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= Chapter 6: Risking Suspicion to Move the Sickbed: Repaying Kindness with Kindness =
''Modern English translation by Martin Woesler (2025)''

To the tune of "Treading on Sedge":

A grudge once planted is hard to forget;
A debt of kindness demands swift repayment.
She courts suspicion — only for a face like a flower.
Who knows that white jade breeds no stain?
Let them dye and stain — it shall not turn to black.
Her nature knows no other path;
Her clever heart has eyes to see.
She walks alone and never leans on another soul.
Say not that she lights the great lamp of the moral order —
Even to sit unmoved beside a stranger is true virtue's creed.

Now then: Young Master Guo, once Cheng Qi had devised his cunning plan, set about putting it into action in secret. But of this we shall say no more for the present.

Tie Zhongyu, having been escorted to the Longevity Temple by the magistrate's men, took it at face value as a genuine kindness and harbored no suspicion. But the image of Miss Shui's extraordinary beauty lingered in his mind, and he could not help thinking: "How can there be such a woman in the world? If my parents were to seek a bride for me, and found one like her — that would be the greatest blessing of a man's life." He also thought: "With such beauty, one can scarcely blame Young Master Guo for his relentless pursuit. But marriage is a matter of propriety and the moral order — it cannot be achieved through abduction and deceit. Today, by pure chance, I rescued her and sent her safely home, sparing her from humiliation. That is a deed to be satisfied with." Though he slept that night, the three words "Miss Shui" never left him even in his dreams.

The next morning at dawn, he told Xiao Dan to pack up, intending to depart at once. But the abbot, a monk called Duxiu, came hurrying out to detain him: "Since the magistrate has lodged you here, he will certainly wish to entertain you further. Why such haste to leave?"

Tie Zhongyu said: "The magistrate and I are not acquainted. I did not come here to beg favors. I merely intervened on impulse against an injustice. Now that the matter is settled, there is nothing more to discuss and no need for entertainment. Why should I stay?"

Duxiu said: "That may be true from your perspective, but I dare not let you go without his permission." Just then, a runner arrived with an invitation from the magistrate for an afternoon dinner. Duxiu said: "There — a good thing I did not let you go." Tie Zhongyu, seeing the magistrate's earnest solicitation, agreed to stay. Before long, Duxiu served breakfast.

He had scarcely finished eating when a servant in a blue jacket arrived, saying he had been sent by Miss Shui to find out where Master Tie was lodging, so that she might send a gift of thanks. Tie Zhongyu came out to receive him and replied: "Please convey my regards to your young mistress. What I did yesterday was simply because I could not stand by while injustice was done. I had no intention of favoring your mistress in particular, and so I acted impulsively and even had words with the magistrate. If your mistress sends a gift and the magistrate hears of it, it will look like I acted from private motives. That would be most improper. Please do not send anything."

The servant said: "My mistress says that yesterday, through a momentary lapse in vigilance, she nearly fell into the tiger's jaws. Only by the grace of meeting her benefactor was she spared dishonor. If she does not express her gratitude, however modestly, her conscience will not rest."

Tie Zhongyu said: "Your mistress is a man among women — and I, Tie Tingsheng, am a man of hot blood and high principle. Between us, there is a bond of the Way that transcends trifling formalities. If you send gifts, it would not honor me — it would insult me, and I would certainly refuse. The magistrate has invited me to dinner today. Tomorrow I depart. Just tell your mistress: the tiger watches with hungry eyes — she must be on her guard."

The servant went home and reported every word to Miss Bingxin. She was moved beyond measure and thought: "How can there be such a man of noble spirit in the world? Truly admirable. It is a pity that I, Shui Bingxin, am a woman and cannot befriend him properly. And how vexing that Father is not at home — there is no one to receive him. His generous heart will go unrequited, frozen like snow, and he will depart. How can I not feel guilty?" She considered sending her uncle Shui Yun to pay a visit, but feared his base nature might cause trouble. She thought of sending gifts, but his fierce independence and forthright speech suggested he would think her presumptuous. She considered writing poetry to express her feelings, but feared it would seem like a descent into private sentiment. A thousand thoughts, a hundred plans — no solution presented itself. All she could do was send servants repeatedly to watch and report on Tie Zhongyu's movements.

In the afternoon, word came that the magistrate had taken him to dinner. That night, word came that he had returned from dinner very drunk. The next morning, she sent a servant to find out if he had left. The servant returned: "Master Tie drank too much last night and cannot get up this morning — he is still asleep."

