When His Majesty recited the writing, it read:
The silk fan is round as the autumn moon is round;
Once I thought to face, in Gorak, a countenance ashamed.
Had I known from the first that, though so near, we would not know each other,
I would suddenly regret having let him look so closely.
When His Majesty had finished reading, he said,
"Lady Jin must surely have some private circumstance. Where, and with whom, did she meet, that her meaning should be like this? Her talent is indeed too precious to waste, and ought also to be encouraged."
Then he commanded a eunuch to summon the Lady Jin, and she prostrated herself in the courtyard and begged for punishment.
"If you report the truth as it is, I shall pardon your offense. With whom do you have a private attachment?"
Lady Jin knocked her head to the ground and replied,
"How would this humble concubine dare conceal anything? It was before my household fell to ruin.
When Yang Soyu was on his way to take the examinations, he happened to pass alone before my eyes; by chance we saw each other and exchanged verses to the Yangliu ci. I sent my nurse to make a pledge of betrothal with him. The other day, when I attended at Penglai Hall, this humble concubine was able to recognize him as an old acquaintance, but Yang Soyu did not know me. Thus, grieving over the affairs of the past, I disorderly traced those characters. Since Your Majesty has seen them, my crime would not be regretted even if I were to die."
His Majesty pitied her feelings and said,
"Then can you remember the matter of betrothing yourselves through the Yangliu ci?"
Lady Jin at once wrote out the Yangliu ci and presented it. His Majesty granted his permission, saying, "Your crime is grave, but your talent is precious; moreover, Princess Nanyang loves you deeply. For that reason I specially pardon you. Serve the princess with all your sincerity, and do not betray your original heart."
He at once bestowed the fan upon her, and Lady Jin, awed and grateful, gave thanks and withdrew.
When the Prince of Yue returned from the house of Jeong Sado and reported to the Empress Dowager that Yang Soyu had already sent the betrothal gifts, the Empress Dowager frowned and said,
"Yang Soyu’s office has risen to Minister. He ought to know the propriety of the court; how can his obstinacy be like this?"
His Majesty answered,
"Sending betrothal gifts is not the same as completing the rites. If I personally admonish him, he cannot but listen."
The next day he summoned Yang Soyu and said to him, "We have one younger sister, whose bearing is extraordinary; there is no one but you worthy to be her match. Thus We had the Prince of Yue convey Our intention, but We hear that you made the excuse of having sent betrothal gifts. You are exceedingly thoughtless. In ancient times, when rulers selected imperial sons-in-law, they sometimes drove out the lawful wife; for that reason Wang Xianzhi, calligrapher of Jin, regretted it all his life, while only Song Hong refused to accept the sovereign’s command. But Our intention is not like that, so how could it be more contrary to propriety than others? Now, even if you postpone the marriage with Lady Jeong, Lady Jeong has a place to go, and you have not yet performed the wedding rites, so what injury would there be to the moral order?"
The Minister knocked his head to the ground and said,
"Your Sacred Majesty not only does not punish my offense, but instead patiently instructs me as though I were a son before his father. I am moved beyond measure and have no words left to report. However, my circumstances differ from those of others. As a poor scholar from the provinces, when I came to the capital, I had nowhere to rely upon; through the kindness of Jeong Sado, I not only sent betrothal gifts to his young lady, but also fixed with the Sado the relation of father-in-law and son-in-law. Moreover, we have already seen each other’s faces, and clearly there is between us the bond of husband and wife. That the rites have not yet been completed is because affairs of state have been many, and I had no leisure to bring my mother here. Now, fortunately, the frontier tribes have submitted, and there is no further anxiety at the border, so I was just about to obtain leave, return to my country home, bring my aged mother, and then choose an auspicious day to complete the rites. Unexpectedly, Your Imperial Majesty has bestowed this command upon your humble servant; I am fearful and bewildered, and do not know what to do.
If I, out of fear of punishment, obey the command, then Lady Jeong will die before going elsewhere. If one woman loses her path, would that not become a flaw in the kingly transformation?"
