"My dear, wife. While anxious until now that our daughter's marriage had not been settled, I paid careful attention to finding an excellent groom in this examination quarter, and indeed I have found one person.
This time's first place was taken by a man from Huainan named Yang So-yu, and I am told he is sixteen years old. Everyone who saw his examination essay praised him, saying he is without doubt a literary talent of the era, and moreover his bone structure is extraordinary and his bearing outstanding; they say he will become a great vessel in the future. Since he is also said not to have married yet, I think it would be good to take this man as our son-in-law.
Since ancient times, hearing with one's ears cannot match seeing with one's eyes; how can we believe all the praise of others? I think it would be good if my lord decided after seeing him personally."
The wife answered earnestly.
Jeong Sado thought his wife's words right and went outside.
Yang the Hanlim, Who Passed as First Place
After her father went out, Sojeo also returned to the detached quarters.
"Chun-rang, listen to me for a moment."
"Miss, has something good happened?"
"It is a rather strange matter. The female entertainer who played the geomungo previously was from Chu, about sixteen years old, and the one who placed first in this examination is said to be from Huainan. Huainan is the Chu of old, and the age is similar as well, so I keep growing suspicious. That first-place winner will come to pay his respects to Father within a few days; at that time, you must go out to the reception quarters and observe him carefully."
"But miss, this one did not see him last time, so in my foolish opinion, it might be better if the young lady personally peeks through the door crack."
After Chun-un answered and smiled, Sojeo also smiled.
Around this time, Yang So-yu was selected as first place in both the metropolitan and palace examinations, and soon rose to the Hanlin position. Then, among the nobles and high officials, those who had daughters of marriageable age competed with one another to propose marriage to So-yu, but So-yu refused them all. He then went to the Ministry of Rites to visit Gwon Sirang, expressed his wish to propose marriage to the Jeong Sado household, and requested that he act as a matchmaker. Sirang readily wrote a letter.
So-yu kept this and went to Jeong Sado's house to present his calling card. Jeong Sado welcomed him gladly and led him to the guest room. Yang Jangwon entered with a floral hairpin and musicians with wind and percussion instruments on both sides, so the beauty of his bearing and the courtesy of his manners made people unable to stop praising him.
Excluding only Sojeo, all the people of the household were bustling about watching, and Chun-un asked a maid of the inner quarters.
"I heard earlier what the master and the madam were saying—that Yang Jangwon is a relative of the female entertainer who played the geomungo previously. Are there any similarities to her appearance?"
Then the maids answered, competing to speak.
"Even if they were male and female cousins, how could they resemble each other so?"
At this, Chun-un ran to Sojeo.
"Miss, there is not the slightest deviation from your suspicion."
Hearing Chun-un's words, Sojeo gave another order.
"Go to the reception quarters now and listen to what he says, then return."
Chun-un went out to the reception quarters again, and returned after some time.
"The master proposed marriage to Yang Jangwon on miss's behalf. Thereupon Yang Jangwon expressed thanks and answered, 'Earlier I heard that the young lady possesses outstanding and elegant beauty. Unable to suppress a desire exceeding my station, yesterday morning I presumptuously went to Sirang with the thought of proposing marriage; Sirang wrote a letter and told me to present it to the master, so I kept it safe and came.' Then Yang Jangwon presented the letter with both hands, and seeing that the master was greatly pleased and entered the inner quarters to hasten the preparation of the welcoming feast, I ran here."
At Chun-un's words, Sojeo was surprised and was about to say something, when someone came from the inner quarters bearing the madam's order to summon Sojeo.
Sojeo entered the inner quarters, and the madam welcomed her with a joyful face.
"Yang So-yu the Hanlin is the foremost talented scholar of this examination, and your father has already arranged the engagement. Now I have nothing more to worry about."
As the madam took Sojeo's hand and spoke, Sojeo blushed and asked.
"Hearing what the maids said after seeing Yang Jangwon, they say his appearance is similar to the female entertainer who played the geomungo previously. Is it truly so?"
"Your words are indeed right. I could not forget that entertainer's elegant bearing, and always wished to see her once more; now, meeting Yang Jangwon, it was like seeing that entertainer again. Thus, you can imagine how beautiful and noble Yang Jangwon's bearing is."
