Jia Zheng was in the middle of entertaining guests when Lai Da rushed into Rongxi Hall with alarming news: an official from the Imperial Guard bureau, Master Zhao, had arrived with several other officers. When asked for his card, Zhao had brushed the formality aside, saying there was no need, and had already stepped down from his carriage and come straight in.
Jia Zheng was immediately uneasy. He had no close dealings with Zhao, and the timing made no sense. With a hall full of guests, it would be awkward to receive him; not receiving him would be worse. Before he could decide, Jia Lian urged him to go at once, for the man was already inside the second gate. Jia Zheng and the others hurried out to meet him.
Zhao came in smiling broadly, but he said almost nothing. He walked straight up into the hall, followed by five or six clerks and officers. Some were known faces, some not, but none offered any explanation. Jia Zheng and the rest could only trail after them and offer seats. Among the assembled relatives and friends there were some who recognized Zhao, but seeing that he held his head high and barely acknowledged anyone, they sensed trouble immediately. Some slipped away into inner rooms; others stood aside in silence.
Jia Zheng had just begun, still forcing a polite smile, when a servant burst in with another report: the Prince of Xiping had arrived.
This time there was no room left for doubt. Jia Zheng hurried out, only to find the prince already entering. Zhao stepped forward to salute him and at once said that since the prince had arrived, the accompanying officials should take guards and secure the front and rear gates. They obeyed and went out.
Now Jia Zheng and the others knew that disaster had come. They knelt to receive the prince. The Prince of Xiping raised Jia Zheng with both hands and said pleasantly that he would not have come without cause: he had been charged by imperial command with official business, and Jia She was to receive the edict. Since the banquet had not yet dispersed and many friends of the house were present, those outsiders should first withdraw; only members of the household were to remain.
Zhao remarked that this was gracious, but since the matter concerned the eastern mansion, the other prince in charge there had surely already sealed the gates. The guests, realizing both branches of the clan were implicated, were desperate to get away. The Prince of Xiping only smiled and ordered attendants to escort them out, telling the Imperial Guard officers at the gate that these were friends and relatives and should not be searched. At that, the visitors scattered as fast as they could. Only Jia She, Jia Zheng, and the men of the family remained behind, pale and trembling.
Soon countless runners and guards poured in. Every gate was manned, and no one in the residence was allowed to move about freely. Zhao then dropped his pleasant expression and turned to the prince, asking him to announce the decree so the search could begin. The guards had already hitched up their sleeves, waiting to move.
The Prince of Xiping declared that he had been ordered to inspect the property of Jia She. Jia She and the others fell prostrate. Then the prince read the imperial command: Jia She had consorted with provincial officials, bullied the weak by relying on his power, failed the emperor's favor, and disgraced the merit of his forefathers. His hereditary rank was to be stripped.
Zhao immediately shouted for Jia She to be seized and for all others to be placed under guard.
At that moment Jia She, Jia Zheng, Jia Lian, Jia Zhen, Jia Rong, Jia Qiang, Jia Zhi, and Jia Lan were all present. Bao-yu had escaped being there by pretending illness and lingering with Grandmother Jia; Jia Huan was seldom seen anyway. The men on hand were therefore detained, and Zhao ordered his people to summon all the clerks, divide the runners into groups, and search the rooms one by one, recording everything.
The order alone was enough to terrify the household. Jia Zheng and those around him exchanged stunned looks, while the runners and attendants, delighted at the prospect, rolled up their sleeves and prepared to scatter through the residence.
The Prince of Xiping objected that Jia She and Jia Zheng lived under the same roof but kept separate kitchens, so the decree ought properly to apply to Jia She's property alone; the rest of the rooms could be sealed for the moment until further instructions were received. Zhao rose and replied that Jia She and Jia Zheng had never formally divided the family estate, and that Jia Lian was currently managing the whole household. For that reason, he said, a full confiscation could not be avoided.
The prince said nothing.
Zhao pressed further, insisting that both Jia She's and Jia Lian's quarters must be searched under his own supervision. The prince answered that there was no need to rush: word should first be sent to the inner apartments so the women could withdraw. But before he had finished speaking, Zhao's household underlings and the runners had already dragged the Jia servants away to guide them and begun the search in different directions.
