Explore Chapter 4 of '水浒新传' with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
It turned out that Cai You had given Hou Meng a stern reprimand. Still uneasy, he feared that during an audience with the Emperor, the man might utter something damaging, for back at the Bureau of Military Affairs, Hou Meng had once recorded Cai Jing's careless talk. Therefore, when Hou Meng reported to the ministry, Cai You first saw to it that the date for his imperial audience was delayed. After four or five days with no sign of movement, Cai You found it strange. How could a mere newly appointed Prefect, not yet in office, dare disregard the imperial summons? Having arrived in the Eastern Capital, would he not report to the Three Judicial Offices and request an audience? He ordered his clerks to investigate whether any documents from Hou Meng had reached the Three Offices. By the time a detailed report came back, Hou Meng was already dead, his family having announced his passing days before. The date of his demise from illness coincided precisely with the time he was driven from the chancellor's mansion. Learning this, Cai You felt a pang of remorse. Hou Meng was a scholar. To be beaten out of the mansion with sticks before a public gathering must have shamed and enraged him to death. Reflecting on the man's words, they had merely run counter to official policy but had never affronted the dignity of the Chancellor.
Struck by a sudden pang of conscience, he dispatched two Captains from the chancellor's mansion to visit Hou Meng's family and inform them that the court would grant generous compensation. The two Captains reported that Hou Meng's family had conducted the funeral with propriety, aided substantially by a Cangzhou scholar named Zhou Ji. This scholar claimed to be a childhood friend of Hou Meng, but the family knew nothing of his background. Cai You thought it odd that a scholar should so freely assist the family of a prefect who had died of illness in the capital; there must be some reason behind it. He therefore sent the same two men to observe Scholar Zhou's movements.
The Captains in the chancellor's mansion were discussing this matter among themselves in the duty room when Captain Wu overheard them. He was secretly alarmed. Here was a man the lord minister had driven out with sticks, yet Scholar Zhou was lavishly attending to his funeral affairs. Was this not deliberately opposing the lord minister? He slipped quietly from the duty room, found Yan Qing, and relayed the news.
Though Yan Qing had spoken thus, fearing the truth might leak, he returned immediately to the inn and informed Chai Jin. Chai Jin said, "Now that Hou Meng is dead, Gao Qiu's plan to kill with a borrowed knife was now moot. But Fang La's influence shows no sign of abating; the court cannot sit idly by. I believe the court will soon dispatch capable forces to pacify the Jiangnan region. Their military focus on Liangshan Marsh will necessarily relax. We should return to the mountain stronghold and report to Brother Song Gongming, seizing this chance to chart a new course. If Cai You will not tolerate us, then we shall leave."
Among them, Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun had originally been staying at an inn outside the city. The Military Strategist Wu had sent them with this thought: should the brothers coming to the capital encounter difficulties crossing waterways, these two waterway Chieftains could provide protection. Within the city of Eastern Capital, they had little need to show themselves.
That day, after hearing Chai Jin's command at the Gaosheng Inn, the two Zhangs started back toward the inn outside the city. On the way, Zhang Heng said to Zhang Shun, "Brother, we grew up on the Xunyang River. It is rare to have a chance to see this bustling world at the feet of the imperial family. We have been in the Eastern Capital so long without any sightseeing. Now Chai Jin says we cannot stay in the Eastern Capital and must return to the mountain stronghold. Today, let us stroll through the streets and alleys and find a tavern for a few cups of wine."
Zhang Shun said, "We must be careful not to stir up trouble." Zhang Heng replied, "We are ordinary commoners, not meddling in any mischief. What sudden calamity could befall us in the imperial city under the jurisdiction of the Nine Gates Military Command?"
Zhang Shun thought it reasonable and did not take the direct route out of the city back to their lodging. Instead, they made a wide detour through the streets. Suddenly, someone stepped forward to greet them, saying, "How have you two brothers been all this time? It has been years. I never thought to meet you here."
Zhang Heng looked and saw it was his clansman brother Zhang Da, nicknamed Water Rat, who in the past had made his living selling fish outside Jiangzhou city. Having learned some martial arts under the two Zhangs' father, he shared a bond of brotherhood with them. Zhang Shun quickly stepped forward, offering a salute, and said, "I truly never expected to meet you here, brother. Where is your residence now? We shall come pay our respects another day."
