an ancient chinese story

5

the next morning,"jing yi, i see that you've been struggling in my clothes. they seem to be bit big to you." the old man said as he saw jing yi again folding up his shirt's hem for the eighth time that day.the clothes seemed good enough when jing yi was immobile in the bed but as he had recovered and was moving fine, the clothes had become a hindrance.

"i still have my daughter's clothes and she was almost the same size as you.would you like to were them? " the old man asked cautiously. jing yi got stunned for a moment. wearing girls' clothes wasnt offensive to him but it was a new thing for him to do. jing yi agreed to wear the clothes for his own convenience. 

months went by and happiness in their new found family only grew. due to old age, the old man had started to relax and jing yi had taken over the household chores. to again be blessed with a daughter was a bliss to the old man. jing yi also didnt mind the chores but himself was happy to do them. 

one day when jing yi had just brought the water, he saw the old man arguing with a government official. jing yi settled down the water and went to calm the old man. but by then the government official had already left saying," this is a royal decree, going against it will only bring downfall on you." when jing yi approached the old man, the old man looked devastated.

the old man unwillingly told everything to jing yi.  just a day ago, the emperor had released a decree to bring together all the beauties in the capital and in the nearby towns. All the beauties were supposed to have long black hair and be about 5ft in height with pale skin. through investigating the government official had come to know about a beautiful girl with beauty on par with goddesses from the locals who occassionaly saw jing yi, when he came to the market with the old man. The official had come and told the old man that jing yi will have to go to the capital in a week or, not doing so and going against the decree will bring heavy punishments to both.

Jing yi felt dispair right away after hearing the old man. to be taken away from his new found happiness wasnt acceptable to jing yi. But recalling what the official said, jing yi didnt want the old man to suffer because of him. So he had made up his mind.
The old man tried to assure jing yi that nothing would happen and they wouldnt have to part.

all the girls fitting the given description had to be present at the palace after 3 days. jing yi had decided to go, to cause no harm to the old man. But going there and having people find out that he wasnt fully a woman wasnt something that jing yi wanted. He spent the whole evening thinking and thinking.

At last he resolved that he would go to the palace for the old man and register his name but he would soon escape, so no one finds out about him. After escaping coming back to the old man's house didnt seem right as he could possibly get caught there and trouble the old man more. so he had nowhere to go from there, but after living with the old man he was sure of himself that he would live for himself and his happiness from then on.

To not notify the old man of his escape, jing yi got up very early i  the morning and left for the palace with few of his clothes and his mother's jade pendant, which though of not much value was his most priced posession.

jing yi had never been to the capital. So he was scared of getting lost or geeting into something bad. But just when he arrived to the capital, the guards looked him up and down. And shortly he was escorted by two gaurds to the gates of the capital. jing yi was amazed to see the capital for the very first time. while walking he was instantly amazed by everything that he lay his eyes on. he gasped at the big houses, found the many different people on the street fascinating, the street foods' aroma devine and all together he was just like a newborn child.
But the most shocked were the people on the streets to see an ethereal aloof beauty, which they had never seen before. Many gasped and started talking about jing yi, and some daringly moved to approach jing yi. But anyone that came near were stopped by the guards.
Jing yi reached the palace gate and from then on was escorted by an eunuch to a big hall where all the girls with the described apperance were.

Jing yi just stood and watched . it was a new world to him so he didnt approach any one. And the others, though they wanted to talk to him, jing yi's beauty made them insecure. Some felt deep jealousy to see someone better than them. And instantly deemed jing yi an arrogant person who belittled them.

Soon an old woman came and examined every one. Then she told almost all of them to leave except for 8 of the girls. In which jing yi was also there. Jing yi still couldnt understand the situation.
But as he looked around and saw the other girls, it seemed that all of them were pretty. Just as jing yi was looking, his eyes met with one of the prettiest girl, who soon diverted her eyes and reacted as if something distasteful happened to her.

As the examination took long time. All the girls were told to rest. And were departed to their allocated rooms. jing yi got to his room and  directly layed on his bed which was the softest and most comfortable bed he ever slept on. He was tried from the days hassle and the emotional stress he got, so he instantly fell asleep, not knowing about how the next day would change his life.