His Majesty said,
"Though your feelings are pitiable, you are a pillar minister of the state, timber fit for beams and ridgepole. Not only do you accord with Our intention, but the Empress Dowager has already admired your appearance and virtue, and personally presides over the marriage. You cannot firmly decline. Yet marriage is a great matter of human relations and must not be treated lightly; for the moment, We shall pass the time by playing go with you."
He ordered a eunuch to bring in the go board, and sovereign and subject contested victory and defeat with each other until the day had grown dark, when he dismissed him. When Minister Yang returned, Jeong Sado’s face was full of grief, and, wiping away tears, he said,
"Today the Empress Dowager issued an edict commanding that Yang-lang’s ritual gifts be returned. Thus I have already had Chun Yun take them out and place them in the separate hall of the flower garden. When I think of my daughter’s fate, what must be the feelings of my wife and me? I can barely keep myself upright, but my old wife, overcome by anxious thought, has just now fallen into a daze and lost consciousness."
At this, the Minister was greatly startled and lost color. After being sunk in thought for some time, he said, "If I submit a memorial arguing that this matter cannot be done, would the court not also have some public opinion?"
The Sado clapped his hands and dissuaded him, saying,
"Yang-lang has disobeyed the imperial command several times already. If you now submit a memorial, how could that not be alarming?
There will certainly be severe punishment. It would be better simply to obey. On the other hand, for you to reside hereafter as well in the flower garden of my house would be most improper in appearance. Though it is deeply sorrowful to part so suddenly, it would be fitting for you to move elsewhere."
The Minister made no answer to this and entered the flower garden. Chun Yun had been sobbing; now, holding up the ritual gifts, she said,
"This lowly maid received my young lady’s command and has long attended Your Excellency. I was specially favored with your affection and always felt grateful. But ghosts have envied and people have been jealous, so the great matter has gone awry. Since my young lady’s marriage has no hope, this lowly maid too shall bid Your Excellency farewell forever and return to serve my young lady. Alas! Spirits of heaven and earth, you are too cruel."
Unable to bear the sound of Chun Yun’s sobbing, the Minister opened his mouth.
"I am just about to submit a memorial and remonstrate to the utmost. And once a woman has entrusted her body to a man, following her husband accords with propriety. Why does Chun-lang wish to betray me?"
Chun Yun answered resolutely,
"Though this lowly maid is dull, I know the way of the Three Obediences. Moreover, my circumstances differ from others. From childhood I grew up with my young lady, severing the distinction of noble and lowly, and we swore to share life and death together. Thus there must be no separation in fortune or misfortune, glory or shame. This body is to my young lady like a shadow following the body. Since the body is already one, how could only the shadow remain alone?"
The Minister again tried to persuade her,
"Your sincerity toward your mistress may be called utmost, but you are different from the young lady.
The young lady may go east, west, south, or north as she pleases, but if you follow her will and serve another, there will be no hindrance at all to a woman’s destined propriety."
Chun Yun answered again,
"Your Excellency’s words show that you do not know the hearts of my young lady and this lowly maid. My young lady has resolved to remain long beneath her parents’ knees, and after the two of them have lived out their allotted years together, she will enter a temple, shave her head, become a nun, and vow before the Buddha that in the next life she will absolutely not be born in a woman’s body. This lowly maid will conduct herself likewise. If Your Excellency wishes to see Chun Yun again, it can only be discussed after Your Excellency’s ritual gifts have once more entered my young lady’s chamber. Otherwise, today is a parting as final as life and death. I only hope that in a later life I may become a dog or horse in Your Excellency’s household and imitate the sincerity of serving a master. Please, I beg you, take care of your precious body."
With that, she turned away and wept for half a day. Then she rose, descended to the courtyard, bowed twice, and entered the inner hall.
