As the story left off Hu Yong'r playfully had her father sit upon a bench which she then commanded to fly up to the roofbeam, pinning him there in horror.

"What sort of magic is this?" he shouted down at his daughter. "Come on, get me back down again!"

"Oh my gosh, daddy, I've got the charms mixed up. I can't remember the ones for money and rice but only this one, and it's no good for saving us from hunger and despair!"

"Just hurry and get me down, before we frighten others!"

Yong'r mumbled a mouthful of magic and once more shouted the magic activating word. The bench with its occupant came back down. "Wow, that was dangerous! If I'd fallen it probably wouldn't have killed me but I'd have some good bruises all over to show for it!"

"Daddy! Do you really want money or not?"

"My dear! How can you ask such a question? Your mother and I haven't had a proper bowl of rice for two or three days now. Saying I didn't need money would be just like saying I didn't need to live any longer, wouldn't it?"

Yong'r nodded. "Seeing as you really do need the money, go find me two lengths of string and I'll conjure up two strings of cash."

"I can't really say I enjoy relying on my own daughter" he thought, "but beggars can't be choosers! I'd better take advantage of her generous mood and go get some string. Why, if she somehow manages to make me a few hundred strings of cash I'll be thrilled, that's for sure! And if the officials find out, well, I'll deal with that when and if it happens!" And so he looked under the bed and found the two strings from before. Fearful of getting too little money he strolled over to the shops in the main street and went straight into his long-time acquaintance Zou Dalang's general merchandise shop.

"Dalang, I need a big ball of hemp string!" he proclaimed.

"What for?"

"To string money on, what else!" answered the Squire, directly and naively as always.

"So, you're back to your former riches! Rolling in money again, eh Squire? There's enough string here for all of it!"

"I don't have any money on me now." The Squire then began to take off his feather trimmed coat, hoping to pawn it for the string.

Zou Dalang considered this carefully. "He comes to buy string," he thought, "but he's got no money. He's just dreaming about threading coins onto the string. Why with all his troubles, his having no food to eat and all I can imagine what kind of trick he might pull off using that string, Tomorrow he goes out and gets into trouble and then he implicates me!" He had to refuse the Squire.

"All purchases cash only!" he answered. "We small shopkeepers get by on little enough profit as it is. Put that coat of yours back on!"

"Just wait a second and I'll be back to buy it!" said the Squire, but Zou wasn't about to believe him. The Squire then bowed and left. "No wonder I'm down and out in life!" he thought. "What can I expect from strangers if my closest acquaintances can be like that? I'd better go get those three bits of string and have her conjure up some coins for them. Then I'll be back!"

And so he rushed frantically back to the shelter, dashed into his room and hurriedly searched under the bed, but the string was nowhere to be seen. Mama and Yong'r couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "Old moron! What's your hurry?" shouted Mama.

"I found three bits of string here earlier. What's happened to them?"

"I've given them to our daughter to make three strings of cash from. And where may I ask did you run off to?"

"I just thought that as long as I was asking her to go to the trouble, why not go find thousands of strings and have them all hung with cash, to really last a while? I was impatient so I rushed over to see Zou Dalang in his General Store but he insisted on cash. I even took off my feather lined overcoat to pawn but he just refused and refused!"

You'd better mind that greedy heart of yours!" scolded Mama. "Just one or two new strings a day of the cash we've got here at home now is enough to keep you from begging for the rest of your life!"

"Where's the cash at?"

"Wrapped up in a quilt."

The Squire was incomparably delighted and sprung right off to buy some firewood and provisions. The next day together with Mama he would again beg Yong'r to transform some money. And from that day forth she would be conjuring money up daily and the rice drum would always be full. And the Squire himself would again have a bit of pocket money on him for wine and food outside and for new clothes. How much brighter and more prosperous than before he would appear!

One fine day the Squire returned from shopping to find his daughter awaiting him. "Daddy! Look at this!" she said, producing a lump of silver. Squire Hu took it, rolled it in his palm and passed it between his hands, guessing its weight to be twenty-four or five Chinese ounces.

"Where did this come from?" he asked.

"When I got up early this morning I saw this old man selling incense and ritual scrip from a cart. He had paper cuttings of gold and silver and a I bought one of the silver lump cuttings for a penny. And then I tranformed it into the real thing!"

"Whipping up a thousand strings of cash like you did was really something, but if you can transform paper into silver and gold we'll be back to our former riches!" And so he walked over to a paper horse shop and bought three strings of ready made ritual papercuttings of silver coins. "Just making a single lump won't do the job for us!" he told his daughter. "Why not transform these here twenty or thirty pieces at once and we'll be set for the rest of our lives!"

Yong'r took a string of silver and one of gold and put them upon the ground. Then she covered them with her skirt, mumbled the lines of the charm and spit out the mouthful of water, incanting the command to attack. And when she lifted her skirt for a look there were indeed so many lumps of silver and gold piled up there. The Squire, needless to say, was delighted.