Miss Bingxin was troubled but relieved that he had not left. She sent the servant again. He returned: "He has still not left." She asked why. The servant said: "I asked the monk Duxiu. He says the prefect has learned that Master Tie is the son of Commissioner Tie and has ordered him detained — he too wishes to host a dinner. That is why he has not left."

Miss Bingxin took this for ordinary social courtesy and thought no more of it.

Two days later, the servant brought alarming news: "Yesterday the monk Duxiu invited Master Tie to a vegetarian meal. Today Master Tie has a stomachache and some looseness of the bowels. He sits there listlessly and will not even drink tea."

Miss Bingxin grew suspicious: "How does a vegetarian meal cause diarrhea? There must be something behind this." She sent the servant back to check whether a doctor had been called. The servant returned: "A doctor from the county seat has examined him and says it is merely a case of indigestion — nothing serious. A dose or two to clear the spleen will set him right."

Miss Bingxin was somewhat relieved. But the next morning at dawn, the servant came back: "After taking the medicine last night, Master Tie purged more than ten times. He is so weak he cannot swallow even water."

Miss Bingxin was horrified: "This is bad! He has fallen into a villain's trap! What can be done?" She wanted to go see him herself, but she was a young woman — how could she? She paced back and forth, wringing her hands: "This calamity came upon him because he rescued me. If I do not save him, who will?" After agonizing for a long while, an idea struck her: "In an emergency, one cannot afford to worry about appearances. It must be done this way."

She asked the servant: "Does Master Tie have anyone with him?"

"Only a boy named Xiao Dan."

"How old is this Xiao Dan?"

"About fourteen or fifteen."

"Is he a clever boy?"

"Very clever."

"Then go and bring him here quietly. Tell him I have something urgent to say to him. Send two men — one to bring Xiao Dan, and leave the other to attend Master Tie. Keep a close watch and do not leave his side."

Before long, the servant returned with Xiao Dan. Miss Bingxin asked: "Your master was in such fine spirits the other day at court. How did he suddenly fall ill?"

Xiao Dan said: "My master is normally very strong. But ever since he came back drunk from the magistrate's dinner, he has been sluggish and weary. Then the day before yesterday, the monk Duxiu served him some vegetarian food, and he gradually developed diarrhea and fell ill. Yesterday he took a dose from the doctor, and he purged all night. He can no longer walk."

Miss Bingxin asked: "Though your master's body is weakened, is his mind still clear?"

"His mind is clear enough, but he is too weak to speak."

Miss Bingxin said: "If his mind is still clear, there is hope. Go back and tell your master quietly — say it is from me — that the magistrate's hospitality is not what it seems. The other day, your master rescued me and exposed Young Master Guo's scheme; moreover, he rebuked the magistrate harshly. The magistrate wanted to fight back openly, but your master holds the forged placard as leverage, and for the moment the magistrate could not prevail. Seeing that your master is alone in a strange land, the magistrate feigned kindness, planning to poison him slowly through his food and drink. If your master does not see through this and takes so much as another sip of tea or bite of food from them, his life is in danger."

Xiao Dan nodded vigorously: "That must be it! No wonder the medicine made him worse! And the monk was just urging him to take more medicine! I'll go tell my master at once, and he can give that monk a piece of his mind!"

Miss Bingxin said: "That would be a mistake. Even if the monk is complicit, he is likely acting on the magistrate's orders. If your master confronts him, the monk will report to the magistrate, and the magistrate, already in too deep to turn back, will find some other way to strike. Your master is ill and weak — how could he defend himself? Better to feign ignorance and pretend the illness is worsening, so the monk drops his guard. Wait until evening. I shall have a small sedan waiting outside the temple gate. Help your master out and into the sedan, and bring him straight here. I have prepared a study for him — let him rest quietly for a few days, and his strength will return. Once he has recovered, he can settle accounts with them."

Xiao Dan said: "Since the young lady is so kind, I'll help him into the sedan right away."

Miss Bingxin called him back: "There is one more crucial thing you must remember."

"What is it?"

"Your master is a man of strict principle and chivalrous honor. He may well say that since I am a lone young woman, propriety demands that he die here rather than come to my house. If he does say this, tell him I said: a true hero acts according to his own conscience, not by the pedantic rules of rotten Confucianism. Moreover, when the sage Confucius passed through Song in plain clothes, even the sage himself used expedience in times of peril. I shall be waiting — he must not take this lightly."

Xiao Dan said: "I understand everything the young lady has said." He hurried back to the temple, waited until Tie Zhongyu woke and groaned, and when no one was looking, whispered the whole message.