Zhang Da seized their sleeves and said, "It is rare to meet today. Come to my home for a few bowls of plain wine. If you refuse this chance encounter, how can I expect you to come another day? My home is not far. Let us go now."
Zhang Shun was reluctant to go but could not refuse out of courtesy. Zhang Heng, straightforward by nature, merely watched Zhang Shun. Zhang Da laughed and said, "Let me tell you both more. My former wife back home passed away years ago. When I came to the Eastern Capital, I took another wife. She is from Qinghe County in Jizhou, her maiden name is Pan. She is clever and skilled at making all kinds of fine pastries. I shall have her meet kin from our hometown and show off her skills." With that, he laughed heartily and, giving the two Zhangs no chance to refuse, simply pulled them along.
They arrived at his home. He lifted the curtain and called out, "Wife, come quickly. Distant guests are here." A woman answered from upstairs and came down to the main hall to greet them. Her hair was coiled in a cloud-like bun, adorned with a small jade flower. She wore a moon-white silk jacket and a green gauze pleated skirt below, her face heavily powdered-not the appearance of a woman from a poor family. Zhang Da said, "These are my two clansmen brothers, Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun."
The woman made two curtsies and said, "Greetings, uncles." The two Zhangs bowed repeatedly. Zhang Da invited them to sit in the main room and said to Lady Pan with a smile, "It is rare to meet my two brothers from thousands of miles away. Please prepare some dishes, wife. We shall have three cups. Is Second Brother-in-law home? Invite him to keep us company. I shall go to the street and buy some fruits to accompany the wine."
Zhang Heng stood up and stopped him, saying, "We have not seen each other for years. A good talk is better than food and drink. Do not trouble yourself, brother." Lady Pan glanced at Zhang Da and went into the kitchen.
Zhang Heng asked, "How did you come to be in the Eastern Capital, brother?" Zhang Da replied, "Last year I followed a cloth merchant to the Central Plains and never returned. The hardships of travel are too many to tell. I shall explain slowly another time."
Zhang Heng thought to himself, "He is bound to ask why we brothers are here. We shall say we drifted here with merchants." But Zhang Da asked nothing of the sort. Soon a young man brought out three cups of tea and served them to the guests and host. Zhang Da said to the two Zhangs, "This is my brother-in-law, Pan Hai. Since his parents passed away, he lives with me. You brothers can teach him some martial arts in the future."
Pan Hai set down the tea tray and greeted the two Zhangs. He whispered to Zhang Da, "Sister asks you to come speak with her." Zhang Heng said, "No need for trouble, brother. Let us chat of family matters."
Zhang Da rose and went inside. Zhang Shun looked around the main room. It was neatly arranged. In the center stood an ancestral shrine for the Zhang family of Qinghe Hall, hung with a Buddha image, a perpetual lamp burning before it. Against the left wall was a long couch; against the right wall, a row of four red-lacquered chairs. Three or five pieces of calligraphy and paintings adorned the walls.
Zhang Shun thought, "A fish seller's home has such grandeur." He asked, "When did Brother Pan marry my clansman?" Pan Hai said, "Three years ago."
Zhang Shun said, "So my clansman has been here for over three years." Pan Hai said, "Exactly." Zhang Shun asked, "There is a fellow townsman of ours who trades in cloth. Do you know him, Brother Pan?"
Pan Hai said, "I have little contact with merchants." Zhang Shun said, "Through my clansman's friends?" Pan Hai said, "I have not heard my brother-in-law mention knowing any cloth merchants."
Hearing this, Zhang Shun grew even more suspicious. He stood up and said, "This house is kept so tidy. Let me look around." As he spoke, he moved toward the back hall. Behind a wooden screen, he heard the woman say, "You go out through the back door. I will serve them meat and wine here. With twenty or thirty bowls of wine, are they not sure to get drunk?"
Zhang Shun found this exceedingly strange but dared not linger. He returned to the main room and called out loudly, "Brother, come quickly. I have something to say."
Zhang Shun said, "Sister-in-law, you have newly joined our family and do not know our past. To be frank, back when Prefect Cai Jiu was in Jiangzhou, I worked as a fish broker. Failing to serve adequately, the authorities deemed me a lawless rogue and once had me arrested. At that time, I heard this clansman of mine served as Prefect Cai Jiu's personal attendant, though I never met him. Later, Prefect Cai Jiu was recalled to the capital because the Liangshan heroes stirred up Jiangzhou. Senior Grand Councilor Cai likely reassigned him. Did my clansman not follow? I do not know if Prefect Cai Jiu still holds office. But his father and elder brother are both lord ministers. If he wishes to deal with us brothers, arresting us would require little effort. My clansman is not merely playing host to us out of kinship; he has secretly gone to report us to the authorities."