Yang Soyu’s Memorial Concerning His Marriage
After Minister Yang sent Chun Yun away from the flower garden, his five viscera seemed to burn. His mind would not incline to any matter, and he looked up at the blue heavens, heaved long sighs, rubbed his hands, and sighed again and again.
"I must submit a memorial and remonstrate to the utmost."
So he took up his brush, and his words were extremely intense and resolute. The memorial read:
Your subject Yang Soyu, Minister of Rites, knocks his head a hundred times and makes this report to Your Imperial Majesty.
I humbly submit that the moral order is the root of royal governance, and marriage is the beginning of human relations. If that root is once lost, virtue and transformation greatly collapse, and the state falls into disorder. If that beginning is not treated with caution, then the end cannot be achieved, and the household is ruined. How could the rise and fall, flourishing and decline of families and states not be plainly evident in this?
Sages and gentlemen, wise rulers and enlightened lords, have always paid attention to this. When they wished to govern the state, they invariably first rectified its discipline; when they wished to rectify the household, they took the rectification of marriage as foremost. Since your subject has already sent the ritual gifts to Lady Jeong, and has also entrusted his residence to the Jeong household, your subject’s marriage is already fixed. Unexpectedly, now the gracious command selecting an imperial son-in-law has been bestowed upon this unworthy and lowly subject. I am fearful and bewildered, and do not know whether Your Majesty’s instruction and the court’s decision truly accord with propriety.
Even if your subject had not been betrothed, as one of lowly lineage, slight talent, and shallow learning, I would not be fit to be selected as an imperial son-in-law. How much more, when I have become Lady Jeong’s match and settled with Jeong Sado the relation of father-in-law and son-in-law, should the matter not be spoken of merely because the Six Rites—nacai, asking the name, announcing the auspicious result, sending gifts, requesting the date, and personally receiving the bride—have not yet been completed.
Given this, how can you wish to permit the noble person of the princess to be given to this lowly subject, no different from a common man? How can you not ask whether it accords with ritual law, and, braving improper record, seek to perform a rite that is no rite?
Now a secret edict has been sent down, commanding that rites already performed be broken off. Since your subject bears the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites, I cannot secretly approve this on Your Majesty’s behalf. Your subject fears that royal governance will be thrown into disorder because of him, and human relations will collapse because of him, harming above Your Majesty’s virtue and ruining below the way of the household, so that in the end great calamity cannot be avoided. I humbly beg Your Sacred Majesty to give weight to the root of propriety, to rectify the beginning of moral transformation, and swiftly withdraw the imperial command, allowing this subject to rest within his allotted station.
When His Majesty had finished reading it, he reported it to the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager was greatly enraged and ordered Yang Soyu to be imprisoned. The high ministers all at once remonstrated earnestly, and His Majesty said, "We too know that the punishment is excessive, but the Empress Dowager is now furious, so even We do not dare pardon him."
He then commanded that he be thrown into prison. Thus Yang Soyu was confined in jail, and Jeong Sado, also feeling apprehensive, closed his doors and dismissed guests.
At this time, Tufan had grown strong. Leading a great army of one hundred thousand, they successively captured the border towns, and their vanguard reached Wei Bridge, throwing the imperial capital into turmoil. His Majesty assembled all the officials of the court and discussed the matter. All the ministers memorialized:
"The troops led within the imperial capital number no more than several tens of thousands, and reinforcements from the provinces have not yet arrived. Your Majesty should temporarily leave the imperial capital, proceed to Guandong on an inspection tour, and summon the armies of the various circuits, using them to recover what has been lost."
His Majesty hesitated, unable to reach a decision, then said, “Among all my ministers, only Yang Shaoyou excels in wisdom and strategy and is skilled in decisive action. I have always deemed him a man of great capacity, and the surrender of the Three Jin the other day was entirely Yang Shaoyou’s merit.”