The prince sharply ordered silence and said he would inspect matters personally. He rose slowly, then commanded that no one attached to him was to touch anything; they were to remain where they were and later witness the inventory together.
Not long after, an Imperial Guard clerk returned and knelt to report that they had found court garments and other forbidden articles in the inner quarters. He dared not handle them without instructions. A little later another group stopped the prince and reported that in the east wing they had uncovered two chests of land deeds and a chest full of debt notes, all suggesting usurious lending in violation of regulations.
Zhao pounced on this at once, exclaiming that it was clear evidence of oppressive profiteering and that everything should be confiscated. He urged the prince to remain seated while he went to oversee the complete seizure.
At that moment, however, a senior steward from the princely household came to report that the guards at the gate had sent word: by imperial order, the Prince of Beijng had arrived to proclaim another decree.
Zhao inwardly rejoiced. He thought his luck had turned, and that with this "pedantic prince" present he would have even more room to show his power. He went out to receive him.
The Prince of Beijing entered the hall but remained standing near the outer side and called for Zhao Quan of the Imperial Guard to receive the order. The edict was brief and decisive: Zhao was to take only Jia She back for interrogation; all remaining matters were to be handled by the Prince of Xiping in accordance with the original command.
The Prince of Xiping accepted the decree with obvious satisfaction and sat down beside the Prince of Beijing, ordering Zhao to take Jia She away. The men who had been conducting the rougher part of the search, hearing that the Prince of Beijing had come, all withdrew at once. And when they learned Zhao was leaving, their earlier swagger collapsed; they could only stand aside and wait.
The Prince of Beijing then selected two trustworthy clerks and some ten elderly runners to remain, dismissing all the rest. The Prince of Xiping said bluntly that he had already been angered by Zhao's conduct, and that had the Prince of Beijing not arrived, the household would have suffered greatly. The Prince of Beijing replied that when he heard in court that the Prince of Xiping had been put in charge of the search, he had felt reassured, believing the Jia residence would not be cruelly ravaged. He had not expected Zhao to behave so recklessly.
He then asked where Jia Zheng and Bao-yu were, and what state the inner quarters had been left in. The reply was that Jia Zheng was being held in a side room and that inside everything was already in chaos. The prince ordered Jia Zheng brought in.
Jia Zheng came, knelt, paid his respects, and through tears begged for mercy. The Prince of Beijing rose and pulled him up, telling him to set his mind at ease, then explained the new imperial order. Jia Zheng was deeply moved and turned northward to thank the throne before standing by again.
The prince said to him that now that Zhao had gone, some matters could still be managed. The forbidden court articles, he observed, had originally been prepared for the imperial concubine from the Jia family, so once properly explained they might not prove fatal. But the debt notes were another matter. The best course now was for Jia Zheng to present honestly and fully all property belonging to Jia She, without concealment, or he would only invite further guilt.
Jia Zheng answered that he would not dare hide anything. He explained that the family inheritance from his grandfather had never been formally divided; only the things in each person's own rooms were treated as belonging to that branch. The two princes said that was acceptable: only the property on Jia She's side need be turned over. The clerks were ordered to proceed accordingly and not behave carelessly or violently.
Meanwhile, on Grandmother Jia's side, the women had also laid out a family banquet. Lady Wang remarked that since Bao-yu had not gone to the front, his father might be angered. Feng-jie, ill and weak, said between groans that Bao-yu was not necessarily hiding from anyone; with plenty of people already attending the guests outside, he may simply have stayed in to help look after things here. If his father later remembered that no one had remained inside to attend to the women, Lady Wang could simply say that Bao-yu had been reserved for that purpose.
Grandmother Jia laughed that even so ill, Feng-jie's tongue was still as quick as ever.
At that very moment someone from Lady Xing's side came screaming in: something terrible had happened. A crowd of men in boots and official hats had burst in like bandits, overturning trunks and chests and seizing things.
