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22 Looking for Master Ho u As i t happened, durin g the day Ruan was giving a banquet for Ma at the Ston e Nest Garden when fantasy took hold of him. He thus sent his men to force Perfume d Lady to come and entertain his guests. The result was that she gave him a piece of her mind, with sarcasm hidden or undisguised, right in front of the current Prime Minister. This impertinence enraged Ruan so much that he had her incarcerate d in the Stone Nest Garden . When thos e o n Qinhua i Rive r heard abou t this , they feared tha t Perfume d Lady's very life might be in danger, so they came and begged Yang to intervene. When Yan g ha d hear d the m out , i t wa s a s thoug h h e wa s struc k b y a thunderbolt. Feeling humiliated and angry at the same time, he thought to himself, 'Everyone in Nanjing knows that I am Perfumed Lady' s patron. Beardy knows full well that th e girl has a peculiar temperament, an d that i t has been more than a year since she refrained fro m settin g foot i n places of amusement frequente d b y officials an d the gentry. Why does he cause an upheaval without reason and force her t o entertai n hi s guests? Is he no t deliberatel y causin g trouble an d findin g a pretext to humble her? Whilst it is a small matter to humiliate her, it looks bad for me if others get to hear about it!' He continued to weigh up the incident in his heart, 'Truly, this little prostitute has not been properly brought up by his mother! In Nanjing, even senior official s of the second or third rank are so afraid of Lord Ma, the Prime Minister, that they are a s timid a s mouse i n th e presenc e o f a cat! The y eve n shrin k t o hal f thei r height when meeting him. Though I am a close relative of the same generation, I too have t o put u p with bein g slapped i n th e face . Eve n the n I can onl y smil e 219 The Peach Blossom Fan obsequiously. On the other hand, this little prostitute dares to speak disrespectfull y in his presence. Has she no regard for the law or Heaven?' For this reason, no matter how his visitors pressed him, he adamantly refuse d to help. One of these men urged, 'Lord Yang, you possess the heart of Buddha! Ordinarily you always comply with whatever requests people make. This evening, whateve r you do, you must give us some face and save Perfumed Lady' s life!' The other interjected, 'Lor d Yang is the reincarnation of Buddha! His heart is the softest! ' Yet another agreed, 'This is why we can only come and plead with Lord Yang. Lord Yang is willing to be the "good sort" in helping other people. He will most certainly not refuse t o help Perfumed Lady. ' Unable t o resis t th e persisten t plea s o f thes e people , Yan g finally gav e hi s agreement. He then went at once to Treasury Square to call on Ruan. With many bows and salutes, comforting and apologetic words, and many a deprecating smile, he succeeded in rescuing Perfumed Lady . On the following day he personally called at the District Magistracy and, having given vent to his anger, he announced that he was washing his hands off anything that had to do with Perfumed Lady . When thos e at the District Magistracy realized that Perfume d Lad y had los t her patron, they put her name forward to fill the vacancy on the panel of a singing troupe selected from amon g those of the Qinhuai River for service in the Royal Palace. That day they sealed up the Home of Enchanting Fragrance and removed her name from the Register of Entertainers. Perfumed Lady, however, refused to spend the rest of her life as 'a white-haired royal concubine'. Also, she could forese e tha t onc e sh e entered th e palace, sh e would never again see Master Hou. Though she cried her eyes out, she was unable to prevent th e attendant s...

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