When I reached the Moon, the wind blew and it rattled my bones. I ventured into the palace where Chang E was. She was lying down on an ice cold kang and her eyes were closed. Most of the left side of her body and face was covered in bandages, and the Jade Rabbit had placed a bowl of soup on the nightstand.
“You don’t look horribly damaged,” she stared at me, raising an eyebrow.
“The Buddha healed me.”
“He’s involved in this now?” I nodded.
Outside the window of the palace, we saw a golden streak of light surge past us. Instantly, we knew what it was. Behind the monkey, five pillars had emerged amongst the stars and was trailing it.
“Huh. Buddha does have his way, after all,” the Jade Rabbit remarked. After that, she turned to her mistress.
“It will take her a while to wake. You should leave.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I have already hinted about my mistress’ past. It is unwise of me to say anymore. Go, Marshal Tianpeng, and clean up the palace. They need you. My mistress has everything here. I will provide for her.”
“No. I have done everything I can to save her and I want to stay.”
The Jade Rabbit looked at me and sighed.
“Follow me.”
I trailed after her as he left Chang E’s abode and strode through the gardens at the back of the palace. All the plants seemed to have this blue, luminescent glow and I suspect they thrived on moonlight. The flowers—that looked like hummingbirds in the still moonlight—were all blue and there were some that looked like upside down bells. In the middle of the garden there was a stone table with stone chess pieces. The Jade Rabbit bade me to sit down and I did. In the next moment, she had cleared the board and put the necessary pieces down.
“You know that she had married Hou Yi, the man who shot down the ten suns, on Earth.”
I nodded.
“When they time was right, they were each supposed to take a pill from the elixir bottle they were given by the gods. They were supposed to ascend together. I know what the rumours say. They say that she was selfish, or that she got sick of Hou Yi, or that he neglected her. The last reason was the only reason that held any semblance of truth.”
“What happened?”
“When Chang E ascended to the moon, a whole retinue was waiting to greet her and her husband, Hou Yi. All of us were prepared to serve them until the universe ended. But when she arrived, we were shocked. There were many red cuts on her arms and her legs. There was a bruise on her right cheek. She didn’t even need to open her mouth to say anything. I knew.
“All the fanfare and food that we had prepared for her was for nothing. We still had the feast anyway, as it was tradition, but after that, she went to her quarters and closed to door. All of us asked her if she wanted anything—a perfumed bath, someone to dress her wounds, but she said no. She just cried. She slowly gets better, but there are days when she stands there and looks at the heavenly palace. I wave my hand in front of her but she doesn’t respond. Or sometimes, she sits there and cries. It has gotten better, but I don’t know how else to help her.
“Hou Yi did this to her, so she doesn’t need anyone else in her life. You can be her friend, nothing more. Please leave. Tend to your own wounds. No one can save her, not even me.”
So many thoughts were buzzing in my head and I thanked the Jade Rabbit. Chang E’s origins were always talked about in hushed tones and no one really asked her what had happened. I still liked her and wanted to spend more time with her, but this was inadvisable, as always.
Then again, violating the celestial laws would result in dire consequences.
Featured image by Shelley Low