The madam spoke with a deeply satisfied face, and Sojeo lowered her head and asked in a slender voice.
"Mother, even if Yang Jangwon possesses a bearing like elegant bone structure, it is impossible for him to be engaged to me."
"No, child. What do you mean?"
"I had a shameful matter with that person previously."
"Strange words I hear. You, who have never stepped outside the deep inner quarters, had a shameful matter with someone in Huainan? What do you mean?"
The madam frowned deeply and scolded her.
"Mother, I intended to tell you of this, but because it was extremely shameful, I have been unable to speak of it until now. The female entertainer who came here and played the geomungo was none other than Yang Jangwon. Master Yang, wearing the attire of a female entertainer, came under the pretext of playing the geomungo in order to see my appearance; having fallen into his scheme and exchanged words with him for half a day, how can I say there is no shameful matter between us?"
Sojeo finished speaking hesitantly. While the madam sat in silence trying to calm her surprised heart, Jeong Sado finished entertaining Yang Jangwon, saw him off, and entered the inner quarters.
Jeong Sado spoke to Sojeo with his face full of delight.
"Gyeongpae, today you are to ride a dragon; I am most pleased."
Then the madam told Jeong Sado what she had heard from Sojeo. Jeong Sado asked Sojeo again, and when Sojeo told even the story of playing the tune of the Phoenix Seeking Its Mate, Jeong Sado laughed heartily and said.
"Yang Jangwon is truly a man who knows the ways of romance. In ancient times, the scholar Wang Yu is said to have borrowed a musician's clothes and gone to Princess Taiping's palace to play the pipa; not long after, he placed first in the examination. Today, Yang Jangwon has done such a deed. To wear a female Taoist's clothes in order to seek a spouse is something only a person of extraordinary talent could do; how can we make an issue of a momentary jest? Moreover, you kept company with a female Taoist, and did not see Yang Jangwon, so it is right that you should no longer dwell on it."
Jeong Sojeo asked again.
"I was deceived by another in such a way, so I am truly resentful and do not know what to do with myself."
At this, Jeong Sado laughed again and said.
"That is not something for an old father to meddle in; later, you may ask Yang Jangwon about it yourself."
But the madam, who had been listening in silence, opened her mouth.
"When did Master Yang say it would be good to hold the wedding?"
To this, Sado answered.
"The napchae (the first rite of the old wedding ceremony) should be held quickly, but he wishes to hold the wedding after waiting for autumn and bringing his grandmother here."
Not long after, Jeong Sado chose an auspicious day to receive the betrothal gifts from the Hanlin Academician, and called him into the household, assigning him sleeping quarters in a detached quarters in the rear garden. Hanlin Academician Yang So-yu served Jeong Sado and his wife with the propriety of a son-in-law, and Jeong Sado and his wife also loved him more than their own child.
Jeong Sojeo's Clever Scheme
One day, Jeong Sojeo happened to pass by Chun-un's room and looked in; Chun-un had been embroidering on silk but, unable to overcome drowsiness, was dozing with her head on the embroidery frame.
Sojeo entered the room, looked at the silk and praised her skill. She then noticed a paper with writing on it fallen under the embroidery frame, and when she unfolded it, she saw that a poem had been written on it.
Meeting a fine jade-like person, I cherish having her near;
Step follows step, never able to part for a moment;
When the candle is extinguished and the sash is untied within silk curtains,
I shall let you sleep beneath the ivory bed.
After reading the poem, Sojeo spoke to herself.
"Chun-rang's literary talent has improved greatly. Taking the embroidered shoes as a metaphor for herself and the jade person as me, she spoke of never leaving my side. Now that I am to marry, she laments that the distance between us will grow.... Chun-rang truly follows me."
Then Sojeo read the poem once more and smiled.
"In this poem, Chun-rang wishes to climb onto the bed where I sleep; this means she intends to serve my husband together with me. Since this child's heart is thus, my heart can be no different."
After gazing upon the sleeping Chun-un's face, Sojeo carefully turned her steps and went to the inner quarters.
In the inner quarters, the madam was busy urging the maids to prepare Yang Hanlim's evening meal, so Sojeo asked.
