A Young Emperor Who Knew Nothing of the Imperial Household

Jiu Ge, not Qu Yuan’s “Nine Songs.”

Mo Xi. “Mo” was the surname of the old man Mo Yan, and “Xi” was a name I chose for myself. The character “Xi” has no meaning on its own; only when paired with “Mo” does it truly make people cherish me.

If we were fated to be no more than passing strangers in each other’s lives, why cherish one another, only to add sorrow to the days ahead? Even so, you still could not truly let go. An inadvertent bond from a past life three thousand years ago endured through the vast, turbulent world of mortals, only to bring us to this encounter three thousand years later.

I said, “In this life, meeting me is your misfortune.”

But you said it was the meeting you had longed for, earned through a thousand years of cultivation! Even if we could share only a few years together, and could never stay by each other’s side for a lifetime or grow old together, that would be enough for you. You only hoped that when our fate ran its course and I once again crossed the River of Forgetfulness, I would not forget you or your past life. When the time came to return, you hoped we could meet again in our former lives! Even if our bodies were different, our souls would still be the same ones from our past and present lives.

After hearing all this, how could I not be moved? How could I not ache for you? Even if there was not necessarily love between us, and we could not spend our lives together, having you, a kindred spirit, in my life was enough!

I still do not know whether this is a debt of fate, a debt of love, or a karmic debt! Since I chose you in this life to be the one who passes through it, when I return, I must have no regrets about this life!

Returning to where the soul first began, I take the name Jiu Ge. I will sing my way through a life of abandon, singing through three lifetimes in the mortal world.