The Princess then spoke her thanks, saying:
“This is all due to my dearest sister's plans, and it is her heart of love that has moved heaven to bless us. It was no work of mine.”
At this time the Empress Dowager summoned some of the palace-maids to inquire concerning the Master's health, and when she knew the reason for it she laughed heartily and said: “I was indeed in doubt regarding it.” So she summoned Yang to her presence and the two Princesses came as well and sat together with him.
The Empress said: “I hear that the Master has united again the happy bonds that bound him to his dead Cheung See.”
Yang bowed and made answer: “Your Majesty's kindness is great as high heaven; though I wear down my body and offer up the vitals of my soul I can never pay the hundredth part of all the favours you have shown me.”
The Empress said: “That is all a joke; why do you talk of such nonsense?”
On this day the Emperor received audience of the ministers in the Grand Hall of the palace. Certain of them said: “We learn that a great star has arisen; that sweetened dew has fallen; that the waters of the Whang-ho have become clear; that the crops have grown to abundance. Three subject kings have offered their land as tribute; the fierce Tibetan rebels have changed in heart, and now bow in grateful submission. This is due to the virtues of your Majesty.”
The Emperor graciously disclaimed merit and put it all to the credit of his ministers.
But they made reply, saying: “General Yang So-yoo remains these days long within the palace and affairs of State are heaped up and need looking after.”
His Majesty laughed and said: “The Empress Dowager has held him fast these days and so the General is not free to go. I shall tell him myself, however, and see that he gets to work.”
The day following the Master went to the home of Justice Cheung to look after some business, and from there he wrote a memorial asking that he be permitted to bring his mother. His memorial read:
“General the Prince of Wee, son-in-law of her Majesty, bows in humble salutation, and presents to his Majesty this memorial. Of humble origin from the land of Cho, I had but two or three fields on which to live. My scholarship embraced only a single set of the Classics. My old mother still lives, but I have not cared for her as I should have liked. I thought of the measures of grain that I would have given her, and of the delicacies that I would have prepared. When it came to parting, my mother said to me, 'Our literatus home has fallen to decay, and the fortunes of the family run low. You are responsible for the future, and the lives of the past are in your keeping. Be diligent and learn; win the examination and let your mother share your renown. This is my hope. But if office or reward come too quickly there is danger in it. Think well of this.'
“I took my mother's word, wrote it in my heart, and never have I forgotten it. Great and good fortune have fallen on me, for only after a few years at Court my rank has risen by leaps and bounds. By Imperial decree I passed others by and made the knees of the rebel to tremble. I received orders to go west and to bind the hands of the fierce Tibetan. To begin with I was but an inexperienced son of the literatus; how could I have ever imagined plans to attain to such as this? It is all due to the prestige of your Majesty. The officers gladly risked their lives and your Majesty so generously encouraged the little efforts that we made, and rewarded them so liberally, that my heart is rendered uneasy and ashamed and I would rather not speak of it. All my mother's wishes on my behalf have come to pass, and I am chosen as the Imperial son-in-law with fortune unheard of. The Imperial command has been so pressing that I could not resist it, and ashamed as I am that the State should be dishonoured by one so mean, I still have had to accede. My aged mother's hopes did not pass at first the peck measure, and my own, too, did not go beyond a humble office of the literati. Behold me now in the highest seat of the land and first among my peers. In the rush and business of the day I have never yet had an opportunity to escort my mother to the capital. I have lived in my beautiful home while she has occupied a thatched hut; I have eaten of dainty fare while she has eaten only of the meanest. Thus am I living in luxury and leaving my mother to poverty and disgrace, disregardful of the fundamental laws and failing in the duty of a son. My mother, too, is old; she has no other child but me, and the distance separating us is great, with messengers few and far between. If I go up to the hills and call on the clouds to bear my greetings they heed not, and so my heart is sore. Now that matters are quiet in the State and affairs are fallen into repose, I humbly pray that your Majesty will kindly consider and grant my request, giving me two or three months so that I may go and replace the sod on my ancestors' graves, and bring my mother here that we may both together praise your Majesty's high and exalted virtue. If you graciously grant me this, I shall in my turn do my best to repay the Imperial kindness. I humbly bow and make this petition, and may your High Majesty please to grant me a favourable answer.”
The Emperor read it and sighed, saying: “You are a filial son, Yang So-yoo.”
He gave him rich rewards, gold a thousand pieces, eight hundred rolls of silk to be presented to his mother, and the word of command to bring her quickly.
The Master then entered the inner palace and bade farewell to the Empress Dowager. She also gave gold and silk in abundance, twice as much as the Emperor.
Yang then withdrew and bade farewell to the two Princesses, to Chin See and to Cloudlet, and set out on his way. When he reached the Chon-jin Bridge, the two dancing-girls, Moonlight and Wildgoose, having been informed by the Governor, awaited him at the guest-house.
The Master greeted them smilingly and said “This journey of mine is a private one and has no relation to the King's commands; how did you two know of my coming?”
Moonlight and Wildgoose replied: “The Master, Prince of Wee, son-in-law of the Empress, could hardly set out on a journey without its being known to us. From the secluded valleys we hurried forth to meet you. Even though we were in the deep recesses of the hills still we had our ears and eyes; how much the more when the Governor regards us as second only to your Excellency? Last year when you went by in your official capacity we won lasting glory, but now with still higher office, and with honour still greater, our glory will be a hundred-fold enhanced. We have heard that you are married to the two Princesses, and are wondering if they will tolerate us.”
The Master replied: “Of the two Princesses, one is sister of the Emperor and one is a daughter of Justice Cheung, who, at the request of the younger Princess, became an adopted daughter of the Empress Dowager. We have Cheung See and her sister's kindly and loving dispositions and liberal spirit to trust; will they not be glad at your happiness? ”
At this Wildgoose and Moonlight looked at each other and spoke their thanks and congratulations.
The Master spent the night and then started for his native place. He had left his mother and begun life's journey as a boy of eighteen. Now he was returning, riding in the chair of a Minister of State, wearing the insignia of the Prince of Wee, and having upon him the honours of the Imperial son-in-law. All this had taken place in four short years. Was it not a wonder?
He appeared before his mother, and in her joy she took him by the hands and lovingly patting him said: “Are you truly my boy, So-yoo? I really cannot believe it. When you repeated your cycle years so long ago and began your first lessons in the character, who would have thought that such glory awaited you?”
Her joy passed all limits and her tears flowed.