Chapter Summaries

The Verdant Green Maiden and Liu Yong met a pipa player in Xunyang and learned she was descended from the Autumn Maiden. The pipa player explained that her family had preserved a promise to play for the Verdant Green Maiden, and revealed she also earned money copying texts.

• The Verdant Green Maiden and Liu Yong watched a woman play the pipa for money on a street in Xunyang.
• After the performance, Liu Yong offered the pipa player money from himself and the Verdant Green Maiden.
• The pipa player recognized the Verdant Green Maiden and invited her and Liu Yong to her home outside the city.
• The pipa player told them that her family had fallen into ruin during the Late Tang and Five Dynasties era.
• The pipa player explained that her ancestor had loved playing for the Verdant Green Maiden and had instructed her descendants to learn the pipa in case they could play for her.
• The pipa player said she also worked copying texts for a school in Xunyang City.

Verdant Green Maiden returned a treasured poem to Zhi Shu, helped her prepare for her dream of traveling to Chang'an, and later continued her journey with Liu Yong into the Min Lands. After Liu Yong recovered from a grave illness, the pair traveled on through the region's difficult terrain.

• Zhi Shu returned the box containing Bai Juyi's poem to Verdant Green Maiden, explaining that her family could no longer protect it, and Verdant Green Maiden gave her money for her planned journey to Chang'an.
• Zhi Shu told Verdant Green Maiden she hoped to see Chang'an and Toad Mound, and Liu Yong awkwardly asked Verdant Green Maiden's age before she told him to treat her as an ordinary person.
• Verdant Green Maiden and Liu Yong stayed in Xunyang for nearly a year, during which Verdant Green Maiden gave Zhi Shu pipa lessons and Zhi Shu improved.
• As they parted, Zhi Shu warned Verdant Green Maiden not to make promises lightly, and Verdant Green Maiden copied the complete Pipa Song for Liu Yong.
• Verdant Green Maiden and Liu Yong traveled into the Min Lands, where Liu Yong fell gravely ill and Verdant Green Maiden obtained medicine and nursed him back to health.

The Verdant Green Maiden returned to her former home in Hui'an County with Liu Yong and posed as Zhao Jue, the daughter of her old self, Dian Qing. As Liu Yong tried farming and met local fishermen, he heard about the mysterious Lin Family Immortal Aunt, leaving him wondering whether she was genuine.

• The Verdant Green Maiden brought Liu Yong to her old residence and told him to clean it.
• She introduced herself to curious neighbors as Zhao Jue, Dian Qing’s eighteen-year-old daughter, and they welcomed her warmly.
• The neighbors warned Zhao Jue that Liu Yong seemed idle, so she sent him to work in the fields and seek inspiration.
• Liu Yong spoke with fishermen, bought seafood, and heard that the Lin Family Immortal Aunt could predict weather and guide sailors to good catches.
• Liu Yong returned to find the Verdant Green Maiden grilling far more seafood than he had brought, then asked whether the Lin Family Immortal Aunt was real.

The Verdant Green Maiden and Liu Yong stayed in Hui'an County, where farmwork changed Liu Yong’s poetry and outlook. As they prepared to leave, Mad Wind struck, and the Verdant Green Maiden glimpsed what seemed to be a boat amid the waves.

• Liu Yong asked whether the Lin Family Immortal Aunt was truly divine, and the Verdant Green Maiden said that helping the people mattered more than the title of god.
• The Verdant Green Maiden considered visiting Lin Moniang but decided against it, while Liu Yong slept off his drunkenness and later apologized for drinking too much.
• After days of farmwork, Liu Yong wrote poems shaped by the farmers’ hardships and said he now understood the value of every grain of rice.
• The Verdant Green Maiden helped Liu Yong compile his poems, and he chose to keep traveling rather than return to Bianjing to find his sweetheart.
• As Mad Wind battered the coast, Liu Yong went to the shore to check on the Verdant Green Maiden, who spotted a possible boat among the waves.

