A Prophet - Chapter 8 (Part 3)
Chapter 3 - Who is Qiao Wumei
Back then, after Grandfather had walked a path between life and death to inherit the supreme position of the "Muzilian" sect, he acutely observed that times had changed, yet the "papercraft puppetry arts" had failed to keep pace with the era. They had been passed down for several centuries, remaining completely unchanged. Using the mindset of the Kangxi and Qianlong eras to swindle the public of the Republic of China era was simply courting a beating or seeking death. When pushed to extremities, one must change; change brings fluidity, and fluidity brings longevity. Grandfather began to ponder plans for reform.
Right at this critical juncture, an incident occurred within the Southern branch, the "Yuehaitang," and its 58-year-old leader, Qiao Wumei, passed away. This peerless beauty of Southern Guangdong, who had held the reins of the "Yuehaitang" since the twenty-eighth year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign, weathered the transitions of the Guangxu, Xuantong, and Republic eras, only to hastily conclude her life's journey in the end.
Qiao Wumei was by no means an ordinary person. Her ability to dominate Southern Guangdong for so many years stemmed from her rigorous professional training. Her spellcasting, ritual-performing, summoning of winds, and commanding of rain were genuine skills, and her entire family was a lineage of prodigies who toyed with astronomy! In her youth, Qiao Wumei had also longed to marry, have children, and live in peace, but ultimately, due to a momentary lapse in judgment, she stepped onto a crooked path and remained trapped for life, unable to extricate herself. All of this traced back to her grandfather, Qiao Chengren.
Qiao Chengren had once served as the Junior Vice Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau in the Great Qing Dynasty. The Imperial Astronomical Bureau was the ancient equivalent of the national astronomical observatory, specifically responsible for observing celestial phenomena, deducing solar terms, and establishing the calendar. The bureau held official posts such as the Director and Vice Directors—the Director being equivalent to the observatory's head, and the Vice Director serving as the deputy head.
During a calculation of the calendar, Vice Director Qiao made an error in his computations, causing the Xianfeng Emperor to miss the optimal viewing moment for a lunar eclipse while on an imperial tour of the Mulan hunting grounds. The Xianfeng Emperor did not consider the matter a major issue, but Cixi seized the opportunity to assert her authority, throwing Vice Director Qiao into prison and stripping all officials connected to the incident of their ranks down to commoner status.
It was only later discovered that this was not Vice Director Qiao's fault at all, but rather that Cixi had deliberately tampered with the calendar to make the Xianfeng Emperor miss the date, subsequently throwing Vice Director Qiao into confinement under the charge of deceiving the emperor.
Why did Cixi want to imprison Vice Director Qiao?
The Xianfeng Emperor was physically frail, addicted to alcohol and lust, and neglectful of state affairs, whereas Cixi possessed deep ambition and political maneuvering. Cixi knew full well that the Xianfeng Emperor did not have much time left. At the time, the Taiping Rebellion raged internally while the Anglo-French Allied Forces invaded externally, leaving the Great Qing empire on the verge of falling into the hands of others!
Late at night, Cixi held a secret meeting with Vice Director Qiao.
"May the Imperial Noble Consort inspect the truth. This old subject's calculations were entirely correct; I know not why His Majesty missed the hour," Vice Director Qiao still did not know this was Cixi's mischief.
Cixi smiled, beckoning the prison guard over to unlock Vice Director Qiao's cangue and shackles.
"The Vice Director has suffered."
Vice Director Qiao had no idea what Cixi was driving at.
After dismissing the attendants, Cixi gazed at Vice Director Qiao for a long time before speaking: "The Vice Director is deeply versed in astronomy and calendars, and must surely understand the heavenly principles that indicate the alternation of monarchs. In your view, will there be an alternation of monarchs within this year or the next?"
Upon hearing this, Vice Director Qiao was frightened into dropping to his knees: "This subject dares not! This subject dares not! His Majesty's civil virtues and martial achievements are boundless, and the Great Qing empire shall endure for ten thousand autumns!"
