Now let us speak of Yanbin.¹ When he heard what Chen Shouyuan and Censor Zhen said, he was elated, and went into the palace to tell Chen Jinfeng. Jinfeng kowtowed and offered her congratulations, saying, “Heaven sent down auspicious omens, and a dragon soared out of the well. This means my lord should ascend to the honored position of emperor. If you hesitate, that would be going against Heaven.”

When Yanbin heard this he was very happy. He helped Jinfeng up, saying, “Dear, what you say is totally reasonable. I should respond to the omens.”

He decreed a tablet be given to Censor Zhen to hang up in his house, naming it “Leaping Dragon Palace.” Yanbin changed his name to Wang Lian.² He carefully selected Guihai in the fourth year of the Changxing reign period of the Tang as dawn of the first day of the first month. Then he personally went to the Baohuang Palace to receive the writings confirming his new position, and prepared the Ceremonial Guard in accordance with the rank of Son of Heaven. He went up to the palace, and in the position of emperor received all the civil and military officials, who had an audience with him in order to offer their congratulations. He established the name of the country as the Great Min state with the first year as the Dragon Ascent reign period, and issued an imperial decree to go to the South Terrace to offer the suburban sacrifices to Heaven and Earth. He also appointed Jinfeng as the empress of the True Palace and Gui Shouming as Manager of the Inner Hall to take full charge of the inner palace.³

At this time, Yanbin’s original wife, Madame Liu, lost favor, so the ruler of Min no longer went to her palace. Day and night she sighed with bitterness, and, having fallen despondent, she died, leaving Jinfeng as the favorite in the inner palace. In the Changchun Palace she carried on an illicit affair with Gui Lang. Even though there were people in the palace who knew about it, they didn’t dare disclose it.

At this time, the ruler of Min appointed his eldest son, Wang Jipeng, as prefect of Fuzhou and his next son, Yanzheng, as prefect of Jianzhou; Wu Zui as Palace Secretary; Wu Dashou as Compiler in the Hanlin Academy, where he was in charge of writing the state history; Xue Wenjie as State Astrologer; and Chen Shouyuan as Celestial Master of the Great Min state.⁴ The other civil and military officials all received titles and promotions of one rank. After expressing their gratitude, they departed.

Among them only Xue Wenjie treacherously engaged in cunning words and fawned on the king in order to obtain his favor. He amassed gold and silver. He secretly sought out the wealthiest households inside and outside Fuzhou City, brought charges against them in order to confiscate all their household wealth, and presented it to the ruler of Min to use for state expenses. Consequently, the ruler of Min personally entrusted him with everything. Xue Wenjie employed several ferocious thugs. On the outside they went around making minute investigations, and if there was the smallest error they would lay murderous hands on the accused. In an instant the families of the wretched victims were ruined and the person destroyed. How could people bear such cruelty? For wicked ministers to rely on state power to bully and tyrannize the people is the most detestable thing. Innocent people were subjected to these harsh laws, so that those whose wealth was destroyed and who lost their lives were impossible to count.

Now we will return to the Ravine Demon and the White Snake, who had resumed their original forms. After they frightened Gui Lang away, the White Snake again ordered the Ravine Demon to entice victims. The Ravine Demon received the order, and again searched all around for victims. Those who were handsome were numerous, those with learning few, but in the end, there wasn’t a single person who was both handsome and talented. For this reason, after a couple of weeks the White Snake grew dissatisfied with those who were dragged in for her carnal pleasure, and swallowed them into her belly.

If one adds up the number of husbands the White Snake enticed during more than twenty years, there were only two who suited her fancy. One was Police Chief Liu, her enemy Chen Jinggu’s husband, and the other was Gui Lang. From the time that his couplet scared her off up until the present, she had not lost her heart to anyone else. She said to the Ravine Demon, “Although you have indiscriminately dragged people in all day, they are all stupid creatures. You must search with all your might to find for me my darling Gui Lang. At this very moment where is he? Find him and quickly come back to report.”