Zhang Heng suddenly remembered and leaped up, shouting, "Yes, yes! We heard in Jiangzhou that he was in the Cai residence. Otherwise, how could he come to the Eastern Capital and have such grandeur? Fine Zhang Da! You owe your present standing to my father's teachings. Instead of remembering past kindness, you plot against us." Zhang Shun said, "Let us go, brother."
Zhang Heng refused to move. He lifted a chair and was about to bring it down upon the woman. Zhang Shun seized his hand and said, "If you kill this woman, it would only give that scoundrel Zhang Da more grounds to accuse us. Let us leave. When he brings the arrest officers, they will find nothing. What explanation will he offer? Moreover, we have important business for the mountain stronghold. Do not let that scoundrel Zhang Da ruin our grand designs."
The woman trembled against the wall. Pan Hai hid under the table. After a while, the woman came to her senses first and scolded, "Second Brother, you are worthless as a man, not even as good as a woman. You let two bandits slip away right under your nose."
Pan Hai slowly crawled out from under the table, his face still pale. He said, "Sister, you speak too lightly. Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun are famous water army Chieftains of Liangshan Marsh. Thousands of troops cannot touch them. What could I have done?" Lady Pan said, "Who asked you to fight them? Could you not have calmed them with gentle words? Had I been out there speaking with them earlier, even two tigers could not have escaped."
About an hour later, Zhang Da led dozens of officers and soldiers, waving swords and spears, crowding through the door. Seeing Pan Hai sitting dazed on a chair, Zhang Da asked, "Where are the two Liangshan Marsh bandits?" Pan Hai said, "That scoundrel Zhang Shun is too cunning. Sensing something amiss, he called Sister over, exposed our plan, and hurriedly ran off. Had I not protected Sister, that scoundrel Zhang Heng would have almost killed her with a chair."
Hearing the bandits were gone, an Inspector Ke under the Chief Inspector of Eastern Capital pushed through the crowd. He held two broadswords, looking imposing, and said to Zhang Da, "You claim bandits from Liangshan Marsh have come to the imperial city, stirring up trouble. Now we cannot catch anyone. If our superiors blame us, saying the imperial city harbors bandits yet we failed to arrest them, what then? What use are we, the arrest officers? If we say there were no bandits and you reported falsely, you are spreading rumors to mislead the public. That is a capital offense!"
Zhang Da anxiously shed tears and said, "How many heads do I have to dare spread rumors at the feet of the Son of Heaven?" Pan Hai also panicked and defended Zhang Da, saying, "They truly were two bandits. As they left, they even said, 'Do not ruin our grand designs at the stronghold.'"
Inspector Ke said, "Zhang Da, you serve in the residence of the Senior Grand Councilor. You cannot knowingly break the law. But with two bandits escaped, how do we account for it? The Chief Inspector is at the alley entrance. Let us go seek instructions together." Zhang Da had nothing to say and brought Pan Hai along to the alley entrance.
By then, troops from the Nine Gates had been summoned continuously, surrounding over ten nearby streets and alleys, sealing them tight. In Zhang Da's alley, soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder. Dou Jian rode on horseback, fully armored, a long lance held across his saddle. Inspector Ke ran up and reported to him.
Dou Jian was enraged and bellowed, "In the capital, falsely reporting criminals is no trivial matter! If we do not catch the culprits, will it not implicate me?" Inspector Ke refused to take responsibility with Zhang Da, so he brought him and Pan Hai before the horse. Zhang Da knelt and said, "Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun are my clansmen brothers. How could I mistake them? I am not insane. If I had not lured them home after meeting them on the street, how would I dare report to the authorities? I did this not just for a reward. Since I serve under Lord Minister Cai Jiu, and back when Lord Minister Jiu was in Jiangzhou, these Liangshan Marsh bandits disrupted the execution ground, he still holds a grudge. I am also avenging my master."
