Summary

In “The Golden Cangue,” two servants of the Chiang household talk about how Ts’ao Ch’i-ch’iao came from a family that owned a sesame oil shop. Her family was considered to be of low status and she was destined to be a concubine until it was decided to marry her to the crippled second son in the Chiang family.

According to the servants, Ch’i-ch’iao not only used vulgar language but also smoked opium with her husband. She complained when she joined her sisters-in-law that morning that she had been given a dark room in the new house because her husband was going to die soon and was unable to stand up for her and her children. Her sisters-in-law accused her of being crazy and impertinent.

In the course of this morning alone, Ch’i-ch’iao stirred up trouble...