Having received the order, the Ravine Demon set out, returning only in the evening to report, “I made inquiries and learned that Gui Lang is not the unemployed official he was in the past. Now he has been appointed by the ruler of Min to the position of manager of the inner palace. He lives in the palace and, moreover, often has his illicit pleasure with Jinfeng in the Changchun Palace. Even if you want to meet your lover again, it’s impossible. You must have a strategy, and only then will you be able to see him.”

The White Snake said, “Deep in the palace in the inner courtyard isn’t exactly a mountain wilderness, so it should be easy enough to find him. What ingenious plan do you have? You should present it to me. Naturally, I will thank you.” The Ravine Demon thought for a long time.

“I’ve got an idea!” he said cheerfully. “Madame, you excel in magic power. To carry out this matter, what difficulty could there be? Wait till tomorrow morning. I will slip into the emperor’s palace with you, bewitch Empress Jinfeng, and carry her back to the grotto. You will then transform yourself into the empress of the True Palace. If you double as Jinfeng in the palace, overtly you and the ruler of Min will be a couple, while secretly you can carry on an affair with Gui Lang. At the same time you will, on the one hand, control the great power of the inner palace and, on the other, have the respected position of being the mother of the heir apparent of the state. You will not be able to finish eating all the rare delicacies, nor will you be able to wear all the fine silks. Won’t that be better than being in the grotto, cold and lonely? At that time Madame will be in the palace with the great joy of doing whatever she pleases. How could this not be good?”

As soon as the White Snake heard what the Ravine Demon said, she laughed with delight and was beside herself with joy. To the Ravine Demon she said, “In presenting me with this plan you are like Zhuge Kongming. Not even Zhang Liang and Chen Ping could match you.⁵ Of course I will proceed according to your plan.”

The Ravine Demon was also very happy. To himself he thought, “All along I have been a slave, obtaining pleasure for others. Now, once this plan is implemented, she will go live happily, and I will be free and unfettered to seek pleasure. I’ve heard that Jinfeng is the pinnacle of beauty, and I will have unrestricted access to her.”

The next day, he secretly slipped into the palace with the White Snake, the White Snake using the method of tightly closing the eyes. In the Pavilion of the Spring Scenery Imperial Park she bewitched Jinfeng. She turned her over to the Ravine Demon, instructing him, “You carry Jinfeng from the True Palace, and find a place to settle down. From morning till evening, be careful! Meticulously look into things, and come to the palace to report.” No sooner had the Ravine Demon heard and understood than he carried Jinfeng off and installed her in the grotto, where from morning till night he indulged his carnal pleasure.

When the White Snake saw that the Ravine Demon had removed Jinfeng from the palace and departed, with a twist of her body she turned into the perfect likeness of Jinfeng and occupied the Changchun Palace. All day long she was happy. If she wasn’t entertaining the ruler of Min, then she was happily having sex with Gui Lang. How could the people in the palace know that it was a transformation of the White Snake Demon? But the White Snake really was a demon, and her nature was vicious. In the palace the pleasures and joys were never enough to satisfy her, and she was jealous again and again.

Before she was in the palace for very long, she had the thirty-six palace concubines all imprisoned in the Cold Palace. She provided firewood and rice for the Cold Palace so that she could eat the concubines herself, not allowing the seal to be broken for them to be released. Gui Shouming saw that Jinfeng’s jealousy was easily aroused, but she was the empress in charge of the palace and all the power was in her hands, so there was nothing he could do. He didn’t even dare admonish her. Sometimes the ruler of Min fell sick because of his excessive sexual desire, and the affairs of state were all handled by the White Snake.

Now let us turn to the Ravine Demon, who had carried Jinfeng out of the inner palace back to the grotto. He wasn’t willing to rouse Jinfeng by spraying her, so she lay in a stupor in the grotto, still dressed in her palace clothing. The Ravine Demon took the trousers off the lower part of her body and took his pleasure at will. During the day he trickled some dry food into Jinfeng’s mouth to allay her hunger, so that she would not starve.