Tie Zhongyu listened, then started: "She is right! How could I, Tie Zhongyu, have been so blind!" Furious, he tried to get up to go to the magistrate's court and confront him. But Xiao Dan relayed Miss Bingxin's warning that a confrontation would provoke a more dangerous retaliation, and that she had already arranged a sedan to take him to her house to recover.

Tie Zhongyu was pleased but troubled: "Miss Shui's thinking is wonderfully thorough! But she is a lone young woman, and I am a young man — with the added complication of what happened the other day. Even if I die at these villains' hands, I cannot go and stay at her house. It would not be proper."

Xiao Dan then repeated Miss Bingxin's final admonition: that a true hero judges by his own conscience, not by pedantic rules, and that even the sage used expedience in peril. Tie Zhongyu's heart bloomed with delight: "Miss Shui speaks not like a woman but like a great hero herself! There is no reason I should not go."

Just then, the monk Duxiu appeared with another bowl of medicine, saying: "The doctor says one more dose and the purging will stop." Xiao Dan took the bowl: "Thank you, master. Let me help my master sit up and take it." Duxiu left. The moment he was gone, Xiao Dan poured the medicine into the gutter behind the room. Tie Zhongyu said bitterly: "So all my suffering has been that bald villain's handiwork!"

At nightfall, Xiao Dan noticed a small warm sedan waiting outside the temple gate. Two servants exchanged a look with him. Xiao Dan crept inside and whispered to Tie Zhongyu. Though Tie Zhongyu could barely walk, not wishing to disappoint Miss Shui's kindness, he summoned all his strength and struggled to his feet. By good fortune, the courtyard was empty at that moment. Xiao Dan supported him out; the two servants helped him into the sedan, and they set off straight for the Shui residence.

Xiao Dan went back to find the gatekeeper monk and said: "Master Tie happened to meet an old acquaintance who has taken him in to recover. Please tell Monk Duxiu to look after the luggage — we will come for it another day." Then he hurried off to catch up with the sedan. Halfway there, Miss Bingxin had sent two more servants with a pair of lanterns to guide the way. Tie Zhongyu, sitting in the sedan, saw the curtains drawn snug and warm, the cushions soft and yielding, and felt his body ease. When the lanterns appeared, he knew Miss Shui's care was profound, and was deeply moved.

Before long they arrived. Miss Bingxin had the sedan carried right into the main hall before it was set down. The hall was bright with lamplight. Miss Bingxin stood to the right of the hall and ordered two older serving-women and two maids to help Master Tie carefully out of the sedan and into the eastern study. Tie Zhongyu alighted and immediately sent Xiao Dan to convey his thanks: "I am profoundly grateful for the young lady's kindness. My illness prevents me from paying my respects — I shall do so as soon as I am a little recovered." He followed the women and maids to the study, where he sat on the bed. The few steps had exhausted him further, and within moments, still clothed, he fell into a deep sleep.

Miss Bingxin sent the maids in with fragrant tea, longan broth, and ginseng broth. But seeing that Tie Zhongyu was sound asleep, they dared not disturb him. Miss Bingxin dismissed the sedan-bearers and the servants, then sat in the hall with several serving-women and maids, brewing tea and warming broth, keeping watch. Xiao Dan was told to doze half-sitting by the bedside, ready for any call.

Tie Zhongyu slept until the third watch before waking. He turned over, opened his eyes, and saw the candles still burning on the table outside the bed-curtains. Xiao Dan was still sitting by the bed. Seeing his master awake, he asked: "Are you feeling a little better, sir?"

Tie Zhongyu said: "After that sleep, my stomach feels somewhat relieved. Why are you still up?"

Xiao Dan said: "It is not only I who am awake — the young lady herself and all the serving-women and maids are in the great hall, brewing tea, making broth, and cooking porridge, waiting on you." Tie Zhongyu was startled: "How can I impose such trouble upon the young lady?"

Just then, the serving-women and maids came in with tea, broth, and porridge. Tie Zhongyu, still suffering from diarrhea, dared not drink tea. He feared the ginseng broth might be too rich. He sipped a few mouthfuls of longan broth, and when the maids urged him, drank half a small bowl of porridge.

When he was done, he said: "Please convey to the young lady: I, Tie Zhongyu, barely escaped with my life from the tiger's jaws, and owe it all to her rescue. Her noble kindness is enough for a thousand ages. If she continues to lavish such care upon my food and rest, it will make me more uncomfortable than my illness does. Please — let her attend to her own needs."