"Mother, every day you worry about Yang Hanlim's food and clothing and tend to him personally, so I am always concerned for your precious health. I should undertake that burden in your stead, yet it would be contrary to etiquette and would only bring shame. Therefore, since Chun-un is now of an age sufficient to attend to Yang Jangwon, if you send that child to the detached quarters to take care of all Yang Jangwon's affairs, we might reduce your toil even a little."
Then the madam said.
"Chun-un's talents are astounding, so what task could she not do? However, her father rendered great service to our house, and moreover Chun-un's bearing is graceful, so your father will surely seek a worthy husband and send her off in marriage. Also, does Chun-un wish to serve you to the very end?"
Sojeo asked again.
"Having discerned Chun-un's heart, that child wishes never to part from me all her life."
The madam spoke cautiously.
"That a concubine follows when one marries is also in the ceremonial law, but Chun-un is not to be compared to ordinary maids; taking her as a concubine may not be called a far-sighted plan."
Sojeo asked again.
"Yang Hanlim, at sixteen years of age, borrowed the guise of a female entertainer to trifle with a noble daughter of a minister's house; judging by that spirit, how could he keep only one wife?
“If, in days to come, he enjoys the stipend of ten thousand zhong in the Chancellor’s residence, do you know how many Chunyun there may be in that house?”
At this time, Zheng Situ entered the inner hall. His wife received him and conveyed the young lady’s words to him.
“Though it is before our daughter’s wedding ceremony, Chunyun says she cannot bear to part from Jingpei, so it should be all right to send Chunyun ahead first. As he is a young man, even if spring passion arises, he will have no way to give it vent; thus it seems best to send Chunyun to the detached hall even a day sooner, to comfort Yang Gong’s lonely heart. Yet there may be even the slightest discontent in Jingpei’s mind, so how are we to keep from showing partiality? My lady, sound out Jingpei’s feelings and deal with the matter accordingly.”
At this, the young lady said to her mother,
“Mother, your daughter has one stratagem. Now I shall borrow Chunlang’s person to wash away the disgrace I suffered the other day. If we summon Shisanlang and have him do thus and thus, I believe we may wipe away that former humiliation.”
Shisanlang was Zheng Situ’s nephew.
Zheng Situ had many nephews, and among them Shisanlang was mild in nature and quick-witted, always skilled in jests and pranks, so they were on very intimate terms.
The young lady withdrew from the inner hall and called Chunyun.
“Since I welcomed you when I was young, our affection has grown deeper than that of sisters. When we played, we would quarrel over flower branches, each wanting to have the same one, and weep as we fought. Now that I have received betrothal gifts, I naturally cannot help asking what you intend for your own future. To what sort of person do you wish to entrust your life hereafter?”
Chunyun answered calmly,
“This girl has presumptuously received my lady’s warm affection and has lived until now without a single care. I know of no way to repay that great grace except to attend upon my lady’s dressing table until my life is spent.”
The young lady smiled at those words and replied,
“If so, there is one plan I wish to discuss with you. If not you, who will wash away the shame Yang Gong put upon me the other day? In a remote part of Zhongnan Mountain there is a mountain pavilion belonging to our family. The scenery there is incomparably beautiful, not like the mortal world. If you prepare a bridal chamber in that pavilion and wait, and Shisanlang uses a stratagem in such and such a manner, we shall be able to avenge the insult in some measure. I hope you will not begrudge this brief trouble.”
Chunyun answered,
“How could this girl disobey my lady’s command? Yet with what face shall I meet Yang Hanlin afterward?”
The young lady again smiled softly and told her,
“Is not the shame of deceiving another better than the shame of being deceived by another?”
At this, Chunyun too smiled together with the young lady.
At this time, Yang Hanlin had no other pressing duties apart from entering the palace for his turn on duty and attending court ceremonies; when his rotation was over, he had many idle days. Thus he would visit friends or go outside the city to enjoy the flowers. One day, Zheng Shisanlang came to see him.
“I was just thinking I should like to follow Brother Zheng out into the suburbs.”
So saying, the two prepared wine and food and went beyond the city walls. There the mountains were high and the waters clear, truly another world.
Strange blossoms and rare grasses gave off fragrance, piercing the noses of men of the dusty world and making them forget worldly thoughts.
Hanlin sat with Zheng Sheng where a clear stream flowed, exchanging cups and composing poems.