At this time, the Ravine Demon and the White Snake had each succeeded in obtaining a place where they could indulge their carnal pleasure to their hearts’ content. Let us suspend this narrative for a while and turn to Chen Jinggu, who had cut off the head of Iron Head Monk of White Pagoda Mountain.

Sometime after Chen Jinggu killed the clam demon, she heard that the ruler of Min, Wang Shenzhi, loved the people. The common people all submitted out of gratitude, and the civil and military officials were at peace. When it came to Yanshu and then Yanbin succeeding to his position, laws and institutions were changed, and there were numerous alterations. They entrusted matters to the likes of Xue Wenjie, who made false accusations against rich families, so the common people were not at ease. Police Chief Liu was very disturbed in his work as an official. Lady Chen advised him to resign his post, and he returned to Gutian with her and her sisters, Lin Jiuniang, Li Sanjie, and Miss Ou.

Lady Chen refurbished Linshui Grotto as an academy of the magical arts. All day long she talked scripture and explicated the Law to the three sisters, transmitting the true magical arts of Mount Lü.

Then one day a family servant came to report, saying, “I wish to inform the Lady that her elderly father has fallen sick, and it is extremely serious. An Tong has been sent to bring you home in order to pray for his recovery and ensure his health.” An Tong was waiting outside. When Lady Chen ordered him to come in he paid his respects, and, the courtesies completed, Lady Chen questioned him in detail about the cause of her father’s illness, as well as various household matters.

An Tong reported, “From the time the Lady left, your father and mother were both in good health. In addition, Master Shouyuan in the last year or two has been very successful. The Daoist master is flourishing ten times more than previously. Moreover, when the ruler of Min, Yanbin, assumed the emperorship, changed his own name to Wang Lian, the name of the state to Great Min, the reign title to Dragon Ascent, and all the civil and military officials were enfeoffed and received offices, he proclaimed the Great Master Shouyuan as the Daoist official. By imperial decree he enfeoffed him as Celestial Master of the Great Min state, and the ruler of Min greatly favors and trusts him. Now Shouyuan and Sheng Tao, the actor who played female opera roles, are in the Baohuang Palace on Nine Immortals Mountain, where Shouyuan is in charge of all the Daoists in Min and its attached territories. All are under his control. Sheng Tao also studied magic, and frequently invites down celestial sages and spirits to determine if something is auspicious or inauspicious, calamitous or beneficial. Invariably his prophecies come true, so that the ruler of Min trusts him implicitly. Whenever he has doubts or misgivings he can’t resolve, he goes to the Baohuang Palace, and sages and spirits are invited to descend and pass judgement. Their decisions are immediately carried out. Having obtained the favor of the ruler of Min, how formidable Shouyuan is! Who does not grovel to him? What official doesn’t greet him respectfully? The useful young Daoists at his side, some twenty or thirty in number, have more favored lamb and good wines than they can consume, and more fine silk clothes than they can wear.”

As soon as Chen Jinggu heard that her cousin Shouyuan was a Daoist official, and that he had obtained the favor of the ruler of Min and been given the title of Celestial Master, she put things in order, changed her clothes, took leave of her sisters, and with An Tong hired a sedan chair to return to her family home in Xiadu.

Just as Chen Jinggu was passing through Xiadu, she saw in the distance a stream of demon vapor rising up around the city. She deployed her spirit gaze to examine it carefully, and only then did she realize that the demon vapor emanated from the women’s quarters. For this reason she was anxious to hurry home to check on her father’s illness. There was no time for it now, but once he had recovered, she would have to get rid of this demon. While she was lost in thought, they had already reached Jiangnan Bridge. (Today, it is the bridge in front of Cang Shan.) Again she saw that there was indeed a demon vapor lingering, but in the sedan chair she was not in a position to exterminate the demon. She thought she would wait until her task at hand was completed, and then she would come to eliminate the demons once and for all.

