"Don't you pity me, lover? Your wife, tortured by desire, awaits your passionate touch.” Bi Hwa threw the silk aside and ran into her room, throwing herself onto the bed in tears. Shi Men grew furious, tearing the silk letter to pieces, kicking A Thai twice and sending him away. Then Shi Men climbed to the loft to enter Bi Hwa's room, seeing her lying face down in tears, he picked her up and held her close.
“Bi Hwa, my love, my sweetness, don't be sad. That letter means nothing at all. It’s just the fifth wife asking me to come home to discuss household matters. That’s all." While wiping away her tears, Bi Hwa said,
"Shi-Kongcu, you have erred. In your house, your family is ready to serve you, you have beautiful wives and many sweet maids. Why do you still go out to find other maidens? Kongcu has been here too long, you should go back," Shi Men was touched and held his lover close, but he didn't want to go home. His heart was filled with love and compassion for his new lover. However, A Thai left in tears. Upon A Thai's entry into the main room, Goat Toanio was accompanied by Kim Lian and Yu Lok.
“Did your master return?” they asked full of hope.
“Ah, all I got was scolding and kicks!” A Thai winced. “He was furious when I arrived.”
“Hmm, it's really bad of him. He doesn't want to come back, fine. But why did he have to hit this innocent child?” said Goat Toanio, frowning.
“He can kick A Thai as much as he wants, but why is he angry at us?” Yu Lok asked curiously. “He should realize that a cheap prostitute like that could hardly love him sincerely,” Kim Lian said bitterly. “Prostitutes like her just see his money. A shipload of gold wouldn't satisfy the greed of a whorehouse!”
Kim Lian didn't realize that her words were overheard by Sun Siu Oh, Bi Hwa's aunt. Of course, Siu Oh was unhappy to hear Kim Lian's remarks and from that moment on, Kim Lian has made a new enemy. The tongue is truly a source of all flavors. But also a tool that can bring enemies as well as friends. There is no sword sharper than the tongue, but also no balm more soothing than the eloquence of the tongue. A wise person always guards their words as if they are guarding a tiger leaving its den. Only a clear and silent mind brings forth words of love, like a healthy tree bearing beautiful and delicious fruit.
With a heart filled with disappointment and sadness, and a gloomy face, Kim Lian returned to her hut at the end of the garden. Her mind was murky, feeling oppressed by sorrow and longing. Time seemed to creep slowly. An hour felt like a month. Finally, her troubled mind gave rise to ideas driven by unfulfilled lust and vengeance. She made a decision. That night Shi Men certainly wouldn't be back, she knew this for certain. After nightfall, she sent her two servants to sleep. Once she was sure they were fast asleep by peeking through their window, Kim Lian entered the garden like the previous quiet nights. But this time she entered the garden with a specific intention.
When Yu Lok entered the family as the third wife, she brought a boy servant named Kin Tung, who was about sixteen years old. Shi Men accepted him, appointed him as a gardener, and allowed him to live in a small hut near the garden gate. Usually, Kim Lian and Yu Lok, when entertaining themselves in the garden, would call on Kin Tung who was always ready to obey their commands faithfully. Well, tonight, when longing and lust reached a peak in Kim Lian's mind, she set foot towards the small hut where Kin Tung lived. She called him softly, and when Kin Tung came out of his hut looking surprised, Kim Lian put her index finger in front of her mouth, signaling Kin Tung to stay quiet, and then invited him into her room.
Kim Lian carefully locked the door of the hut, then took out some alcohol, and with her persuasive words, eventually, Kin Tung was helpless and forgot himself, and obeyed all the desires of his mistress. The sexual desire is one of the passions that can control a person's mind and body. Like other desires, sex is not something that is bad, evil or dirty. Not at all! Sexual desire is the natural, pure, and beautiful carrier, the driving force behind human reproduction, and a great blessing for humans, bringing incomparable pleasure in life, bringing affection and love. However, like other desires, this desire is just a tool, and we are its masters. Woe to those who have lost their vigilance and are enslaved by desire, whether it's sexual desire or any other desire.
The mind imagines all the pleasures and beauties, the mind chews them over and over, and the desire to enjoy them again arises, the pursuit begins, and when this happens, danger emerges. This pursuit is dangerous because it can blind the conscience, eliminate vigilance and awareness. The pursuit makes us blind to the considerations of good and bad, right and wrong. Because of being enslaved by sexual desire, there is adultery, rape, and prostitution. And that night, Kim Lian had become a slave to her own desires! She poured out her longing for intimacy with her husband to Kim Tung, the young boy. Since that night, every night Kim Lian invited Kim Tung into her room where she indulged all night long, satisfying all her lustful desires with the young man.
