The Ye Palace Three Terraces-the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, Golden Phoenix Terrace, and Jade Dragon Terrace-had first been built by Cao Cao, then expanded under Shi Hu, who also renamed the Jade Dragon Terrace the Ice Well Terrace. The Bronze Sparrow Terrace stood twenty-seven zhang tall, towering like a mountain, magnificent beyond compare. Its soaring galleries and tiered eaves were all adorned with copper cladding, which shimmered and blazed with color in the sunlight. A gigantic bronze sparrow perched atop the tower, its wings spread into the wind, so lifelike that it seemed about to fly-
Yet in a mere fifteen years, the once prosperous and extravagant Three Terraces of the Bronze Sparrow had changed beyond recognition. Although the Xianbei Imperial Clan had repaired them, they fell far short of their former splendor, when lofty terraces towered high and twin bridges spanned the sky. To Chen Caozhi, however, the two surviving terraces, Bronze Sparrow and Golden Phoenix, remained spectacular, with a desolation and weathered grandeur beyond their lavish magnificence.
After leading Chen Caozhi into the garden, Murong Chong slipped away first, presumably to arrange for his elder sister, Princess Qinghe, to meet Chen Caozhi. Chen Caozhi understood Phoenix Child's little scheme perfectly well. The boy had both the potential and the inclination to play procurer, so he had to survey and memorize the positions of the garden's towers, terraces, and other features as quickly as possible. The old monk Ji Pi had said that the rainbow bridge of the Golden Phoenix Terrace lay a hundred paces to the left of Xuanguang Hall's rear gate. A hundred paces equaled roughly a hundred and fifty meters in later times; that location ought to be fairly easy to identify.
Chen Caozhi threaded his way among the flowers, trees, pavilions, and waterside halls, walking briskly