After a Mad Wind devastated the coast, the Verdant Green Maiden learned that Lin Moniang had been gravely injured while rescuing fishermen. She reached Lin Moniang in time to comfort her, but Lin Moniang died as the Verdant Green Maiden sang her childhood song.

• The Verdant Green Maiden and Liu Yong watched the Mad Wind overturn a boat, then returned home after she explained that the storm was a weather phenomenon.
• Liu Yong told the Verdant Green Maiden that Lin Moniang had been injured saving people at sea, and she hurried to Meizhou Island.
• The Verdant Green Maiden reached Lin Moniang's bedside, where Lin Moniang apologized for failing to save some fishermen.
• The Verdant Green Maiden told Lin Moniang she was proud of her and tried to treat her, but Lin Moniang was beyond saving.
• Lin Moniang asked to hear her childhood song, and the Verdant Green Maiden sang as Lin Moniang died.

After Lin Moniang died, Verdant Green Maiden established a temple and named her Mazu, then parted ways with Liu Yong as he pursued the Grace Examination. Liu Yong passed at age fifty, while a young man in a Bianjing tavern dismissed the examination as merely a Grace Examination.

• Verdant Green Maiden woke after Lin Moniang had been buried and grieved that she had missed seeing her disciple one last time.
• Verdant Green Maiden arranged for a temple to be built for Lin Moniang and named her Mazu, then stayed until the temple was running smoothly.
• Liu Yong decided to take the Grace Examination, and Verdant Green Maiden encouraged him before they returned to Bianjing.
• A singing girl refused Liu Yong’s marriage proposal because she believed her status made her unworthy of him, and Verdant Green Maiden vanished after he entered the examination grounds.
• Liu Yong passed the Grace Examination and became a Presented Scholar at fifty.
• A young man in a Bianjing tavern heard people celebrating the results and muttered that it was only a Grace Examination.

Su Xun admitted to Verdant Green Maiden that the Grace Examination results had stirred his ambition to become a Presented Scholar. After they made a promise to share a meal if he passed—or failed—he met her again at a checkpoint in Han Zhong and continued toward Shu with her.

• Verdant Green Maiden invited Su Xun to share wine and tell her a story, then learned his name was Su Xun, courtesy name Mingyun.
• Su Xun told Verdant Green Maiden that seeing those who passed the Grace Examination had made him want to become a Presented Scholar.
• Verdant Green Maiden admired Su Xun for having thoughts of his own and proposed a promise to share a meal in the future.
• Su Xun agreed to Verdant Green Maiden's promise, finished another meal with her, and set off toward Shu.
• Su Xun encountered Verdant Green Maiden again at a checkpoint in Han Zhong, and they traveled toward Shu together.

Verdant Green Maiden stayed near Crane Call Mountain for two months before leaving, while Su Xun arrived too late to see her. Later, Su Xun failed the imperial examination in Bianjing, but Cheng encouraged him not to lose heart.

• Verdant Green Maiden told Su Xun she was a Daoist priestess and planned to stay near the Tai Ping Daoist temple on Crane Call Mountain.
• Verdant Green Maiden lived at the foot of the mountain, selling trinkets and meeting the temple’s Daoists, then set off again after two months.
• Su Xun arrived with Cheng after Verdant Green Maiden had left, and the temple master later recognized her name in a Daoist scripture and declared he had attained Mahayana.
• Verdant Green Maiden traveled onward with Old Yellow Ox, teasing him and claiming she would remain his master for a thousand years.
• In the third year of Jingyou, Su Xun learned he had failed the imperial examination in Bianjing, and Cheng comforted him as they embraced.
• Someone knocked at the door while Su Xun and Cheng were together.

