Jinxiang Palace
Jinxiang Palace stands on Dongting Lake, gazing across the water at Yueyang Tower, Junshan Island, and Fengyu Mountain. Since it rose to fame, it has taken in only pitiful women harmed by the world's prejudices.
Lady Wen has poured her heart into resisting the rot of Confucian thinking, teaching the palace attendants to study letters and practice martial arts, to love themselves, respect themselves, and hold themselves in esteem, and to cast off the contemptuous label of "the weaker sex." She stakes a breath of pride for the women of the world, to put the men of the world to shame, and to prove that what a man can do, a woman can do just the same.
Everyone knows that because of the old entanglement between and , the must bow their heads whenever they pass through Jinxiang Palace's territory. Yet since the palace received no small amount of help when it was first founded, the attendants are still not forbidden from dealings with the Nangong. With the Tang Clan of Shu, by contrast, there is little contact.
In truth, the palace is the Human Path of the Mud Cult, and Lady Wen is the Dharma King of the Human Path. Of the whole palace, only Long Xiang does not know.
Palace Tour
White water meets the sky at dusk, broad waves carry the sun as it flows. Wind high, cloud dreams at evening; moon full, Dongting in autumn. Fishermen's fires on the sand, merchant boats in the mist. West garden and southern shore, ten thousand miles of leisure shared.
Jinxiang Palace was once Jinxiang Pavilion, and the eleven disciples of that pavilion were each mighty in martial arts. Some ten years ago, the Apricot Blossom Immortal Ruixing gave the palace as a gift to her teacher, and so the whole pavilion moved to Dongting.
The palace is built of the finest timber, painted with red lacquer and polished, and even the curtains and quilts are scented with incense. It is most refined, the sort of treatment fit for royalty. Apart from the guest rooms, it is divided into the Academy, Wuying Hall, Brocade Pavilion, Fragrant Dew Pool, and Huayin Pavilion.
The Academy holds books, not lent to outside guests. The Brocade Pavilion is where clothes are woven, and the Fragrant Dew Pool is the women's bathhouse. These three places are closed to male guests; guests who wish to bathe must call for someone to heat water and see to themselves in their rooms.
Wuying Hall is where the palace attendants practice martial arts, and they do not fear others stealing the techniques, because all of Jinxiang Palace's martial arts are learned by women. Whether or not one belongs to Jinxiang Palace, a woman who learns them can defend herself, and need not keep them secret. A man who learns them will grow mincing and affected; if he does not fear mockery, let him learn all he likes.
Huayin Pavilion is where they play the qin, perform tunes, and learn instruments. Lady Wen decrees that each attendant must learn at least one instrument to soothe body and mind. Attendants of exceptional talent may even play four or five instruments apiece. The instruments include the xiao, pipa, zheng, qin, and more.
At Jinxiang Palace, the chestnut-braised chicken leg is a signature dish. Being by the lake, they mostly eat fish and shrimp day to day, and chicken is a rare delicacy enjoyed only once every two or three days. Long Xiang is especially fond of it.
When there is nothing to do, one may take a boat out on Dongting to tour the lake, if one has a beloved to invite along.
Martial Arts
All the attendants of Jinxiang Palace must practice martial arts, to defend themselves, to build confidence, and not to be bullied.[1] Some of Jinxiang Palace's martial arts were learned from the Nangong Family, some from the Yuwen Family, some were taught by Wen Wuwei, and the original eleven also contributed their study.[2] The following are the techniques that appear in the story; Bird Bear says there are others.[3]
- Sound Wave Skill: Playing the pipa, qin, and other instruments to stir the seven emotions and six desires. Those whose Internal Skill and focus are wanting, even if they do not go mad and drop dead on the spot, will suffer strained qi and internal injury, hard to cure for life. Besides harming foes, it can also use Internal Force to govern the rhythm of the heart and pulse, aiding healing.
- Silk Cord Technique: Supple as a spirit snake, round and yielding as one wishes, seemingly frail yet truly hard to Parry, and it can even seal acupoints and paralyze an opponent. It is said to share a kindred subtlety with the Bizarre Acupoint-Striking Rope of Long Yuan's Seven Absolutes.
- Soft Sword: This sword art takes no life and harms no organs; only a thin trickle of blood seeps from the collar, so precise is it. It is said that with the Coiling Soft Needle one can even pick locks. Long Xiang stabbed who knows how many chickens to master it, and wields the sword softer than a whip.
- Mysterious Candle Heart Sutra: When circulated, it can subdue anxiety and fiery temper, letting the attendants clear their hearts, unswayed by passion, and make calm decisions.
Pipa Heart Inquiry
The rule for marrying a woman of Jinxiang Palace is that one may take no concubine and no equal wife, but must keep faith with one alone to the end.
There is a saying in the Jianghu: "True feeling or false, the pipa asks the heart." Lady Wen is famed throughout the Jianghu for her Sound Wave Skill, and no Wulin hero takes it for Bluffing; in truth, no few have suffered at her hands.
For whoever wishes to marry a woman of Jinxiang Palace must first listen to Lady Wen play a piece on the pipa. If the listener's Internal Skill and focus are insufficient, they will surely fall into an illusion, and their true face will have nowhere to hide. At best they dance and caper and make a fool of themselves; at worst their meridians are injured and they suffer Qi Deviation.
