As the boat moved along, he sent a servant to a courier station onshore to hire a fast horse and notify the Zhang family of his arrival. The servant went posthaste to Yizhou.

In faraway Yizhou, Minister Zhang was consumed with worry, wondering what the Pei family was thinking and whether Pei Yueke would be willing to undertake the long journey for the ceremony. He was in the midst of these unsettling thoughts when the message was delivered to him. Overcome with joy, he went to the residential quarters of the yamen and told his family the news. Everyone rejoiced. (MC: As would any family that has visitors from afar.) It was already the second day of the third month by this time. Minister Zhang said, “The wedding is supposed to take place tomorrow. How are we going to make it? Let’s wait for Mr. Pei to arrive before we reschedule.”

Because the wedding date was drawing near, a feast was laid out in the back garden of the yamen in honor of Miss Derong. Her hair was put up in a bun, and female family members gathered to help deck her out and offer her good wishes. The garden was about half a li from the yamen proper. Yizhou being deep in the mountains, the yamen was located amid bushes and bamboo groves that looked just as secluded and beautiful as if it was in a mountain forest. Miss Derong and her aunts and sisters thoroughly enjoyed themselves as they strolled around.

By the time the feast was over, darkness had fallen, and everyone rose to return to the yamen. As the women walked along, talking and laughing, some ahead of her and some behind her, a gust of wind sprang up. Suddenly, a fierce tiger leaped out from the bamboos, seized Miss Derong, and turned around. As the other women fled in horror, the tiger disappeared into the depths of the bushes. After they had collected their wits, the women hastened to report the matter to Minister Zhang, and the whole family burst into wails of grief. (MC: Such a shock naturally brings out the tears.)

By this time, evening had closed in on them. Although a search party was assembled, the men looked at one another without any idea of what to do. They could do no more than take up torches and look around, but not knowing which road the tiger had taken, how were they to rescue her? (MC: There was indeed nothing they could do.) The search and commotion lasted the whole night through, all to no avail. At daybreak, Minister Zhang tearfully hired a group of men to fan out into the wilderness in search of his daughter’s remains. Even though they checked all possible places, the search turned up nothing. Minister Zhang was deeply distressed, but of him, for the time being, no more.

We must now change the scene to Shiqian River in the Yizhou area, where Pei Yueke found himself. His heavily laden boat kept bumping against the many rocks in the river, slowing them down even more. It was already the second day of the third month, and there were still several tens of li to go. Pei Yueke said to himself, “At this speed, how am I going to make it by tomorrow?” Beside himself with anxiety, he yelled furiously at the crew. (MC: As they say, the wife is the husband’s source of anxiety.)

They said, “Yelling doesn’t help. We’re also only too eager to arrive and join the wedding feast. Who likes being held up in this place?”

Pei Yueke countered, “But tomorrow is the wedding date. What if we stay stuck here?”

The crew members said, “The boat gets stranded so easily because it’s too heavy. If you want it to go faster, some people have to go onshore to reduce the weight.”

“That makes perfect sense,” conceded Pei Yueke. Hurriedly he stopped the boat, jumped ashore, and called on his servants to follow suit. With the master already ashore, who would dare to not get off the boat? More than twenty people disembarked, thus reducing the boat’s weight. As Pei Yueke led his servants down the road, the boat, much more manageable than before, kept pace with them along the shore.

About four or five li farther on, when dusk was about to fall, they saw by the bank a house built of wooden planks with a bamboo couch inside. Pei Yueke entered and told the page boys to sweep the couch clean so that he could sit for a while before moving on. Of the many servants in his entourage, some stood around him, while some planted themselves outside the door. As they stood there, resting, they heard the rustle of wind in the woods. By the dim light of the moon and the stars, they caught sight of an animal moving very quickly where the wind was blowing. Looking more intently as the animal was drawing near, they saw that it was a tiger carrying something on its back. In consternation, everyone rushed inside for shelter. When the tiger was almost at the door, everyone pounded the walls and shouted. Some even whipped the wooden walls to heighten the noise. When the tiger arrived at the house, it put down the thing on its back, shook its body, and, looking as if it was a little frightened by the clamor, gave a roar and went at the speed of the wind into the mountain. (MC: The tiger gets nothing for its service.)