Verdant Green Maiden reunited with Su Xun and Cheng, discovered Cheng was pregnant, and celebrated their coming child. By the fourth year of Jingyou, Su Xun had failed the Outstanding Talent Examination, Cheng had given birth to a son, and the Tanguts had joined with Mobei tribes in rebellion, leaving Zhao Zhen under pressure to choose between war and peace.

• Verdant Green Maiden visited Su Xun and Cheng, comforted Su Xun over failing the imperial examination, and restored his resolve to sit the Outstanding Talent Examination.
• Verdant Green Maiden examined Cheng and diagnosed her pregnancy, prompting Su Xun to consider returning with her to Shu while Cheng urged him to stay in Bianjing.
• Verdant Green Maiden ordered a fresh meal for Cheng and explained that welcoming new life helped her feel connected to the present.
• In the fourth year of Jingyou, Cheng gave birth to a boy, Su Xun failed the Outstanding Talent Examination, and Bao Zheng returned to Bianjing before another posting.
• The Tanguts allied with Mobei tribes and rebelled to disrupt the Silk Road, while officials argued over war and peace and Zhao Zhen faced the influence of his civil-official tutors.

Zhao Zhen appointed Di Qing to lead an offensive against the Tangut rebellion after military and civil officials argued over whether the Song Army could fight. Meanwhile, Cheng again asked the Verdant Green Maiden to become little Su Shi’s godmother, but she declined.

• Military and civil officials argued before Zhao Zhen over whether to send troops against the Tanguts.
• Di Qing declared that the Song Army could fight, and Cao Qi defended him against a Hanlin scholar who called him a mere warrior.
• Zhao Zhen appointed Di Qing Three-Ban Commissioner, Palace Attendant, and Commander of Yan Prefecture, ordering him to quell the Tangut rebellion in the Hexi Corridor.
• After Zhao Zhen left the Grand Hall, Cao Qi invited Di Qing for a walk, and Di Qing accepted.
• The Verdant Green Maiden played with little Su Shi while Cheng asked her to become his godmother, but she declined.

Verdant Green Maiden explained to Su Xun why Great Song needed to resist the Tanguts rather than yield, and Su Xun decided to return to Shu with his family. She gave little Su Shi a gold Longevity Lock despite Cheng and Su Xun's protests.

• Su Xun told Verdant Green Maiden that the court had ordered troops to march against the Tanguts, though he did not know who would command them.
• Verdant Green Maiden argued that the Six Kingdoms had fallen because they repeatedly yielded to Qin, and Su Xun concluded that Great Song must not follow their example.
• Su Xun told Verdant Green Maiden he had decided to leave Bianjing and take Cheng and their son back to Shu.
• Verdant Green Maiden gave little Su Shi a gold Longevity Lock and fastened it on him despite Cheng and Su Xun's objections.

Verdant Green Maiden reunited with Bao Zheng on the road and reaffirmed his duty to serve the people before they parted. She then reached the sealed Xiao Pass on her way to Hexi and, after soldiers refused her entry, decided to cross the mountains instead.

• At Bianjing's city gate, Old Yellow Ox damaged Bao Zheng's carriage, and Verdant Green Maiden recognized her former student.
• Bao Zheng explained that unrest in the Hexi Corridor had delayed his appointment as Tianchang's county magistrate, then accompanied Verdant Green Maiden west for a while.
• Verdant Green Maiden asked whether Bao Zheng feared her unchanging appearance, and he assured her that he saw her as a kind fairy rather than an ancient monster.
• Bao Zheng told Verdant Green Maiden that his frail wife had died and that he had buried the little deity statue she had given her.
• Verdant Green Maiden charged Bao Zheng to aid the world, remain just and incorruptible, and govern as a clear blue sky; they then went their separate ways.
• At Xiao Pass, soldiers refused to let Verdant Green Maiden enter the Hexi Corridor because of martial law, so she planned to cross the mountains as a rider arrived bearing military orders.