He summoned Yang Shaoyou and asked him for a plan. Yang Shaoyou reported, “The imperial city enshrines the ancestral temple and contains the palaces. If Your Majesty were now to abandon it, the hearts of all under Heaven would dry up and be thrown into turmoil. Moreover, if powerful bandits were allowed to occupy it, it would be difficult to recover it by clumsy means. Formerly, in the reign of Emperor Daizong of Tang, Tufan joined forces with Huihe and drove a host of a million to violate the capital. At that time our military strength was weaker than it is now, yet Guo Ziyi, enfeoffed as Prince of Fenyang, drove them back with a single horse. Though this subject’s talent and strategy do not amount to one ten-thousandth of Guo Ziyi’s, I beg that if I am granted several thousand soldiers, I may pacify these bandits and repay the grace by which Your Majesty has given me new life.”
His Majesty was greatly pleased. He immediately appointed Yang Shaoyou Great General and ordered him to lead thirty thousand soldiers of the Capital Guard to strike Tufan. The Minister took his leave and withdrew, commanded the troops, and encamped at Weiqiao. He struck the enemy vanguard and captured Tufan’s Left Wise King, whereupon the enemy’s forces were greatly broken and began to flee. The Minister pursued them, fought three battles and won them all, beheaded thirty thousand soldiers, and captured eight thousand horses. When he submitted a dispatch reporting the victory, His Majesty rejoiced greatly, ordered the army to return, and discussed the merits of all the generals, rewarding them in order. Thereupon the Minister, still in the military camp, submitted a memorial:
This subject has heard that in a king’s army, what is precious is complete success; if one sits idle and loses the opportunity, merit cannot be achieved. I have also heard that an army that always wins finds it difficult to contend with a great enemy if it is overly cautious; and if one does not strike when the enemy is hungry and weak, the bandits cannot be avoided.
It cannot be said that these bandits’ strength is not formidable, nor can it be said that their plans are not advantageous. The small merit I have established came about only because the bandits’ strength declines by the day and their soldiers grow weaker by the day. The Art of War says that those who fight bravely and struggle fiercely yet cannot win do so because provisions do not follow and the terrain is unfavorable.
Now the enemy’s strength has already been broken and they have fled; their exhaustion is extreme. Along the roads, every town has piled up military grain and fodder like mountains, so we have no worry of hunger. On the broad plains and open wilderness, we have gained the terrain, and they have no hidden ambushes. If we were to have swift troops pursue their rear, we would nearly be able to accomplish a complete victory. Yet now, counting a small victory as good fortune, abandoning the plan for complete success, and withdrawing the army on mere assumption without pacifying them—this, I do not understand to be the proper strategy.
I humbly beg Your Majesty to widely seek the public counsel of the court and make a decision, allowing this subject to drive the army in a distant assault and sweep clean their lair. I swear that I shall not let the bandits return, nor allow them even one act of resistance, and thus relieve Your Majesty’s holy concern.
His Majesty admired the true intent of the memorial, promoted him in office, and made him Censor-in-Chief and Minister of War, as well as Grand Marshal for the Western Campaign. He bestowed upon him the Shangfang Sword for beheading traitors, the scarlet bow and red arrows, the Tongtian imperial belt, and the white-yak-tail yellow battle-axe. He then issued an edict ordering the armies of the various circuits, including Shuofang, Hedong, and Longxi, to be mobilized to support the army’s momentum.
Yang Shaoyou received the edict, faced the imperial palace, and gave thanks for the grace. Then, choosing an auspicious day, he offered sacrifice to the du, the military standard.
When an army set out, sacrifice was offered to this standard. Then he departed. His military methods were the marvelous stratagems of the Six Secret Teachings, and his battle formations were the changing laws of the Eight Trigrams, which express all phenomena of nature and human affairs in eight images by layering yin and yang. His ranks were orderly and his commands solemn and strict. Like water pouring down or a knife splitting bamboo, he achieved success, and within a few months he recovered more than fifty lost prefectures.
He drove the great army to the foot of Red Snow Mountain. A crow cried as it flew through the camp, and when the Minister cast a divination, it showed that the enemy would certainly make a surprise attack on their camp, but that it was ultimately an omen of good fortune. He encamped beneath the mountain and set out abatis—felled trees laid out to block the enemy’s march—and caltrop-like obstacles on all four sides, arranging everything with order and foresight as he awaited them.
