[Chapter Summary]
The heroic protagonist of Destiny of a Jade Bracelet, Xie Yuhui, ascended to the Void Clarity Realm and became the Eastern Dipper. Xie Yuhui’s wives also ascended as immortals. At the birthday banquet of the Queen Mother of the West, Xie Yuhui and his wives once again yearned for secular life. The Emperor of the Heavens then relegated them to the human world to fulfill their predestined marriage. Xie Yuhui, the Eastern Dipper, reincarnated as Huangfu Jing’s son. Zheng Ruzhao, the Hossu-Holding Lady, reincarnated as Meng Shiyuan’s daughter and Xie Yuhui’s future wife. Chen Fangsu, the Incense-Burning Lady, reincarnated as Lady Su’s daughter and one of Xie Yuhui’s future concubines. Cao Yanniang, the Tablet-Holding Lady, reincarnated as the daughter of Lady Liu and another of Xie Yuhui’s future concubines. The human world was already under the reign of the Shizu Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. This chapter ends when Madam Yin, the wife of Huangfu Jing, saw a goddess and was about to give birth.
The poem goes:
Sitting quietly in my study recalling the olden days
Writing new lyrics when I have the time to spare
Flourishing a rainbow brush dipped in rich ink
Embellishing the story with nuanced emotions
The story tells of loyalty and filial piety
But the poem turns out to be clumsy and silly
Having finished the book [1], my bosom friends were unsatisfied
Once my sequel is complete, we shall have our enjoyment once again
With nothing to do inside my boudoir, I sit by the little window
On this cold autumn night, I toss and turn but cannot fall asleep
The shadow of the lamp dances by my desk
The rain drips endlessly behind the curved railing
Writing poems at my leisure, I could not think of a new line
But now, casually scanning them, I find they form a piece
Tonight I have the spare time to weave a story
With this rainbow brush let me write of a happy marriage
The ancients said—every marriage was fixed five hundred years in the past
In my eyes—success or failure always depends on the heavens
A fine horse is often ridden by a country bumpkin
A talented wife always sleeps with a stupid husband
Most such pairings are rooted in the principles of reincarnation
You must know they do not come about by mere coincidence
One such case—a talented scholar marries a beautiful woman
They must have made an oath in previous lives
It would be either to take care of each other
Or to love and complete one another
Perhaps because they could not fulfill the wishes of their past lives
They are once again linked together in this life
Had there ever been any doubts about how perfect their relationship was
How could their destinies be reconnected after rebirth?
What compels me to speak of these matters?
These archetypes—all pertain to the story I plan to unearth
A tale of—sadness and happiness, partings and reunions
Destiny of Rebirth—that would be a fine name for this book
[1] Refers to work of another tanci fiction called Yuchuan yuan 玉釧緣 [Destiny of a Jade Bracelet], which has 32 volumes in total and is written by an anonymous female author in the early Qing dynasty (late 17th century to early 18th century). The story happens in the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), when a pair of twins, the male Xie Yuhui 謝玉輝 and the female Xie Yujuan 謝玉娟 who both have extraordinary talent and beauty, cross-dress as each other in an emergency. Xie Yuhui dresses as a maid to go to the court, reconciles the harem fight, earns himself honored titles and several beautiful wives, while Xie Yujuan dresses as a scholar to attend and passes the imperial examination, becomes an official, and marries the daughter of the prime minister. It is also the prequel of Destiny of Rebirth.