A maid named Leng Xiu, who served as Miss Bingxin's personal attendant, replied: "My mistress says that Master Tie's illness was brought about entirely by his rescue of her. As long as Master Tie is unwell, my mistress's heart cannot rest. These past two days, learning that Master Tie's condition has been worsening, fearing he might be poisoned, she has been pacing day and night, unable to eat or sleep. Now that she has succeeded in bringing Master Tie here, and there is no further danger, all her anxieties are relieved. These little things — tea and broth — are nothing. Please rest your mind and focus on recovery."

Tie Zhongyu said: "If I am ill and the young lady is unable to rest, then if she exhausts herself, how can I sleep in peace? I beg her to take her ease as well."

Leng Xiu said: "Since Master Tie commands it, my mistress will naturally comply. Once Master Tie has gone to sleep, she will retire."

Tie Zhongyu said: "I shall sleep now." He had Xiao Dan help him undress, lowered the bed-curtains, and lay down on his side. He found the quilts of brocade and embroidered silk soft and warm beyond measure — truly a haven of comfort. As the verse says:

Kindness begets kindness, feeling begets feeling —
Naturally, gratitude springs from a sincere heart.
Were there the slightest cloud-and-rain desire,
It would betray the virtue of a thousand spotless years.

The serving-women and maids, seeing that Tie Zhongyu had gone to sleep, came out and reported his words to Miss Bingxin. She said: "If Master Tie speaks with such clarity and propriety, I trust his illness will not prove grave." She instructed the servants to find a reputable doctor in the morning. She told two serving-women to spread pallets in the corridor near the hall and sleep there, ready for any call for tea or water. Only after giving all these instructions did she retire to her inner chamber.

As the verse says:

White bones form, but the soul still ties the grass in gratitude;
The yellow sparrow carries seeds to repay the kindness of its savior.
Since ancient times, chivalrous men and women of rare mettle
Have searched their conscience in the still of night — and none dare turn away.

Though Miss Bingxin had retired, her thoughts kept returning to Tie Zhongyu. The next morning, at the first light of dawn, she rose and instructed the servants to fetch a doctor, told the serving-women to prepare tea and broth, and quietly told Xiao Dan not to mention that she was managing things personally.

Before long, Tie Zhongyu woke. He wanted to get up but was still too weak. He washed and tidied himself in bed, ate a little porridge, and sat propped up, half dozing. Soon the servant returned with a doctor, who examined him and said: "The pulse is calm and regular. This is not an internal disease — it was caused entirely by something he ate that injured the spleen and stomach, resulting in the diarrhea. He does not need much medicine. Let him rest quietly for a few days and he will recover naturally. Above all: he must avoid agitation; he must avoid exertion; and he must avoid excessive talk. These are essential." The doctor prepared two prescriptions and left.

Miss Bingxin, hearing that the illness was not serious, was greatly cheered and set about managing his care. But of this we shall say no more.

Meanwhile, the monk Duxiu at the Longevity Temple had been told by the gatekeeper that Tie Zhongyu had left, and that his luggage should be kept safe. Duxiu was alarmed: "His leaving is one thing, but Young Master Guo repeatedly stressed that I must keep him here, putting rhubarb and croton seeds in his porridge to purge him to death without leaving a trace. I've been dosing him for four or five days — he was nearly done for. I never expected a sick man to walk out. If Young Master Guo comes looking for him, how do I explain?"

At dawn the next day, Duxiu reported to Young Master Guo, who was furious: "You told me just the other day that he was bedridden and could not get up! How did he suddenly escape in the night? Either you let the information slip, fawning over him because he is a commissioner's son, and helped him escape — showing no respect for my father!"

Duxiu protested his innocence vociferously. Young Master Guo dragged him to the magistrate's court. The magistrate questioned Duxiu, then thought for a moment: "He has no friends or acquaintances here. The only connection is with the Shui family. Miss Shui is a woman of deep feeling — seeing us keep Master Tie for so long, and now seeing him fall ill, she must have seen through our plan and had him moved."

Young Master Guo said: "That is even more infuriating! She refuses me at every turn, yet she harbors a strange young man in her house?"

The magistrate said: "Do not be hasty. Confirm the facts first, then we can decide." They released the monk.

Young Master Guo went home and sent for Shui Yun, who, upon arriving, was asked: "I hear that your niece is harboring a young man named Tie in her house. Do you know about this?"

Shui Yun said: "Since the abduction, she has been angry with me for not protecting her and has refused to speak to me. I know nothing."

Young Master Guo said: "Go and find out." Shui Yun went home, sent his youngest son through the connecting door to look around, and the boy quickly returned: "There is a young man lying ill in the eastern study."