Shen Yaoyan, Who Came as an Assassin
The Marshal sat within his tent, candles lit, reading a military text. The night patrol had already announced the third watch when suddenly a gloomy wind arose and extinguished the candles. A woman descended from the air and stood within the tent as though concealing herself, holding in her hand a dagger like a blade of frost.
The Marshal knew she was an assassin, yet his expression did not change. Instead, he made his bearing still more imposing and asked,
“What sort of woman are you, to enter the army camp by night? What reason brings you here?”
The woman answered,
“This concubine has received the command of the Zanpu of Tufan and has come to take the Marshal’s head.”
Marshal Yang laughed and said,
“How could a true man fear death? Strike quickly.”
The woman threw down her blade, bowed her head to the ground, and replied, “Noble sir, do not be alarmed. How would this concubine dare act rashly?”
The Marshal personally stepped forward, took hold of her, and raised her up, saying, “You have already entered the army camp with a dagger hidden upon you, yet instead you do not harm me. Why is that?”
The woman replied,
“This concubine wishes to tell you all that has happened from beginning to end, but standing here like this, I cannot fully say it.”
The Marshal gave her a seat and urged her to sit.
“My lady has braved danger to come find and meet me. What instruction do you intend to give?”
The woman replied,
“Though this concubine came here in the capacity of an assassin, I have not the slightest heart to harm anyone, so I shall openly reveal my true feelings to Your Excellency.”
The woman rose, relit the candles, and came to sit before the Marshal. When the Marshal looked at her again, her cloudlike hair was pinned high with a golden hairpin; upon her body she wore narrow-sleeved armor, and over it were painted dianthus flowers. She wore phoenix-tail boots, and at her waist hung a Longquan sword. Her complexion was naturally like a crabapple blossom moistened with dew.
The woman slowly opened her cherry lips and began to speak in a voice like an oriole’s song.
“This concubine was originally from Yangzhou, and for generations my family were subjects of Tang.
I lost my parents when I was young, and as a lone girl I followed a master and became her disciple. That master was miraculous in swordsmanship and taught three disciples. The names of the three were Chen Haiyue, Jin Caihong, and Shen Yaoyan; this concubine is Shen Yaoyan. After learning swordsmanship for three years, I was able to comprehend the arts of transformation, ride the wind, follow the lightning, and race more than a thousand li in an instant. Among the three of us, there was little difference in our swordsmanship. Yet whenever our master told someone to avenge a grudge or to eliminate an evil person, she always sent only Caihong and Haiyue, the two disciples, and never once sent this concubine. Unable to bear my resentment, I asked my master, ‘The three of us received our master’s teaching together, yet this concubine alone has been unable to repay your grace. I do not know—could it be that my talent is so inferior that you have never once employed me?’
Thereupon my master said,
‘You are different from us. In the future, you shall rightly obtain the proper path and at last fulfill your intention. If you, like those two, were to kill human lives, it would be harmful to you. For this reason I do not employ you.’
So this concubine asked again,
‘If that is so, where will my swordsmanship be used in the future?’
Then my master admonished me again,
‘Your destined bond from a former life lies in Tang, and he is a greatly noble man, while you are in a foreign land.
Thus there is no way for you to meet him. The reason I teach you swordsmanship is to let you meet that noble man through your talent as the link. In the future, you will surely enter an army of a million and, amid swords and spears, form a good bond.’
That is what she said. Then again, this spring, she told me,
‘The Son of Heaven will have his Great General strike Tufan, and the Zanpu will post notices summoning assassins in order to harm the Tang general. Do not lose this opportunity. Descend from the mountain, go to Tufan, compete in swordsmanship with all the assassins, and thereby both avert the urgent disaster facing the Tang general and also bind the good bond from your former life.’
