The stone bridge reflected the water, the water reflected the people; seeking each other, yet finding it hard to meet...
Fine rain soaked his coarse clothes. Dong Yong held a jade hairpin and propped up a paper umbrella, quietly gazing at the firmament. He hoped Heaven would open its eyes, hoped the fairy maiden from his dreams would return to his side. Simple meals, he farming and she weaving; along the roads of Zhuxi Village, chickens and dogs calling to one another; idly watching the gardenias before their house. Yet just as that happiness had begun, it vanished without a trace.
Ziyi was a fairy maiden, but what right did the Heavenly Court have to seize her and take her back?
The tea stall outside town was packed with guests, its grass-mat awning sheltering them from sun and rain. A bowl of coarse tea sent its fragrance wafting into their noses.
After word spread that Dong Yong had married a fairy maiden only for the Heavenly Court to seize her and bring her back to the heavens, many idle scholars and examination candidates from nearby counties and prefectural cities gathered in Xixi. Beyond their curiosity, they wanted to see exactly who had been blessed through three lifetimes to marry a fairy maiden. Now and then, they would compose poems and essays condemning the vile Heavenly Laws.
As for what those Heavenly Laws and rules were actually like, nobody cared. So long as there was something to talk about, that was enough.
Besides, who knew whether the Heavenly Court truly existed?
They drank tea and wine beneath grass pavilions and thatched shelters, with servants attending to their food and drink.
"I say, Dong Yong is merely a commoner and a peasant. What qualifications does he have to win a fairy maiden's