Treasured Sword, Golden Hairpin, Chap. 4, Part 1

Treasured Sword, Golden Hairpin, Chapter 4, Part 1.
from Wang Dulu's Baojian Jinchai.

-

CHAPTER FOUR

Today was the consecration ceremony at the Changchun Temple, and old madam Yu was a Buddhist, so she had brought her daughter here to burn incense. Old escort Yu, not being easy in his mind, had entrusted Third Cui the Terrestrial Ghost with accompanying his wife and daughter to the temple. The young lady Xiulian quite enjoyed a bit of bustle, and however crowded things were, she did not find it the least bit trying. The only thing that irked her was the way certain people fixed their eyes on her like thieves. She did not know just how beautiful she was; she only knew that anyone who stared at her like that, especially if they were young, could not be up to any good. The two worst offenders that day were Xi Zhongxiao and Li Mubai, who followed the young lady right out of the temple gate and continued trailing closely behind even after she had gotten into the carriage.

Young lady Yu had not paid them particular attention, but she had noticed Xi Zhongxiao's embroidered finery and the sword at Li Mubai's waist. A suspicion stirring in her heart, she thought, That one wearing sapphire has a strong build, and he's carrying a sword. He must know some martial arts. Following me so closely like this, could he be one of Father's enemies? With that thought, she sat in the carriage and leaned against the window to look out. The two men were still on foot, still following, their eyes fixed on the carriage. Xiulian thought, They must be Father's enemies, following our carriage to find out where we live. Far from being afraid, she was actually rather pleased, for if these two really were her father's enemies, here was another chance to put her martial arts to use.

By now Third Cui the Terrestrial Ghost had also noticed that Xi Zhongxiao and Li Mubai were behaving suspiciously, and he thought, These two reprobates have got their eyes on our young miss again. I wonder if they still value their own lives! In a huff, he told the driver to get a move on. The great carriage went rattling away over the stone road at a run, entered the city before long, and soon arrived home.

Xi Zhongxiao and Li Mubai had left attendant He behind to pursue the carriage on foot, but when it sped away they could not keep pace. Li Mubai turned to Xi Zhongxiao with a laugh, "They've seen through us!" Xi Zhongxiao said, "Let them run on home. We know where they live, after all." So the two of them walked to the city gate and hailed a wagon, riding it directly to the alley where the Yu family lived. After they got down and paid their fare, they walked into the alley. Coming to the Yu family's door, they found the two small black panels shut fast.

The two of them stopped and stood staring dumbly at the door for a moment. Then Xi Zhongxiao murmured to Li Mubai, "Brother, now that you've seen the young lady and found the door, it all comes down to your nerve. Go up and knock. Then go in and fight the young miss, defeat her and that beautiful girl is yours on the spot. Hey, who wouldn't envy you then!" Li Mubai felt at this moment as though young lady Xiulian had truly seized his very soul. Though he knew perfectly well that walking up and knocking on the door was rash, and could see clearly enough from Xi Zhongxiao's expression that he wanted nothing more than to watch him fall flat on his face, he found himself moving as if his body were no longer his own, up the stone steps, hand reaching for the door knocker.

Xi Zhongxiao, seeing him actually dare to knock, was so taken aback that his face went pale, and he quickly stepped back two paces. Li Mubai knocked a few more times, and then the door opened from within. Out came a man of thirty-some years, tall and powerfully built, with a dark complexion. His queue was wound round his head and he wore close-fitting clothes and grip-soled shoes. He fixed a ferocious glare on Li Mubai and demanded, "Who are you looking for?" Li Mubai took one look at this fierce-looking fellow and thought, I've come here to have a match with the young miss. Who wants to pick a quarrel with this great dark brute? So he spoke in a perfectly amiable tone, "I have come to pay a call on old escort Yu."

At that moment, the thin, sallow man they had seen earlier at the temple poked his head out as well. He said a few quiet words to the dark man, whereupon the dark man's temper truly flared. "Bring me my saber!" he shouted. He stepped over the threshold and reached out to grab Li Mubai. Li Mubai stepped back down from the stoop. The big man rolled up his sleeves and said, "What exactly are you here for? Following us all the way back from the Changchun Temple? I'll tell you what, open your eyes! If you're planning to harm old escort Yu, you'd best ask yourself first whether I, Sun Zhengli the Five-Taloned Hawk, am someone to be trifled with!" So saying, he swung a palm at Li Mubai, which Li Mubai deflected with one hand.

