Chapter Eighty-Eight: A Journey of Ten Thousand Miles, Funeral Procession and Roadside Rites

It had now been more than a month since the death of the Grand Lady of the Qi state, Lady Du De. The brothers Cui Taizhi and Cui Ezhhi had each reported the matter to the Ministry of Rites at once, then resigned their offices and observed mourning. Since both held posts above the fourth rank—one as Vice Director of the Palace Secretariat, the other as acting Imperial Censor-in-Chief while serving as Minister of the Treasury—Cui Ezhi, as the younger son and not a man in one of the central ministries, naturally withdrew from office to fulfill the period of mourning. Cui Taizhi, however, received repeated imperial summonses commanding him to return to duty in spite of grief.

Yet within half a month he received three such orders and declined them by memorial three times, and at last was allowed to resign and remain at home in filial mourning. Thus in the Cui household, apart from the two brothers and their children, the other four branches likewise observed the appropriate mourning period for this senior matriarch. Throughout the New Year season there had been no music or festivity in the mansion; even at family gatherings there was no meat and no wine, and even the footsteps of servants and maids and the sound of their speech seemed quieter than usual.

For this reason, Wu Jiu, setting foot for the first time in the great residence of this illustrious aristocratic clan, appeared rather ill at ease. Compared with him, Shi Gong Yang Zongwan, entering Luoyang again after a year, was even less composed. Though the two Cui household servants who escorted him and Wu Jiu south to Guangdong had been diligent and attentive, solving many troubles along the road, and though he knew that Du Shiyi had deep ties with the Cui family, once he passed through the black-roofed gate and then came before the splendid vermilion gate planted with halberds, he could not help growing tense. That tension became even more acute upon hearing that the Cui family had recently suffered the loss of the Grand Lady. Waiting in the side hall to the left of the main gate, he even found himself wondering whether, after spending all that money to buy those raw stones from Duanxi and sending them all the way to Luoyang, Du Shiyi might suddenly change his mind and turn cold, hurling him from the summit of hope into the abyss of despair.

As the two men, similarly situated yet inwardly very different, waited in anguish and impatience, a Cui household servant who had accompanied them to the manor and gone in first to announce them finally emerged. Perhaps because the long journey had forged some measure of familiarity, or perhaps because the master had been generous with his rewards, the man grinned and nodded at them. “My young master Eleven and Master Du wish to see you.”

Cui Jianxuan’s study lay in the southeastern corner of the Cui residence. The three rooms were not partitioned and were broad and light-filled, though none of the shelves and porcelain jars for books that one would normally expect in a scholar’s study were present. A carved bow hung on the east wall, a treasured sword on the west, and the great desk in the center was piled high with thread-bound books, the very sort now much sought after by students in the bookstalls of the capital. But when Du Shiyi stepped forward and casually flipped one open, he found to his surprise that it was a stack of Buddhist sutras, and he could not help feeling irritated.

“Would you call this passing off inferior goods as superior?”

“Of course not!” Cui Jianxuan said with perfect righteousness. “When my grandmother was alive, she was devout in her faith in Buddhism and Daoism, and I even copied sutras for her. Now that she has ascended to immortality, it is only proper that I keep a couple of sutras on my desk and read them from time to time!” That said, under Du Shiyi’s half-smiling gaze, he soon gave a dry cough. “Anyway, it just has to seem proper to outsiders. What I could learn, I learned long ago from Master Lu. Thanks to the fact that, like you, I read the histories and tales, I have no interest in the rest of the classics either. You’ve seen it yourself: I’m more interested in archery, horsemanship, and swordsmanship. You must admit that in reading and composing poetry, I fall short of you, but in archery, horsemanship, and swordsmanship, you fall short of me! My father’s title will naturally pass to my elder brother; he is better at books than I am. As for me, at worst I can go onto the battlefield and take my chances!”

“You think war is as easy as chopping vegetables?”

