"Gold-flecked paper" - Partridge Sky: Ju Ying and Xing Yan's farewell

For whom did you slip off the silken sash?

For whom did you vow a thousand, thousand bows?

Through lonely, cloud-wreathed mountains, a lone carriage traveled far.

In vain, chrysanthemums cast their colors on the dusky moss.

The farewell song rang clear.

Frost and dew gleamed white.

Beyond the cold mountains, autumn waters flowed in branching streams.

I sought the soul of a dream among the palace flowers,

Yet it came from beneath the surging waves.

For the events behind this poem, see the end of Volume One.