Just then Chen Jinggu encountered the Ravine Demon, who had transformed himself into a youth. He was amusing himself on the road, when he saw that there was a young woman in a sedan chair. She looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t place her. He asked An Tong, who was following the sedan chair, for an explanation. When he learned that it was Lady Chen returning to her parents’ home in Xiadu, he supposed that she had surely come to capture him. He said to himself, “I must first go to the palace to inform Madame White Snake, and then we’ll have to reconsider.” And with these thoughts he slipped into the palace.

When the White Snake saw the Ravine Demon enter, she withdrew behind a screen and sharply commanded her retinue to depart. She then asked, “Why have you come into the palace in a panic today? What has happened?”

The Ravine Demon replied, “Something terrible has happened! I was amusing myself outside today when I saw a young woman. It was none other than that Chen Jinggu who destroyed Linshui Grotto in order to rescue Police Chief Liu. Now she has returned to her parents’ home in Xiadu. When I saw her enter the city, she didn’t stop to look, but she certainly saw the demon vapor coming out of the palace garden. If she goes home, once she has cured her father’s illness, she will surely come into the city to capture us and finish us off once and for all. Moreover, she is our former enemy, so there is cause to fear for our lives. For this reason, I made haste to come here to inform you. We must take care and be on our guard.”

When the White Snake heard this report, she was so alarmed that her face turned greenish-yellow and she fell silent. She thought to herself that Chen Jinggu excelled in magic power, so how could she oppose her? She wanted to flee in advance in order to avoid her, but it was also hard to give up the pleasures of the palace garden. Yet, if she didn’t escape, she would bring disaster on herself. She couldn’t make up her mind. She went back and forth between the two calamities, hesitating for some time; she really was at her wit’s end.

When the Ravine Demon saw that the White Snake was deep in thought, he remained silent, knowing that she was unable to come up with a plan. He said, “I would like to propose a strategy. You needn’t worry, as I have a clever plan that will ensure your happiness for a long time.”

The White Snake quickly asked, “What plan? Hurry up and explain!”

The Ravine Demon then whispered something in her ear in a low voice, saying, “It will guarantee the elimination of the mortal danger of Chen Jinggu, so that you and I will have no worries for the rest of our lives.” The White Snake listened, then nodded her head and pronounced the plan ingenious.

They proceeded according to the plan. She ordered the Ravine Demon to first return, saying, “I will follow this plan.” The Ravine Demon warned her again and again to be careful. When he had finished instructing her, only then did he slip out of the emperor’s palace and return to the grotto to have his pleasure with Jinfeng.

Now we will speak of the White Snake, who turned and entered the private quarters. Suddenly she gave a loud cry and fell to the ground, her face greenish-purple, and her lips like yellow paper. The palace concubines and court women were alarmed. Not knowing what was wrong, they hurriedly lifted her and put her on the bed. In the bedchamber they wailed. At the same time they ordered the inner servants of the palace concubines to go to the court to request the emperor to come to the palace. Having received the order, the inner servants departed. They prostrated themselves on the gold steps and asked the ruler of Min to go to the palace to see the queen, who was critically ill.

When the ruler of Min heard their report, he rushed to the palace. The queen had begun to breathe again and to cry out, “Oh, my heart hurts so much I cannot bear it!” In the dragon bed she wailed and wept without cease.

When the ruler of Min arrived, he went to the bedside himself to ask, “Dear wife, why do you have such severe heart pains all of a sudden?” He commanded the chief doctor to come to the palace, but the medical treatments and medicine he prescribed were to no avail, and her illness became critical. The ruler of Min didn’t leave the side of the dragon bed, always there to ask after her and care for her, saying, “Wife, is the pain less? Are you better?”

Lying in bed, the White Snake pretended to cry weakly. In a feeble voice she said, “I have received your generous kindness and favor. I have been in the position of queen, responsible for all the palace concubines. But my good fortune is meager. I cannot bear it. Now, even if I sacrifice myself in the most painful way possible, I could not repay you even the tiniest bit. I have no alternative but to wait for a future life in which I will be a dog or horse to repay my lord for his kindness of favoring me.” When she finished speaking, she burst into tears and couldn’t stop crying.

