11 The Immortalized Yue Maiden
Ten days later, in a little pier outside Ying City, a middle-size boat was loading some passengers.
On the boat, there were some merchants with their goods and a good looking woman in her thirties who wore embroidered silk clothes with white flowers as her hair ornaments. She was a beautiful woman that was very pleasant to the eyes of every beholder.
She was alone, yet no man would have a gut to approach her as she carried a spear in her hand. It was a short spear, but everyone could see that the spear was pretty heavy.
The boat was about to sail when someone hopped on board and threw some money to the boatman.
The new passenger was a tall person wearing a purple robe with a hood covering that person's head. It was not clear if the person was a male or a female. There's something in that person that made the woman's heart jump uneasily.
That woman turned her head to observe that new passenger.
The person's face was too beautiful and too soft for a male. But that person was too tall and too strong to be a female. That person carried a guqin * wrapped in a cloth hung on his back. Still brought a long sword, and a bundle of clothes and bamboo slips books in a big package. Even a strong man could not carry those items easily.
*guqin: a Chinese lute with seven strings.
Whether that person was a man or a woman, the person was absolutely a beautiful creature. It's a kind of face that everyone wouldn't get bored to gaze upon. That person also turned his head to look at the woman at a glance.
While the merchants prefer to sit and rest, the woman and the person in purple robe chose to enjoy the river scenery. They sat on the side of the boat and busy with their minds.
After the boat had sailed around an hour, suddenly the woman started to sing. Her voice was lovely. Unfortunately, she sang in a language that most people in the boat could not understand.
What evening is this evening that I could roam on this little boat?
What day is today that I could be in the same boat with the prince?
Be granted a favour, and the prince did not give me the cold shoulder or look down on me for who I am.
My heart is perturbed since I know that he is the prince
Hills have their trees. Trees have their branches.
My heart lives for your heart, but you just don't know it.
NOTE: There's a slight difference between the song that Yue Maiden sang for Ejun Zixi when she met him on the boat and the song that she sang after Ejun Zixi passed away.
It was such a sentimental, yearning, and longing song. And the woman sang it with all her heart that her eyes started to dim.
The person who carried a guqin on his back knitted his eyebrows and started to take his guqin and put it on his lap to accompany the song.
The woman who heard his guqin also knitted her eyebrows, but she didn't stop her song. After the woman stopped her song, then the person who played his guqin continued to sing the song. It was a soft female's voice.
The woman observed the person, who based on the voice, must be a female.
But what makes the woman astonished was that the female could sing in Yue language. Yue kingdom had perished after it was annexed by the Chu State more than thirty years ago. Not many young Yue people who didn't live in the forest could speak in the Yue language.
She dressed up like people in Central Plain, definitely not a Yue people who lived in the deep forest.
The woman was still pondering when the girl in purple robe rose from her seat and took off her hood and bowed politely to greet the woman.
She was around seventeen or eighteen years old, stunning with such a majestic cold aura.
Her raven hair was let loose without any ornament
her skin was as lustrous as the jade of Heshibi.
Melon-seed face with eyes as mysterious as the Western Lake.
Such a beauty that any man would covet.
And a beauty that any woman would envy.
Her tall stature and her overbearing aura.
Such a lady that only comes once in a millennium.
A beauty that only a great hero deserves to have.
The woman was astonished when she saw the girl. She had never seen a girl as beautiful as her before. Yet, there's a strange cold aura around her. The woman felt her heart beat jumped irregularly again.
The girl spoke politely in Yue language, "Senior, it seems that you and I are from the same country."
The woman was confused, but she nodded.
The Yue kingdom had perished many years ago, yet instead of saying that they're from the same ethnicity, the girl said that they're from the same country. The woman felt something odd about this young girl.
"The love song you sang is very beautiful and touching. I would like to know the story behind the song if you don't mind!" The girl said politely with a humble gesture.
"It is the love story between Lord Ejun Zixi of Chu, with a Yue woman!"
The girl looked excited to hear the story. She kneeled in front of the woman to sit and said, "Junior*, is willing to listen to Senior's* story!"
[*: the younger usually addressed themselves as junior, while addressing the older people as Senior]
The woman observed the girl. She had a good impression on that girl, and she started to narrate her story.
The girl was a good listener, and she listened to the story attentively.
After the woman finished her story, the girl said, "The historical record I read mentioned that Lord Ejun committed suicide and died not long after Qiji's rebellion. It seems that he managed to run away with that Yue Maiden. I bet they had a good ending and be together until old age."
The woman sighed and said, "They managed to be together for another thirteen years until he died."
"How did he die?"
"Lord Ejun inherited a spearhead cast by a great blacksmith. And one day, when he and the Yue Maiden went hunting, he accidentally bumped into some people who recognized the spearhead as a valuable treasure. They killed Lord Ejun and his wife to get the spear!"
"Ah.... and that group of people was the Chu people!" The girl said in surprise. "That spearhead was later owned by a Chu royalty."
The woman nodded.
"But, Lord Ejun could rest in peace now! The spear has returned to the rightful owner!"
The woman raised her eyebrow, "What do you mean? What do you know about the spearhead?"
The girl laughed and said, "I'm familiar with the story of Lord Ejun. That spearhead is a legend among the blacksmiths. Even Ou Yezi, the great blacksmith, was also curious to scrutinize it to get a better understanding of it. The late Master Ou Yezi was very curious to see the spear!"
The woman smiled. In the beginning, when she narrated the story, she looked sentimental. Yet, at that moment, she looked happy and proud.
"Senior, if I am not mistaken, that Yue Maiden did not die when Lord Ejun and her were ambushed and killed. And she was the one who later retrieved the spear back from the Chu people. Am I right?"
"How… how do you know?" The woman was surprised.
The girl laughed and said, "Those Chu men took the spear from Lord Ejun, and that spear has been circulated among the Chu royal families and princes. Later on, after tracing so many years, Yue Maiden managed to get back the spear. And that spear...is the spear that now you are carrying!" She sneaked a glance at the spear on the woman's hand.
"How do you know it? Who… who are you?" The woman was alarmed.
The girl made a salute with her fists and bowed politely said, "Yue Maiden, junior's* name is Yue Ying. Yue from the name of the Yue State. I was born in Yue state during the reign of King Goujian. And just like you, I am also an immortal who can not die!"
Yue Maiden was shocked when she heard the girl's word. "Immortal?"
King Goujian was the king of Yue. But King Goujian reigned more than two hundred years ago. But she herself had lived longer even before King Goujian reigned.
"We are the chosen immortal people!" the girl said calmly while playing her guqin again. "We're born into this world without parents. Many of us are adopted when we're babies. We live normal lives, until one day, we probably severely wounded or accidentally died. And then we're healed or resurrected. Then we just realized that we are not a normal human!"