Grandmother Jia and the others stared in shock. Then Ping'er rushed in, hair disheveled, dragging little Qiao-jie with her and weeping. She said she had been eating with the child when Lai Wang had been brought in bound, shouting that the ladies must withdraw at once because a prince had come to confiscate the property. Hearing this, she had tried to run into the rooms and gather the most important things, but a whole group had shoved and driven her out. The women should quickly put on and collect whatever they needed.
Lady Wang, Lady Xing, and the others were struck senseless with fear. Feng-jie alone had at first listened with eyes wide open; then she suddenly collapsed backward to the floor as if dead. Grandmother Jia had not even heard everything before tears poured from her eyes and she was unable to speak. In an instant the whole room dissolved into uproar, everyone pulling at someone or calling for someone else, and amid the confusion came another shout: the women inside were to withdraw, for the prince was entering.
Bao-chai, Bao-yu, and the rest were at a complete loss. Then Jia Lian came in gasping, crying that things were all right now, that a prince had saved them. Everyone turned to ask him what had happened, but before he could explain he saw Feng-jie stretched on the ground and broke into frantic cries. At the same time he feared Grandmother Jia might be frightened to death, and in his desperation almost lost his own senses.
Fortunately Ping'er managed to revive Feng-jie; she was supported and carried away. Grandmother Jia also recovered somewhat, though she lay on the kang weeping until she was short of breath and half faint. Li Wan tried repeatedly to soothe her.
Only then could Jia Lian steady himself and explain the leniency shown by the two princes. He dared not mention at once that Jia She had been taken away, fearing the old lady and Lady Xing could not bear it, and so he merely offered what comfort he could before going out again to deal with his own quarters.
When he entered his room he found trunks thrown open, cabinets broken, and many objects already gone. He stood there with tears in his eyes, stunned. Then hearing he was being called outside, he had no choice but to go.
There Jia Zheng was recording the seized goods with the clerks while a man read them out one by one:
A total of 123 pieces of red-gold jewelry set with complete gems; thirteen strings of pearls; two pale-gold trays; two pairs of gold bowls; two gold handled bowls; forty gold spoons; eighty large silver bowls; twenty silver platters; two sets of three-inlaid gold ivory chopsticks; four gilt wine ewers; three pairs of gilt folding bowls; two tea stands; seventy-six silver dishes; thirty-six silver wine cups. Eighteen black fox pelts, six blue fox, thirty-six sable, thirty yellow fox, twelve lynx skins, three hemp-pattern hides, sixty foreign grey hides, forty grey fox leg pelts, twenty dark sheepskins, two fox skins, two bundles of yellow fox legs, twenty small white fox skins, thirty bolts of foreign woolen cloth, twenty-three bolts of broadcloth, twelve bolts of fine wool, ten musk-rat tubes, four squares of field-mouse skin, one roll of velvet, one square of deer hide, two cloud-fox tubes, one roll of raccoon cub skin, seven bundles of duck skin, one hundred and sixty grey mouse skins, eight badger skins, six tiger skins, three seal skins, sixteen sea-otter skins, forty grey sheepskins, sixty-three black sheepskins, ten sets of silver-fox hat brims, twelve sets of Japanese sable hat brims, two sable hat brims, sixteen small fox skins, two river raccoon skins, two otter skins, thirty-five cat skins, twelve bolts of Japanese cloth, one hundred and thirty rolls of silk satin, one hundred and eighty-one rolls of gauze and damask, thirty-two rolls of feather-thread crepe, thirty rolls of felted wool, eight rolls of embroidered python satin, three bundles of summer cloth, three bundles of assorted fabrics, one hundred and thirty-two fur garments of various kinds, and three hundred and forty garments of cotton-lined, lined, single-layered, gauze, and silk materials.
There were also thirty-two jade objects, nine sets of belt fittings, more than five hundred pieces of bronze, pewter, and other utensils, eighteen clocks and watches, nine court bead necklaces, thirty-four ceremonial python robes of various kinds, three sets of imperial-use satin cushions and bolsters, eight sets of palace-style gowns and skirts, one band set with pale jade rings, and twelve rolls of yellow satin. In ready silver there were 5,200 taels, fifty taels of red gold, and seven thousand strings of cash. All household articles in use were listed and marked, and even the imperial grant deed to the Rongguo residence was entered item by item.
