The Lonely City Gates

The fifth-anniversary revised collector's edition of Gu Cheng Bi is now available in print, with a new bonus story, Shen Lang Returns. Dangdang: http://product.dangdang.com/23403380.html JD: http://item.jd.com/11386062.html Amazon: http://www.amazon.cn/%E5%AD%A4%E5%9F%8E%E9%97%AD-%E7%B1%B3%E5%85%B0lady/dp/B00HRN68R2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392571345 Author's Weibo: http://weibo.com/milanlady2008 Which would you choose: a love without sex, or a marriage with sex but no love? This is a story lost to the history of the Song dynasty. The emperor's beloved daughter chose the former. In the eyes of remonstrating officials such as Sima Guang, the heroine of the story “did not know the stern discipline of her governess, nor the difference between right and wrong. She indulged her own desires without fear or restraint, repeatedly disobeyed her sovereign and father, and showed contempt for her husband's family.” The hero “was not careful in his conduct, and his offenses were grave. His crimes were piled high, and he deserved severe punishment.” Their scandalous love is hidden among these moralistic denunciations. We parted ways on the road to the Peach Blossom Spring, beneath a vast, misty dusk stretching for thousands of miles. I could not make you stay, and you had to leave. The autumn moon and spring breeze drifted by in vain. Peach blossoms scattered like red rain, and I knew not where the face I loved had gone. Note: Some readers may find an online article claiming that Liang Huaiji was not a eunuch, citing a case as proof that he was a villain. This is a mistake caused by two people sharing the same name. The incident in which “Liang Huaiji went to visit his divorced wife's illness and left her some grain, which his son took and ate. Huaiji beat his son to death” took place in the third year of Yuanfeng under Emperor Shenzong. This man was not the Liang Huaiji who lived during Emperor Renzong's reign. He simply shared a name with Liang Huaiji, the eunuch who served Princess Yan. In the Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian and Song Zhuchen Zouyi, the Liang Huaiji associated with the princess is described as a “household supervisor,” an “in-house eunuch in charge of affairs,” and an “attendant assigned to the inner quarters.” The meaning of household supervisor is clear. An in-house eunuch in charge of affairs was the equivalent of a chief eunuch in a prince's residence or a princess's household. The attendant assigned to the inner quarters was likewise a eunuch who accompanied the princess as part of her dowry. During the Tang dynasty, princesses could establish their own residences, appoint staff, recruit advisors, and even appoint and dismiss officials. Many of their advisors may also have become their lovers. But in the Song dynasty, a princess's residence was simply called a “household,” and its administrative officials were eunuchs. The historical records clearly document the Liang Huaiji loved by the princess. At first, he was a “former department” eunuch, meaning he served in the Palace Attendants Bureau but not inside the imperial palace. Later, he was transferred to the inner department, the Palace Eunuch Bureau, to serve the princess. Anyone entering either of these bureaus had to be a castrated eunuch. After Emperor Renzong discovered his relationship with the princess, Liang Huaiji was temporarily “assigned to the Western Capital sweeping corps,” meaning he was sent to serve at the imperial palace in Luoyang, the Western Capital. This was a form of punishment specifically for eunuchs. Later, due to Princess Yan's determined protests, Liang Huaiji was recalled to the capital and “returned to the former department.” Although he had come back, he was still only allowed to work in the former department and could no longer serve the princess.