Early the next morning, Kim Lian let Kim Tung leave her room. As a token of gratitude for this special service, Kim Lian gave him three silver hairpins and a fragrant silk pouch. She, of course, trusted Kin Tung to keep the secret of their illicit relationship. Kim Lian never imagined that the young man often went out drinking and gambling with his friends and among his friends, he liked to boast and show off his good fortune. So rumors spread about the secret relationship and one day, the news reached the ears of Li Kiao, Shi Men's second wife, and Siu Oh, the fourth wife. The two co-wives were jealous and disliked Kim Lian, so upon hearing the news, they immediately went to Goat Toanio.
“Turns out that woman has no shame,” Li Kiao said. “She's tarnishing and defiling the name and dignity of our family.” “She's unfaithful, still the same promiscuous woman as before,” Sun Siu Oh said. But Goat Toanio didn't believe it.
"Ah, you two just don't like Kim Lian. Don't talk nonsense." With those words, Goat Toanio dismissed the matter. But now Kim Lian was addicted, the more she got, the thirstier she became. One night Kim Lian locked the kitchen door. Siauw Giok, Goat Toanio's servant, happened to enter the kitchen for some work with Kim Lian's servant. When she opened the door, she saw Kim Lian in the arms of that young gardener. She told this to Siu Oh's servant who, of course, passed it on to Siu Oh. The fourth wife immediately informed Li Kiao, the second wife, and once again, the two wives reported this to Goat Toanio.
“This time there's a witness, servant Siauw Giok, and if you don't want to tell Kongcu, we will. Living with that woman is more dangerous than living with a scorpion.”
Goat Toanio remained patient and asked them not to ruin Shi Men's birthday with these rumors. However, when two days before Shi Men's birthday he returned home, the two wives immediately told him about Kim Lian's infidelity. Shi Men was furious to hear this report. All the important matters that arose while he was gone were now forgotten and he cursed Kin Tung. Hearing this, Kim Lian quickly called Kin Tung, warning the young man not to admit anything, and she took back all the items she had given to Kin Tung. However, in her panic, she forgot to retrieve the fragrant pouch. Kin Tung was immediately brought forward and with a trembling body, the young man now knelt at Shi Men's feet.
“You vile dog, do you admit your sin?” Kin Tung dared not answer and remained silent.
“Search for his hairpin and show it to me!” Shi Men yelled at his four servants who were holding on to the boy, and now they roughly checked, pulled the boy's hair, and searched for the hairpin. But they couldn't find anything on the young man.
“Where did you hide the hairpin and all the other items?” Shi Men yelled. “I don't have them.”
“Hmm, you need to be forced. Strip him!” The servants roughly stripped him and the fragrant pouch was revealed, hanging from his waist.
“Hmm, and where did you get this, scoundrel?” Shi Men yelled while snatching the pouch, which he recognized as the one Kim Lian usually used. With a trembling body, Kin Tung answered,
“I found it when I was sweeping the garden...” Furious, Shi Men ordered his servants to flog Kin Tung. The boy was flogged thirty times with a bamboo stick until his skin broke and his body was covered in blood. Then, on Shi Men’s command, two handfuls of hair were plucked from both his temples and after this, Kin Tung, who was half-dead, was expelled from the house. Kim Lian trembled in fear when she heard the screams and moans coming from Kin Tung's mouth when he was being tortured earlier.
Then, suddenly Shi Men appeared, looking extremely angry. Kim Lan trembled and felt as if all her blood had frozen in her body. She could hardly breathe. However, her cleverness enabled her to rise to meet him and with a calm demeanor, she helped her husband take off his outer clothes as usual. But suddenly her face was slapped. Then Shi Men called Cun Bwe and ordered this servant to close the gate and forbid anyone to enter the hut. With a horse whip in his hand, Shi Men sat on a bench in the garden. He ordered Kim Lian to undress and kneel in front of him. Kim Lian obeyed without uttering a word, kneeling with her head bowed down,
“Adulterous woman, confess honestly!” He shouted.
“The damn little boy confessed everything. Don't deny it. How many times have you prostituted yourself to him here without my knowledge?”
Glossary
- Shi-Kongcu: An honorific term used to address a lord or high-ranking person in Chinese culture.
- Goat Toanio: A character in the story, possibly a high-ranking or respected person.
- Kin Tung: A character in the story, a young boy who serves as a gardener.
- Kim Lian: A character in the story, one of Shi Men's wives.
- Siu Oh: A character in the story, Bi Hwa's aunt and Shi Men's wife.
- Yu Lok: A character in the story, one of Shi Men's wives.
- Li Kiao: A character in the story, Shi Men's second wife.
- Cun Bwe: A character in the story, a servant.