The prologue mentions the earliest Chinese dynasties in chronological
succession. Then the story recounts how the 15th
Tang Emperor Mei Zong convened a great assembly at court attended by
the civil and military officials. Addressing the assembly, the
Emperor told them that he had had a dream
about a golden dragon descending from on high. One of the officials came
forward and explained that the dream presaged the birth of the
Emperor’s heir. Hearing this news, the
Imperial Teacher,
Yang Wenfeng, became alarmed, since he was plotting to
rebel against the
Emperor and usurp his
throne. Late at night,
Yang Wenfeng visited
his daughter,
Yang Jinding, who was one of
the many consorts of the
Emperor. He asked
her to find out whether or not a child was going to be born to the
emperor.
Yang
Jinding performed divinations by means of coins, which revealed that
the birth was expected in the 9
th month of the next
year. She promised to find a way of eliminating the
emperor’s heir. In the meantime, the
Minister of State Sui Jingye had left the capital,
Chang’an, and had returned to his native
Shanxi. When he heard that
Yang Wenfeng was plotting against the
Emperor, he gazed at the stars and noticed that an aura
enveloped the Polar Star. Since this was a sign heralding revolt, he began to
fear that
Yang
Wengeng and his
family were doing harm to the
emperor’s heir.
He sent letters to the heads of the leading families of the realm, who were
loyal to the Tang ruling house. A letter reached
Luo Xiong, who sent his seventeen-year-old son
Luo Jinfeng to
Lady Jiang
Ronghua, the wife of
Prince Xue
Jinglong in
Jiang’an to find a way of
protecting the heir to the throne. They also received
Sui Jingye’s letter, and when
Luo Jinfeng arrived, the latter escorted
Jiang Ronghua to
Chang’an. Having
arrived in
Chang’an,
Ronghua went to the
Empress’s palace, since she was about to give
birth.
Ronghua was also pregnant and she gave
birth to a girl while she was looking after the Empress. When the
Emperor was informed that the Empress needed
assistance in delivery,
Yang Jinding
volunteered to help, while her father,
Yang
Wenfeng, advised the
Emperor that he
should send soldiers to guard the Empress’s palace. The
Emperor agreed to this, and
Yang Wenfeng took a large army, which surrounded the palace. When
Ronghua heard that
Yang Jinding was coming to the Empress’s room, she put her
baby girl to the Empress’s bosom. As soon as
Yang
Jinding saw the baby, she seized it and threw it from a window. After
the Empress gave birth to a boy,
Ronghua took
him away and fled the capital. The
Emperor’s
son was named
Li Zhenglong. The Yang family,
deceiving him, told the
Emperor that
Jiang Ronghua had killed his son. Hearing
this, the
Emperor appointed
Yang Wenfeng and his two sons generals of a force of a
hundred thousand men and ordered them to capture
Jiang Ronghua. Carrying the
Emperor’s
son, she returned home to
Jiang’an, while the government troops were
approaching. These events are the origin of endless battles, also involving the
heroic actions of women warriors and the intervention of Daoist masters with
their magic practices. As it turned out,
Ronghua’s daughter had escaped death. She had been rescued by a Daoist master, who had taken
her to his
mountain abode. The girl had lived in this place until she was fifteen. It is
at this age that her master let her descend from the mountain to meet her
mother,
Ronghua. In order to recognise the
girl as her lost daughter,
Ronghua asked of
her to suck her dried breast. After a mouthful of milk came out from
Ronghua’s breast, mother and daughter were
reunited again. The story is brought to a conclusion with the victory of the
loyal supporters of the Tang over the traitor
Yang Wenfeng. After this,
Emperor Mei Zong passed away and his son
Li Zhenglong ascended the throne as the 16
thEmperor Ming Di.