All land deeds, house papers, and servant registers were wrapped up and sealed as well.
Standing to one side, Jia Lian listened closely. He noticed that none of the items being read seemed to belong to him personally, and he grew suspicious. Then the two princes asked Jia Zheng who had been responsible for the debt notes found among the seized property, since they plainly involved exploitative lending and could not be covered up.
Jia Zheng knelt and knocked his head on the ground. He said truthfully that he had never managed household affairs and knew nothing of such matters; if anyone knew, it would be his nephew Jia Lian.
Jia Lian immediately stepped forward, knelt, and admitted that since the chest of documents had been found in his own rooms, how could he possibly claim ignorance? He begged only that his uncle not be implicated, for Jia Zheng truly knew nothing about it.
The two princes replied that Jia Lian's father had already committed offenses, so this matter could simply be added to the same case. Since Jia Lian had now acknowledged it, that was in order. He was placed under guard, while the others were to disperse back within the residence and await further commands. Jia Zheng was told to remain careful and await the imperial decision. The princes then left in their sedans, with officials and guards remaining behind to keep watch.
Jia Zheng and the others knelt at the second gate to see them off. As he departed, the Prince of Beijing made a small gesture with his hand as if to reassure them, and there was unmistakable pity on his face.
Only then did Jia Zheng begin to recover from his shock, though he still stood dazed. Jia Lan urged him to go in and see Grandmother Jia, and also to find out what had happened at the eastern mansion. Jia Zheng hurried inside.
Everywhere women were in disarray. He had no heart to ask questions and went straight to Grandmother Jia's room. There he found every face stained with tears. Lady Wang, Bao-yu, and the others surrounded the old lady in silence, all weeping quietly, while Lady Xing was crying uncontrollably. As soon as they saw Jia Zheng come in they cried out in relief and told Grandmother Jia that he was safe and had returned unharmed, urging her to be at ease.
Half conscious, Grandmother Jia opened her eyes and said faintly that she had not expected to see him again. Before she could say more she broke into loud sobbing, and the whole room wept with her.
Fearing that such grief would injure his mother further, Jia Zheng swallowed his own tears and told her to rest easy. The affair was indeed grave, he said, but the emperor had shown great mercy and the two princes had been exceptionally considerate. Jia She had only been taken into custody for the moment; once the facts were clarified there might still be imperial favor. For now, he added, nothing else in the household was being touched.
But when Grandmother Jia noticed that Jia She himself was absent, sorrow seized her again, and Jia Zheng had to console her repeatedly.
No one dared stray far. Lady Xing alone returned toward her own quarters, only to find the doors sealed and even the maids and old women locked up in several rooms. Having nowhere to go, she burst into tears and made her way instead to Feng-jie's side. There too the side buildings by the second gate had been sealed, though one room was still open and muffled sobbing could be heard within.
Inside she found Feng-jie lying with a face like grey paper, eyes closed, while Ping'er wept quietly nearby. Lady Xing thought she had died and began crying again. Ping'er came forward and said she should not grieve so. When Feng-jie had first been carried back she did seem dead, but after some rest she had revived, cried a little, and now her breathing had settled somewhat. Ping'er then asked anxiously after Grandmother Jia. Lady Xing still could not answer properly, but eventually returned to Grandmother Jia's quarters.
Now she found herself surrounded only by Jia Zheng's people: her husband had been arrested, her daughter-in-law lay critically ill, the young women of the house were in misery, and she herself had nowhere left that felt like home. It was more than she could bear. The others tried to comfort her. Li Wan and the rest had rooms put in order for her temporary lodging, and Lady Wang assigned attendants to wait on her.
Outside, Jia Zheng remained in a state of dread, twisting his beard and rubbing his hands while waiting for further word. Then he heard the guards outside shouting at someone: Which side did he belong to? Since they had caught him there, they would record him on their own register; tie him up and hand him over to the Imperial Guard men inside.
Jia Zheng went out and saw that it was Jiao Da.