Cixi smiled faintly: "I have heard that before Wu Zetian claimed the Mandate of Heaven as emperor, the heavens frequently descended auspicious omens. Today, many officials of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau all declare that the master star among the ten stars is dim while the Venus star shines brilliantly. The Vice Director must have noticed this as well. I hope you will draft an essay on this matter; when the grand affairs are settled another day, you shall proclaim this essay to the entire world to demonstrate where the Mandate of Heaven truly resides."
Vice Director Qiao's heart skipped a beat: The Imperial Noble Consort intends to proclaim herself emperor?!
Vice Director Qiao replied: "Noble Consort, since the time of the Jiaqing Emperor, my Qiao family has served as officials for three generations, enjoying the court's emoluments generation after generation. We handle all matters with utmost prudence and have never dared to speak wildly. This subject truly has not perceived any sign of the master star dimming!"
Upon hearing this, Cixi smiled coldly, turned around, and walked away.
Knowing his days were numbered, Vice Director Qiao immediately penned a final testament. The prison guard, knowing Vice Director Qiao to be loyal to the sovereign, patriotic, and of pristine integrity, risked his life to smuggle the letter to Vice Director Qiao's family. In the letter, Vice Director Qiao confessed: "My life is coming to an end! My foolish son must recognize your father's loyal and righteous act! From this day forth, the descendants of the Qiao family shall never again enter the imperial court as officials! My foolish son, bear this firmly in mind and enjoin it upon all future generations!"
Two days later, Vice Director Qiao swallowed iron nails and ended his own life.
Fourteen years later, Qiao Wumei was born. When she grew up, her father handed her Vice Director Qiao's final testament to read. Only then did Qiao Wumei learn why her grandfather had died, and understand why her father forbade her several older brothers from sitting for the imperial examinations.
After the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government's power was severely weakened. Qiao Wumei acutely perceived that the day of the Great Qing's destruction was not far off; she wanted to place yet another straw upon the back of this dying camel. Only when the Great Qing perished could the Qiao family name be vindicated, and only then could her grandfather smile in the netherworld.
During the early days of the Boxer Rebellion, keeping it a secret from her father, Qiao Wumei secretly joined the Boxer women's organization known as the "Red Lantern Shining." The Boxers were divided into two factions: one was the official faction, and the other was the wild faction. The wild faction opposed the Qing, while the official faction supported the Qing; Qiao Wumei joined the wild faction.
Later, as the power of the Boxer Rebellion grew and expanded, the Boxers across the country gradually merged and interacted. Qiao Wumei met the 45-year-old Zhang Dancheng, who was then disguised as a divine trickster and serving as the chief altar protector under the faction of Zhu Hongdeng. The Boxer incantation known as the "Incantation to Block Fire and Scatter Sand" was invented by Zhang Dancheng. The incantation went: "Disciples in the red dust, block the gates of guns and cannons; when guns and cannons fire together, the sand splits to both sides."
It was evident that this incantation was meant to defend against bullets and cannon shells. When charging into battle, reciting this incantation would supposedly cause the bullets and cannon shells fired by the enemy to decompose into sand, falling with a rustling sound without any lethality whatsoever.
Such words, which nowadays appeared close to mental deficiency, were regarded at the time by the Boxer members as the ultimate secret to preserving their lives.
After interacting with Qiao Wumei a few times, Zhang Dancheng unexpectedly discovered that this girl in her early twenties was deeply versed in the methods of astronomy. How could he know that Qiao Wumei came from a rigorous professional background, with three generations of her ancestors specializing in astronomical research! Zhang Dancheng intended to groom her to become a disciple of the "Jiangxiang Sect."
Later, as the Boxers were continuously co-opted and pacified by the Qing government, Qiao Wumei gradually lost faith in the organization. Right at that critical juncture, Zhang Dancheng perceived Qiao Wumei's state of mind and revealed his true background to her. Only then did Qiao Wumei learn that behind Zhang Dancheng stood the "Jiangxiang Sect," and that it had been an organization dedicated to overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming since ancient times. Thus, the two hit it off immediately and grew closer and closer.
