Moongazing Maiden

News that the princess was offering a reward for poems about the Ten Scenes of Liangzhou spread to all villages. A young man in a thatched cottage excitedly held up his still-damp manuscript. He happily mounted his small donkey and walked along the mountain path toward the princess's tall tower. The donkey seemed to feel its master's joy and brayed cheerfully. "Brother Donkey, Brother Donkey, I'm going to make it big!" He held up his manuscript, "My masterpiece will surely win the princess's appreciation!" In front of the Homesight Tower, the young man stared blankly at his rejected manuscript and the tael of gold. The princess's red annotation read: "The words are simple and lack rhythm, but they reveal sincere feelings. A reward of one tael of gold is granted." The young man couldn't believe it, but he still mounted his donkey and raced toward Skybrim Market. With this tael of gold, he learned to do business from the Sogdians and gradually became a wealthy merchant. Many years later, his caravan returned to Liangzhou. Passing the Cleardew Terrace, he seemed to see his younger self riding the small donkey to present his poem. He picked up his brush again and wrote "The Eleventh Scene of Liangzhou." He racked his brains and used all his literary skills to depict the princess's peerless beauty, calling her the eleventh magnificent scene of Liangzhou. When he finished writing, he happily sealed the poem in a golden casket and presented it to the princess living in the Homesight Tower, along with treasures. Soon after, a line of palace maids walked out of the tower. The leader returned the treasures and the golden casket to the merchant intact. Only on the golden casket were an additional tael of gold and another red annotation. The princess's red annotation read: "You are dedicated to poetry, another tael of gold as a reward. Yet I still love your original submission."

On that night, a heavy snowstorm fell on Liangzhou, lasting three days and three nights. The spring water at Clear Jade Shore froze solid, and the bell of Purity Pagoda grew hoarse. Even the camels that could cross the Qilian Mountains couldn't withstand the extreme cold, freezing to death by the roadside of Jade Dew Terrace. Someone saw the princess holding a glazed candle holder, dressed in plain white with light makeup, walking step by step into imperial capital, never to look back. Frost and ice engulfed the entire imperial capital. In the end, the princess never returned to Chang'an, the city she missed day and night. Outside the Crane Retreat, the palace maids also dressed in white mourning clothes, holding hands and walking into the depths of the frozen Jade Pond. The heavy snow raged for three days, covering imperial capital in black ice. Three days later, concerned about the princess's safety, the people gathered at Chalice Peak by Jade Dew Terrace and called out to her loudly. Under the moonlight, imperial capital stood still like a glazed coffin. When the wind blew, the holes in the pagoda tower let out a whimpering sound. Grieving, the crowd tried to break the ice with sharp blades and enter. But there was no sign of the princess in imperial capital, only an elegant hairpin. Grateful for the princess's kindness, people regarded imperial capitak as the place closest to the moonlight. A winemaker tried to climb the tall tower and finally left his wine here. The elders, moved by the palace maids' loyalty to their mistress, erected a statue at the Crane Retreat by the Jade Pond in their memory.