With tears in his eyes, the ruler of Min tried to comfort her, saying, “Dearest wife, why talk like this? Wait for me to order the chief physician to examine you. He will select an efficacious prescription to treat you. The fortunate are those who receive the help of Heaven. I guarantee that nothing will happen.”

The White Snake continued to weep, saying, “Last night when my heart hurt unbearably, I dreamed that I went to the Jade Emperor Palace and begged the god to spare my life. The god said that my fate had not yet come to an end, that there was an injustice, a mistake in my fate. The god also said that this illness of mine absolutely was not a disease of cold or heat or suchlike.⁶ In fact, because I have heart pain, no medicine can heal it. If I am to entirely recover from this heart pain, I must eat the living heart of some other person in order to nourish my own. One must be found quickly, otherwise if it’s too late, I’m afraid it will be impossible to save my life.”⁷

When the ruler of Min heard this, he said, “What difficulty could there be in that? Wait for me to order the Three Judicial Offices to examine the convicts. There ought to be a capital case. We can hang one, cut out his heart, and give it to you to eat.”

The White Snake said, “In my dream, I replied with those very words, but the god said, how could the heart of a convict match my heart? I am the wife of the ruler of the Great Min state. The common people revere me as the most honored one, with the wisest heart-mind, so it is necessary to find a wiser and more fortunate heart. But the heart of a wiser and more fortunate person has five cavities and one hole, while the heart of an unlucky person has one cavity and no holes. There is even a kind of stupid person in whom not a single cavity is open. Furthermore, a man’s heart is easy to find, but it’s more difficult to find a woman’s. Of men in ancient times, only the heart of Chief Minister Bi Gan had seven cavities and three holes. Of women nowadays, only the heart of Chen Jinggu of Xiadu has seven cavities and three holes. It is a heart of the highest wisdom, like mine, so only it can repair mine.⁸ Quickly get it. Don’t delay. I was lucky enough that the god bestowed these instructions in a dream. I request your favor. Get it to save me.”

The ruler of Min said, “Dear, since you had this dream, tomorrow morning I will personally go to the Jade Emperor Palace and order the Celestial Master of the Religion Office to invite the god to descend from Heaven and clarify the matter. If the sage’s words are identical, then I will proceed to obtain it. You relax for the moment and take care of yourself. There is no need to worry.” When he had spoken, he went out of the side palace.

When the White Snake heard that the ruler of Min would personally go to the Jade Emperor Palace the next day to offer incense to invite the god to descend and make known his wishes, she was afraid that the god’s words would not match hers, and she would have wasted her effort. She sank into thought for a long while. Then she smiled and said, “I have a plan!” She secretly sent her confidante to take one hundred pieces of silver to give to Chen Shouyuan in the Jade Emperor Palace, to explain to him that the queen’s heart ailment was extremely critical, and to tell him about last night’s dream and that the next day the ruler would himself come to the palace to invite the god to descend in order to question him. It was necessary to beg the Celestial Master to pronounce the words of the god so that they would be identical to her own, to obtain Chen Jinggu’s heart and liver and mix them as medicine for the queen to cure her heart ailment. Once she had recovered from her illness, there would be generous thanks.

The confidante received the order and went to the Jade Emperor Palace. She secretly explained the whole story to Chen Shouyuan and gave him the one hundred pieces of silver, saying, “This is a token of the queen’s gratitude. Daoist Master, please accept it. There must be no mistake. If the matter is successful, she will reward you even more generously.” When she finished speaking, she took her leave and returned to the palace.