Dou Jian said, "For the sake of Lord Minister Cai Jiu, I will spare your dog head for now. Arrest this scoundrel." He ordered his men to act. The accompanying guards seized Zhang Da. Pan Hai, though an outsider, was assigned as a lookout. They led camp soldiers to search the entire city. Dou Jian also notified all city gates to inspect people leaving. In the Eastern Capital, with crowds like mountains and seas, large troops marching through the streets to catch bandits-how could it not attract attention? Within hours, the Eastern Capital was in a state of alarm.
Having caused this trouble, Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun had to inform Chai Jin. Chai Jin reasoned that since the two had left, Zhang Da would give up after leading arrest officers to an empty home. He asked the two Zhangs to hide in the inn, avoid meeting Zhang Da on the streets, and plan to slip out of the city at dusk.
Unexpectedly, in just half a day, rumors flew through the streets. The capital was said to be under martial law, with all one hundred and eight heroes from Liangshan Marsh and a hundred thousand followers having infiltrated the Eastern Capital. There was talk of Gongsun Sheng and Fan Rui using dark magic to harm people. The rumors grew wilder. It was also said the Nine Gates troops were mobilized, and a battle would erupt in the city soon. Even at the Gaosheng Inn, everyone wore a look of death, with people coming and going to report news. By mid-afternoon, the innkeeper closed the doors.
Chai Jin said, "Do not panic, fellow chieftains. First, martial law will not happen. The capital is too important a place. Unless it is a major national crisis, martial law cannot be imposed lightly. Without martial law, merchants and commoners moving through the streets are not breaking the law. If we do not act as if anything is wrong, we will not give ourselves away. Second, Brother Shi Qian has long been at Cai You's residence, gradually smuggling out twenty or thirty bronze passes from the mansion. Even the followers we brought each have one. In an emergency, we can use these passes on the streets. The Five Gates troops are unlikely to arrest people from the chancellor's mansion. Third, Little Brother Yi and Brother Shi Qian are now in the junior chancellor's residence. Who would dare arrest them? I am also acquainted with Inspector Dou. This matter is in his hands now. Surely he would not suspect me, Scholar Zhou?" He laughed and continued, "As long as I and Little Brother Yi are safe, if any of you are questioned, simply mention our names, and you should be fine."
Hua Rong said, "Even so, the Eastern Capital has a mixed population from all directions. Bumping into acquaintances in narrow alleys is inevitable. Otherwise, why would today's incident have occurred? We cannot stay in the Eastern Capital long. Since you, sir, are the principal reason for our coming to the capital, can you decide for us to return to the mountain stronghold?"
Chai Jin laughed and said, "We came to the capital spending much treasure. We cannot return empty-handed. In my opinion, let us teach Cai You a lesson he won't forget, and also vent Prefect Hou's grievance." Zhang Heng clenched his fists and said, "I want only to cut down that scoundrel Zhang Da with one stroke."
Yan Qing and Shi Qian returned to Cai You's chancellor's mansion at dusk, just as Gao Qiu and Wang Fu were discussing affairs. After dinner, Shi Qian feigned a stomach ache in the duty room, secretly took his backpack, and slipped away.
In two months there, he had come to know every blade of grass in the Cai residence. He passed through two courtyards and reached a small garden with a rose trellis. Looking up, the stars shone brilliantly like thousands of pearls scattered on a deep blue curtain. A few sparse wisps of white cloud drifted under the starlight. It was early summer, the fourth or fifth month. The moon was in its last quarter, not yet risen. The Central Plains weather was cool, and the roses had just bloomed. The dark garden was steeped in a sea of fragrance. A gravel path led through a moon gate in a pink wall. Outside this gate stood three side rooms guarded by two old caretakers.
That time Shi Qian had spied on the Imperial Majesty, he had borrowed a lantern from here to go out. This was the courtyard of Cai You's fifth consort. The main rooms housed only a few maids and serving women. When Cai You did not stay here, the moon gate was closed early, and all the lanterns along the way were extinguished. Cai You had many concubines. Even this highly favored fifth consort saw him only once every three to five days. To appease her resentment, he lavished her with gold, pearls, and rare treasures. Shi Qian knew this place held the most valuables and was secluded. He had long kept an eye on it. He reckoned this was the time to sneak in, having observed before that when Cai You was absent, evenings were like this.
He decided to hide first under the rose trellis. Sure enough, the moon gate opened, and a serving woman went to chat with the caretakers in the side room. The moon gate was left half-open. Shi Qian quietly took a few steps and slipped through the gate. Inside this courtyard, all lights were out, save for a faint red glow from behind a gauze window upstairs.
