Looking at Liu Yi, the dragon king asked, “Are you not from the world of men?”

“Yes,” Liu Yi answered, bowing most politely to the king.  The dragon king greeted him in return and offered him a seat.

“Our kingdom of water is deep and dark, and my knowledge of your world is quite limited,” the dragon king said.  “What reason brought you here from such a distance, sir?”

“I am a resident of the same district as Your Masjesty,” Liu Yi answered politely.  “I grew up in the south, but had my education in the northwest.  After my failure in this year’s official examination, I took the road to Jingyang by the Jing River. 

“There I met your daughter, who was grazing sheep on the pasture, without any protection from the rain and wind.  She was a great pity to behold.  I asked her how she had come to be in such a pitiful condition and she told me that her husband’s cruelty and the neglect of her parents-in-law had led to her degradation.  She entreated me to bring a message to you, and this I promised to do.  That is why I have come here to visit Your Majesty.”  Then he presented the girl’s written message to the dragon king.

After reading the message, the king covered his face with both hands and wept.  “I have been like a man both blind and deaf,” he grieved.  “Though I am her aged father, I had no idea of her sufferings away from home, whereas you, a stranger, volunteered to come to her rescue.  So long as I live, your kindness shall never be forgotten.”

The king called over a palace eunuch and gave him the message, with an order to tell the story to the ladies in the inner palace.  Soon, wailing was heard from within.  In alarm, the king ordered his men, “Be quick.  Stop the ladies from making so much noise, otherwise the prince of Qian Tang will become greatly upset.”

“May I know who this prince is?” Liu Yi asked.

“My younger brother,” replied the dragon king.  “He used to be the prince of Qian Tang but now he has retired.”

“Why should the story be kept secret from him?”