Du Shiyi thought that if Cui Ezhi and the Lady of Zhao were to hear that their son had in fact settled on such an ambition, one could only imagine their expressions. But at that very moment a voice announcing visitors came from outside, and so he did not continue the teasing. Seeing Wu Jiu enter first and Yang Zongwan following rather self-consciously, he smiled and waved them in, telling them not to be overly formal. When Cui Jianxuan sat himself down heavily in the seat of honor, Du Shiyi also took his seat, then motioned for Wu Jiu and Yang Zongwan to sit as well.

“I hear your journey there and back suffered some twists and turns, but was smooth enough overall?”

Wu Jiu hurried to answer first. “Because the mountains are high and the roads long, and because we feared trouble on the way, and because what we were carrying was heavy as well, we learned that Governor Liu, who had succeeded Prime Minister Song as Protector of Guangzhou, had some acquaintance with Minister Cui. So on the return journey we asked him to help us, and traveled for a stretch by water. Fortunately, the young master asked us to buy raw stones from Duanxi. Duan inkstones are quite fashionable in Lingnan now and fetch high prices; if we had been collecting finished inkstones, I’m afraid we could not have gathered many. But raw stone is somewhat easier to obtain. Brother Yang here is a skilled stoneworker in this trade, and not only did he gather many raw stones of excellent quality, he also brought out two stoneworkers who could no longer make a living in their own place.”

At this, Du Shiyi raised his brows, then said thoughtfully, “So the toil of quarrying and the hardship of carving fall upon the stoneworkers, while the greatest profits are taken by the elegant shops that sell the inkstones?”

“The young master is only half right.” Yang Zongwan, unlike Wu Jiu, did not speak only of good news and conceal the rest. He drew a light breath and said bitterly, “Though Duanxi stone is not famous in the Guanzhong or Luoyang regions, in Lingnan it is highly favored by scholars and gentlemen; a single piece fetching tens of thousands of cash is nothing strange. Thus the trade in inkstones has long been monopolized by a few powerful clans. The stoneworkers expend every hardship to quarry and carve, yet what they earn is scarcely enough to keep body and soul together. My own father fell from the quarry and broke his leg; with no money for treatment, he left me and my mother behind and went away far too early.

“After my mother died, I swore I would never again quarry and carve for those black-hearted men. Secretly I carried a dozen hidden fine pieces far to the north, only to be dealt a blow to the head. Had the young master not taken pity on me, I would already have been at the end of my road. This time, when I returned so openly and with such fanfare, had it not been for Minister Cui’s reputation holding things down, and for the Guangdong Protectorate’s support, let alone the raw stones, even those two stoneworkers who came with me would have found it hard to arrive safely. Perhaps because they saw we were not opposing them in Lingnan itself, they let us off.”

“What do you mean, let you off? If I had known there were such black-hearted scoundrels, I would have written personally to Uncle Liu and told him to give them a proper lesson!”

When Cui Jianxuan suddenly blurted out these words, Du Shiyi could not help but cough. “Wasn’t the Xu family of Dengfeng just as arrogant in their day? A strong dragon cannot crush a local snake. With the result as it is now, it’s already quite ideal. Lingnan is other people’s territory, but in the Guanzhong and Luoyang regions their hands can’t reach. Let the well water not interfere with the river water; that is all. Since you’ve also brought two stoneworkers out, first settle them in, and put the raw stones aside for now. I had my senior brother carry a message back home; in a few days the two ink craftsmen I summoned from the Eastern Capital to Mount Song will also return. Then we can try the ink they made for me last year and see whether it suits this Duanxi inkstone.”

Cui Jianxuan scarcely hesitated before saying, “There are many inns in the Eastern Capital, but first of all the prices vary wildly and safety is uncertain, and second, they’re inconvenient. My house is plenty large enough anyway; having a few more people stay here makes no difference. The courtyard over at Du Shiyi’s place is almost entirely empty as it is, save for that Kunlun slave of his. Since you’re his people, you might as well move there and stay together. If anything comes up later, you can be summoned and arrive at once, instead of us having to search all over for you... Su Gui!”

