Xie Yilu returned to the city in his wet clothes, and all the pedestrians avoided him as he walked in the street. Yet he didn’t care about them at all, because his mind was completely occupied by Liao Jixiang’s words. Walking while thinking about Liao Jixiang’s meekness when meeting with him, he suddenly seemed to spot a familiar object in the crowd with a casual glance around – an iron chain made up of thick links, dangling heavily and swaying in the air.
His eyes followed the chain up, and landed on the person holding onto the chain, who was not the dishevelled old beggar. Rather, it was a teenage boy wearing a Yesa1 – it was Aliu carrying a long knife on his back.
Xie Yilu stood there dumbfounded, but all of a sudden, he was enlightened. That pair of old beggars had probably already become ghosts under this boy’s long knife. Indeed, how could Liao Jixiang tolerate their obscene insults? His temporary forbearance was nothing but a prelude to a merciless execution. This was not his first time after all…
Xie Yilu’s hand went to his neck, and felt for the shallow scar there, which was still not fully healed. Inadvertently, he shuddered. It was incredibly difficult to reconcile the two versions he witnessed into one man. These two figures, Liao Jixiang from the Weaving and Sewing Bureau, and Liao Yangchun from Liumanpo2, were just like two balls of mercury, one black and one white, impossible to fuse into one no matter how close they were.
Aliu didn’t see Xie Yilu. He was walking with Ruan Dian, who threw his arm around Aliu’s shoulder as they headed towards Qiandao Bridge3 along Gaojing Avenue4.
“Dugong5 only prefers you little ones,” Ruan Dian kept his back extremely straight, as if he didn’t dare to bend it for even just a little bit. “You couldn’t even kill Xie Yilu, but Dugong still didn’t punish you!”
Aliu blinked his big eyes, and glanced at him impassively. Ruan Dian was tired of maintaining his posture, so he slightly relaxed his back, and the moment he relaxed, the whip wounds on his back Immediately came into contact with his clothes, making him cry out in pain. “Dugong is only merciless towards me!”
Who told you to extort money from the common folks? Aliu shook the iron chain in his hand, which was his fresh spoil of war. With his other hand, he gestured6 his thoughts at Ruan Dian, who waved him off in annoyance. “Fine, fine”, he whined. “What? Can’t I get some extra income? I’m just a damned eunuch, what achievements do you want me to accomplish?”
Aliu didn’t care to argue with him, so he focused on playing with his chain. He had just gotten hold of it, so his attention was still drawn strongly to this new possession. When he lashed it in the air, it made a swoosh sound in the wind. Presently, there was a sudden commotion ahead of them, and it sounded like someone was arguing. Ruan Dian withdrew his arm around Aliu’s shoulder and went to check on it first. Shaking his arm, Aliu wrapped the chain around his wrist, then followed him.
Qiandao Bridge was a bustling place where harlots, their clients, and stall vendors all crowded together, so it could be counted as part of the busy main road. As such, there was always news happening around here. This time, it was a pair of junior eunuchs leading some soldiers, blocking the passing clients and demanding money.
People in Nanjing were rational. The young and the old all crowded together, each demanding an explanation from them, “Five taels of silver per person is no small amount. Won’t even need that much to hire a Yangzhou7 girl!”
“That’s too much?” The leader of the junior eunuchs was delicate-looking and spoke in a soft voice, “Our Lord Qi8 is a special imperial envoy appointed by the emperor. It is the utmost honour for him to come to Nanjing. Don’t say five taels,” he sneered, “if we demand fifty taels, you’ll need to surrender that money even if that means to gut yourself and take out your intestines!”
The crowd was in an uproar, and several brave men tried to advance, but the soldiers pinned them down without warning.
“Look,” Ruan Dian showed Aliu a thumbs up. “People from the capital are truly mighty!”
And so people began to pay. Once they paid, they were left with no money to spend on prostitution, so they ended up walking back dirty and daunted. All of a sudden, someone in the crowd chanted out loud, “There is infinite gold in the world, yet finite means to ascend to heaven. We advise you to be forgiving in all matters. Suppose you gather wealth and obtain power through unfair means, your sons will suffer, so will your grandsons9!”