Having taken the silver, Shouyuan wondered what to do about this matter, saying to himself, “Unfortunately, Jinggu is my cousin, so how could I take her heart and liver? Moreover, my uncle has no son. He only has this one child, and she has gone in marriage to Gutian. I’ve recently heard that her husband resigned his post and has gone into retirement. Because my uncle is sick, he sent An Tong to bring my cousin home. How could the queen insist on taking her heart? It must be that the queen and my cousin are enemies, and the queen wants to take her life with a trumped-up charge. There’s no way Jinggu could know. If I don’t look after her now, it will be difficult to preserve her life. If the ruler of Min comes to invite the god to come down to him, and it’s wrong, then I expect my life will also be difficult to preserve. I had best quickly write a confidential letter to inform my cousin, to tell her to flee immediately. If she goes into hiding, she can escape this calamity.”

Having made up his mind, he went inside and wrote a confidential letter. Then he ordered a Daoist subordinate to hurry to Xiadu to inform Chen Jinggu. The disciple received the order and went straight to the Chens’ house in Xiadu to deliver the letter.

Jinggu was with her father, treating his illness, when she saw that a confidential letter had arrived from her cousin. She quickly broke the seal, opened the letter, and read it. When she had finished reading it, she knew that it was the demon’s plan to take her life with a trumped-up charge. She laughed grimly and said to her mother, “When I returned home, as I was passing through Fuzhou City, I saw a demon vapor encircling the town, and traced it to the palace garden. Who could have known that it was this demon? Since I was busy, I had no time to deal with her then, and so I didn’t go to eliminate her. Since she is so vicious, she has set about looking for me in order to obtain my heart and liver as nourishment for her own evil heart and liver. I was fortunate to already receive the confidential letter my cousin sent me, telling me to escape by fleeing far away. But now that I have this opportunity, with her waiting for me to go to the palace to see her, I’ll turn her trick against her and eliminate this demon. Won’t that be good?”

First Jinggu wrote a letter in reply. In it she wrote four lines of words for the god and gave it to the young Daoist to take back to Shouyuan. And she instructed him that, if the emperor came tomorrow morning to invite the god to descend, he should act in accordance with the language in the letter, and then everything would be all right. The Daoist boy took the return letter, hurried back to the Baohuang Palace, and gave it to the master, relating what Jinggu had said. Shouyuan opened the letter and read the four lines of ready-made divine speech. He was greatly alarmed and thought to himself, “I told her to flee far away. If she won’t flee, then she’s finished! On the contrary, she tells me to call down the sage and to exactly recite these divine words. Then she will be able to survive. How can she say that?” He sank deeply into thought for a time. Only then did he realize, “That’s it! My cousin studied the true Mount Lü magic! I expect she must have some wonderful plan, so I had better do as she says in the letter.” Then he memorized the four-line poem.

Early the next morning, the ruler of Min had already arranged a carriage and arrived. Shouyuan put on his gold cap and his coat of feathers, and in his hand held an ivory tablet. Accompanied by all the palace Daoist masters, he came out of the palace and knelt to receive the ruler. He prostrated himself at the foot of Nine Immortals Mountain to welcome the king’s carriage and escort him up to the Three Pure Ones Hall. When the ruler of Min got out of the imperial carriage, he ordered incense to be placed on the altar, and instructed Shouyuan to request the god to descend and deliver his message.

Shouyuan prostrated himself before the god and summoned all the other gods. After the ruler of Min personally offered incense and bowed, Shouyuan went up to the god and silently prayed for clarification. In a short time his body began to sway, his head shaking and his body moving. His mouth recited the words “Ruler of Min, listen! The queen’s ailment is extremely critical; there is no medicine to treat it. Fortunately, the king is pious and respectful. Obey the words of the god! The poem says:

Chen Jinggu of Xiadu, her heart is special, unlike others.

If you want to rid the queen of danger, bestow a sword on Jinggu,

and she will carve it out.”

When Shouyuan finished reciting this poem, he collapsed on the ground. When he regained consciousness, the god had already withdrawn. Hearing the prophetic words of the divine poem, the ruler of Min was amazed and believed it. “The proclamation of the god is truly marvelous,” he said. “Like lightning, the god’s eye illuminated the matter hidden in my heart. Because I sincerely respected the god, he was moved to respond. Moreover, Chen Shouyuan’s conduct is pure and lofty, so it moved the god. This oracular poem exactly matched the queen’s dream scenario.”

