The first time they met, Lu Heng stopped Xiao Li's ox cart.
He fell to his knees before the princess, a vegetarian who devoted herself to Buddha, seeing her as the last straw he could grasp.
"Please, have mercy and save my father's life. I am willing to burn incense on my head in your service and work like an ox or a horse."
"Mercy? I'm no Bodhisattva, and I have no golden body. The little compassion I possess is of no use at all."
That was her reply.
Yet that evening, an imperial decree arrived at Taicheng, and every soldier surrounding the Lu residence withdrew. From then on, Lu Heng became Xiao Li's husband in name only.
And so they met a second time.
He climbed West Mountain and knocked on the gates of the Liuli Palace.
Inside the great hall, Xiao Li knelt on a prayer mat with her back to the entrance. She had just finished reciting a sutra.
Lu Heng heard her cool, frost-clear voice ring through the empty hall: "May this merit adorn the pure land of Buddha. May it repay the four great kindnesses above and relieve the suffering of those in the three lower realms. May all who see or hear this awaken the heart of enlightenment. When this life comes to an end, may we all be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss."
The third time they met, the rebels stormed Jiankang, and blazing flames lit the sky above Taicheng.
Jiankang was plunged into chaos, filled with cries of grief.
Lu Heng pushed against the fleeing crowds and made his way back to the Liuli Palace.
The great hall that had once been like a realm of blue glass was now in ruins.
Dressed in plain white, Xiao Li stood alone behind the railing, reaching out into the empty air with her pale hand as if to touch the roaring flames engulfing Taicheng.
"Compassion means putting the preservation of life first. Please, Princess, let me escort you to the Three Wu regions, where you can avoid the rebels for a time."
"Another day has passed, and life ebbs like water from a fish. Our lives diminish with it." She refused him and turned toward the hall. "What joy is there in living? What fear is there in dying?"
Xiao Li, who had transmigrated into a book, had waited thirteen years to reach the story's end.
She thought it was the final chapter, but it turned out to be the prologue.
A redemption story: the man saves the woman.
Both are virgins.
Theme: He entered her world and brought her into the real world.