During the height of the Boxer Rebellion, many imperial princes, beiles, and young lords of the Qing court set up altars in their homes to perform rituals. Jiang Feiyan and Zhang Dancheng used their Boxer identities as a cover to willfully engage in swindling arts. Back then, among the four major regional dens—East, South, West, and North—Zhang Dancheng stirred up the most commotion. Seeing that the female Abao of the Southern branch, the "Yuehaitang," were growing increasingly weak, he utilized political maneuvering and alliances to unite with Kang Shaohua of the Northern branch and Duan Jinshan of the Western branch, propelling Qiao Wumei onto the throne as the supreme head of the "Yuehaitang."
Later, when Zhang Dancheng and Qiao Wumei jointly set up a scam to swindle a beile within the Qing imperial palace, someone unexpectedly "switched sides" midway. Zhang Dancheng lost a testicle, while Qiao Wumei was violated by several Qing soldiers and subsequently forced to swallow a large quantity of "persimmon calyx powder," causing severe damage to her reproductive system and resulting in lifelong infertility.
Whenever this matter was mentioned afterward, Zhang Dancheng would sigh unceasingly; it was a matter he could never let go of for the rest of his life.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Dancheng visited Qiao Wumei several times, but Qiao Wumei closed her doors and refused to see him. Toward the man who had single-handedly dragged her into the "Jiangxiang Sect," Qiao Wumei did not know whether she loved him or hated him.
As a woman, beneath Qiao Wumei's formidable and majestic exterior for many years lay buried an endless sea of sorrow and inferiority. The worldly joys of marrying a husband, having children, and enjoying domestic tranquility in one's twilight years were entirely cut off from her; she poured all her thoughts and energy into managing the "Yuehaitang," right up until her death.
She died of a sudden heart attack while sleeping in the night. The most difficult ailment to guard against in a person's life is heart disease; she was completely fine at dinner, went to sleep after eating, and barely an hour into her slumber, she suddenly felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her chest, forcing herself to sit up in endurance. A maid poured her a cup of water, but after taking a sip, she immediately choked on it, making the pain even more excruciating. Sweat poured down like rain, soaking her bedding. She wriggled out from under the covers, restless and unable to sit or lie in peace. The night-watch maids were terrified and frantically rushed to fetch Jiang Feiyan. Qiao Wumei clutched her chest as a maid held her. Eventually, the pain became utterly unbearable, and she reached out to scratch the wall, tearing off flakes of wall plaster before emitting a few miserable shrieks, straightening her body, and dying in the maid's arms.
Perhaps people always have omens before death. On New Year's Eve, Qiao Wumei had accidentally dropped a bowl; the ancients considered breaking items on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day to be highly inauspicious. After the arrival of spring, she used 50 yarrow stalks to divine a hexagram for herself using the "Dayan divination method," casting the "Pi" hexagram out of the sixty-four hexagrams—a heavily inauspicious hexagram, which plunged her into even deeper gloom. Jiang Feiyan had even comforted her: "When things reach an extreme, they reverse; the master's fortune is about to turn for the better!" Who would have thought that within a few months, she would pass away.
When people rushed over, the corpse had already grown gradually cold. Jiang Feiyan immediately instructed the servants to fetch the burial garments, though deep in her heart she knew it was already too late—burial garments had to be put on before a person stopped breathing. The ancients believed that the moment a person died, the soul immediately left the body, rendering anything put on afterward completely useless; whatever state a person was in at the exact moment of death was how they would appear as a ghost in the netherworld.
Qiao Wumei, who had spent every day adorned in gold and silver with boundless prestige, departed entirely naked. She would await the terrifying judgment of King Yama in the icy netherworld. This person who had once drawn talismans, recited incantations, pacified souls, and performed deliverance for countless others never dreamed she would die in such an absurd manner!
Jiang Feiyan touched Qiao Wumei's hand as hot tears streamed down. She had no time to grieve, because a far more serious matter lay right before her eyes.