It was just early summer; a hundred kinds of flowers bloomed splendidly, and slender willow branches were reflected on the water. Suddenly a single blossom drifted down the stream, and Hanlin recited the line, “When spring comes, this must be peach-blossom water.”
“Surely there must be a Wuling Peach Blossom Spring somewhere here!”
At this, Zheng Sheng replied,
“This water flows down from Zijue Peak. I heard in former days that when flowers bloom and the moon is bright, people have sometimes heard the music of immortals sounding among the clouds. But perhaps because I have no affinity with the Way of Immortals, I have never yet even entered that grotto mouth. Today, having come this far with you, Brother, I wish to follow in your footsteps to the realm of immortals, eat the elixir of immortals, and taste the wine of jade maidens.”
At this, Hanlin said gladly,
“If there are no immortals under heaven, then so be it; but if there are, we shall meet them in these mountains.”
They were about to seek out Zijue Peak and look around when a servant from Zheng Sheng’s household came running up in great haste and reported,
“A grave matter, sir. Just now, the mistress’s illness has become critical.”
At this, Zheng Sheng quickly rose and said to Yang Gong,
“Since my wife’s illness is said to be so grave, I must go at once. It seems I am fated to have no bond with immortals.”
Yang Hanlin’s Meeting with the Fairy Maiden
After Zheng Sheng left, Yang Hanlin sat for a while in boredom, but as the flush of wine had not yet left him, he followed the stream into the grotto entrance. The farther he climbed, the purer the water and stones became, without a speck of dust; his heart naturally felt refreshed, and he wandered on alone. Then a single red cassia leaf came floating down upon the water.
Yang Sheng scooped up the cassia leaf and saw that several characters were written on it. Looking closely, he found it was a poem.
An immortal’s shaggy dog barks beyond the clouds, and I know:
It is Yang Lang’s coming.
Hanlin found this strange. Looking around him, he said,
“What sort of person lives upon this mountain, and who could have written these words?”
Thereupon Yang Hanlin began to go deeper and deeper into the mountains. The farther he went, the more perilous it became; the sun set, and the moon rose bright.
Yang Sheng followed the moonlight, pushing through the woods and crossing the stream as he went forward. Startled mountain birds only fluttered up, and all around was still. Before he knew it, night had fallen.
Yang Sheng, flustered and at a loss, carefully looked around and saw, by the stream some distance ahead, a little girl of about ten years old washing clothes.
“My lady, the gentleman has come.”
Hanlin heard this and thought it strange. Advancing several dozen paces, he saw before his eyes a pavilion that seemed ready to fly away, truly a place where an immortal might dwell.
A woman stood like a painting beneath a blue peach tree in the moonlight, then courteously received Hanlin.
“Yang Lang, why have you come so very late?”
Hanlin was startled, stopped in his tracks, and looked at the woman. She wore a robe of red silk; in her hair was a kingfisher-green hairpin, at her waist hung a white jade pendant, and in her hand she held a phoenix-tail fan. Her bearing was graceful and fresh, not that of a mortal of this world.
Yang Hanlin hastily bowed to the beauty and answered,
“I am a man of the confused mortal world and have never formed a moonlit bond with you. Why, then, do you reproach me for coming late?”
At this, the woman invited him to go up into the pavilion to talk. Yang Sheng followed the beauty up into the pavilion and sat down, whereupon the beauty called the little girl.
“The gentleman must be hungry after coming such a long way, so bring up tea and refreshments.”
Receiving the beauty’s order, the little girl scampered off to the kitchen, then set rare delicacies upon a jeweled table and brought purple-cloud wine in white jade cups. When Hanlin drank a cup, its flavor was fresh and cool, and his spirit became clear and carefree.
“Though this mountain may be high, it still lies beneath heaven. Fairy maiden, why have you left your dwelling in the Jade Capital and come to live in the dusty world?”
“When I speak of the past, sorrow comes first. This humble concubine was a maidservant of the Queen Mother of the West, and you, my lord, were an immortal official of Ziwei Palace. One day, the Jade Emperor invited the Queen Mother and held a banquet. At that time many immortal officials gathered, and you, my lord, chanced to see me and tossed an immortal fruit to tease me. For that, I was punished and exiled here, where I have lived. You, my lord, are merely veiled by the dust and smoke of the human world and do not remember the affairs of your former life. Now the time has come for this humble concubine’s exile to be lifted, and I am soon to return to Yaochi; thus I was waiting in hopes of seeing you once and giving expression to our old affection. I knew you would come here, my lord, and have been waiting.