By now Third Cui the Terrestrial Ghost had brought out a saber from inside. Sun Zhengli took it and swung it at Li Mubai. Li Mubai drew his sword as well and met the blade. Saber and sword struck against each other, and they exchanged three or four bouts. Then young lady Xiulian, who had already changed into short clothes with an embroidered kerchief bound around her head, came out through the gate with her twin sabers, calling out, "Step aside, Brother Sun! Let me deal with him!"

Seeing the young lady emerge, Li Mubai leapt to one side and said to Sun Zhengli, "Stop, stop! I have no other purpose in coming here today. I have simply heard that this young miss has exceptional martial arts, and I wished to have a match with her. Whether I win or lose, I will leave when it is done and cause no further trouble." Sun Zhengli roared, "What insolence! Why should my sister compare herself with the likes of you!" So saying, he again swung his saber and rushed forward. Yu Xiulian also came on with her twin sabers whirling. Sun Zhengli shouted for Xiulian to stand back, but Xiulian would not yield a single step. Her twin sabers spun as if two flowers that flew and flashed, actually preventing Sun Zhengli from advancing further. Li Mubai parried three blades at once with his sword in one hand, and with the other pulled the scabbard from his waist and flung it to the ground, then tucked up the front of his robe. With his body freed of encumbrance, he began to open out his swordwork in earnest, while keeping a close eye on young lady Xiulian's saber technique the whole time.

They had fought through a dozen or more exchanges before Sun Zhengli found he simply could not get in. He stood to one side, gasping for breath, still calling for Xiulian to step back and let him take over. Young lady Xiulian meanwhile could see that Li Mubai's sword moved like a silver serpent, clashing this way and that, sending jolts of pain up through her wrists each time it struck her sabers. The more Li Mubai displayed his swordwork, the more fluid and agile he became. His face carried a faint smile, his eyes held a depth of feeling, and his sword seemed to be employed with the greatest care, as though he was afraid of hurting the young lady Xiulian.

As Xiulian strained with her twin sabers to find a gap in Li Mubai's swordwork, she also felt both astonishment and a burning shame. All this while, Third Cui the Terrestrial Ghost stood inside the gate looking out, anxious that Xiulian might lose. Sun Zhengli caught his breath and again charged forward with his saber to fight Li Mubai. Xi Zhongxiao had long since retreated to a safe distance and was watching from afar. Some passersby had also stopped to watch, but no one dared step in to break them up.

Just as the blades were tumbling and clashing in a tangle with no resolution in sight, old escort Yu Xiongyuan appeared at the mouth of the alley carrying his melodious laughingthrush's cage. At the sight of him, Xi Zhongxiao turned and fled. The bystanders said, "Old boss Yu, come quickly! Your daughter has got her sabers out and is fighting someone!" Old escort Yu was greatly startled and hurried down the alley. He saw his daughter Xiulian and Sun Zhengli together wielding their sabers against a young man with a sword.

The old escort had a practiced eye. One look at the young man's swordwork told him that this person had been trained by someone of renown, and that Xiulian would never beat him, let alone Sun Zhengli. Yet he could also see that the young man harbored no malicious intent. He stepped forward and bellowed, "Stop! Stop at once!" At just that moment, Li Mubai had lifted the embroidered kerchief from the top of Xiulian's head with his sword. Seeing her father arrive, Xiulian hurried over to him with her sabers, weeping, "Father, this man is bullying us!"

Sun Zhengli was still over there gulping for air while continuing to press Li Mubai. Old escort Yu handed his birdcage to his daughter and took the twin sabers from her hands. He stepped forward, used them to block both the sword and saber of the two combatants, and roared angrily, "If anyone has something to say, they say it to me, Yu Xiongyuan. No more fighting!"

Li Mubai quickly withdrew from his sword stance and took several steps back. Sun Zhengli lowered his saber and panted, "This little wretch is too insufferable! Master, let us both take him on and let him see just how formidable we are!" Old escort Yu gave a cold laugh. "What formidable? We live quietly at home minding our own affairs and still people keep turning up at our door to harass us!" He waved his hand and told his daughter to go inside, then turned to Li Mubai, "I see before me a man of distinguished bearing and accomplished martial arts, hardly the sort one would take for a man of Jianghu. You and I are complete strangers with no enmity between us whatsoever. Why have you come to my door today with a sword to bully my daughter and my disciple?" Questioned so directly by old escort Yu, Li Mubai could not but feel the blood rush to his face in shame. He picked up his scabbard and re-hung it at his waist, sheathed his sword, and shook out his robe. Then he made a deep, respectful bow to the old escort. "Elder sir, please do not be angry. I acknowledge that I was rash today, but I have no ill intentions whatsoever. My name is Li Mubai, from Nangong. I am a disciple of two masters, the Southern Crane and Ji Guangjie."

