Love Locked for This Life, Destined for Three Lifetimes

Blue sky, white clouds, willows swaying by the water.

A jade hand cracks the whip as the horse trots along; the moon rises above the willow tops.

A beauty's face is rosy, her willow brows faintly furrowed. She stitches a sachet, her thoughts full of longing.

The breeze is gentle, the water flows on. Her beloved travels far away. Since ancient times, beauties have loved heroes. A promise is worth a thousand pieces of gold, kept to the very end. The wind howls, the thunder roars, and the young woman struggles on.

Since ancient times, beautiful women have often met with tragic fates. Jade shatters, and tiles remain whole, there at the western chamber.

Let this lilting song carry us back to a distant age, to see how Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, admired by all the world, found love with the founding emperor in the early days of the Qing Dynasty.