During the Tang Dynasty, in the reign of Emperor Gaozong, there lived a scholar named Liu Yi who possessed a heart of gold but had found little success in the imperial capital. After failing the civil service examinations in Chang’an, a defeat that weighed heavily upon his spirit, he decided to return to his home in the southern lands. The road was long and dusty, and as he reached the banks of the Jing River, he stopped to rest beneath the shade of some willow trees. While observing the landscape, he noticed a woman who seemed entirely out of place in the wilderness. She was exceptionally beautiful, yet she wore tattered garments and was tending a flock of sheep. Her face was stained with tears, and she sighed with a sorrow that resonated through the quiet air.
Moved by her distress, Liu Yi approached her and asked why a lady of such obvious refinement was performing the labor of a common peasant in such a desolate place. The woman looked at him with eyes full of both hope and trepidation. She revealed that she was no ordinary mortal, but the youngest daughter of the Dragon King of Lake Dongting. She had been married to the second son of the Dragon King of the Jing River, but the union had been a miserable one. Her husband was a cruel and dissipated youth who ignored her, and his parents, the local dragon rulers, had sided with their son. They had stripped her of her royal status and banished her to this riverbank to tend sheep—creatures that were actually celestial spirits in disguise.
She pleaded with Liu Yi to help her. 'I am a prisoner here, and my family in the south knows nothing of my suffering,' she cried. 'If you are headed toward the land of Chu, I beg of you to carry a letter to my father. He is the Lord of Dongting, and if he knew of my plight, he would surely rescue me.' Liu Yi, though a mere mortal, was struck by the injustice of her situation. He felt a deep sense of Confucian duty to assist someone in need, especially a woman so wronged by her kin. However, he asked how a mortal could possibly deliver a message to the depths of a lake. The princess instructed him to go to the southern bank of Lake Dongting and find a sacred orange tree that the locals called the 'Protector of the Grove.' He was to take his sash, strike the tree three times, and a messenger would appear to guide him.
Liu Yi accepted the letter, which she had hidden in her sleeve, and swore to deliver it. He traveled for many days until he reached the vast, shimmering expanse of Lake Dongting. The lake was like a fallen piece of the sky, its waters stretching toward the horizon where the mists of Hunan met the clouds. Following the princess's instructions, he located the ancient orange tree. He took his silken sash and struck the trunk three times. To his amazement, the water at the edge of the lake began to swirl and part, and a warrior dressed in blue armor emerged from the depths. This was the Dragon King’s palace guard. Liu Yi explained his mission, and the guard used a magical spell to create a bubble of air around the scholar, leading him down into the watery abyss.
Beneath the waves, Liu Yi beheld a world of unimaginable splendor. The Dragon King’s palace was constructed of translucent crystal and white coral, with roofs tiled in emerald and floors paved with pearls. Brightly colored fish swam through the corridors like birds in the air, and the light of the sun filtered down in shimmering curtains of turquoise and gold. He was brought before the Dragon King of Dongting, a majestic figure with a flowing white beard and robes embroidered with the patterns of the tides. When Liu Yi presented the letter and recounted the daughter’s suffering, the King began to weep. The entire court fell into a somber silence as they heard of the princess’s exile and the cruelty of the Jing River clan.