He passed along a covered pathway and into yet another

hall lit by two massive, flickering candles and filled

with row after row of wooden cabinets, each one marked

with a piece of yellowing paper stuck to the side. He

picked up one of the candles and began his search.

Before long, he located the right cabinet. He opened

its doors and found inside three parcels wrapped in

yellow cloth. The parcel on the left was inscribed in

vermilion ink with his foster father's name: 'Yu

Wanting'. Chen's hands shook slightly and several

drops of candlewax splattered on the floor. Then, with

a silent prayer, he opened the parcel.

Inside was a thick file of yellowing papers, a man's

embroidered waistcoat, and a woman's white

undergarment which was badly ripped and speckled with

black spots that appeared to be blood stains. Chen

opened the file and began reading from the beginning:

"I, Yu Wanting, a twenty-first generation pupil of the

Shaolin Monastery of Putian, Fujian Province, do

herebyrespectfully confess in full my misdemeanors.

"I was born into a peasant family and spent my youth

in great poverty and hardship. I knew the girl Xu

Chaosheng, who lived next door, from when we were very

young. As we grew, we came to love one another...."

Chen's heart began to thump wildly. "Could it be my

foster father's misdemeanor had something to do with

my mother?" he wondered. He continued reading:

"We secretly agreed to remain faithful to each other

for life, and would marry no-one else. After the death

of my father, there were several years of drought, and

with nothing in the fields to harvest, I went out into

the world to find a life for myself. Due to the

compassion of my benevolent master, I was taken in by

the monastery. The embroidered waistcoat enclosed was

given to me by the girl Xu when I left home.

"Before I had been fully initiated into the higher

skills of the Shaolin martial arts school, I left

temporarily to return to my home village. Because of

the girl Xu's kindness, I was unable to abandon

worldly emotions and went back to see her, but was

shocked to find that her father had married her into

the family of the local landlord, surnamed Chen. In a

state of extreme anguish, I entered the Chen mansion

one night to visit her. Using martial skills I had

learned from the Shaolin School, I trespassed on the

property of an ordinary citizen for personal reasons.

This was my first breach of discipline.

"The girl Xu moved with her husband to Beijing, and

three years later, having failed to renounce my love

for her, I went to visit her again. As it happened,

that very night, she gave birth to a son. I was

outside the window and managed to catch a glimpse of

the child. Four days later, I returned once more and

found the girl Xu looking very pale. She told me that

her son had been taken away by the Princess Rong Zhang

and replaced by a baby girl. Before we had a chance to

talk further, four assassins entered, obviously sent

by the Princess to kill the girl Xu. In the heat of

the fight, I received a sword wound on my forehead,

but killed all four assassins before passing out. The

girl Xu bandaged my wound with the enclosed

undergarment. Having heard a secret of the Imperial

Palace and having been seen to use Shaolin kung fu, I

risked bringing great trouble upon the school. This is

my second breach of discipline.

"For the next ten years, although I was in Beijing, I

did not dare to go and see the girl Xu again, but

submerged myself in learning kung fu. Finally the

Emperor Yong Zheng died and Qian Long succeeded him to

the throne. I worked out the dates and realised that

Qian Long was the son of the girl Xu. Knowing how

cold-blooded Yong Zheng was and afraid that he might

have left orders to have her killed to silence her, I

entered the Chen mansion again. One night, two

assassins did indeed come. I killed them both and

found Yong Zheng's written order on one of them. I

enclose the document."

Chen flipped through the rest of the pile and found at

the end a note on which was written: "If, when I die,

Chen Shiguan and his wife are still alive, they must

be speedily killed." It was unmistakably the

calligraphy of the Emperor Yong Zheng. Chen guessed

Yong Zheng must have known his parents would not dare

to breathe a word while he was alive, but thought they

might try to make use of the information after his

death. He continued reading.

"Qian Long apparently knew nothing of the matter, for

no more assassins were sent. But I could not rest

easy, so I dressed as a commoner and obtained

employment in the Chen mansion, chopping firewood and

carrying water. This I did for five years. Only when I

was certain there would be no further repurcussions

did I leave. I acted with great recklessness, and if I

had been discovered, it would have caused great

embarrassment to the Shaolin School, and have damaged

the school's honour. This is my third breach of

discipline."

Now Chen understood why his mother had wanted him to

go with Yu, and why Yu had died of a broken heart

after the death of his mother. He thought of Yu

working for five years as a lowly servant in his own

household to protect his mother, truly an expression

of deep love and an overwhelming sense of duty. He

wondered which one of the dozens of servants around

the house when he was young was Yu.

After a while, he wiped his eyes and read on: "I am

guilty of three serious breaches of discipline. Full

of fear, I hereby present the full facts to my

benevolent master and plead for leniency."

Yu's submission ended at that point and was followed

by two lines of vermillion characters which said: "Yu

Wanting has committed three misdemeanors. If he is

truly willing to reform and follow the teachings of

the Buddha, why should we not forgive him since the

Buddha was willing to forgive the Ten Sins? But if he

hankers after worldly passions and refuses to use his

intelligence to break the bonds of emotion, then he

should be immediately expelled. It is up to him."

So his foster father was expelled from the Shaolin

School because he could not give up my mother, Chen

thought.

He looked up and saw the stars on the western horizon

were beginning to fade while in the east, day had

already arrived. He blew out the candles, wrapped the

things up in the yellow cloth and picked up the

parcel. He closed the cabinet doors and slowly walked

back out to the courtyard where he found a statue of a

laughing Buddha gazing down him. He wondered what his

foster father must have felt, being confronted with

this Buddha as he left the courtyard after being

expelled. He walked back through the five halls, all

of them deserted.

As he passed through the last doorway, Lord Zhou and

the Red Flower Society heroes came forward to greet

him. They had waited anxiously for half the night and

were delighted to see him returning safely. But as he

came closer, they saw his weary look, and his red,

swollen eyes. Chen gave them a brief account of what

had happened, omitting only the relationship between

his foster father and his mother.

"Our business here is finished," he said. The others

nodded.

Lord Zhou accompanied Chen back inside to bid farewell

to the abbot, then the heroes collected their

belonging and started on the way.

Just as they were leaving the monastery, Zhou Qi went

pale and almost fainted. Her father quickly helped her

back inside to rest, and the monastery's physician

announced after examining her that she was in no

condition to travel and would have to rest at the

monastery to await the birth. Zhou Qi could only smile

bitterly and nod in agreement.

The others discussed the situation and decided that

Lord Zhou and Xu should stay to look after Zhou Qi,

and join them in Beijing after the birth of the child.

Zhou rented a number of peasant huts a couple of miles

west of the monastery for them to live in, and Chen

and the other heroes started off north.
关键字:书剑恩仇录
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