Verdant Green Maiden, calling herself Shao Dian Qing Nü, met Di Qing as the Imperial Guard advanced toward Xiao Pass to suppress the Tangut rebellion. Di Qing accepted her into the army after learning of her connection to the Defender of the State Grand Princess, but kept her under watch as the force prepared to enter Hexi.

• A military courier ordered Xiao Pass to prepare for the Imperial Guard’s arrival and assist in suppressing the Hexi rebellion.
• Verdant Green Maiden introduced herself to a scout as Shao Dian, a shepherdess seeking her family, and asked whether the army had come to put down the rebellion.
• Di Qing recognized that Verdant Green Maiden was no ordinary shepherdess, drew his sword, and demanded to know who she was.
• Verdant Green Maiden named herself Shao Dian Qing Nü, showed Di Qing an imperial palace object, and said she had a connection to the Defender of the State Grand Princess in the Western Regions.
• Di Qing allowed Verdant Green Maiden to accompany the army but assigned soldiers to watch her as the force reached Xiao Pass.
• The commander of Xiao Pass gave Di Qing intelligence on Hexi, and that night Verdant Green Maiden looked toward the corridor from the gate tower.

Verdant Green Maiden crossed the Yellow River and traveled through the Hexi Corridor, aiding displaced people as her reputation spread. After meeting a cavalry officer from Zhao Qingyu’s guard, she hurried to the Eastern Expeditionary Army’s camp and reunited with Zhao Qingyu.

• Verdant Green Maiden crossed the Yellow River on Old Yellow Ox and told Di Qing to bring his army to Dunhuang, prompting him to order the troops to cross.
• Verdant Green Maiden aided displaced people throughout the Hexi Corridor, and they spread songs praising her as a compassionate Heavenly Maiden.
• Verdant Green Maiden learned that Zhao Qingyu had come to the Hexi Corridor after meeting Alisha, a cavalry commander of the princess’s guard.
• Verdant Green Maiden reached the Eastern Expeditionary Army’s camp and reunited with Zhao Qingyu, who noticed her white hair.

Zhao Qingyu reunited with Verdant Green Maiden and revealed how she had built up the Western Regions and adopted Binghong’s son as her heir. Zhao Qingyu and Di Qing defeated the Tangut rebels, captured Li Yuanhao, and celebrated their victory with Verdant Green Maiden in Dunhuang.

• Zhao Qingyu reproached Verdant Green Maiden for not visiting or writing, then told her about the Western Regions corps and its growth under her rule.
• Zhao Qingyu revealed that she had adopted Binghong’s son and intended for him to inherit her position; she also told Verdant Green Maiden that Binghong had died the previous year.
• Zhao Qingyu assured Verdant Green Maiden that the Tanguts would not take the Hexi Corridor, and Verdant Green Maiden said she believed her.
• A month later, Zhao Qingyu joined forces with Di Qing’s Great Song Imperial Guard, and Di Qing learned that Verdant Green Maiden was Zhao Qingyu’s master.
• Zhao Qingyu and Di Qing swept through the Hexi Corridor, captured rebel leader Li Yuanhao, and sent him to Bianjing to face the emperor.
• In Dunhuang, Di Qing greeted Verdant Green Maiden as a senior, and she urged him to celebrate their victory.

After helping reclaim the Hexi Corridor, Zhao Qingyu returned to the Western Regions with the Verdant Green Maiden, but her health soon failed and she died before her sixtieth birthday. The Verdant Green Maiden attended her funeral, then agreed to advise Zhao Qingyu’s son as he took over governing Saintess City.

• The court summoned Di Qing back to Bianjing, while Zhao Qingyu and the Verdant Green Maiden set out for the Western Regions.
• Zhao Qingyu persuaded the Verdant Green Maiden to accompany her and arranged for the fallen soldiers to be buried outside Saintess City.
• After completing the arrangements, Zhao Qingyu became bedridden and lamented that she would not live to celebrate her sixtieth birthday with her master.
• The Verdant Green Maiden sang to Zhao Qingyu by candlelight, and Zhao Qingyu died after asking whether they would meet again.
• At Zhao Qingyu’s burial, her nearly forty-year-old son asked the Verdant Green Maiden whether he could govern Saintess City well.
• The Verdant Green Maiden promised to stay in Saintess City for three months and answer his questions during that time.

