It was said that one day, it was the one thousandth birthday of the Queen Mother of the West. The Jade Emperor sent the gods and deities of the Ten Continents and Three Islands as well as the masters of the Thirty-Three Heavens to Jade Lake to celebrate the auspicious occasion.
The Queen Mother of the West arranged her birthday celebration
The Flat Peach Banquet awaited its guest immortals
Layers of auspicious atmosphere pervaded the Three Realms
Kaleidoscopic clouds illuminated the Ninth Heaven
The attendees shouted out in unison, “Long live the Queen Mother!”
Music filled the banquet hall, wishing her another thousand years of birthdays
As soon as the flat peach was presented to the seat of honor
The Eastern Dipper[1]—gazed upon it for a while before suddenly yearning for another mortal life
He saw that his two wives from the previous life were present
Everyone was solemn and respectful, properly wearing cloud caps
In their previous life, they were affectionate husband and wives
Today, they met without speaking a word
He thought of the virtuous woman Zheng Ruzhao
Half a life was too short for her to fulfill their predestined marriage[2]
They once said they would marry once again in the afterlife
It was unexpected they would meet again as immortals in the heavens
Thinking about this, his heart sunk
Turning around, he called out to her, whispering:
“Do you still remember our words from the previous life?
Our secret love has not yet concluded
Today we come to the Flat Peach Banquet to celebrate the Queen Mother’s birthday
I am not sure of what you think about our affections”
The divine lady bent her head and sighed for a long time
The Queen Mother was startled and asked her what had happened
Hearing the recount, she stood up and declared, “It is ridiculous
To covertly discuss predestined marriage between the two of you
After ascending to the realm of immortals free from mortal affairs[3]
How could you still have the gall to speak about such a matter?
The Gold Star should submit a memorial to the throne
Let the Emperor of Heaven[4] issue an imperial edict at his discretion”
Everyone was shocked hearing the Queen Mother’s order
The Gold Star immediately rushed to the Ninth Heaven
In the Ninth Heaven, the Jade Emperor listened to the memorial
And summoned both the divine lady and god of the constellation
They soon arrived at the bottom of the steps of the immortal palace
The Emperor of Heaven was furious, slapping the table as he said
“Consider that in the previous life you were born with the surname Xie
Wealthy and noble, you entered the imperial court at an early age
Behind the beaded curtain, you were as precious as jade
Highly ranked within the imperial residence, your moral standing was solid as a mountain
After living for a hundred years, you ascended to the upper realms
What is so lacking that makes you suddenly yearn for secular life once again?
Since you covertly discussed predestined marriage
I will relegate you to the human world to live another life
Next, the Incense-Burning Lady Chen Fangsu
She cultivated immortality because of her sorrow and grievances
Today, I relegate her to the human world together with you
To fulfill the predestined marriage from your previous lives”
The Jade Emperor ordered Gold Star to calculate good and evil
To find out which household in the human world was the most virtuous
Gold Star heeded the command and rushed to investigate
He bowed at the steps of the immortal palace, kowtowed, and reported:
“Reporting to Your Majesty: In the court of the Shizu Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, there is a Commissioner-in-chief named Huangfu Jing, whose clan was loyal and upright for three generations and is renowned for their good deeds. Fifteen years later, they are doomed to encounter several disasters. Only by sending the Eastern Dipper to be their son can they pacify the disasters and unite as a clan. Also consider Minister Meng Shiyuan: His ancestors had accumulated much good virtue, so the Hossu-Holding Lady should be sent to be their daughter, in order to form a marital bond with the Huangfu family. As for the woman Chen Fangsu, she can be reincarnated into whichever household Your Majesty wishes, and we need not check their virtue.”
The Emperor of Heaven then announced, “In consideration of your report, I issue the following decree: Send the Eastern Dipper to be the son of Huangfu Jing and the Hossu-Holding Lady to be the daughter of Meng Shiyuan—let them become husband and wife for a hundred years. Send Chen Fangsu to be the daughter of the Su family—let her become one of the Eastern Dipper’s concubines. As for the Tablet-Holding Lady Cao Yanniang,[5] because she was jealous in her previous life, she is now beneath the ground still tied down to the mortal world and hasn’t yet ascended to the celestial realm. Today, I let her reincarnate into the Liu clan, the nemesis of the Huangfu clan. In the future, let her again become one of the Eastern Dipper’s concubines to dissolve her grievances. After this reincarnation, if she is willing to thoroughly reform, correct her mistakes, and do good, it is not too late for her to return to her assigned seat. That is all. I thus bestow my favor on you.”
After the Jade Emperor of Heaven issued the decree, the Gold Star suggested, “It is now the reign of the second Yuan dynasty emperor in the human world. Since Your Majesty has decided to send the Golden Child to reincarnate as the emperor, the Jade Maiden [6] should be sent along with him to become the empress. I hope Your Majesty can send them together.”
The Jade Emperor of Heaven declared there should be no delay
He promptly sent the Jade Maiden to reincarnate
“Let her become the motherly role model of all under Heaven as the wife of the emperor
Born as a loyal and upright Huangfu clan descendant”
After the decree was issued, everyone thanked the emperor for his favor
The Eastern Dipper—reincarnated, arrived at the Yuan Dynasty to become a meritorious statesman
Hanging banners and jeweled parasols led the way forward
While imperial music and celestial melodies followed from behind
It was precisely this—not caring to be an immortal in Heaven
Instead preferring to be a wealthy person in the mortal coil
Let’s pause here to talk about their individual reincarnations
And explain the backgrounds of their new families
[1] After ascending to the heavens, Xie Yuhui becomes the Eastern Dipper, the god in charge of the Eastern Dipper constellation. [2] In Destiny of a Jade Bracelet, although Xie Yuhui married Zheng Ruzhao, but Xie listened to the gossips and treated her wrongly when Zheng was pregnant. Even though Zheng was later proved to be innocent, she didn’t forgive Xie and wouldn’t sleep with him again. They became strangers the rest of their lives. [3] In traditional Chinese folk belief, which is a mixture of Buddhism, Daoism, and local religious, the heavens or the realms of immortals are a place where you are free from all the mundane burdens, including all kinds of romantic and familial relationships. [4] Tiandi 天帝 [Emperor of the Heavens] is another name for the Jade Emperor. [5] Cao Yanniang is Xie Yuhui’s concubine in Destiny by a Jade Bracelet. She envied Zheng Ruzhao and spoke ill of her, turning Xie Yuhui against Zheng. [6] The Golden Child and the Jade Maiden haven’t been mentioned before. The Golden Child is to be reincarnated as the emperor of the Yuan dynasty, while the Jade Maiden is to be reincarnated as Huangfu Zhanghua, sister to Huangfu Shaohua who will be introduced later, and is to become the Golden Child's empress.