Shui Yun went through to see Miss Bingxin: "In principle, your brother and I have long kept separate households, and I ought not meddle. But I hear gossip from outside, and as your own uncle, I cannot remain silent."

Miss Bingxin said: "If your niece has done something wrong and even outsiders are gossiping, why should my own uncle not speak up? But what is this about?"

Shui Yun said: "I often hear people say: 'Between men and women, there should be no physical contact — that is propriety.' You are a young woman alone. Your father is away, you have no brothers. How can you keep a young man — a stranger from another province, no kin, no connection — in your house to convalesce? Never mind outsiders talking — even I, your own uncle, cannot cover for you."

Miss Bingxin replied: "I have heard it said that when the sages established the rites, they designed them for ordinary people — they were never meant to shackle the noble-hearted. Duke Huan once presented a jade in a humble fashion, and Yanzi knelt to receive it — that is propriety beyond propriety. Even in the passage from Mencius about men and women not touching hands when passing objects — fearing that people might cling rigidly to the small proprieties and harm the great principles — he immediately added: 'When a sister-in-law is drowning, her brother-in-law pulls her out. That is expedience.' And he explained: 'He who will not pull her out is a wolf.'

"So you see, the sages established the rites only to set people's hearts right. If the heart is right, then small departures from form do no harm. That is why Confucius said: 'In matters of great virtue, let there be no transgression; in matters of small virtue, some coming and going is permissible.'

"I have also read the Grand Historian's words: 'Urgency is something everyone encounters from time to time,' and: 'For a man of honor, debts of kindness and grudges must be kept clear.' Since ancient times, men and women of chivalrous spirit have cut off their heads and ripped out their hearts without a second thought — all in order to repay a kindness or avenge a wrong.

"Though I am but a weak young woman, in my heart I have always admired such people. Consider: until the other day, I was quietly keeping to my chambers, observing the law and heeding public opinion, never once transgressing propriety by contact with any man. But wicked men, in conspiracy, forged an imperial decree and abducted me. Where was the law then? Where was public opinion? Where were my own flesh and blood? The rites that say 'men and women must not touch hands' — to whom was I to recite them?

"In that moment of mortal peril, the ones who harmed me were my bitter enemies. If someone saved me, could I not be grateful to the marrow of my bones? This Master Tie — in terms of background, he is indeed a stranger from another province, no kin, no connection. But in terms of his righteousness, burning like clouds, and his loyalty, blazing like fire — compared to my own kin and kindred right here at home, is he not a hundred times more worthy?

"He and I were like a horse from Qi and an ox from Yue — completely unrelated. Yet merely because he saw injustice on the road, he strode into the magistrate's court, argued with righteous passion, and saved me from the hands of villains. That I was able to preserve my honor and return home alive — that was Master Tie's doing. And now, because he saved me, he has provoked the villains' wrath and been poisoned nearly to death. If I refused to help him out of some petty concern for appearances — if I let a man of Heaven's noblest gifts, a hero of hot blood, die alone in a strange land — then my heart would be no better than a wolf's.

"That is why I have taken him in to recover. When he is well, I shall send him home. Thus both kindness and honor will be preserved. I could declare this before Heaven and Earth, before the gods and spirits, and my conscience would be clear. What outsider would dare gossip? And what uncle would need to 'cover' for me?

"If Uncle truly cares for his niece, he should go out and expose the men who forged the imperial decree and abducted me — bring the ringleaders to justice and vindicate the Shui family honor. Instead of standing by in fear of the powerful, coming to lecture me with these toothless platitudes that have nothing to do with the real issue — how is that anything but heartless? How am I to take such advice?"

Shui Yun, after this torrent of argument, was struck dumb. He stood silent for a long while, then said: "It is not that I do not wish to help — I simply have no rank and no power, and I cannot manage it. Everything you say is high principle, but the world has more petty people than noble ones, more ignorant than wise. They will simply say: a girl alone, keeping a young man in her house — it does not look right."

Miss Bingxin said: "Appearances are but passing clouds — when are they ever absent? But conscience is the foundation of a human being, and must never be lost, not for a single moment. I care only that my purity remain unspotted. As for the rest — I cannot afford to worry about everything. Uncle, observe closely in the days ahead, and you will understand."

Shui Yun, feeling thoroughly rebuffed, slunk away in silence.

And from that departure there arose:

In the melon field, beneath the plum —
The heroine's resolve stands clear;
In the dark room, under the leaking roof —
The gentleman's heart is laid bare.

To learn what scheme Shui Yun devised upon his return, the reader must turn to the next chapter.

[[Category:Hao Qiu Zhuan]]

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