He suddenly raised his voice and called out. A burly man immediately entered the study from outside. It was Su Gui, the son of Cui Jianxuan’s wet nurse, who had previously gone to Mount Song to present New Year gifts to Lu Hong.

“Take them down and settle them in the courtyard in front of Du Shiyi’s place. Also, send someone to the place they mentioned to fetch the other two. Remember to check the goods carefully; don’t leave anything behind.”

After Wu Jiu and Yang Zongwan went out with Su Gui, Cui Jianxuan stretched lazily and then suddenly looked at Du Shiyi with a grin. “If the ink and the inkstone go together, are you planning to use this as a stepping-stone when you go back to Chang’an? Giving a piece to each of the dukes and ministers would certainly help when you go to sit for the civil examinations.”

“I’m not such a prodigal fool.” Du Shiyi smiled and shook his head, then said, “If I were only making connections, I wouldn’t need to go to such trouble!”

Cui Jianxuan arranged for several people to move into Du Shiyi’s courtyard. The others did not think much of it, but Cui Jiu-niang, upon hearing of it, sensed that there was something unusual in the matter. Her mind was now crammed full of Du Shiyi’s meaningful words, yet when she saw her elder sister behaving as usual, still coming and going from the library every few days and lingering for long stretches each time, while Du Shiyi also kept to himself day after day, immersed in the library, she could not bring herself to believe there was nothing to it. Yet no matter how she tried to pry information from her mother, Lady Li, her mother kept her lips tightly sealed, and she grew anxious and restless.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the twenty-fifth day of the second month arrived, the day their grandmother was to be buried. From three days earlier the entire household had been busily making preparations, and for a while she had no time to pay any more attention to Du Shiyi.

On the day the coffin was borne out, the Cui family was again thronged with mourners. Cui Taizhi and Cui Ezhhi, both with their crowns removed and cloth headscarves tied on, came out stumbling along with their sons and the two sons of Cui Qingzhi. After crying in accordance with ritual, they raised the coffin and set out the sacrificial offerings. Five drumbeats before the procession departed, after the first sounding of the drums, the front of the hearse was neatly arranged with all manner of burial objects. Because the Grand Lady of the Qi state, Lady Du De, had been posthumously ennobled to the first rank, there were four bearers, six drapes, eight musical bells on each side, two pennants with the insignia of black and white, two with the insignia of black and red, two painted canopies, as well as the mysterious attendant figure, commemorative stones, the great coffin wagon, and more. The broad courtyard from the main gate to the black-roofed gate was packed solid.

At the second drumbeat, both inside and outside stood in place. After crying again, they drew back the curtains and used the canopies to shield the coffin. After the third drumbeat, only then did the funeral carriage move beyond the inner gate. As the curtains and screens were arranged and the coffin lifted onto the cart, there was once more sacrificial ritual and funeral lamentation, and at last the hearse slowly rolled out through the gate. After that, all the men and women of the Cui clan, old and young, mounted horses or rode in carts and followed after it. When the procession turned from the black-roofed gate onto Great Long Summer Gate Street, the officers of Henan Prefecture, who had been instructed in advance, were already maintaining order. Along the way, aside from passing commoners standing to gaze, the Cui family’s relatives and friends had set up one funeral offering altar after another. As an outsider, Du Shiyi, riding on horseback beside the ox cart carrying Du Shisan-niang, Cui Wu-niang, and Cui Jiu-niang, was deeply moved as well.

It should be remembered that His Majesty had, from the very beginning of his reign, upheld simplicity, and funerals on too grand a scale often drew criticism. Thus the Cui family had not made a display of their mourning rites; yet now so many prominent lineages had set out so many roadside offerings along the funeral route, enough to show how deeply the departed elder had been respected and cherished by all.