Peeping out through the chinks between the wooden planks of the walls, everyone saw that the thing deposited on the ground looked like a human figure, and it seemed to be moving slightly. After a while, when they thought the tiger should be a safe distance away, they stepped outside to investigate, still breathless with fear. It was indeed a human being, breathing faintly. After the servants reported this to Pei Yueke, he told them to revive that person while he rushed to call the boat in to shore. As soon as the servants had carried that person onto the boat, he gave orders to immediately untie the cable and take off, for he was afraid that the tiger might return. Only quite a while after the boat had taken off did Pei Yueke ask for a light by which to see who the person was. The women servants lit the candles and saw, by the bright light that suffused the cabin, that it was a person with

Eyebrows arched like willow leaves

And cheeks blossoming like lotus flowers.

Her breathing unsteady and labored,

She was still shivering from the fright.

Her hair unkempt, she was the very image

Of a tipsy Consort Yang mounting her horse.6

Her eyes closed, her lips open, she had the look

Of Du Liniang returning from the grave.7

She appeared to be only seventeen or eighteen,

But in beauty, she had barely any equals.

After looking her up and down, Pei Yueke said in astonishment, “Judging from her looks and her clothes, I don’t think she’s from some ordinary peasant family.” He then told the female domestics to examine her closely.

The women spread out a soft mattress, carried her onto it, and took off her clothes, which were all torn by thistles and brambles in the woods. Luckily, there were no bruises or scratches on her body. One woman servant combed her disheveled hair and tied it into a bun with a handkerchief. Next, she forced ginger soup and then thin porridge down her slightly open mouth. They fussed over her until well past midnight, when she slowly came to. Looking refreshed, she suddenly raised her head and opened her eyes, but not recognizing any of the faces around her, she let out a sob and fell back. To all the questions from the female domestics as to her identity and her encounter with the tiger, she maintained a stony silence.

As the sky gradually lightened, people were seen walking about on the bank, and the boatmen were ordered to tow the boat. They were only thirty li from the prefectural seat at this time. They heard people coming from there say, “Minister Zhang’s second daughter was seized by a tiger last night when she was enjoying the back garden. They still haven’t found her body.” Another one said, “Could the tiger have eaten all her clothes as well?”

Hearing this, the boatmen were intrigued when they thought of last night’s events. They asked one another, “Could they be talking about what we’ve got on the boat?” They sent one man to the boat to inform Pei Yueke of what they had heard onshore.

All the more astonished, Pei Yueke said, “From what you say, it does seem certain that the one who fell prey to the tiger is my intended. Could she be the same one we saved and brought onto the boat?”

Without a moment’s delay, he called an experienced woman servant to him and said, “Go ask the young woman we’ve just revived if she’s Miss Derong of the Zhang family.”

The woman servant did as she was told. On hearing her name, the young woman burst into loud sobs and asked through her tears, “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

The woman servant replied, “This is the very boat that Mr. Pei hired to take him to Yizhou to marry you, madam. Because the boat was going so slowly, Mr. Pei was afraid that he would miss the wedding date, so he chose to go onshore and walk. (MC: Evidence of his sincerity.) And what do you know, he rescued you and brought you on board! There is indeed a predestined bond between you!”

Feeling a surge of relief, the young lady began to tell the woman that she had encountered a tiger when she was in a garden, that she felt as if she had been airborne through clouds and mists over goodness knows how long a distance, and that she had thought she was going to die. She went on to say that when the tiger put her down on the ground, her soul took flight and that she had no idea why she was now in a boat. After supplying her with a full account of how she had been rescued, the woman servant went back to Pei Yueke and said, “She’s none other than the bride-to-be!”

Wild with joy, Pei Yueke wrote a letter and sent a servant to deliver it posthaste to Minister Zhang’s home.