Now that I have seen you, my lord, I wish to renew the bond of former days.”
At this time, the shadows of the cassia trees were slanting, and the Silver River had tilted westward, so Hanlin led the beauty to bed. It was much like when Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao came to Tiantai Mountain in ancient times and formed bonds with fairy maidens.
Yang Gong spent a night with the fairy maiden that was like a dream yet not a dream, seeming real yet not real. No sooner had Yang Gong barely given full rein to their tender affection than the mountain birds were already chirping among the flowered branches, and the east had grown bright. The fairy maiden rose first and said to Hanlin,
“Today is the day this humble concubine ascends to heaven. When they come to receive me, bearing the decree of the Supreme Emperor and arrayed with banners, if they know you are here, my lord, both you and I will incur guilt. Therefore, my lord, please leave this place quickly. If you do not forget our old affection, there will be a day when we meet again.”
So saying, the fairy maiden wrote a poem on a silk handkerchief and gave it to Hanlin.
When we met, flowers filled the heavens;
When we part, flowers lie upon the earth.
The spring light is like something in a dream;
A thousand li of Ruoshui stretch far and dim.
When Hanlin read those words, the sorrow of parting was far too great; he tore the edge of his sleeve and wrote a poem in reply, giving it to the fairy maiden.
The wind of heaven blows through jade pendants;
Why do the white clouds scatter so?
O rainy night of Wushan,
I pray you wet King Xiang’s robe.
The fairy maiden received it reverently with both hands and read it. Then, parting her lovely lips, she said to Hanlin,
“The moon hides among beautiful trees, and frost flies in the Moon Palace; to have depicted scenes ninety thousand li away—perhaps only this writing has done so.”
After saying this, she hid it in her scented pouch and urged him again,
“The time for you to depart is already upon us, so please leave at once, my lord.”
Hanlin wiped his eyes with his sleeve, urged her to take care of herself, and then parted from the fairy maiden.
When Hanlin came out beyond the woods and looked back at the pavilion, green trees were layered upon one another and white clouds lay thick, as though he had awakened from a dream in a remote land. He returned to the detached hall and sighed alone.
“They said today was the day the immortal maiden’s exile would be lifted. Had I hidden myself in the mountains and watched the many immortal officials come to welcome her away, it would not have been too late to return afterward… How could I have come back so thoughtlessly?”
So he sighed.
Hanlim could not sleep well, and at daybreak he rose early, took his boy attendant with him, and went again to the place where he had met the immortal maiden the day before. Yet though the peach blossoms were as they had been yesterday, and the stream, too, was no different from yesterday, the pavilion stood empty.
Hanlim traced the maiden’s lingering presence and searched the pavilion thoroughly, then leaned on the railing, gazed at the blue clouds, and sighed.
“The immortal maiden must have ridden those five-colored clouds to go and pay her respects to the Supreme Emperor. What use is there in my gazing after her, no matter how long I look?”
With that, he descended from the pavilion, leaned against a peach tree, and shed tears, saying, “Only these flowers will understand my boundless sorrow.”
Hanlim moved his weary feet away.
The Immortal Maiden Becomes a Ghost
One day, Zheng Shisanlang came to Yang Hanlim’s detached residence.
“The other day, because of my wife’s illness, I was deeply sorry that I could not enjoy myself with you to the very end. Even now, the willow shade in the long grove outside the city is splendid. How would it be if we went out, made merry for a while, and listened together to the orioles’ song?”
At this, Yang Hanlim readily agreed.
“Green shade and fragrant grasses must be better than the season of flowers!”
The two men immediately went outside the city, settled themselves beneath a dense wood, and began drinking, counting turns with flowering branches.