Shi Qian hid behind a flower stand. Soon, the half-open double doors of the main room opened. A slender feminine shadow flashed on the corridor, descended the steps, and went straight out through the moon gate.
Shi Qian knew the moment was brief. He lightly leaped twice and entered the main door. This was a five-bay building. The main hall bore a horizontal plaque; under the eaves hung four red leather horn lanterns, dimly illuminating four large golden characters: "Abode of a Virtuous Lady." Shi Qian climbed a pillar to the beam, then squeezed behind the horizontal plaque. Soon, footsteps sounded. A pretty maid led a beardless young man in, moving quietly toward the back. Shortly after came the sound of the moon gate closing, then the main door closing. The serving woman entered. She extinguished the horn lanterns and felt her way inside in the dark.
Shi Qian crawled out from behind the plaque and crouched on the beam. At first, he heard murmuring voices inside, then laughter. After about a watch, all sounds ceased.
Shi Qian slid down the pillar and gently moved inward. A row of green gauze windows emitted a faint light. Pressing against a window, he moistened a patch of the lower paper lattice with his tongue and peeked through the crack. Inside was an exquisitely decorated room. A sandalwood bed inlaid with ivory edges stood at the far end, surrounded by white silk curtains. Below the curtains lay a pair of shoes for a man and a woman. By the bed was a nine-fold screen, with men's and women's clothes draped over it. At the screen's corner, a carved lacquer stand held a silver candlestick with a long candle half-burned. In the distance, the watchman's clapper sounded the third watch.
The man and woman on the bed were exhausted and slept soundly. Shi Qian moved with light steps, making no sound, disturbing no one. He went to the screen corner, took the clothes, hid behind the screen, rolled them tightly into a bundle, then went to the bed, took the shoes, stuffed them into the clothes bundle, and tied it all with a silk cord from the screen. Finishing, he lit a pair of glass lamps from the candle. One of the sleepers stirred. A woman's voice whispered, "Who has come into the room?"
Shi Qian deliberately stood in the candlelight, revealing the fierce mask. Pointing the dagger at the silk curtains, he whispered, "I am the Night Wandering God, sent by the Jade Emperor to investigate good and evil in the mortal world. You adulterous couple have committed the sin of lust and deserve to have your hearts gouged out. But the Cai father and son are the greatest traitors of our time. Their household ought to produce some scandal, so I spare your lives for now. Tell me where all your jewels are hidden, that I may take them to build a hall for the Jade Emperor."
After Shi Qian said this, the people on the bed could not utter a word. The silk curtains trembled violently as they shook. Shi Qian thrust the dagger tip into the curtains and whispered again, "Speak quickly! If you do not, I shall cut off this adulterer's head first." The woman on the bed said in a trembling voice, "In the warm cabinet behind the bed, the seventh box and the thirteenth box contain precious jewels."
Shi Qian shouted, "I shall go open the boxes. If you lie, I will cut out your tongue. Know that your clothes and shoes are with me. If you shout, you trap yourselves." He then went to the warm cabinet, took out the jewels from the boxes, pulled out a large piece of red silk from a box, wrapped all the jewel boxes in a bundle, and placed it behind the screen. Returning to the front room, he laughed and said, "Thank you, Fifth Consort, for this bundle of gold and pearls. Sleep peacefully until the sun is high." As he spoke, he took out a handful of powder from his robe and slowly sprinkled it on the incense. Immediately, the room filled with fragrance and swirling purple smoke.
Shi Qian then took the Fifth Consort's eyebrow pencil and inkstone from the dressing table, jumped onto the table, and wrote several lines in large characters high on the whitewashed wall: "We, the heroes of Liangshan, in gratitude for Junior Grand Councilor Cai's great virtue in angering the amnesty and recruitment envoy to death, have specially dispatched brothers down the mountain to catch adulterers on his behalf. The adulterous couple are both present. Please punish them yourself, as it is not for us to pass judgment. We have taken a bag of gold, pearls, and treasures as a reward, which we trust you will not begrudge."