Minister Zhang was devoured by grief because his daughter’s body was nowhere to be found and his son-in-law was supposed to be arriving anytime now. The sudden arrival of a servant of the Pei family with a letter only deepened his distress. He tore open the letter and saw these lines:

As I hurried on to make the wedding date, my boat got stuck when I was traveling by water. When I went by land to travel faster, I ran into a tiger that carried your beloved daughter on its back. We scared it off, and your daughter is unscathed. She is now safe on my boat. I await your instructions. (MC: A succinct account.)

Respectfully,
Your son-in-law Pei Yueke

In happy astonishment, Minister Zhang went to the interior of the yamen and told the rest of the family about the letter, much to everyone’s amazement. Mrs. Zhang said, “Such a thing has hardly ever been heard of ! This must have been the work of the gods because the wedding date would have been missed otherwise. Now that our daughter is on Mr. Pei’s boat, we can still hold the wedding today!”

“Yes, indeed!” said Minister Zhang. He ordered forthwith that a fast horse be saddled for him and, followed by an entourage of servants, raced to the boat and arrived in less than two hours’ time.

The father of the bride and the son-in-law greeted each other with great delight. On seeing his daughter, Minister Zhang was overcome by mixed emotions of joy and sorrow. After comforting her with kind words, he turned to Pei Yueke and said, “My good son-in-law, last year, Li Zhiwei did predict that the wedding was not going to take place until today. Last night, I thought that since you apparently could not make it on time, the wedding date would surely have to be put off. Who would have thought that such a miraculous event would happen and that my daughter would even be delivered to your boat! But traveling by water is so slow that we’ll surely miss the wedding date if we wait until the boat arrives at Yizhou. Why don’t we light the wedding candles on the boat and hold the ceremony right here? We can take our time going home tomorrow. That way, we won’t miss the auspicious date.” (MC: How accommodating!)

Pei Yueke said, “Your words remind me of what I had almost forgotten. Last year, Li Zhiwei wrote six lines. The first two lines said,

The third day of the third month,

Not a day earlier, nor a day later.

I thought I was going to be late when traveling by boat, but then the tiger delivered her to me, so this bears out his prediction of the date. The middle two lines said,

When the boat is stuck in shallow water,

A tiger will show up with the lady.

I thought this was a prediction of disaster, but it turned out to be accurate. And the last two lines said,

It will be a shattering shock;

It will be a heavenly blessing.

It was indeed a big shock, but as things turned out, it only helped us make the blissful date. Li Zhiwei’s skills as a fortune-teller are nothing short of divine!”

Without letting a moment slip by, Minister Zhang began assigning jobs to the servants as he stood by the boat. An usher and an announcer were summoned, and preparations for the wedding feast got under way. Soon, the wedding ceremony was held right there on the boat, and the bride and groom drank the nuptial cup. After the ceremony was over, Minister Zhang returned home on horseback to prepare a proper greeting for his daughter and son-in-law when the boat arrived the next day.

That night, Pei Yueke and Miss Derong shared the nuptial bed there on the boat, and the young couple consummated their marriage. On their arrival at Yizhou the next day, they went ashore and greeted Minister Zhang and his wife and other members of the family. All those present, including the employees of the yamen, felt as if they were in a dream when they laid eyes on the bride. Some shed tears. They said, “When it looked like the auspicious date was going to be missed, the gods dispatched a tiger to be the matchmaker and delivered the bride in the twinkling of an eye over a distance of a hundred li. Nothing like this has ever happened before!”

When the story got around, everyone marveled. Temples to the tiger-matchmaker were erected everywhere, and all those who wanted to be united in marriage only had to pray devoutly to see their prayers answered. (MC: Wonders never cease!) Even to this day, such temples in the Guizhou and Xia [Three Gorges] areas are never short of worshippers making offerings. At that time, a six-line ditty circulated:

The divine fortune-teller Li Zhiwei

Foretold their ordained fate.

A tiger was sent by the gods

So as not to miss the wedding date.

But how do you offer a seat

To such a matchmaker at the feast?