The Empress opened up the four verses that had already been written and said: “Can you equal these?”
Cloudlet then brought her ink and pens and with one swift dash wrote her verse and handed it to the Empress Dowager. It read:
"This magpie heart of mine
Awakes to joys untold,
Shall join the circle superfine,
And both its wings unfold.
Ye pretty flowers of Chin,
Behold the wondrous sight,
A group of fairies gathering in
From all their scattered flight.”
The Empress read it, showed it to the two Princesses, and said: “I heard before that the lady Ka had great skill, but who would have dreamed of this?”
Princess Orchid remarked: “In this verse she likens herself to the magpie and us to the 'circle superfine.' She has caught the spirit of the old masters and reminds one of the songs of the Book of Poetry. Her thought is pretty but she has stolen it from the ancients. They say 'The birds of heaven find rest with man, and man is naturally sorry for the birds,' and this suggests Cloudlet.”
The Princess again said: “The chief of the waiting-maids is Chin See from Wha-eum, the one who decided to live and die with Cloudlet.”
Cloudlet replied: “Is this not Chin See who wrote the willow-song?”
Chin See gave a start and asked: “From whom did you ever hear of my willow-song?”
Cloudlet made answer: “General Yang has ever had you in his thoughts, and once when he repeated this verse I overheard him.”
Chin See, with a sorrowful countenance, said: “And so General Yang has not forgotten me?”
Cloudlet replied: “How can you suggest such a thing? The General carried hidden away with him these verses of yours, and when he read them the tears used to flow. When he sang them he sighed. How is it that you alone fail to know his loving heart?”
Chin See said: “If the General has the same love that he used to have, then this humble person, though she never see him again, can die happy.” Then she told of his verse that had been written on her silken fan, and Cloudlet said: “The hairpins and rings that I wear were won for me on that day.”
Then the maids-in-waiting gathered and reported, saying: “The lady Cheung is about to take her departure.”
The two Princesses went in and waited upon her, while the Empress Dowager said to the lady Cheung: “In a little time Yang the Wanderer will make his return and the former marriage gifts will naturally be sent once again; but to receive the gifts again that were once sent back would seem poor and mean. On the other hand, Princess Blossom having become my daughter, I want to have the two of them send theirs at one and the same time. Will your ladyship give consent? ”
Then the lady Cheung bowed low to the earth and said: “How can your humble subject dare to do otherwise? Let it be as your Imperial Majesty suggests.”
The Dowager laughed: “General Yang has for the sake of Blossom more than three times refused to do my bidding, and now I want to play a practical joke on him. They say in common speech: 'The unpropitious word turns out to be propitious.' You shall wait till he returns and then say that Cheung See has suddenly fallen ill and died. I saw in the General's letter that he had met her in a dream. On the first day of the ceremony I shall be amused to see if he will know her or not.”
The lady Cheung received the command, took her departure, and returned. The daughter saw her beyond the first palace entrance, and then bowed and spoke her farewell. She called Cloudlet and told her secretly of the plan to deceive the General. Cloudlet replied: “I have been a fairy and I have been an evil spirit to deceive him, and that is surely enough. Would it not be mean of me to attempt anything more?”
Cheung See replied: “This is not our plan, or our affair, but the Empress Dowager's.”
Cloudlet smothered her laughter and went away smiling.
At this time General Yang had made his soldiers drink the waters of the White Dragon Lake till their health returned and they longed for battle. The General then summoned his aides, gave them their orders and made them march forth at the sound of the drum. Just at this moment Chan-bo received the gem sent by the dancer Swallow, and knowing that General Yang's troops had passed Pan-sa valley, he approached the General's headquarters in a state of great fear and talked of surrender. The various leaders of the Tibetan forces took Chan-bo, bound him, entered General Yang's camp and there surrendered.
Once again Yang drew his troops up in order and marched into the capital, stopped the plundering of the city, and quieted the people. He then went up into the Kolyoon Mountains and put up a memorial tablet with a record of the power and goodness of the kingdom of the Tangs. Then he faced about with his army, sang his songs of victory, and returned home. When he reached Chin-joo it was already autumn; the mountains were bare and the earth dry and sear. All the flowers had been baptised in death and sorrow. The wild geese piped out their sad notes, reminding him that he was far away from home.
The General spent the night in a guest house. His mind seemed unrested and the hours long. Sleep failed him. He thought in his heart: “It is already three years since I left home and my mother's health cannot be as it has always been. To whom can she turn for protection and care in sickness? To what time shall I put off my morning and evening salutations to her? To-day the land is quiet, war has ceased, but my desire to wait on and serve my mother is not yet satisfied. I have failed in the serious part of life's duty and man's first requirement. For several years I have been busy with State affairs, have not married, and have found it difficult to hold my engagement with Cheung See. The various matters in which I have been disappointed proved the truth of the old saying: 'Eight or nine times out of ten comes disappointment.' Now I have quieted five thousand li of territory, and have received the surrender of a million rebels, so that my name will be heralded abroad as great. His Majesty will doubtless appoint me to some high office as a reward for my many labours. If I decline office and ask instead that my request to marry Cheung See be granted, I wonder if consent will be forthcoming? ”
Sad were his thoughts, and thus did his mind seek relief, so he laid his head upon his pillow and fell asleep. In a dream his body took wing and flew up to heaven. From the Palace of the Seven Precious Things, [40]
that shone with glittering splendour and was encircled with clouds of glory, two waiting-maids came out to meet him and said: “Cheung See is calling for your Excellency.”
So the General followed them and entered. In the wide court the flowers were in bloom. Three fairies were seen seated in an upper pavilion of white marble. Their dresses were like those of the waiting-maids of the palace and their eyebrows lined off with soft touches of the fairy's wand. Their eyes were luminous and a halo of light encircled their forms. They leaned upon the railing and dallied playfully with each other, having in their hands buds of fragrant flowers. When the General entered they rose from their seats, made way for him, and when he was seated the leading fairy asked:
“Since your Excellency said good-bye have you been well all the time?”
The General rubbed his eyes and looked peeringly, and lo! it was the lady who had talked to him about the tunes on the harp, Cheung See. In fear and gladness he tried to speak, but the words refused to come. The fairy then said: “Since I have departed from the world of men and have come to dwell in heaven with its delights, I find that all that has happened belongs to my former existence. Though your Excellency meet and see my parents you will find no news from me awaiting you.” And she pointed to the two fairies at her side, saying: “This is the Weaving Damsel and the other is the Incense Angel. They are united to you by the affinity of the world life. Please do not think of me any more but think only of them. If you are joined first to them by the happy contract, I, too, will find a place of consolation.”