Spring Pearl: The Last Flower

The Power Behind the Throne

After the men leave, Spring Pearl sits in the garden for a while. Their words circle around her head, replaying through her mind. Not only is Spring Pearl a weed, but she’s also a monster that nobody wants. Spring Pearl touches her hair and then her shabby clothes. She supposes that Master Sung’s friends would prefer someone like Miss Emerald. But it wasn’t in Spring Pearl to be pampered like a little pet.

Spring Pearl feels tears begin to sting her eyes. If there’s one thing she hates, it’s self-pity. She notices a weed sticking up between the tiny greenish-white flowers, and she reaches down and begins tugging.

Suddenly, Mistress Sung comes out of a building. She comments that Spring Pearl is pulling a useful plant. Spring Pearl watches uneasily as Mistress Sung walks toward her, sure she’s about to receive a lecture on how she’s shaming her father.

Instead, Mistress Sung squats beside Spring Pearl. She explains that Spring Pearl is pulling the “fragrant tiger bone.” She crushes the plant between her hands and holds out a palm for Spring Pearl to smell. It’s a pungent, but not unpleasant, odor. Mistress Sung explains that country folk use it for mosquito bites and even sunburn. It’s tough, hardy, and can survive in many places where other plants cannot. It is also called “goosefoot.” Mistress Sung turns and cups the camellia plant between her fingertips. She asks Spring Pearl if she planted it.

Hastily, Spring Pearl says she hopes it’s all right that she did. Spring Pearl knows it’s a common plant but… After a moment of silence, Spring Pearl says she’ll go clean up. Mistress Sung stops her. She tells her not to bother with their visitors. People always used to say it was a shame that Mistress Sung was born a girl, too. But she recalls one time, when her father said “a weed is a plant that hasn’t found its home yet.” Sometimes a seed blows into a rice field and it’s a nuisance. But sometimes it blows into an herb garden, and it becomes a joy. Mistress Sung explains that her father was a farmer. She once had mud between her toes just like Spring Pearl. But she was determined to be a wife Master Sung would be proud of, so she learned a few things.

Spring Pearl takes this to heart. Perhaps she is an odd creature at the Sungs’ house, but surely there’s a place for her somewhere. She asks Mistress Sung if she’ll teach her how to make the insect bite ointment out of the goosefoot. Mistress Sung, nodding, says that it always worked better than any new-fangled ointment the doctor gave her.

After a few moments of silence, Mistress Sung apologizes for how she treated Spring Pearl when she arrived. She explains that her husband’s scholarly friends are always taking advantage of him. They’re constantly borrowing money and never paying back. Mistress Sung wanted to protect her husband, just in case Spring Pearl was just another one of the leeches.

Although Spring Pearl is terrible at sewing, and Mistress Sung doubts she’ll ever improve, what Master Sung really needs at this time is another clerk. Specifically, they need a clerk who can read and write. In fact, Mistress Sung would prefer it if it was somebody that was inside the household, and not a stranger. In addition, reassigning Spring Pearl to this job would spare the staffs’ feet.

Spring Pearl is grateful that she’ll not only be allowed to stay, but she won’t have to sew anymore. Mistress Sung advises her to clean herself up, and come to her husband’s study. They must begin immediately. And, when Spring Pearl isn’t working, she’s welcome to work on the garden. But, she must wear a hat. A daughter of a scholar should not be as tanned as a field hand.

When Mistress Sung leaves, Spring Pearl feels happier than she had since she arrived. She may not be as elegant as Miss Emerald, but even a weed girl has her uses!

After washing and changing, Spring Pearl goes to the study. Mistress Sung seems quite at home sitting behind her husband’s desk. When Mistress Sung asks why Spring Pearl dressed up, Spring Pearl comments that her other gown is dirty. Mistress Sung frowns. They didn’t have more robes made for Spring Pearl? Spring Pearl shakes her head, and Mistress Sung exclaims that her first clerical duty will be to make a note for more dresses to be made for her. The maids will get silk from the storage room. Even a Rat has a right to clothes.

Spring Pearl begins to think there’s not much that Mistress Sung misses. Then, Mistress Sung picks up a stack of papers. She says that her husband doesn’t mind if Mistress Sung looks at them. She often helps her husband with his many business affairs. Although she can neither read nor write, she isn’t stupid. However, it must be their secret. She must respect her husband’s face outside of the study.

Slowly, the two make their way through the letters and replies. Mistress Sung is very shrewd. Her husband is wise to trust her with his affairs. Spring Pearl thought she had understood the Sung household, but over the next month, she realizes how little she’d really seen. A household has as many currents and eddies as a river. She thought Master Sung was like an emperor who gave commands. However, with Mistress Sung’s help, Spring Pearl sees Master Sung is more like an acrobat trying to balance on a tall stack of chairs. He has to keep a household happy even on a lower budget. And though his official business is silk, he has his finger in many other dumplings. She’s also happy to see that he likes to do business only with foreign merchants like Mr. Fortescue, who don’t deal in opium.

Meanwhile, Master Sung is busy with the tax protest. Many of the merchants in the city are opposed to paying for war that they believe would never happen. He seems to always be rushing to or returning from a meeting. That left most of the business matters to Mistress Sung, and therefore, to Spring Pearl. Mistress Sung also shows Spring Pearl that money is as difficult to keep as it is to make.

But they say that the nail that sticks out gets hammered. And Master Sung sticks out most of all. So naturally, the government decides to smash him first.