Sandalwood Death: A Novel (Chinese Literature Today Book Series)

long absence from his hometown had insulated him from the noxious influence of Maoqiang; able to keep a cool head in the midst of all that ferment, he remained focused on his heavy responsibility. As for Sun Bing, while I could not see his face clearly through the gauzy curtain, the sound he was making—it could have been a cry, it could have been muted laughter—told me everything I needed to know about how he was holding up.
    Justice Cat sang and danced, the wide sleeves of his robe swirling in the air like puffy white clouds as his meaty tail swept the ground. His effect on everyone around him as he sang and danced was profound—demonic and infectious, soul captivating and bewitching; he climbed up to the Ascension Platform, one casual step after another, and the other cats followed his lead. Thus was the curtain raised on a grand and spectacular performance.
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    7
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    Cats were at the center of the disastrous turn of events. With cat attire fluttering in the air above the platform and cat music rising from below, my thoughts carried me back to when I first laid eyes on Sun Meiniang. On a trip to one of the county villages to apprehend gamblers, my small palanquin was carried onto a stone-paved street in the county town. It was a late spring day, with a fine rain ushering in dusk earlier than usual. Shops on both sides of the street had closed for the day; puddles of water filling spaces between the stones reflected the light. The silence on the deserted street was broken only by my bearers’ watery footfalls. A slight chill in the air created feelings of melancholy. Frogs croaking in a nearby pond reminded me of tadpoles I’d seen swimming in puddles among green sprouts of wheat, and that made the melancholy even worse. I wanted to have the bearers speed up to facilitate an early return to the yamen, where I could make myself a cup of hot tea and peruse some of the classics. The only thing lacking was a lovely young woman to keep me company. My wife was the daughter of an illustrious family, a woman of noble nature and high moral character. But where relations between a man and a woman were concerned, she was as cold as ice and frost. I promised her that I would not take a concubine, but I must admit that the bleak bedroom atmosphere had tested my patience. I was in a terrible mood at that moment, when the sound of a door opening onto the street drew my attention. A public-house sign hung above the open doorway, from which emerged the tantalizing odors of strong spirits and meat. A young woman all in white was standing beside the door filling the air with rude talk, though the sound of her voice was pleasantly crisp. Then a dark object came flying my way and hit my palanquin.
    “You damned greedy cat, I’ll kill you!”
    A wild feline tore across the street and huddled under the eaves of a house, where it licked its whiskers and kept its eye trained across the way.
    “How dare you!” my lead bearer fumed. “Are you blind? You actually struck Laoye’s personal flag!”
    The woman bowed in hasty contrition and immediately changed her tone of voice, sending sweet apologies my way. Even through the curtain I could see that she was a woman who knew how to flirt and was taken by the flash of coquettish beauty against the darkening sky. Unfamiliar feelings rose up inside me. “What is sold in that shop?” I asked the lead bearer.
    “This shop’s dog meat and millet spirits are the finest in town, Your Honor. The woman’s name is Sun Meiniang, known locally as ‘Dog-Meat Xishi.’”
    “Stop here,” I said. “You have here a hungry and cold Magistrate. I believe I will step inside and warm myself with a bowl of heated millet spirits.”
    Liu Pu leaned over and whispered:
    “Laoye, there is a popular adage that ‘A man of high standing does not enter a lowly establishment.’ I urge you not to honor a roadside shop like this with your presence. I humbly submit that you would be better off returning to the yamen without delay, so as not to worry the First Lady.”
    “Even His Majesty the Emperor sometimes travels incognito to gauge the public mood,” I said. “I am a mere County Magistrate, far from high standing, so what harm can there be in drinking a bowl when I’m thirsty and eating rice when I’m hungry?”
    The bearers set down the chair in front of the shop; Sun Meiniang rushed up and got down on her knees as I stepped to the ground.
    “I beg Laoye’s