"With our return to wealth," he thought out loud, looking at his wife and daughter, "we'll finally be able to end our unhappy stay in this beggars' shelter. I mean, let's go find a place in a busy district and open a silk shop. What do you say to that?"

Mama was hesitant. "We went without food for an entire winter and in the end we had to beg. And now if we suddenly open a silk shop just like that, well, I'm afraid people will really wonder..."

"Don't worry!" said the Squire. "I'll just tell all of my old acquaintances that a high official is looking after me and has lent me some capital to make a new start. When I propose to pay the suppliers half in cash with the balance on credit, they won't have any doubts."

"What you say makes sense!" said Mama.

That very day Squire Hu dressed up in a clean outfit and went to seek out a few of his old associates for a little meeting. "I've got an official taking care of me now," he told them. "He's lent me some startup capital to open a little shop with. Are you all willing to back me and help out? I'll only be able to pay fifty percent up front in cash, and the rest I'll need credit for. I'll soon be back on my feet for sure with your help!"

"No problem! No problem at all!" they all seemed to shout as one. "We'll take the risk!" Squire Hu then went to the marketplace and found a nice location for his business, furnished it and selected an auspicious day for the the grand opening.

Now although he spoke of half credit and half cash he was in fact a middleman; how could he really get much business? Fortunately Yong'r was in the shop where she could hear of any pending shortfalls and simply conjure up whatever was needed. And so he could sell merchandise worth an entire string of cash for only nine hundred, discounting the difference. As folks are always after a bargain they all came round with their business, seeing that his prices were so low and his merchandise superior to that of other shops. He hired a manager, two assistants and two maids as well. And in two or three years the family was on its way back up. First they erected a new house on their land at the old fire site in Ping'an Street. Although not as elaborate as their mansion of old it had all the rooms, halls and trappings of a fine home, with a garden at the rear in which they planted a fine lawn and flowers. It was like this:

At that happy time the neighbors all came over to congratulate them, seeking to revive their old ties by bringing over tasty dishes while many old acquaintances came to call. Squire Hu and his family had spent two years on the pavillion and in the beggars' shelter and had now been living in a room of the shop for the past three, for a total of five years since the fire. And once again he was back as the rich Squire Hu! It really had happened as the old man had said:

And here's another poem:

As time passed the other families couldn't help noticing all of his customers, and they jealously voiced their suspicions. "They're doing some kind of shadey and weird tricks!" was the story going around. "The boss just goes in back and comes up with all that stock out of nowhere!"

His own managers also began to express doubts. "How can he go in back and bring out all that cloth when there's no stock in the place?" they asked each other.

Squire Hu became aware of their jealousies and suspicions. "We never buy more stock," he realized, "because our daughter simply conjures it up. What should I do about all these jealous people spreading rumors around?" And so next evening after closing the shop he went home and into the kitchen as if to order the preparation of supper, only this time he asked the three maids to enjoy some wine with him. "Take a little time off tonight!" he told them; "we've got a family matter to discuss in private. Needless to say the happy maids were gone on their own ways in an instant. The Squire then spoke seriously to Yong'r.

"My child!" he said. "Our fate and dreams all began with you! Well, there's a problem now with some bolts of gold and silver satin in the shop; I don't know how many. It seems like the clerks and managers and even the maids are suspicious about them. They see the goods going out retail but never coming in wholesale. From now on why don't you stop apppearing in public for awhile? No more conjuring up goods whenever you hear a sale being made. If we're exposed there will be terrible consequences and our dreams will be shattered, so let's cover our tracks carefully. No more magic from today on!"

"All right, daddy, I'll do as you say and stay inside. No more minding the shop's business and helping out with the stock." He then called for supper to be served; they ate and the daughter returned to her room.

Within a short while the bolts of satin in question were sold out and new stock was ordered from other merchants instead of being conjured up by Yong'r, who no longer came into the shop or minded its affairs. Squire Hu felt somewhat at ease. After a few weeks had passed, however, he had a sudden realization. "These days I've been devoting all of my attention to business and I've neglected that daughter of mine back home. If she's just indulging herself quietly in a young woman's fancies that's fine, but who can tell what sort of strange craft she might be up to? If it's witchcraft and the maids find out it'll be terrible!

And so Squire Hu acted on this hunch and went forth to check up on his daughter. He looked in the main family hall and then in her room but couldn't find her. He then searched the garden but she was nowhere to be seen, but passing in front of the woodshed he noticed the door ajar. "Could she be in here?" he thought. And so walking stealthily on the balls of his feet he entered the room and saw Yong'r seated on a bench in the middle of the room with a bowl of water before her. She was holding a royal red vial made of a small dried gourd, the type used for secret potions.

