Su Kunsheng left Nanjing and headed for his hometown in Henan Province on a donkey. When he reached the Yellow River, Su met a large group of deserters from the imperial army fleeing in panic. He learned that they had been defeated by the Manchu troops, who had already crossed the Shanhaiguan Pass. Just as Su Kunsheng was about to turn around and return, the deserters rushed over, took away his donkey and pushed him into the river. At this critical moment, with Li Xiangjun’s entrustment in mind, he put the fan in a cloth handkerchief and raised it above his head for fear that it would be soaked by the river. He struggled in the water and called for help. Fortunately he was soon salvaged by a fisherman. Once on board, Su noticed a woman sitting with him in the boat. This woman looked and sounded so familiar that he took a closer look . To his great surprise, it was Li Zhenli. Naturally, he had never expected to meet her there. Miss Li told him her story.
Tian Yang’s first wife was a ferocious woman. She was so jealous of Miss Li marrying Tian Yan that one day she and her maidservants dragged Miss Li out of the bridal chamber and beat her, leaving her half dead. Tian Yang was then coerced into driving his new wife away. Tian Yang hated to see the pretty Zhenli go but he did not have enough nerve to do what he pleased in front of his first wife so he married Zhenli off to an old soldier. Today, the old soldier was taking a boat with his wife to deliver official documents to places along the river. As she sat in the boat and watched the quarreling deserters at the ferry crossing, Zhenli met Su Kunsheng purely by chance.
They talked about what had happened since they had parted. It had been a long time and they both had so much to say. They talked loudly and excitedly. Their voices drew the attention of someone sitting in the adjacent boat. This man was Hou Fangyu.
Half a year had elapsed since Hou Fangyu had followed Gao Jie to defend Kaifeng and Luoyang. Just as General Shi Kefa expected, when they arrived in Henan Province, Gao Jie treated the local commander with contempt. Xu Dingguo, the garrison general of Huaizhou was a treacherous man who claimed to command a powerful army of one hundred thousand soldiers. However, when Gao Jie inspected the troops, he found that the majority of these so-called powerful soldiers were either old, weak, sick or disabled. Many were just civilians who had been recruited to make up the numbers. The number of able-bodied men in Xu’s army was therefore far less than he had previously claimed. He faked the number of soldiers both to enhance his reputation and to embezzle the soldiers’ pay. Gao Jie severely reproached Xu Dingguo, who henceforth bore a grudge against the General.
One day, Xu Dingguo invited Gao Jie to drink with him in Suizhou. Fearing that Xu Dingguo had ulterior motives and that the invitation might be a trap, Hou Fangyu advised Gao Jie time and again not to attend the banquet. However, Gao Jie had always considered himself a hero and he looked down on Xu Dingguo. He therefore ignored Hou Fangyu’s advice and travelled to Suizhou to attend the banquet, accompanied by his attendants and trusted military forces.
As Hou Fangyu had predicted, Xu Dingguo’s banquet was indeed a trap. As planned, Xu sent out a signal during the banquet and thereupon a group of soldiers, armed with swords and axes killed Gao Jie and his entourage. Xu Dingguo then dispatched his attendants to present Gao Jie’s head to the Manchus troops as a gift and guided them across the frozen Yellow River overnight.
At that time, only half the country remained unoccupied by enemy and the Yellow River had become the last natural barrier.
With the collapse of the Yellow River defence, the garrison generals broke down. They and their men fled in chaos. With no way out and feeling helpless, Hou Fangyu escaped into the mountains. After a month of hidding , he and his two ser vants headed for Nanjing by boat. On the way to the capital, Hou felt ashamed and remorseful for his failure to live up to General Shi Kefa’s trust as he saw the defeated and fleeing troops of the Ming Dynasty. When they arrived at Luliangbin, to the southeast of Xuzhou, a great storm prevented the vessel from sailing further. The only option was for them to moor beside an official ferry at a crossing up ahead, to take a rest and wait for the storm to subside.
Hou Fangyu felt tired and unhappy as he lay in his cabin to rest. Suddenly, he heard the voices of a man and a woman in the adjacent boat. As the noise of their chatting became louder and louder, they irritated Hou until he noticed a familiarity in their voices. He listened carefully and finally recognized the voice of the man to be that of Su Kunsheng, who had previously taught Li Xiangjun Kunqu opera. The woman’s voice sounded familiar too but Hou was unable to tell who she was. Hou Fangyu boldly shouted out to the man, “Is that Su Kunsheng?” “Yes”, the man replied, exiting his cabin. Hou gazed at him and found that it really was Su Kunsheng. He was overjoyed.
Su Kunsheng was also pleasantly surprised to see Hou: “Is it really you, Scholar Hou?” I have been looking for you everywhere and never expected to see you here! Thank God! Come aboard our boat, there is someone else you should meet!”
Hou Fangyu boarded the boat and saw Li Zhenli sitting in the cabin. Seeing Xiangjun’s foster mother at a place like this, he was both jubilant and anxious. The three old friends were overjoyed to be together again and Hou could not wait to inquire about Xiangjun. Li Zhenli tearfully recounted Xiangjun’s painful experiences since Hou had left the Meixiang House. Su Kunsheng then handed Hou the fan with the peach blossoms and told him the story behind the flowers. While he listened to the story, Hou Fangyu gripped the fan tightly and was unable to hold back his tears.
The three friends chatted through the night. By the following morning , the weather improved and the wind stopped. Hou Fangyu and Su Kunsheng said goodbye to Li Zhenli and headed for Nanjing. Upon arrival, they put up for the night in a hotel. The next day, Hou asked Su to stay at the hotel and look after the luggage while he went to the Meixiang House alone.