He asked how the old servant had ended up there. Jiao Da, seeing him, cried to heaven and beat the ground in despair. Day after day, he said, he had warned those useless masters, only to be treated like an enemy. Did they think the old retainer had never endured hardship following the previous lord? And now matters had come to this. Master Zhen and young Rong had been taken away by some prince; the women of the eastern house had had their hair torn loose and been driven together into an empty room by yamen underlings; all the worthless men and women there had been herded like swine and dogs. Everything had been hauled out and piled up, wooden furniture smashed apart by prying nails, porcelain shattered to pieces. And now they even wanted to tie him up. He had lived eighty or ninety years, he said, and had spent his life helping bind others under the old master—never imagining he would one day be bound himself. So he had claimed he belonged to the western mansion and run out, but they refused to believe him and dragged him here, only for things to be just as bad. He no longer cared for his life and was ready to fight them all.
As he spoke he struck his head about wildly. The guards, seeing how old he was and mindful of the two princes' orders, dared not use force. They told him to calm himself, saying this was an affair carried out under imperial command and he should wait there quietly for news.
Jia Zheng listened and understood enough. He did not argue with the old servant, but inwardly his heart twisted like a knife. He could only mutter that all was finished, that the family had fallen to utter ruin.
While he waited in anguish for word from within, Xue Ke came running in, out of breath, asking where his uncle by marriage was. Jia Zheng said his arrival was timely, but asked in surprise how he had been allowed through the gates. Xue Ke answered that he had pleaded repeatedly and also promised the guards money, and only then had they let him in and out.
Jia Zheng told him what had happened with the confiscation and begged him to go make inquiries elsewhere. In times like this, even good relatives could not safely be asked to carry messages, but Xue Ke might manage it.
Xue Ke said that what had happened here had taken him by surprise; as for the eastern mansion, he had already heard that it was finished. Jia Zheng asked what offense had been uncovered. Xue Ke replied that this morning, while inquiring into the sentencing of his own brother, he had heard in the yamen that two censors had impeached Jia Zhen. One charge, the lesser one, was that he had lured the sons of prominent families into gambling. The more serious accusation was that he had forcibly taken the wives and daughters of commoners as concubines; in one case, when a woman refused to submit, he had pressed her so cruelly that she died. Fearing the charge might not be accepted without witnesses, the censors had also seized Bao Er from the Jia household and produced another man surnamed Zhang. It was said that even the Censorate itself might have some embarrassment in the matter, because this Zhang had previously lodged a complaint.
Jia Zheng had not even heard the whole account before stamping his foot and exclaiming that this was terrible beyond words. With a long sigh, tears began pouring down his face.
Xue Ke offered a few words of comfort and went out again to gather more news. After half a day he returned once more and said the situation was worse. He had asked around at the Ministry of Justice offices and heard nothing yet of the two princes' memorial to the throne, but there was fresh talk that Censor Li had that very morning impeached the prefect of Ping'an Prefecture for currying favor with capital officials, flattering superiors, and tyrannizing the common people on several counts.
Jia Zheng, startled, said that other people's affairs were no concern of his now—what had become of their own case? Xue Ke replied that since Ping'an Prefecture was involved, the Jia family was implicated too: the capital official named in the impeachment was none other than Jia She. The accusation was that he had taken over lawsuits on others' behalf, which only added fuel to the fire. Under such circumstances, all the officials who ordinarily associated with the family were hiding from them; who would dare send a message? Even the relatives and friends who had dispersed earlier had either gone straight home or were lurking at a distance trying to learn the outcome. Worst of all, some of the family's own high-ranking kinsmen had been heard on the road saying that the achievements left by the ancestors had finally been squandered into disaster, and now no one knew on whose head the ruin would fall first—giving everyone else their chance to show authority.
Before Xue Ke could finish, Jia Zheng stamped his foot again and cried that his elder brother had been too muddleheaded, and that the eastern mansion had become utterly lawless. Now he did not even know whether Grandmother Jia and Jia Lian's wife were alive or dead. He urged Xue Ke to keep asking for news while he himself went back to check on the old lady.
Just as he spoke, a fresh uproar broke out from inside: Grandmother Jia was failing.
In panic Jia Zheng rushed in. What followed was left unknown for the moment.