Mother's illness

After Chen Liu was expelled from the Hall of Order, the atmosphere in the hall grew solemn. Clan head Chen Xian surveyed the descendants of the east, west, south, and north towers and said gravely, "Caozhi was right. Our ancestor Duke Changwen ranked among the Three Excellencies, yet his descendants cannot be counted among the gentry. This is truly a disgrace. Certainly, the Minister of Works' Office failed to investigate, and the genealogy office made its assessments carelessly, but it is an indisputable fact that the Chen Clan has produced no outstanding figure in a hundred years. Qingzhi was brilliant, distinguished, lucid, and discerning, an outstanding talent of his time, whose ability and reputation were renowned throughout the province and commandery. My younger brother Su and I both placed great hopes in him. Alas, he died young-"

Remembering her deceased son, Mother Chen Lady Li shed tears that fell one by one onto the reed mat. Chen Caozhi reached out and gently covered the back of his mother's hand, offering comfort.

Chen Xian continued in that solemn tone, "Though the Qiantang Chen Clan is not a gentry clan, its family traditions and unsullied reputation are no less than those of the Du, Dai, Ding, and Chu clans. Every generation has produced officials admitted to the ranks, placing us far beyond other humble families of common birth. Why? Because the study of poetry and books, and the music of strings and song, have never ceased among the Chens. Yet now, apart from Caozhi and his nephew and niece in the West Tower, who still persist in reading and practicing calligraphy every day, the descendants of the other three towers merely go through the motions. Who among you sincerely studies and strives to better himself? You seek only the flyspeck profits before your eyes, measuring gain and loss by money and silk, sorrow and joy by the abundance or scarcity of grain in your fields. Have you utterly forgotten that, beyond food and clothing, this world also offers the path of seeking knowledge and cultivating oneself? Chen Liu was worse still, fawning upon his superiors and scheming for others' money and goods. Sooner or later, the law will punish him. This, too, is the fault of my habitual indulgence-"

As he spoke, Chen Xian straightened on his knees and apologized to the clansmen, then asked, "Does anyone object to Chen Liu's expulsion today?"

Silence filled the hall. After a while, Chen Man said resentfully, "No objection, so long as the clan head can handle Lu Clerk."

Chen Xian, who had always been mild almost to the point of timidity, finally showed the resolve and spirit of a clan head that day. In a deep voice, he said, "What of Lu Clerk? Though I have left office, even Prefect Wang at the county must address me as Brother Ziliu when he sees me. Lu Clerk himself comes from a humble family. Can he blot out the sky with one hand? You must understand: when Lu Clerk bullies Caozhi, he bullies our Qiantang Chen Clan. If our clansmen cannot unite against outsiders, the Qiantang Chen Clan is in peril."

Chen Man said no more, and naturally the other clansmen raised no objections either. Chen Liu had always been detestable; even his own full brothers resented him.

Once the clan council ended, Chen Xian asked Chen Caozhi and his mother to stay for a private conversation. Mother Chen Lady Li thanked the clan head for upholding justice. Chen Xian said, "A family needs only one outstanding figure for its entire lintel to shine. That is my hope for Caozhi."

Sitting on his heels, Chen Caozhi bowed and said in a voice ringing like bronze and jade, "I will do my utmost."

Chen Xian nodded and asked Chen Caozhi about his visit to Precious Stone Mountain the day before to seek instruction in the Way. On learning that Ge Hong, Immortal Elder Ge, had promised Caozhi could borrow books from his collection whenever he wished, he said in delighted surprise, "Ge Zhichuan scorns worldly honors and stands aloof from the crowd. There are few people he esteems. For him to find you so congenial must be a matter of affinity. He entered Taoism through Confucian learning and possesses a wealth of knowledge. You should seek his guidance often."

"Yes," Chen Caozhi replied. His impression of this fourth uncle had changed greatly. He immediately shared his suspicion that Lu Clerk might be colluding with Chu Wenqian to strike at the Chen Clan, and also disclosed everything Feng Mengxiong had said about Lu Clerk's fraudulent registration as a member of the gentry.

Chen Xian considered this for a while, then said, "Come to think of it, this Lu Clerk was already at odds with me back then. Now that he has the Chu Clan behind him, there is indeed cause for concern. But his own conduct is crooked, and he dreams of bullying our Chen Clan. If he pushes us too far, I will go to the commandery myself to see Governor Lu, and we shall see what becomes of his Lu Clan. Caozhi, do not worry. Do not let your reading and calligraphy suffer. You have already made a small name for yourself, and you must strive to distinguish yourself at the elegant hill-climbing gathering on the ninth day of the ninth month. If you can catch the eye of the commandery's impartial assessor and be elevated into the ranks, even the ninth rank, you will never again have to worry about performing miscellaneous service. A worthy man admitted to the ranks need no longer perform compulsory labor, even if he has not been appointed to office."

Chen Caozhi said, "Thank you for your instruction, Uncle. I will remember it."

Chen Xian frowned, then added, "But I fear we cannot preserve Lai Fu's Protected Household status. If Lu Clerk makes trouble over that point, our Chen Clan has no grounds to argue. There are still two months before the household-register inspection in the seventh month. Make suitable arrangements yourself."