Where would eunuchs get sons and grandsons? Not to mention the two junior eunuchs under Qi Wan, even Ruan Dian was furious upon hearing it. Before the soldiers could react, he drew his sword and charged over, shouting, “Who sang it?!” He aggressively pulled the common folks and demanded, “Show yourself!”
Nobody knew who it was given the messy scene. The common folks were terrified and knelt down in unison, begging for mercy. “He, he ran away. He’s from the Yong Society10!”
“Yong Society?” Ruan Dian felt like he had heard of it before, but he wasn’t sure of it, so he turned to look at Aliu, who was still swaying the iron chain like he was playing. Aliu lifted his chin towards him, so Ruan Dian put away his long knife and shouted “Get lost”, granting the common folks leave.
Yong Society. Aliu had heard Mei Azha mention it before. It was a group of stinky scholars who established this shabby society, which had a sole purpose of composing lousy and sarcastic poems to mock them, the eunuchs. And Mei Azha seemed to possess a list of the members’ names.
“Who are the members of this society, do you know?” Ruan Dian asked him.
Aliu knew a few, so he nodded. Ruan Dian licked his lips cunningly and said, “Good, we’ll teach them a lesson someday!”
They entered Zhushi11, although Qi Wan’s men didn’t take any money. Instead, they even chatted a bit about this and that. Ruan Dian was very good at socialising. After a while, the two junior eunuchs were addressing him as “brother”.
“See that?” As they turned into the narrow alley of harlots’ quarters, Ruan Dian told Aliu, “Remember how I did it. If one day I’m not around no more, you have to be able to handle it on your own.”
The moment Aliu heard the words “not around,” he immediately covered Ruan Dian’s mouth. He had a strong grip, which hurt Ruan Dian’s jaw badly, but he was happy, rubbing Aliu’s head like petting a puppy. “I’m here, little brother. I’ll always be here. We’ll die together.”
Aliu blushed and lowered his head shyly, then opened his mouth, and pointed to his throat.
“You can’t speak, so what?” Ruan Dian didn’t say it out loud, but deep down he was feeling even worse than Aliu. “Wait for me, little brother. When I gather enough money, I’ll find the best doctor for you!”
Forget it. Aliu gestured. You surrendered all your money to that woman!
He was referring to the woman residing here, where they were presently heading towards – a small wooden building where she received her clients. Her name was Wang Liu’er, and like most of the mediocre Nanjing prostitutes, her stage name was derived from the character of “beauty”12.
“Liu’er!” As Ruan Dian went upstairs, he shouted, using his tongue-rolling Beijing accent. The voice from upstairs soon responded, “Ohhh13, so you still remember the way here!”
Aliu didn’t like the woman, nor did he like being in here. As soon as he entered the room, he squatted down by the threshold. Because of him blocking the doorway, the young harlot waiting on Wang Liu’er could only serve her tea by brushing against him as she entered the door, similar to how she walked past a puppy.
Upon entering her room, Ruan Dian tore his collar open and exposed half of his chest and arm like an uncouth Mongol. On his thick arm was a patch of rough and pockmarked skin, which was known as a “tattoo from burning incense”, marking the words “Wang Liu’er”.
With this tattoo, they were considered a couple. And at the moment, they were whispering sweet nothings to each other sitting by the bed. After talking for a while, Ruan Dian called out to Aliu, “Come on, let’s get you to the small room.”
Aliu refused to go, so Ruan Dian had to pull him along. The tea-serving young harlot went past them and headed towards the small room first, but she gave Aliu a fierce glare before her figure disappeared into the room.
Aliu was a little scared of her, and Ruan Dian was aware of it. “Get up! You don’t look like a man at all!” he softly scolded Aliu, “Why, you don’t even blink when killing someone or chopping off their hands, but a little girl like her can make you go soft?”
Aliu reluctantly gestured to his heart with his hand and shook his index finger. I don’t like her.
This was the last thing Ruan Dian had patience to hear. “You like Guo Xiaozhuo, but has he ever set eyes on you?” he cursed, “Besides, what’s so good about him? He has a dick, but it’s useless! His behind is probably poked so many times that it’s rotten!”