Thus I went to Tufan, personally tore down the notice posted on the city gate, and entered. The Zanpu summoned this concubine and had me compare my skill with the many assassins who had come before. This concubine displayed her swordsmanship and came first, whereupon the Zanpu was greatly pleased and sent me off, saying, ‘If you cut off the Tang general’s head and bring it back, afterward I shall make you my honored consort.’
So he said.
Now that I have met the general, it is indeed as my master said. I beg that this concubine may join the ranks of your maidservants and attend at your side. Will the general truly permit it?”
When the Marshal heard the woman’s account from beginning to end, he was greatly delighted and replied,
“My lady has saved a life that was to die, and moreover wishes to serve me with her own person. How could I ever repay this grace? To grow old together for a hundred years is truly my own desire.”
Thereupon they shared the same couch. The light of spears and swords took the place of wedding candles, and the sound of blades took the place of zithers. Though it was within a military tent, their unrestrained affection was like a mountain and also like the sea.
“From now on, not only is this no place for the Marshal to dwell, but I fear the morale of the soldiers may fail to rise.”
As Shen Yaoyan was about to leave, the Marshal said, “My lady cannot be compared with ordinary women. I hope you will teach me wondrous schemes and secret strategies to use against the bandits.”
Lady Shen then replied,
“This matter of mine came about by my master’s command, yet I have not taken a lasting farewell of my master. I shall return and attend my master for a while, then wait until the general turns the army back, and only then slowly proceed to the imperial city to see you. Also, though Tufan has many assassins, none can match this concubine. If they learn that I have submitted to you, none will dare conceive the thought, so do not be in the least concerned.”
So saying, she felt at her waist with her hand, took out a single pearl, and gave it to him, saying,
“The name of this pearl is Miaowan. It was set in the Zanpu’s headpiece, so send an envoy with this pearl and make him know that this concubine has no intention of returning.
On the road ahead there is a place called Panshe Valley, a winding gorge like a snake. The general will surely pass that way, and there is also no water to drink. General, be at ease and dig wells to feed the army.”
With that, she tossed over the pearl. The Marshal was about to ask for another strategy, but Lady Shen leapt once into the air, and her whereabouts could no longer be known.
The Marshal gathered all the generals and soldiers and told them of Lady Shen’s affair. All the generals and officers said that the Grand Marshal’s fortune and authority had made even the enemy afraid, and that surely a spirit had come to aid him.
Marshal Yang at once sent a man to the enemy camp to deliver the Miao’awan pearl to Zanpu, and finally set his army in motion, arriving at the foot of Mount Tai. But the mountain path was exceedingly narrow, barely wide enough for a single horse to pass, so they clung to the stone walls and followed the streamside for several hundred li before at last reaching a broad plain, where they made camp and let the troops rest. The soldiers were exhausted and parched, and though they searched for water they could find none. Then, seeing a great pond at the foot of the mountain, they rushed to drink from it. Yet after a short while, all the soldiers who had drunk the water turned blue over their entire bodies, became mute, and, their breathing growing faint, seemed on the verge of death.
The Marshal thought this strange and went in person to examine it. The color of the water was intensely blue, its depth impossible to measure, and a chill rose from it like autumn frost. Only then did he realize it and say, “This must surely be Panshe Valley, of which Shen Yaoyan spoke.”
With that, he urged the remaining soldiers who had not fallen ill to dig wells, but though the men dug in several hundred places to depths of more than ten fathoms, not a single source of water sprang forth. The Marshal was greatly distressed and was about to move the camp elsewhere when, all of a sudden, the sound of drums rose from behind the mountain, echoing through the hills and valleys as though the earth itself were shaking. It was the enemy troops, who had gathered in that perilous place and were attempting to cut off the Marshal’s line of retreat.
The soldiers were parched with thirst, and the roads before and behind them were blocked; they had fallen straight into dire straits. The Marshal sat within his tent, intending to devise a plan to repel the bandits. His body was weary, and he was dozing when suddenly a wondrous fragrance filled the tent, and two young girls came forward and stood before him. Their appearance was like that of immortals, yet also like spirits.