Shi Qian finished writing, extinguished all candles, then opened the door and walked out boldly. From inside out, he opened doors along the way without hindrance. He tied the bundle of jewels on his back, climbed up the eaves via a corridor pillar, slipped to the back of the courtyard. Here were several side rooms storing unused miscellaneous items. The door was locked from outside, but Shi Qian used the shears he brought, cutting through the lock with two or three snips. He placed sulfur and saltpeter paper rolls from his backpack among the杂物堆, set up a fuse tied to an incense stick. About an inch from the fuse, he lit one incense stick. Worried it might fail, he set up three fuses the same way.
Seeing everything arranged, Shi Qian did not dare delay. He climbed the courtyard wall, crossed several rooftops, and returned to the guest quarters in the front. Yan Qing was pretending to sleep on the bed in his clothes, waiting for Shi Qian's news with a candle lit. Hearing two taps on the window lattice, he opened the door to let Shi Qian in, saw the backpack, then closed the door and extinguished the candle.
The fire Shi Qian left in the Fifth Consort's courtyard ignited the fuses. With a loud boom, the sulfur and saltpeter paper packs caught fire. The side rooms were full of dry items, which immediately blazed, flames shooting up to the roof.
The chancellor's mansion had night watchmen. Seeing the flames, they frantically beat clappers and gongs, shouting "Fire!" It was already the third watch and two points. Cai You, after discussing affairs half the night, had just fallen asleep not long ago in a new concubine's room. Amid the cries, he pulled on clothes and got up, heart pounding, not daring to go out yet. Soon, several servants and guards gathered outside the courtyard, reporting that the Fifth Consort's courtyard was on fire.
Cai You asked if the main and back gates were closed. Servants reported that guards were严密 at both ends with no other issues. Cai You then mustered courage, took a Seven-Star Sword, and led twenty or thirty guards toward the Fifth Consort's courtyard.
In this courtyard, only two old caretakers guarded the outer gate. The inner courtyard housed maids and serving women. When the shouts outside arose, these women woke from dreams, trembling in their beds. As the shouts drew nearer and flames flickered and roared in the air, they knew a fire was close and struggled up to flee for their lives.
Flames shot out from the back rooftop, sparks flying like fireworks. Outside the windows,一片红光 lit everything inside and out. People stumbled out. Two or three trusted maids of the Fifth Consort did not see their mistress emerge. Finding the door wide open, they went in to look. The whitewashed wall outside the gauze window reflected the firelight, illuminating the低垂 silk curtains, with snores rising and falling inside. The maids called loudly through the curtains but got no response. An older maid lifted the curtain to call but backed away in embarrassment.
Firefighters from the mansion rushed into the rooms, asking if the Fifth Consort was frightened. The maids inwardly lamented but dared not say the mistress was in bed, only that she had避开了. They thought, "Let the fire come. If it burns the house flat and the Fifth Consort dies, it would be cleaner." But the wind blew backward. The storeroom was separated by a wide courtyard. Firefighters kept sending messages of safety: the fire was moving back, so do not panic.
Over a dozen lanterns guided Cai You into the small hall. Cai You saw the furnishings undisturbed but no sign of his fifth beloved consort. He repeatedly asked where the Fifth Consort was. Of the three maids tending the bedroom, two had slipped away. The remaining one stood in the hall trembling, unable to answer, just staring at the Seven-Star Sword in Cai You's hand. Cai You took a horn lantern from an attendant, still holding the sword in his right hand, and entered the bedroom. Seeing the低垂 curtains, he stepped forward and lifted them with the sword tip. At the sight, he let out a loud cry. Turning to see attendants crowding behind him, he raised the sword and hacked wildly at the bed. The attendants heard the cry and簇拥 lanterns inside. In the lantern light, seeing a man and woman through the curtain gap, who dared intervene?
Cai You hacked for a while, then threw the sword and horn lantern on the ground. Sitting on a carved small couch, he trembled all over, stamping his feet and saying, "Tie up all the male and female servants in this courtyard!"
By then, Cai You's wife, Madam Zhu, hearing that Cai You was fighting the fire, came with serving women. Seeing Cai You sitting dazed, she said, "Do not be alarmed, lord minister. The fire is out. Where is the Fifth Consort?" Cai You stamped his foot and said, "Utter disgrace!"
Madam Zhu saw the bloodstained bedding and the sword on the floor and understood. Looking around, she spotted large characters on the whitewashed wall and pointed them out to Cai You, saying, "lord minister, look! Who wrote these words on the wall?"
Cai You heard and stood up to approach the wall. Servants held up lamps and candles to illuminate it. Cai You read from beginning to end, then let out another loud cry and fell backward.