Aliu stood up with a sullen face, so Ruan Dian’s tone softened. “Try a woman. Once you’ve had a taste of her, you wouldn’t like him anymore. I’ve already arranged everything for you. All you need to do is take off your clothes and get in the bed!” With that, he patted Aliu on the shoulder, like a real big brother. “Conquer her. Everyone needs to pass this test…”
Aliu was pulled into the small room by him. The young harlot had already removed all her clothes and was lying naked in bed. She had a copper pipe in her hand, for smoking some Guangzhou14 tobacco. Seeing that made Aliu think to himself, that the tobacco must’ve been paid for by his brother.
Ruan Dian moved a chair by the door and took a seat. “Go on”, he urged, “Hurry up.”
Aliu reluctantly removed all his clothes and climbed onto the bed, revealing his small, dark buttocks. He lifted the blankets and sillily straddled the naked young harlot. She immediately glared at him fiercely, then she looked down.
Down there, Aliu’s penis appeared immature, soft and flaccid – even though he was about fifteen years old, his thing was like that of a seven or eight-year-old boy. In fact, when he was exactly around that age, he and several hundred other poor children all had their testicles removed15, and then they were dispatched across the Pingxiang City16.
Aliu grabbed his little thing and foolishly thrust it between the young harlot’s thighs. Ruan Dian was itching to teach him, “Kiss her, kiss her on the lips first!”
Aliu looked at him, then back at the young harlot. He then worked up the courage to give a messy and blunt kiss on that pair of tender, rouged lips. The young harlot put on an irritated look, but something about her seemed to be different now. Aliu couldn’t tell what had changed, but he could feel her body relaxing, like a soft cloud expanding around him, somewhat affectionate too.
I’ve created a Discord for my translations!! Join it here and ask me anything:D
Yesa, 曳撒, is a type of Hanfu (traditional Chinese clothing) in Ming dynasty. Often worn by men as uniforms at work.
Liumanpo, 柳满坡, the location of Xie Yilu and Liao Jixiang’s date.
Qiandao bridge, or Qiandao Qiao, 乾道桥. First appeared in chapter 3.
Gaojing Avenue, Gaojing Dajie, 高井大街.
The original text here is Dugong, 督公, an unofficial title for powerful eunuchs.
Aliu can’t speak so he could only express himself using gestures.
Since the Ming Dynasty, a large number of young women who were specially trained and ready to marry wealthy and powerful men as concubines appeared in Yangzhou. Back then, having a slender figure was considered pretty, so all the girls were slim and emaciated. That gave them the title of “Yangzhou Shouma”, 扬州瘦马. Shou means “slender”, so Shouma literally means “a slender horse”. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, “breeding thin horses” became a profitable investment, and many specialised in this profession.
The “lord” here is not a legitimate title, as a eunuch can’t inherit titles or lands.
This is an excerpt of a poem written in the Yuan Dynasty. Back then, the Mongols ruled the Han people, and many suffered from their unfair laws and discrimination. This poem was written by Chen Caoan, 陈草庵called Zhonglv, Shanpoyang, 中吕·山坡羊.
Yong Society, or Yong She, 咏社, is a society established by officials. Note: officials refer to the ‘real men’ working in the ministry. These officials often hate eunuchs and despise them. This society is standing on the opposite end of the eunuch’s party.
Zhushi, 珠市, the name of a harlot house. First visited by Ruan Dian in chapter 3.
The character of beauty, or Mei, 美, can be roughly separated to the “王”, “丶”,and “兀”. These can be recombined to her name, 王六儿.
The original term here is Aiya, 哎呀, an interjection in the Chinese language.
Guangzhou, 广州, a city in southern China.
There were two types of castration in the Ming Dynasty. Quanbai, 全白, (literal meaning is “completely white”) means to remove both the testicles and the penis. And Banbai, 半白, (literal meaning is “half white”), means to only remove the testicles. This will be discussed again by the protagonists in future chapters. If you wish to learn more about the details of the castration process, you can read my blog here.
Pingxiang City, or Pingxiang Zhou, 凭祥州, is located in Guangxi Province, China. It was a border city between ancient China and Vietnam in the Ming Dynasty. As mentioned in the previous chapters, Eunuchs such as Ruan Dian, Aliu and the junior eunuchs under them all came from Vietnam. These castrated children were the gift from the ancient Vietnam (aka Annan), to ancient China.
The cover photo is taken by me, in Lijiang, Yunnan.
