The Tale of Yingying

It so happened that Lord Cui had only one son in his later years. But from the moment the child was born, he was frail and sickly, and every renowned physician they consulted was powerless to help. Lord Cui and his wife were heartbroken. They burned incense and prayed day and night, asking only that their child might grow up safe and sound.

One day, a wandering Daoist priest arrived at the manor. His hair was white, but his face was youthful, and his eyes were keen. Seeing that the child was barely breathing, he calculated the boy’s fate on his fingers and said gravely, “Please do not blame me, my lord. This child’s very birth defied the will of Heaven and changed his fate. You were destined to have no children, and this son was granted to you through Heaven’s mercy, but his masculine energy has collided with an ill omen. To save his life, you must raise him as a girl from childhood, concealing his masculine energy and deceiving the Mandate of Heaven. When he turns eighteen and comes of age, he may resume his identity as a man, and only then will he be safe and prosperous.”

Though Lord Cui and his wife were bewildered, they had no other choice but to follow the priest’s advice. They renamed the child Yingying, removed his boy’s clothes, dressed him in embroidered skirts, and styled his hair in hanging loops. To everyone outside the household, they claimed that they had been blessed with a daughter late in life. To keep the secret from getting out, everyone in the manor kept silent. From the time Yingying could remember, she knew herself only as the Cui family’s young lady. She was kept in the inner quarters all day, constantly taking medicine.

A gender-swapped parody of Yuan Zhen’s The Tale of Yingying.

Top, check. Cross-dressing, check. Everyone’s favorite, check. Male rivals competing for love, check. A groveling ex trying to win back his wife, check.

A top-focused story: cross-dressing femme fatale Cui Yingying as the top, versus gentle childhood friend Hongniang as the bottom, refined scholar Zhang Gong as the bottom, and young general Du Que as the bottom.

Theme: In this life, stand on your own and grow strong.