Chen Caozhi supported his mother back to the West Tower. Lai Fu and his sons had just seen Chen Liu drive out of Chen Family Cove, resentful and ashamed, and had not understood what had happened. Only now did they learn of the events in the ancestral hall. Chen Liu had been expelled from the Chen Clan. It was immensely satisfying, and they praised young master Caozhi's eloquence.

As Lady Li looked at the simple, honest smiles of Lai Fu's family, her heart grew heavy. They had lived and worked here in peace for over ten years. Lai Fu's eldest son, Lai Gui, had married here, and his wife, Lady Zhao, was already pregnant. His second son, Lai Zhen, was discussing marriage with tenant farmer Huang's daughter. Everything had taken root in Chen Family Cove. If they were driven out and moved to Qiao Province, it would be like uprooting a towering tree, roots and all. One could imagine how painful and difficult it would be!

"If there truly is no way to reverse this, we can only give Lai Fu more money, silk, and grain when the time comes."

Mother Chen Lady Li remained unhappy. Her health was already frail, and with this worry weighing on her, she fell ill the following night. She was short of breath, her heart raced, and her head swam and vision blurred. She could not sit up; whenever she did, heaven and earth seemed to spin. She could only lie in bed.

Yinggu woke Chen Caozhi in the middle of the night. He went to his mother's room to ask after her and, seeing that she was seriously ill, grew very anxious. Thinking he should go to the county town to seek a physician, he immediately went downstairs and told Lai Fu to prepare the cart.

One remark from Lai De brought Chen Caozhi to his senses. "Young master, isn't Immortal Elder Ge a divine physician? He has immortal elixirs."

"Ah!" Chen Caozhi exclaimed, inwardly cursing his own muddleheadedness. How had he forgotten this celebrated physician of history? Only the day before yesterday, at Chuyangtai Taoist Monastery, he had seen Immortal Elder Ge's monumental hundred-volume Golden Coffer Medicinal Prescriptions. Then he reflected that his bedridden mother could not endure a cart ride. He could only ask Immortal Elder Ge to come to Chen Family Cove to treat her. He immediately ordered Lai Zhen to drive the cart, while he and Lai De set out on foot for Ge Ridge to seek medical help.

Young Ran Sheng rubbed his sleepy eyes and said he wanted to come too. Since they would be traveling at night, one more person was one more person.

A lantern hung from the ox cart, and Lai De carried another in his hand. He and Ran Sheng each also held a hardwood club, guarding against wild beasts that emerged at night to forage. Tigers and leopards were seldom seen around Jinsheng Lake, but bears and wolves were plentiful.

Chen Caozhi rode in the ox cart for a while, but the jolting over the rugged mountain road was uncomfortable, so he got down and walked with Lai De and Ran Sheng.

It was the tenth day of the fifth month. A thin piece of moon already hung in the night sky, passing reluctantly westward through the clouds. Its faint, clear radiance spilled down, leaving the countryside luminous and open. Not far to their right, West Lake shimmered, and moist air drifted toward them from the water. The mountain path beneath their feet seemed especially clean, inviting one to tread it barefoot. With moonlight, they did not even need the lanterns and could walk quite briskly.

Finding the ox cart too slow, Chen Caozhi told Lai Zhen to follow behind with it, while he, Lai De, and Ran Sheng went on ahead.

They had left Chen Family Cove at about midnight. By the time they reached Precious Stone Mountain, the incomplete moon had sunk behind the western ridges. The sky was so dark that they could no longer make out the road beneath their feet. The three felt their way up Ge Ridge in the darkness and found Chuyangtai Taoist Monastery utterly silent, asleep together with the mountain's grasses and trees.

Chen Caozhi signaled Lai De and Ran Sheng to remain quiet. The three sat down on stone stools beneath a pine outside the monastery and waited silently for dawn.

The dense darkness was drawn away thread by thread, and the sky gradually brightened. Great tits chirped and trilled. They heard a wooden door being pulled open inside the monastery, followed by footsteps, and someone chanted, "Those free of care live long; those who husband their treasures do not die young. Much sorrow hastens age: such is nature's principle. What use are external things?" The voice was vigorous and full of breath. It was Ge Hong.

Chen Caozhi rose and stood before the monastery's main gate to wait. The gate did not open for some time, until Ran Sheng behind him suddenly broke into a violent fit of coughing. Then it opened.

Ge Hong was greatly surprised to see Chen Caozhi. Learning that he had hurried there through the night because his mother was ill and had already waited nearly two hours, he nodded, stroked his white beard, and recited, "The gentle wind comes from the south, blowing upon the heart of the thorn tree. The thorn tree's heart grows tender and fair; our mother has toiled and suffered-" He immediately ordered his attendant to bring the blue bag containing his medicines and followed Chen Caozhi to Chen Family Fort.

I wish all readers a happy Mid-Autumn Festival. The weather is fine, so you can go out and admire the moon. As for this humble Taoist, I must keep writing. The moonlight outside the window will shine in.