As Yang Hanlim drank, he suddenly looked toward one place and saw a desolate grave. Mugwort and weeds grew thickly over it, swaying in the mournful wind, and two or three blossoms bloomed untended there, visible between the trees. Stirred by drunken feeling, Hanlim pointed at the grave and said,
“Whether a man is noble or lowly, worthy or foolish, once he dies, he returns to earth. They say that long ago, even Lord Mengchang, with all his wealth and honor, shed tears at the strains of Yongmen’s zither when he heard the words, ‘After a thousand, ten thousand years, woodcutters and shepherd boys will romp atop the grave, saying, “So this is Lord Mengchang’s tomb.”’ How, then, should one not drink to one’s heart’s content while still alive?”
“Perhaps you do not know the origin of that grave. It is the grave of Zhang Liniang. Liniang’s beautiful complexion was famed throughout the world, so people called her Zhang Lihua; but unhappily, she died in the flower of youth at twenty and was buried here. Afterward, people pitied her and planted flowers and willows before her grave as a marker, to console her lamentable death. Since that is so, how would it be if the two of us also poured a cup of wine each and comforted her fragrant soul?”
Hanlim was by nature a tenderhearted man, and at once he agreed.
“Your words are perfectly right.”
Then the two of them went side by side to the front of the grave, poured wine, and each composed verses to mourn the lonely spirit.
First, Hanlim’s poem was:
Her lovely bearing once could topple kingdoms;
Her fragrant soul has risen to the heavens.
The mountain birds have learned her zither strings,
And wildflowers carry on her gauze and brocade.
Over the old grave, vainly, spring grasses grow;
In the empty tower, dusk smoke gathers by itself.
That ancient song of Qin River—
To whose house is it now attached?
Scholar Zheng then recited as follows:
I ask of this place of former splendor:
Whose beautiful maiden was she?
The famed courtesan Su Xiaoxiao’s house lies desolate,
And Xue Tao’s villa, too, is silent.
The grasses resemble the hue of a gauze skirt,
The flowers hold the scent of a treasured beauty mark.
Though I call her fragrant soul, I cannot find it;
Only evening crows are flying to and fro.
After the two had each chanted a poem in clear, ringing voices, Scholar Zheng walked alone around the grave. In a gap where the grave turf had fallen away, he picked up and read a piece of white silk with writing on it, then said to Scholar Yang,
“Who could have composed such a poem and placed it in Zhang Liniang’s grave?”
When Hanlim took the silk and looked at it, he saw that it was the very piece he had torn from the cuff of his sleeve the other day, written a poem upon, and given to the immortal maiden. Yang Hanlim was so startled he nearly dropped the cloth.
“Then does this mean the beauty I met in the immortal pavilion before was Zhang Liniang’s spirit?”
Thinking this, cold sweat ran down his spine, and he could not steady his heart.
But then he thought again, “If an immortal is a bond decreed by Heaven, and a ghost too is a bond decreed by Heaven, what need is there to distinguish between an immortal maiden and a ghost?”
At that moment, while Scholar Zheng rose and gazed toward the woods, Scholar Yang poured a cup of wine over the grave and prayed inwardly.
“Though the realms of the living and the dead are different, there is no gap in affection. I only pray that your fragrant spirit will look down upon this small sincerity and tonight allow our old bond to continue once more.”
After Scholar Yang finished his prayer, he returned home together with Scholar Zheng.
Scholar Yang lay alone in the detached residence, yearning earnestly for the beauty, and it did not seem he would easily fall asleep.
At that time, moonlight shone through the blinds, tree shadows filled the window, and all around was still. Suddenly, there came the unmistakable sound of footsteps. When Hanlim opened the door and looked out, it was the immortal maiden he had met on Jagak Peak, with whom he had formed a bond.
Yang Hanlim was at once startled and delighted. He flung the door wide open and rushed out, intending to take the beauty’s slender hand and lead her inside, but the beauty raised her hand and declined.
“My lord, since you already know this humble woman’s true nature, I fear you cannot be wholly pleased. When first I met you, I wished to tell you, but fearing that you might be frightened, I falsely said I was an immortal maiden and received your affection for one night. Thus, my honor was complete, and your feeling for me was already boundless; it seemed as though a severed soul had been joined again and rotted flesh had come back to life. Today, you came again to my grave, poured wine in sacrifice, and recited poems to comfort an ownerless, lonely spirit. I was so deeply moved that, wishing to thank you for your grace and speak even a little of my sincerity, I have stopped by for a moment. How would I dare, with this decayed body, draw near again to the body of a gentleman?”