Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Chapter 1 Part 11

‘…Disguise yourselves, the three of you; get yourselves over to the Palace of King Zhou of the Shang and meddle with his emotions. Assist King Wu of Zhou in his war against him, and help King Wu to win the war. But whatever you do, do not harm others. When your mission is over, you will get your just rewards.’ When the Goddess finished speaking, the three demons kowtowed and thanked her, then, turning into breezes, they drifted out of the Temple. As the saying went: ‘The fox listened to the command, and manifested her powers, and in doing so undid six hundred years of Cheng Tang’s dynasty.’ And what happened next will not be spoken of here.

As for King Zhou of the Shang, he became lovesick, moping about during the day and forgetting to eat at night, just because he saw Nuwa’s beauty after lighting some incense at her Temple. He cast his eye over his Palaces and Courts, and saw naught but dust and ashes; his happiness ebbed away, for he could not get this thought out of his mind.

One day, he went to the Xianqing Palace, as he usually did, and was greeted by Fei Zhong, one of his trusted courtiers who was based at Xianqing. The Grand Marshal Wen, who had recently been away in wildly victorious campaigns near the North Sea, put his trust in Fei Zhong and another man named You Hun. These two men were extremely eloquent, and King Zhou of the Shang followed everything they said.

Upon greeting Fei Zhong, the King said, ‘We went to the Temple of Nuwa to pay our respects and accidentally saw her great, uncomparable beauty. Now, our palaces and lands do not amuse us any more; in fact, one feels nothing about such things. What should one do to get this of this feeling of emptiness? What would you suggest?’ Fei Zhong replied, ‘Your Majesty has the respect of many and the world at your feet; you are as bounteous as Yao and Shun; you have everything you need, and you have the power to get whatever you want. So what is the problem? What I suggest is for Your Majesty to issue an edict to the Barons, telling them to select and fill your palaces with hundreds of beautiful girls, and let them entertain you so that you won’t feel miserable anymore. What do you think?’ The King cheered up, and said, ‘I agree with you; issue the edict tomorrow. I will return to my Palace first.’

And so King Zhou of the Shang returned to his palace. What happened next? Please read the next chapter to find out.