The emperor took up Notes from Plum Garden and actually began leafing through it carefully beneath the lamp.
Contrary to what many people thought, even in serious historical records, establishing categories such as "miscellaneous notes" and "collected discussions" had already become common practice. These were generally regarded as "materials left over from compilation," serving to preserve scraps of information lest polishing them strip away their original flavor.
Thus, "miscellaneous notes" preserved a great deal of street gossip, anecdotes, and curious tales.
The author of this book had lived during the previous dynasty. Renowned for his talent from a young age, he had earned considerable respect for his diligence in office, but his official career had gone poorly. He had risen no higher than county magistrate before resigning and retiring into seclusion, finding solace in poetry. The book consisted of stories, most of them instructive, though some were strange.
The emperor had sought out this book because, upon discovering the change in the Nine-Dragon Instrument, he had suddenly remembered a story he had read many years before.
But so many years had passed that he had long since forgotten where the story was. He could only search page by page, until at last he found the passage.
"How strange the workings of fate!"
The emperor read it carefully. The story was much as he remembered, its details filling the gaps that time had left in his memory.
Overall, the story seemed rather ordinary. There were no heart-stopping events, and from beginning to end, it seemed to have no climax at all. It merely told a little tale in a quiet manner.
It concerned a man whose destiny had originally been splendid as brocade. A physiognomist friend had once declared that his family had accumulated virtue and blessings that sheltered their descendants.