Verdant Green Maiden observed the Qingli New Policies, which collapsed after Zhao Zhen withdrew his support, while she funded Bi Sheng’s experiments with movable-type printing. The chapter ended with a worker rushing to tell her that Bi Sheng had succeeded.

• Verdant Green Maiden listened as scholars in Hangzhou debated whether the Qingli New Policies could succeed and considered the court’s problems with surplus civil officials.
• At her printing and dyeing workshop, Verdant Green Maiden encouraged Bi Sheng to keep experimenting with movable type and promised to cover the costs.
• The Qingli New Policies failed after widespread opposition, and Zhao Zhen transferred Fan Zhongyan out of Bianjing.
• A workshop worker summoned Verdant Green Maiden and told her that Bi Sheng had done it.

Verdant Green Maiden saw Bi Sheng’s improved movable type transform the Dyeing Workshop, then watched years pass as her old friends died and Emperor Renzong’s reign ended. After handing the workshop to a successor and leaving Hangzhou, she recognized Su Shi by the gold lock she had once given him.

• Bi Sheng showed Verdant Green Maiden his durable new movable type, and she made him a co-owner and put him in charge of expanding its use.
• Bi Sheng printed a book with movable type after the Spring Festival, then died; Verdant Green Maiden gave his descendants a substantial sum.
• The Dyeing Workshop prospered from movable-type printing as Verdant Green Maiden received news that Liu Yong, Di Qing, Su Xun, and Bao Zheng had died, and Emperor Renzong’s reign passed.
• Verdant Green Maiden chose a successor, handed him the Dyeing Workshop, and watched it be renamed the Azure Workshop before leaving Hangzhou with Old Yellow Ox.
• Verdant Green Maiden spotted an official wearing the gold lock she had given Su Shi, then recognized the grown-up Su Shi when he turned to look at her.

Verdant Green Maiden and Old Yellow Ox traveled to tend the graves of her old friends, including Bao Zheng’s in Luzhou. After two or three years of visiting graves, she decided to return with Old Yellow Ox to Mount Tai.

• Su Shi watched Verdant Green Maiden and Old Yellow Ox leave Hangzhou and reflected on his parents’ wish to meet Lady Shao Dian.
• Verdant Green Maiden went to Luzhou, ate the offerings at Bao Zheng’s grave, and left fresh red fruit in his honor.
• People who came to tend Bao Zheng’s grave found the fine fruit and believed Heaven had been moved by his incorruptibility.
• Verdant Green Maiden and Old Yellow Ox spent two or three years visiting graves scattered across the land.
• Verdant Green Maiden agreed with Old Yellow Ox that they should return to Mount Tai.

At Mount Tai, Su Shi encountered Verdant Green Maiden, whom he recognized from an earlier meeting in Hangzhou. When she gave him the name Shao Dian, he reacted with astonishment.

• Verdant Green Maiden ate offerings beside Great Emperor Yu Qing's shrine while Old Yellow Ox rested nearby.
• Su Shi arrived at the shrine on his way to take up his post as prefect of Mizhou and explained to his servant why he wanted to pay his respects.
• Verdant Green Maiden laughed at Su Shi, and he asked whether she had ever been to Hangzhou.
• Su Shi recognized Verdant Green Maiden as the woman he had seen at Hangzhou's city gate arguing with an ox.
• Verdant Green Maiden teased Su Shi's servant, then forgave him when he apologized.
• After Su Shi introduced himself, Verdant Green Maiden told him to call her Shao Dian, leaving him astonished.