Old escort Yu heard him name these two old masters and could not conceal his surprise. He said, "Ah! So you are the disciple of Ji Guangjie! Ji Guangjie has been an old friend of mine for years. When he was living in Nangong, he often came to see me. We were like brothers. And as for the Southern Crane, though I have never met him, his name has long been known to me. So this makes you my worthy nephew!" At that he chuckled and stepped forward, taking Li Mubai by the hand. "Come, come inside, and let us talk at length." Having learned that old escort Yu was a close friend of his late master, Li Mubai felt all the more ashamed of himself, and he followed the old escort inside.

Old escort Yu showed Li Mubai into the western room of the outer courtyard, told Third Cui to pour tea, and then introduced him to Sun Zhengli, where Li Mubai duly made his apologies. The old escort then said, "Since the time I shuttered my security firm, these six or seven years, I have closed my doors and kept to home, no longer having anything to do with friends from Jianghu. Your master Ji Guangjie lived in Nangong, which is no more than a day's journey from here, and he came to see me several times, but I never went to return his calls. Then I heard he had already passed away. I am old now, and I know even less about the rising generation of Jianghu. If you had not told me today that Ji Guangjie was your master, I would simply not have known that he had taken on so fine a disciple as yourself before he died." Li Mubai then gave a brief account of his family and background. After that, old escort Yu asked Li Mubai what had brought him here today.

Hearing old escort Yu put the question so directly, Li Mubai's face flushed still deeper. He had thought not to reveal his true purpose, but the unsurpassed beauty and superhuman martial arts of young lady Xiulian had already captivated him; and besides, having now established that he and old escort Yu were on terms of uncle and nephew, he felt certain that the marriage could be brought about. And so he murmured haltingly, "Having long admired the great name of old uncle, I have always wished to come and pay my respects. Of late I heard further that old uncle has a beloved daughter whose martial arts surpasses all others, and that old uncle had told people that any young, unmarried man who could best this young miss in a contest of arms could seek her hand in marriage. So your humble nephew took the liberty to come have a match with her." As he spoke, he drew from his sleeve an object, the embroidered kerchief that he had taken from young lady Xiulian's head with his sword, and placed it with both hands on the table before the old escort, to show that he had indeed come out the victor.

Seeing this, old escort Yu could not help feeling at once exasperated and amused. He let out a hearty laugh. "My honest nephew, you have been taken in! When have I ever said any such thing?" Li Mubai heard this and felt as though he had taken a blow to the head. His expression changed at once, and he was about to speak when he heard the old escort say with a smile, "My daughter Xiulian was betrothed in childhood to the second son of old escort Meng of Xuanhua Prefecture. This year she is already seventeen, and next year I will be sending her to her husband's home. How could there be any question of choosing a husband by martial contest? This must certainly be your young friends having a jest at your expense. Who would have thought you would take it for the truth and come all the way here to find me? Still, I bear you no ill will for it, and you needn't feel too bothered. After all, today I have come to know that my old brother Ji had, before his death, taken on so outstanding a disciple, a man of exceptional martial arts. From now on, do come and see me whenever you like, and if I should come across a young lady who suits you, I will most certainly play matchmaker on your behalf."

At these words, Li Mubai felt not merely that his heart had gone cold as ice; it was as if every hope and prospect he possessed had been cast away at once. He sat in a stupor for a long moment, then sighed, "Say no more, old uncle. The more you say, the more shame I feel!" He stamped his foot in bitter regret and stood up. "I was truly too rash! It is only thanks to old uncle's forbearance that I am not to be held to account. But I could not face old uncle again after this." And with that he turned to leave. Old escort Yu felt rather awkward himself, and rose to urge him to stay, saying, "Why not sit a while longer? We can speak of other things. Let forget about what just happened. You and I must not keep it in mind!" Li Mubai shook his head. "No, I must go at once!" He bowed deeply to the old escort and walked out. The old escort followed to see him off, and called after him, "When you get back, do not quarrel with that friend of yours over this. Young people will always play these pranks on one another." Li Mubai shook his head and said, "I cannot blame my friend. I have only myself to blame for being so rash." He clasped his hands toward the old escort once more and walked away toward the mouth of the alley.