The ruler of Min jubilantly returned to the palace and said to the White Snake, “What good fortune! I asked the god for instructions, and they exactly matched yours! I will send for Chen Jinggu’s heart and liver, and that’s that.” When he had spoken, he went up to the palace and issued a decree instructing the local official to have Chen Jinggu brought to the palace post-haste. The local official received the decree and immediately went to the Chen residence to explain the situation to Chen Jinggu. The ruler of Min’s decree announced that she was summoned to the court.

When Jinggu received the decree, she said goodbye to her parents and rode in a sedan chair with the local official to the court. When she reached the Wu Gate, she got out of the sedan chair and asked the local official to notify the Wu Gate official, who reported to the ruler of Min, “Jinggu is now at the Wu Gate. Please announce your decision.” The ruler of Min ordered that she be brought in, and Jinggu entered the palace to pay her respects to him.

When he summoned her directly into his presence, he said, “Are you or are you not Chen Jinggu of Xiadu?”

“Yes, I am,” Jinggu replied. “I heard that my Lord proclaimed that I should be summoned, but I don’t yet know what the imperial edict is.”

The ruler of Min said, “I summoned you for no other reason but for the sake of Queen Chen of the Zheng Palace. She has contracted a painful heart ailment. Medicines have proved ineffective, and the pain cannot be stopped. In the queen’s dream, the god indicated that your heart had seven cavities and three holes, making it a heart of superior wisdom that could save her from this illness. This morning I went to the Baohuang Palace to burn incense in order to invite the god to descend. I now have the god’s poem, which exactly matches what the queen dreamed. Your heart differs from the ordinary and can cure the queen’s ailment. I now bestow on you this sword to cut out your own heart. On the day that the queen recovers, naturally there will be a generous expression of sympathy.”

Jinggu said, “I have a very stupid heart, but if it can cure the queen’s noble ailment, that would be the greatest of good fortune. How would I dare oppose it? I only request that you give me a cup of water so that I can wash my heart clean. Then I will go to the queen’s bedside and cut out my heart. When the bloody offering has been swallowed, only then will it take effect.”

The ruler of Min was very happy to comply with her request and gave Jinggu a precious sword and pure water. Holding the water in her left hand and the sword in her right, Jinggu followed the ruler of Min into the Changchun Palace. She secretly used the point of the sword to write a talismanic spell on the water, and recited an incantation. When she found herself at the imperial bed, she again recited the true words and sprayed the magic water she held in her mouth.

The White Snake had prepared no defense at all, and continued to pretend that her heart pained her, crying out over and over again. When she was sprayed with the magic water, she realized what was happening, and was greatly upset. In her heart she was distraught, realizing that surely her enemy had come. She desperately wanted to flee, but the Heavenly Web and Earthly Net conjured up by Jinggu’s use of magic arts was impossible to escape.⁹

Pointing with her sword, Jinggu shouted, “Creature, you still do not appear in your original form! How long do I have to wait?” Before she had finished speaking, the White Snake resumed her original form, which was a huge white snake. It thrashed back and forth in the bed, but couldn’t escape. When the ruler of Min saw that the queen had suddenly turned into a white snake, coiled in the bed, the shock was so great that his hun soul flew off and his po soul departed.¹⁰ The palace concubines were so frightened that they collapsed on the floor. Jinggu grasped her sword and inquired of the ruler of Min, “What is your decision?”

The ruler of Min said, “Kill her quickly! Kill her without delay!”

Jinggu took her sword and cut the White Snake into three pieces. The bed, inside and out, dripped with blood. Now that the snake was cut up, it was in agony. Using all her strength, Jinggu ran it through. Only a single resounding noise was heard. Unexpectedly, the three parts flew out, smashing through the wall! Flying into the sky, they departed. With her precious sword in hand, Jinggu left in pursuit, searching for traces of them.