"What's she doing in here of all places?" thought the Squire as he rose on his tiptoes and craned his neck for a better view, only afraid of alarming her to his presence. And as he watched she tapped the mouth of that red vial and spilled out about two hundred red beans and myriad blades of grass that soon covered the entire floor. She then chanted something under her breath, spit out the mouthful of water she'd been holding and shouted "Attack!" The beans then changed into three-foot-tall men and horses, clad in red helmets, armor and gowns and carrying red flags and martial banners. The red cavalry then wheeled around and formed an attack formation.

"Early last month," thought the Squire, "I told her this was forbidden, and now she's once again practicing sorcery. I'd better see just what she's up to!"

And as he watched Yong'r took a white gourd vial and tapped two hundred or so white beans out of its mouth, spreading along with blades of grass all over the earthen floor. Again she filled her mouth with water, chanted something unintelligable and spit it out, once more shouting "Attack!" And they all changed into men and horses, clad in white helmets. armor and gowns and carrying white flags and banners. The white horses drew into a defensive wall and they too prepared for battle.

Now Squire Hu's eyes were aghast as he looked on, not quite sure if this was a scene from a dream or what! And as he watched in horror Yong'r took a metal pin from her hair and shouted "Change!" That pin then changed right in her hand into a magic jeweled sword which she then pointed toward the formations of opposing cavalry. "Join battle!" she then shouted. And the men and horses could be seen rushing toward each other in a desperate struggle to the last man. Squire Hu was stricken senseless with fright. "If I've been able to see this, others are bound to sooner or later!" he thought. "This is a really serious affair and this little witch is going to implicate me in it sooner or later. If I want to live I'd better forget my feelings as a father and do something about it."

In great agitation he then strode into the woodshed, found a slaughterer's knife there and rushed forward. Now as has been said Yong'r had a sword which she had used in ordering the two armies into battle for the Mandate of Heaven. She watched intently as they fought and was unable to distinguish a winner. After awhile they disengaged and the red and white armies stood down in their respective positions. Yong'r waved the sword and shouted "Recover!" The red and white cavalries and battlefield diarama just changed back into so many red and white beans and blades of grass. Yong'r then picked them up and placed them back into the gourd vials. Squire Hu approached silently from behind, raised the slaughterer's sword, looked clearly at Yong'r and decapitated her with one blow. Her head tumbled onto the ground, and here is a poem:

Now as Squire Hu watched his daughter's body and head resting in different spots he felt ever so bitter and sad, and panic shot through him. Tossing aside the slaughterer's sword he placed the corpse and head togther in a quiet place and covered them up, then went out and found a lock to secure the place. With the energy and color all drained out of him he then went into the textile shop and sat on the floor. "Oh, my aching conscience!" he pined. "My daughter was responsible for all of our dreams coming true before I spotted her doing evil and took her life, as is required by law. I really can't be blamed. If I'd protected her we'd have to bear an official inquest by torture sooner or later. Now that I've destroyed her my wife and I are safe, but when she finds out I'm really in for it! Why, before day is done she'll be asking me why I killed her girl!" He couldn't calm himself down, sitting or standing; climbing out of his skin he walked in and out of the shop over a hundred times.

After the shop had closed and the manager had gone home he summoned the maids. "Set up some wine and three cups for me and Mama!" he ordered. Now as they drank neither he nor his wife brought up their daughter but finally the Squire sighed mournfully, tears streaming down his face.

"Why all this crying?" asked Mama. "Everything's fine, isn't it?"

"I've done something, something that I regret deeply! I spotted our girl doing something abominable and watched her at it for nearly an hour. In order to protect our lives I had to destroy her. I'm only afraid you'll accuse me...please, take it easy!"

How can you say such a thing, Squire!" gasped Mama. "Just what kind of illicit trick was she up to?"

He then told her the entire story of the red and white magic cavalries, from beginning to end. Mama listened and burst into tears, pounding her breast and stomping her feet.

"Have you forgotten how you starved and shivered in the beggars' shelter three years ago?" she blurbered. "Where would you be today if it weren't for our daughter! And you raised your hand and took my girl's life!"

"But I was scared out of my wits, and because she was our flesh and blood we were connected to her crimes. I had no other choice! Now you hold off on your judgement and hatred of me and just try to keep up a normal appearance through all of this."

"You killed my daughter!" she screamed. "How can I take it easy?" Mama then had a flash of doubt and hope: "Why, I just saw her sitting happily in her room a moment ago. How can you have destroyed her? What time did you do it?"

"It was during the day."

"Well, if you say you killed her earlier today I've got someone for you to meet!"

Mama went in first, then came out and motioned for him to come. The Squire peered in carefully. "It's my daughter!" he cried out in fright. "Earlier today I beheaded her! How can she be alive now?" In horror he felt a trembling deep inside, for he knew that eventually he would be implicated in the witch's ghostly mischief and that he had to come up with a plan to protect their lives. But this was all bigger than he realized: the strange acts that Fate had ordained Yong'r to perform would disturb the entire region of Kaifeng Fu. And here is a poem:

End of Chapter 21 Click to Continue to Chapter 22 Table of Contents