Yingying was a palace maid within the inner precincts. Quietly resolute by nature, she had a streak of gallant…
Yingying was a palace maid within the inner precincts. Quietly resolute by nature, she had a streak of gallantry in her as well.
One night, while making her rounds on watch duty, she heard tiles shifting overhead. In the next instant, a black-clad figure tumbled down before the steps, barely clinging to life. Yingying hid this intruder away in the Forlorn Palace, who
turned out to be a famed grandmaster of the age and had risked entering the palace in search of a divine sword.
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Lowering her gaze, Yingying bowed and said, "I would rather leave the palace and see the world than grow old behind these walls and turn to dust. If you mean to repay me, take me out of this cage. Once I am free, with sea and sky wide before me, I could die without regret."
The grandmaster agreed, and so the two slipped out together at midnight, leaving the palace behind.
When they reached a gate, they found it locked from the outside. The grandmaster drew a breath, sprang upward, and floated lightly over it, then turned to open the gate for her. But the moment the gate opened, the Imperial Guards before the hall rushed in. The grandmaster shielded Yingying with their own body and carved a bloody path through the chaos. Yet more pursuers arrived. Holding the rear, they struck down their foes one by one, unstoppable in force.
Ahead of them rose a high wall. The grandmaster bent low and offered their shoulder as a step so Yingying could climb over. When she landed, she hurt her foot and could barely walk. Without a word, the grandmaster stooped and carried her on their back. A moment later, arrows hissed behind them like a swarm of locusts, their sound ripping through the air without end. And yet, amid that storm of shafts, the two somehow scaled the wall itself and gained the top.
The moonlight lay like water. At last they escaped the cage, and from then on, sky and sea lay open before them.
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The grandmaster used their body as a shield... yet in the end they were outnumbered and taken by the Imperial Service. Yingying swore she would save the grandmaster, and resolved to slip away in secret to do so. Just then the palace guards were making their rounds. Yingying concealed herself and crept along in hiding, only to hear that the grandmaster was imprisoned in the Dungeon. After avoiding one person only to run into another, she hid inside a wooden barrel and slipped along unnoticed.
When she reached the Rear Garden, she overheard some ladies whispering among themselves. The wind howled too fiercely to make out their words, so Yingying could only guess at what they said, but from this she learned the location of the Imperial Prison. Just as she was about to go to the rescue, a vengeful spirit suddenly appeared. She tried to flee, but could not. With no way to avoid it, she seized a handful of onions and drove it off.
By chance, this act freed one of the ladies from danger. Grateful for the favor, the lady pointed Yingying toward the right path. But the road ahead was under even tighter guard, and Yingying had no choice but to hide inside a carriage. The wheels spun wildly and knocked over the soldiers on watch. When the carriage overturned, she fell into a dark well, which just so happened to be the secret passage to the Imperial Prison.
In darkness, Yingying pressed onward. After countless perils, she finally reached the Imperial Prison. Seeing heavy guards all around, she picked up a bow and arrows, ignited the gunpowder, and brought down one of the soldiers. Then she spotted a mechanism above and triggered it. Once the cells were opened, the grandmaster was finally freed. Together the two fought their way out, using a ballista to cover their retreat so that none of the pursuers could come near.
On their way they came upon the place where the sacred sword was said to rest, its cold gleam sharp and awe-inspiring. It was exactly what the grandmaster had entered the palace to seek. Yingying drew it forth... and found instead an iron shovel. The two stared at one another in shock, then both laughed. So they took up the shovel, dug a tunnel beneath the palace wall, and escaped at last, returning to the jianghu.
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Yingying gripped the shovel while the grandmaster followed close behind. The deep palace was like a boundless sea, and to find a path to freedom they first had to cross three great obstacles, namely the Four Masters of the Imperial Service.
The first one was The Hungering, a huge and powerfully built man who could devour mountains with his appetite. But Yingying knew his weakness. Though he doted on osmanthus cakes, they always sent him running to the privy. Still, he loved them all the same. So she used cakes as bait. Sure enough, the moment The Hungering saw them, his face softened foolishly and he murmured, "I knew you understood me..." After eating, his stomach churned like an overturned river and sea, and he fled in search of a latrine. Thus the first obstacle was broken.
The second obstacle was Net of Heaven and Web of Earth. One excelled with the blade, the other with the fan. Together, they were said to be unmatched under heaven. But Yingying knew that every day at the third quarter of the Hour of Xu, the two would seek out some secluded place for a private meeting. And sure enough, once the time came, the two of them started fighting crickets instead. Yingying slipped past them and crossed safely through.
The final obstacle was The Nameless One, said to be a man who saw in all directions and heard every sound under heaven. Just as Yingying held her breath, a dog came trotting over with its tail wagging. It was one she herself had long fed. At the sight of it, The Nameless One at once lost all his cold severity, crouched down, and cooed softly, "Little puppy, you came at just the right time. Standing guard here all alone is so very, very scary." So even the hardest bones may hide a tender heart.
And so, the two at last escaped the cage and stood beyond the palace walls.
The grandmaster asked how they might repay her. Yingying asked them to teach her the sword. The grandmaster said, "You are already grown, and your frame has long since set. To train in the martial way is like rowing against the current. I fear you may never reach its heights."
Yingying bowed again and said, "Like Jingwei carrying twigs to fill the sea, so shall I. If one year is not enough, I shall give ten. If even this life is not enough, I shall have no regrets."
As her words fell, the cypresses in the courtyard rustled, as though ringing with the clash of arms. The grandmaster was stirred by her resolve. They clapped in praise and agreed to pass on their art.
From then on, sky and sea lay open before her, free for her to cross at will.
The grandmaster watched her departing figure with a thousand feelings in their heart. Yet Yingying said nothing. She merely turned and walked on alone into the jianghu.
Thus began the tale of how the jianghu came to know her as heroine Yingying.