The assembled people had no idea what had happened. The ruler of Min paused for a moment. Once his state of mind was a little calmer, he asked the crowd of palace people, “What happened? We still don’t know where the real queen, Jinfeng, has gone. It must be that this snake lured the queen away somewhere, and then transformed herself into a false queen in order to obtain pleasure. All of you hurry everywhere to search for Jinfeng’s whereabouts. There will certainly be a generous reward.”

The assembled palace concubines all responded and went out in every direction to search for her. But there was no trace at all! The ruler of Min wanted to ask the thirty-six palace concubines where she was, but the palace people told him, “Previously, the thirty-six palace concubines were all imprisoned in the Cold Palace by the queen, and she had the palace doors locked, not allowing anyone in or out.”

When the ruler of Min heard this, he was puzzled. He said, “Perhaps the queen was put under a spell in the Cold Palace by the demon snake. We don’t yet know. We should quickly open the Cold Palace, and let everyone out.”

The palace people received the order and immediately went to the Cold Palace and opened the door, but there was no one there! In the Cold Palace the only thing to be seen was white bones covering the floor. They rushed to report this to the ruler of Min, who was greatly alarmed and said, “We don’t know where this demon came from. Those concubines were all eaten by her, and now Jinfeng also can’t be found so, surely, she was eaten by the White Snake.” In the palace there was confused discussion. Wasn’t it the case that all along the queen was the demon monster?

At that time Gui Lang was in the palace. Although he knew the White Snake’s origin, he didn’t dare speak up. Just while they were discussing it, they saw that Chen Jinggu had returned to the palace riding on a cloud. The ruler of Min hurried to ask her, “Where did this demon come from? You cut her into three pieces, but she still didn’t die. How could she succeed in escaping again? Please truthfully tell me the circumstances and causes.”

Jinggu said, “This demon is none other than the White Snake spirit of Linshui Grotto in Gutian. I know that this demon has harmed living souls there. I originally wanted to eliminate her when I was in Gutian but, unexpectedly, she escaped from me. Now this noxious demon has carried off Empress Chen. The demon transformed herself into the false empress in order to trick my Lord, thereby doing incalculable harm. This demon is my nemesis. When she heard that I had returned to my parents’ home and was intending to eliminate her, she came up with this painful heart ailment and wanted to obtain my heart to eat in order to rid herself of any future worries. If I had in fact been killed, the demon would have had no further fears. When a few days ago on my way home my sedan chair passed through the center of town, I saw that a demon vapor filled the city, encircling the palace. I had planned to enter the city to eliminate it within the next few days. Who knew that, on the contrary, she would challenge me first? Because the demon snake made up this vicious plan of carving out my heart, I went along with her own scheme in a plan to eliminate her.”

When the ruler of Min heard this, he was deeply grateful for her efficacy. He said, “My family was fortunate to be saved by you. You were not harmed, but I don’t yet know the power of your magic. Where did you get these teachings?”

“From the time I was young I entered Mount Lü,” Jinggu replied. “I was fortunate that the magic master True Lord taught me the true magic of Mount Lü.”

The ruler of Min further inquired, “Do you know where Empress Jinfeng has been taken prisoner? Can she be saved or not? And the demon that was just now cut up, in the end how can it be dealt with?”

Jinggu answered, “The demon just now was cut into three pieces, each of which has its whereabouts. I locked up the head segment in Longtan Gully at White Dragon River. The middle section is under lock and guard in the old well in the Iron Buddha Palace of Kaiyuan Temple, and the tail section is under lock and guard in Qichuan Well.¹¹ Each of the three segments of the snake is submerged at the bottom of a body of water. All are vanquished and cannot escape. As for what happened to the empress’s real body, wait for me to investigate. We will find her whereabouts.” Truly it was:

The three parts of the snake’s body are locked up separately;

The lady receives an honorary title for the first time.

If you want to know about the matter of the true empress, read the next chapter.