Miss Li Xiangjun and the other courtesans fled the imperial palace on the evening of 10th May. She could not run fast because of her bound feet [Foot binding was an old custom practiced among the ethnic Han girls and women in mostly northern parts of China for approximately one thousand years.], so she fell behind and was soon separated from the crowd. At the sight of the chaos and the crowded streets, she had no idea where to go and dared not follow the fleeing masses. Finally, she decided to return to her familiar Meixiang House.
Lan Ying , the painter living at the Meixiang House, was unaware of the happenings outside because he was utterly immersed in his work. Hearing a knock at the door, Lan Ying stopped painting and opened the door. After they introduced each other, he knew that the woman standing before him was the famous Li Xiangjun. He hurriedly guided Li into the room, where she informed him that the Emperor and court officials had fled, the Southern Ming Dynasty had perished and the populace was running for their lives. As they talked, there was a knock at the door. Yang Wencong came in and shouted, “There is no time for you two to have a leisure chat here! Oh, is that Xiangjun? I have not seen you for such a long time! But I have no time to talk with you now. We must flee immediately! The Manchus will enter the city in no time”.
As he spoke to Lan Ying and Li Xiangjun, Yang Wencong packed his calligraphy and paintings, which he had stored at the Meixiang House.
“Master Yang, where do you plan to go”, Li Xiangjun asked. Yang replied, “As far away as I can possibly r un. My hometown in Guiyang, I expect.”
Miss Li Xiangjun could hold back her tears no more, “Scholar Hou is in prison and has yet to return. Now even you are planning to return to your hometown. I will be left here alone. What am I supposed to do and who will take care of the Meixiang House?
Yang Wencong said, “The city is in the chaos of war. Even father and son couldn’t look after each other. In times like this we must take care of nobody but ourselves. Let’s quickly run for our lives!”
Miss Li was worried for her own safety, but she was also concerned about the imprisoned Hou. There was nowhere for her to hide even if she wanted to run. At that moment, a man came in. It was Su Kunsheng.
Su Kunsheng was overjoyed to see Li Xiang jun and he hastily asked, “Why is Scholar Hou not here?”
“How could he be here when he is still in prison?” Yang asked in reply.
Su Kunsheng retorted, “No! While I was in Zuo’s encampment, I heard that Nanjing was in danger so I left there and hurried back here overnight. When I passed the prison, I saw the gate was open with prisoners long gone. I presumed that Scholar Hou had fled too and that he would certainly come to the Meixiang House. So, here I am. God knows why Hou has not arrived. Could it be that something bad has befallen him?
At these words, Li Xiangjun started to weep, fearing that Hou Fangyu had indeed run into trouble.
Yang Wencong was keen to run for his life but he dared not to for fear of hurting Lian Ying and Li Xiangjun’s feelings. Now that Su Kunsheng was here, he was relieved and ready to get away so he said, “Xiangjun, now that you have a your mentor to accompany you, I really must leave Nanjing now. Mr. Lan, pack your luggage and come with me, if you will”.
Lan Ying darted a look at Yang and told him coldly, “I live in Hangzhou. How could I go so far away with you?” Then, he turned to Li Xiangjun and comforted her, “Don’t worry about Scholar Hou. He’s going to be alright. Let’s go find him.”
She replied, “I would be willing to go to the ends of the earth to find him!”
Lan Ying nodded his head in appreciation and said, “As there are enemy troops in the northwest, it would be impossible for Hou to cross the river and travel north. I suggest we go southwest and into the mountains to find him”.
Su Kunsheng said, “Since Xiangjun is determined to look for Scholar Hou, and I also plan to seek refuge in mountains, I will go with you. However, I have no idea which route to take”.
Lan Ying said, “Qixia Mountain is largely uninhabited and I know a man called Zhang Yaoxing, who is retired and practicing Taoism there. I was planning to visit him and take him as my teacher. Why don’t we go together?”
Having decided on the route and itinerary, they packed their baggage and left the Meixiang House.
It was dark by the time they arrived at Qixia Mountain so they found a nunnery to put up for the night and later settled down. After some time, Lan Ying found Zhang Yaoxing and became his pupil. Su Kunsheng kept himself busy by chopping and gathering firewood and inquiring about Scholar Hou. Two months quickly elapsed, but there was still no news of Hou”.
One evening, while Miss Li was chatting and doing some needlework, she heard someone knocking at the gate. She went out into the yard and asked who it was. Xiangjun was told that they were two passersby looking for a place to stay. Miss Li did not open the gate because by the sound of it they were two men and Su Kunsheng was not in at that time. She politely refused them accommodation on the grounds that this was a nunnery run by women, and that no male travelers were permitted to stay for the night.
What Miss Li could never have guessed was that she knew these two men quite well. The first was Hou Fangyu, the man for whom she had been looking so eagerly. The second was his friend Liu Jingting, the man who by General Zuo’s order had come to Nanjing to submit a memorandum and a denunciation letter to the Emperor, but was arrested by Ma Shiying and imprisoned by the secret service. The two had fled the prison together in the chaos. Having hid in the city for several days, Hou had planned to cross the Yangtze River to seek refuge from General Shi Kefa. When they arrived at the riverbank, Hou saw a group of men weeping bitterly. The men told him that Yangzhou city had fallen and General Shi Kefa had been martyred. Hou was overcome with sadness at the news. Since there was no point crossing the river, the two men decided to find a quiet place in the Qixia Mountain and hide there for some time. By the time they arrived at the mountain, it was getting dark and the wind was biting so they had hurried to the nunnery to stay for the night. Unexpectedly, their request for lodging was refused.