Flower-Cherishing Register
"By my master's command I walk the Jianghu, holding the Flower-Cherishing Register to punish the faithless and heartless of the world."
Before a disciple of Jinxiang Palace sets out to roam the Jianghu, Lady Wen gives her a register titled the Flower-Cherishing Register. In it are recorded many a dashing Villain who has wronged women, and the disciple is to seek them out by the register and verify the rumors. Depending on how grave the offense, the punishment is a beating at the lightest, and death at the heaviest.
Three wives and four concubines the rites and teachings may tolerate, but Jinxiang Palace will not. Every wretch who tramples on human hearts must have his name written in the Flower-Cherishing Register.
Take Long Xiang's register as an example: there is Young Lord Chen Xu of the Ruined Temple incident, and there is the Tang Clan's .
The Fengyu Mountain Incident
Fine rain falls and will not hold, drop by drop it settles in the heart. Twenty years since we parted, and looking up or down there is only helplessness. The western window's candle is cut to its end, yet the sorrow cannot be told. I twist my tears into a poem, and let the strings speak for me to tell you.
Because the Imperial Court, through the hand of the , intervened in Wulin affairs, Jinxiang Palace wished to keep to itself, but that was no longer possible. So Lady Wen resolved to dissolve Jinxiang Palace at the Wulin Assembly on Fengyu Mountain, and any who had nowhere to go were entrusted to Zhao Huo to be taken in by the Tang Clan.
When the dissolution was announced at the assembly, the Nangong Family's Second Young Lord Nangong Qian produced a secret letter of the Beggar Sect and accused Lady Wen before all present of being the Dharma King of the Human Path of the Mud Cult. Though Jinxiang Palace had stood in the Jianghu and never fallen behind others in doing good, the moment the Jianghu heard the words "Mud Cult," they rushed to distance themselves and wanted her killed.
Seeing this, the attendants of Jinxiang Palace at once formed the Fenghou Formation, evolved from the Eight Formations Diagram devised by Zhuge Liang, the famed chancellor of the Three Kingdoms. With the Formation Eye planted firm, it turned without cease: one drew her sword, and the attendants on all eight sides covered one another, holding their own against the righteous Wulin. Lady Wen invited Nangong Shen and Shangguan Sun into the formation to negotiate, wishing to submit to the Imperial Court. But the Vice Magistrate of Yuezhou burst in and shouted them down, and the talks broke down.
Seeing that all was lost, Lady Wen pleaded with Shangguan Sun to let her die with dignity, and to take the whole palace with her in a single fire. In the flames Lady Wen took up her pipa, and the music was long and mournful. Then the tune suddenly changed, adding a strange note to the original melody, using the strings to speak—a secret signal only the people of Jinxiang Palace could understand—telling Painting Immortal to take on the true Lady Wen's form, while she herself pretended to be the demon who had controlled the whole palace with the Corpse Heart Pill, taking the whole matter of the Human Path upon herself, and Died for Love together with Nangong Yuan.
Painting Immortal led the attendants, withdrew the order to retire into hiding, and paid respects to the new Alliance Leader. On the grounds that the battle of Fengyu Mountain had gravely drained them, they sealed the palace gates and would not come out, declining all visits and accepting no one's apology.
Secret Manuals
Notes
- The makeup on the attendants' foreheads should be a flower-tin cosmetic. It signifies nothing; it is simply fashionable, pretty, and fun.[4]
- In principle the Mysterious Candle Heart Sutra should let the attendants think calmly, but everyone's mastery is poor, wasting Lady Wen's pains.[3:1]
- In some story branches, Jinxiang Palace moves to the Tang Clan's Outer Fort.[3:2]
- After moving to the Tang Clan's Outer Fort, they still discipline themselves in martial arts and swordsmanship, but not everyone does work they are skilled at; some go to work in Tang Clan businesses.[1:1]
- On the Western Wulin route, if the Tang Clan refuses to take in Jinxiang Palace, Painting Immortal will lead the attendants away from the Central Lands to settle by remote Lugu Lake, never to return to the Central Plains.
- As for income, the women of Jinxiang Palace each have their own work; in Yueyang they run restaurants and weave cloth, and they also sell embroidery and knotted cords.[5]
- Apart from sending gifts to honor Lady Wen on festivals and holidays, Ruixing gives no further support, because Lady Wen dislikes it and means for the attendants to support themselves.[5:1]
- The Soft Sword can pick fish bones, but chopsticks or fingers are still recommended.[6]
- There is a reason those experts at the great battle of Fengyu Mountain did not break the formation. Bird Bear says he does not want to make it public, feeling it is better left for everyone to work out themselves.[6:1]
- In the Song Dynasty, means of washing were limited, and most people used plain water. The attendants of Jinxiang Palace wash their hair with water boiled from soapbean and mugwort.[7]
- In examinations of music or martial skill, excellent performance earns extra pocket money and days off.[2:1]
- Of the original eleven, only Lady Wen, Mingyu, and remain.[2:2]
PTT C Chat - [Legend of Mortal] Long Xiang and Strange Trivia P3 ↩︎ ↩︎
PTT C Chat - [Legend of Mortal] Long Xiang and Strange Trivia P5 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
PTT C Chat - [Legend of Mortal] Long Xiang + Miscellaneous Trivia ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Bahamut - 【Information】The answer to the size of Long Xiang's buttocks + private chat with Bird Bear ↩︎
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Q&A Collection 2024-10-31 ↩︎