I was the legitimate daughter of an illustrious clan, mild by nature and untouched by worldly desire, and I should have become the sacred monk’s disciple at the imperial temple, spending my life before an ancient Buddha and a solitary lamp.
For the sake of prestige, however, my parents insisted on marrying me to the eldest son of a ducal household—a well-matched libertine notorious for his debauchery.
Before I left, the monk heaved a long sigh and gave me a fragment of the Buddha’s bone, warning me to wear it at all times and never let it leave my body.
After I entered the Zhu household, my husband first brought home a concubine, then took a proper wife, but I did not mind, and my husband’s aunt praised me for knowing my place.
When my husband molested a colleague’s female relative and the Censorate denounced him, I did not mind, and my husband’s aunt praised my sweet temper.
My sister-in-law kept control of the household accounts, claiming that someone as pure as I was should never sully herself with the stink of money.
My mother-in-law demanded that I wait upon her morning and night and handle every task myself, so that I might become a model noblewoman.
At an imperial banquet, the Grand Empress Dowager took a fancy to the Buddha’s bone at my breast and demanded it for herself.
My mother-in-law hurried to tear it from my neck and offered it up with both hands, fawning shamelessly.
At last, I smiled in deliverance.
Twenty years, you damned bald donkey—let us see how you plan to keep the evil inside me chained now.