The girls said to the Marshal,
“At our lady’s command, we wish to inform Your Excellency of something. We humbly beg that Your Excellency will not disdain to visit our humble dwelling just once.”
The Marshal asked,
“Who is your lady, and from what place has she come?”
The girl replied,
“Our lady is the youngest daughter of the Dragon King of Dongting. Recently, she has left the palace for a short while and is staying here.”
“The place where the Dragon King dwells is the Water Realm, while I am a man of the human world. By what art could you possibly bring my body to the Dragon Palace?”
“A divine horse has already been tied outside the gate. If Your Excellency mounts it, you will naturally arrive there.”
The Marshal followed the girls out beyond the camp gate, where he saw that the attire of all the attendants was strange. They helped him onto the horse, and the horse’s gait was as though it flowed over the ground, while no dust rose from its hooves. Before long, they arrived in the Water Realm, where a splendidly adorned palace stood in dazzling magnificence, like the abode of an emperor. The soldiers guarding the gate all had fish heads and shrimp whiskers.
Several maidservants came out from within, opened the gate, and led the Marshal up into the hall. In the center of the palace hall, a white jade chair had been placed facing south. A maidservant invited the Marshal to sit upon it, spread a silk mat, and then went into the inner hall. Not long afterward, more than ten maidservants escorted a young lady from the left moon-gallery to the front of the hall. Her bearing was beautiful and her garments fresh and elegant beyond all description.
One maidservant stepped forward and said,
“The princess of the Dragon King of Dongting wishes to pay her respects to the Marshal.”
The Marshal was startled and tried to avoid it, but the maidservants stopped him and would not let him descend from his seat. The dragon maiden faced him and bowed four times, the sound of her jade pendants clear, her fragrant scent seeming to pierce the nose. The Marshal also returned the courtesy and invited her to ascend the hall; her fragrance seemed to pierce the nose. The Marshal again returned the courtesy and invited her to ascend the hall, but the dragon maiden declined, spread a small mat, and sat down.
The Marshal said,
“Shaoyou is a lowly body of the human world, while my lady is a dragon maiden of the Water Realm. Why is your courtesy so excessively respectful?”
The dragon maiden replied,
“This humble girl is Bai Lingbo, the youngest daughter of the Dragon King of Dongting. When I had just been born, my royal father went to pay audience to the Jade Emperor, and Zhang Zhenren (Zhang Zhengshang, the forty-second-generation descendant of Zhang Daoling, who during the Gongwu era received the title Zhengyi Kaijiao Zhenren) drew up my Four Pillars and divined my fate, saying, ‘The princess was formerly an immortal maiden, but for committing an offense she was exiled and became the king’s daughter. Though she may enjoy glory, in the end she will return to the Buddha and become a great monk.’
Thus, we dragons are the progenitors of the creatures of the waters, and we regard transformation into human form as a great honor; as for becoming an immortal or a Buddha, that is an object of even greater aspiration.
My eldest sister first became the daughter-in-law of the Dragon Palace of Jingshui, but husband and wife did not get along, and relations between the two houses became estranged. When she remarried Lord Liuzhen, Liu Yi, her kin honored her and the whole household respected her. As for me, after my father heard the True Man’s words that I would find a proper destined bond and that my personal glory would surely surpass that of my eldest sister, he cherished me with special affection, and all the palace maidservants, high and low, treated me like a divine being from the heavens. As I gradually grew up, Wuxian, the son of the Dragon King of the South Sea, heard that I possessed some beauty and proposed marriage to my royal father. Since our Dongting is subordinate to the Dragon King of the South Sea, my father did not dare refuse him outright, but went in person to the South Sea and told him of Zhang Zhenren’s prophecy concerning my fate, unwilling to consent. Yet as the marriage proposal pressed urgently, I thought to myself, ‘If I remain beneath my parents’ knees, disgrace will surely befall my body.’