The young lady bowed low and said: “Since your Majesty has so decided, this humble girl will, I fear, die under the weight of too great favour. My one desire is that your Majesty will withdraw the command, and let this obscure child fly away in peace.”
The Empress said: “I have made known my wishes to His Majesty the Emperor, and he will definitely decide it. You must not be headstrong in the matter.”
She called the Princess and made her come forward near to Cheung See.
The Princess, in ceremonial robes, shining in glory, sat by her side.
The Dowager laughed and said: “You have wished to have Cheung See for your sister, and now it has come to pass. No one could tell who is the elder, you or she. Have you no regrets now?” She took Cheung See by the hand to make her her adopted daughter. She then stood her close up to Princess Orchid. The Princess, greatly delighted, thanked her mother, saying: “Your Highness's decision is the dearest in the world. You have brought all my fondest wishes to pass. How can I tell you of the joy that now fills my soul?”
The Dowager gave Cheung See a great and magnificent reception, and as they talked of the old poets she said: “I have heard from the Princess that you are skilful with the pen and at poetic composition. It is all quiet here in the palace, and with the delights of spring about us, will you sing for me once? Do not be backward now, but cheer me, my child. Among the noted ancients there was one famous scholar who could write a verse before the quick of foot could go seven courses; can you do that, my child?”
Cheung See made reply: “Now that I have heard your gracious command, I must try with all the skill I have to please your Majesty.”
The Empress picked out from the palace maids those most nimble, made them stand in a row in front of the main hall, gave out the subject and made ready a signal.
But Princess Orchid called to her and said: “Mother, you must not have Cheung See write all alone; I'll join her and try also.”
The Dowager, pleased with this, gave permission. She said: “Daughter, your wish is a proper one.” She then thought of a subject. It was late spring. The peaches were in bloom outside the pavilion railing, and the happy jay-birds were calling as they sat upon the branches. The Dowager pointed to these and said: “I have decided upon your marriage, and yonder jay upon the high tree-tops announces his delight. He is a lucky omen. Let us make this the subject, The Peach Flower and the Happy Jay-bird.” They were to write a verse before the seven courses could be run, and each verse was to contain some reference to their happy marriage.
She told the maids-in-waiting to have everything in order, pen, ink, and so on, for the Princess and Cheung See. At the given signal the women in front of the main hall started on their way, but fearing that the two would not be able to finish while the seven courses were being run, they looked back at them and took their steps slowly. The two pens flew like swift wind or a sudden squall of rain. Off the lines were dashed, and they were done before the women had completed five of the courses.
The Dowager read what Cheung See had written, and it ran thus:
"The swift wind rocks the tipsy peach
Before the Palace Hall,
While from the height, far out of reach,
There sounds the mavis' call.
The dancer's swing and silken fold
Awake the happy day,
While in the group a magpie bold
Has found her wondering way.”
The Princess's verses ran thus:
"In the court of the Palace a hundred buds blow,
As the jay-bird sweeps in with his spirit aglow.
He bends his strong back o'er the wide Milky Way,
To bear two small dots who are coming to stay.”
The Dowager read these and sighed, saying: “These two are the spirits of Yi Tai-baik and Cho Cha-gon. If we could mark women as literary graduates, we should rate them first and second in the contest of the year.” So she exchanged the two compositions, giving one to each, and each admired and praised the other.
The Princess said to Her Majesty: “I have managed to fill out my couplets, but the sentiment is one that might be easily expressed by anyone. Cheung See's, however, are beautifully done. I cannot attain to such excellence.”
“That is so,” said the Empress; “but yours too, dear, is very well done, and everyone would admire it.”
[CUTLINE: Two in One Palanquin: The Poetry Contest]
Chapter XIIYang's Supreme Regret
AT this time the Emperor came in to make his salutations before the Empress Dowager, and the Empress bade the Princess and Cheung See make their escape into a neighbouring room. She spoke to the Emperor, saying: “In reference to the Princess's marriage, you know I made the Cheung family return the gifts that had been sent, and this has caused damage to the Imperial prestige. To make Cheung's daughter a wife along with the Princess would be refused by the Cheungs themselves; to make her a mistress would seem cruel and hard. To-day I have called her, and she is indeed lovely and gifted with great ability, a fitting sister for the Princess. Because of this I have adopted her and have decided to wed them both to Yang So-yoo. What do you think of it?”
The Emperor was greatly pleased and congratulated her, saying: “This is a right and noble decision, and wide as the sky in its justice. In such generous treatment and bountiful favour as this no one has ever equalled my mother.”
Then the Empress called Cheung See so that she might meet the Emperor, as she was now his sister. He made her come up and sit upon the dais, while he said to the Dowager: “Since Cheung See has now become a sister of the Emperor, why should she still wear the dress of the common people? ”
The Empress replied: “As there is no command of the Emperor to that effect she declined to put on ceremonial robes.”
Then the Emperor said to the chief of the palace ladies-in-waiting: “Bring a roll of figured silken paper.” This Chin See, the phoenix, brought. The Emperor raised the pen and made as if to write. Then he said to the Empress Dowager: “Since you have already made Cheung See a princess, you must, of course, give her the family name of our house.”
The Dowager replied: “I thought at first to do so, but learning that Justice Cheung and his wife are old people, and that they have no other children, I felt desirous on their behalf that she should carry on their family name, and so I decided to leave her surname as it is.”
Then the Emperor wrote the following in large characters with his own hand. “I approve of the divine wish of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, and record Cheung See to be her adopted daughter. Her name is Princess Yong-yang, or Blossom.” When he had written this he stamped it with a pair of palace seals and gave it to Cheung See, and he ordered the palace maids to dress her in royal robes.
Cheung See descended from the dais and expressed her thanks.
The Emperor then decided the order of precedence between Princess Orchid and Princess Blossom. Blossom was a year the senior of Nan-yang, but she would not have thought of taking precedence of her.
The Empress said: “Princess Blossom is now my daughter, and for the elder to be first and the younger second is the proper order. There is no readjusting of the place between brothers and sisters.”
Blossom bowed low, and touching her brow to the ground, said: “The order appointed pertains only to the future, why should we not ignore it to-day?”
The Dowager said: “In the time of the Spring and Autumn Classic, the wife of Cho-chi, although the daughter of Prince Chin-moon, gave up her place to the first wife who was chosen. Much more should my daughter, as you are her elder sister, give up without a question.”