When the princess of the Great Zhou was born, rosy clouds filled the sky, birds gathered around the phoenix, and blossoms drifted on the breeze. The Imperial Preceptor appeared before the emperor, his face solemn yet joyful, and presented his reading of the princess’s destiny. “The princess’s fate is supremely noble. Seven dragons are bound to her, she will protect the people, enjoy the emperor’s favor all her life, and die peacefully in old age.” Delighted, the emperor changed the era name to Anning, granted a general amnesty, cut taxes by ten percent, and celebrated throughout the realm. Everyone prayed that the little princess would live to be a hundred.
After the princess’s first birthday, the Imperial Preceptor resigned, claiming he wished to travel the land. As his young apprentice helped pack his bags, he accidentally dropped an exquisite wooden box. A corner of a vermilion fortune slip showed through, bearing the words “Greatest Fortune, Greatest Calamity.” The apprentice froze. The Imperial Preceptor hurried over, picked up the box, and said, “What carelessness! Get the carriage ready at once.”
Many years later, the old Imperial Preceptor, now a man of immortal bearing, returned to his homeland. Just as he had predicted, after five generations of emperors, the Great Zhou had grown vast and prosperous under the Grand Princess’s protection. The people lived in peace, leaving lost goods untouched and sleeping with their doors unlocked. Yet beneath the Grand Princess’s dignified, elegant face shone a pair of resolute eyes, tinged with sorrow. Her heart, exquisitely clever, had been battered by a lifetime of hardship.
The Imperial Preceptor looked at the princess, just as he had when he first saw the infant born beneath rosy clouds. “I have spent half my life searching, and at last found a pill for Your Highness.”
She took it in her hand and smiled at the Imperial Preceptor, just as she had at birth. The dark clouds parted, and the moon shone bright. She rode off on horseback, toward the one place that had ever brought her peace.
