“Prince Ao Chen pays respect to his Father, the Dragon King and his Mother, the Dragon Queen. May you be empowered by the grace of Qi toward the light of peace, happiness, and enlightenment,” said Prince Chen, placing his right fist on his heart and then followed the motion with a prostration.
“Tara pays respect to the Dragon King and the Dragon Queen. May you be empowered by the grace of Qi toward the light of peace, happiness, and enlightenment,” said Tara, performing a phoenix curtsy, followed by a prostration.
The Dragon King and Dragon Queen were delighted to see their 16th youngest prince and his newfound girlfriend. Prince Chen spent most of his time on Cloud Nine and he hardly stayed at his Sapphire Palace on the dragon land. Therefore, his parents seldom saw him and they missed him dearly.
“Wonderful! Wonderful! You may rise now,” said both the Dragon King and Dragon Queen together. Having been granted permission, Prince Chen and Tara stood up.
“Come, my child, move forward to me, let me have a closer look at you,” said the Dragon Queen with an overly cheerful smile, signaling Tara to come to her and let her examine Tara’s face and assess her disposition.
“Indeed, what a lovely face, how marvelous! No wonder my son gives such a lavish praise of you,” said the Dragon Queen approvingly. The next moment, however, she shook her head slightly and continued, “It’s a pity …if only you were a dragon with a noble background and a proper title, then you would be perfect for my son.”
Tara was taken aback by the Dragon Queen’s candidly brusque remark.
“Mother Queen, I’m perfectly happy with a human lady of no enviable title nor noble background so long as I love her dearly. I’m confident of my choice and I hope that Mother Queen will support me,” said Prince Chen firmly, feeling a little annoyed with his mother’s lack of tact.
“Dragon Queen, don’t you worry about the title and the background. I have checked Tara’s background before, and it is illustrious. I will bestow a title upon her soon,” said the Dragon King with a broad smile, attempting to smooth things over.
“Thank you, Father King,” said Prince Chen, feeling a little relieved by his Father’s assurance. “Shall we offer Father King and Mother Queen our heartfelt gifts now?”
“Sure, go ahead,” said the Dragon King, smiling broadly in approval of Prince Chen and his choice of partner.
After they finished giving the gifts, Prince Chen and Tara left the reception room to move on to the next item on their itinerary: voluntary work.
The custom of the Imperial Crystal Palace dictated that all dragon princes and princesses needed to perform some good deeds and charitable works on their birthdays. This served as a reminder for them to continue practicing virtuous qualities such as generosity, kindness, empathy, and compassion, as well as to accumulate merit and good fortune for their future.
Under tight imperial security, Prince Chen and Tara went from door-to-door, distributing herbs and food for the less privileged dragon communities.
Tara felt a little dispirited and under the weather after the “Meet-the-Parents” session was over. Nevertheless, she was back to her usual vivacity when she doled out packets of candies to the effervescent young children gathering around her. Her love for children was indisputable; and that was heart-warming to Prince Chen.
Soon, it was noon. A huge tentage was prepared and the free food was ready to be offered to the dragon monastic communities, followed by the public.
After lunch, Prince Chen and Tara went for a Prayer and Blessings Ceremony presided by Venerable Wenshu and Venerable Smile at the Dragon Flower Dome. The replica Qibaota was situated right next to the Dragon Flower Dome. The moment Tara saw the Qibaota, she cemented her resolve to seek the Qibaota to go back home.
The Dragon King and Dragon Queen, as well as the rest of the fifteen princes and their family members were present at the Prayer and Blessings Ceremony.
The ceremony began with Dharma worship music performed by a choir and a dragon orchestra. Worshippers in the hall sang the melodious Dharma hymn in praise of the Buddha-Tathagata. Venerable Splendid Music concluded the musical worship session with a solo rendition.
After the worship music, Venerable Wenshu led a ten-minute guided meditation session for all the worshippers, followed by a Dharma discourse by Venerable Smile.
The finale was the blessing ceremony jointly conducted by Venerable Wenshu and Venerable Smile, who sat on both sides of the stage. Anyone who needed help could go up to the stage and choose the venerable of their choice for their personalized blessings and advice.
Prince Chen went up to the stage, approached Venerable Smile, and performed a prostration in front of him before sitting cross-legged on a lotus bamboo woven mat.
He pressed his palm together and said, “Auspicious greetings to Venerable Smile. I hope to share a blissful union with Tara, a wonderful lady whom I am exceptionally fond of. May I have your enlightening advice and blessings for our blissful union?” Prince Chen took a quick glance at Tara sitting in the front among the audience.
Venerable Smile followed Prince Chen’s gaze and spotted Tara sitting beside an empty seat belonging to Prince Chen.
“You are referring to the lady in peach-colored Hanfu?” asked Venerable Smile. Prince Chen nodded.
“A wonderful choice, indeed. She is an Achiever with tremendous faith, aspiration, and virtue. Diligent, ardent, and resolute, she will succeed in whatever endeavors she aspires to accomplish with relentless intensity. Challenges are definitely present, but if you have a heart overflowing with patience and love, you will savor the conjugal bliss of Yuan Yang[7] eventually,” said Venerable Smile with a hearty laugh.
After he finished speaking, Venerable Smile bestowed blessings on Prince Chen by placing his right palm on Prince Chen’s crown. Intoning a mantra softly, his left hand gracefully twirled every bead of his sandalwood bracelet. Lastly, he gave Prince Chen a drawstring bag filled with dragon flowers and multi-colored candies made from dragon flower seeds.
“Sadhu Venerable Smile. Thank you for the wonderful blessings and advice,” said Prince Chen joyously with his palms pressed in reverence.
Evening time had arrived with much extravaganza. Scrumptious dinner, lively dragon orchestral music, and mesmerizing dance performances were the highlights of Prince Chen’s 30th birthday celebration. Prince Chen had changed to his sapphire blue Hanfu while Tara donned a magnificent coral-teal Hanfu.
His parents and all his fifteen brothers and their consorts were present. The Dragon King and Dragon Queen were seated in front of the Main Hall, while Prince Chen and Tara were seated by the side. The dinner tables were arranged facing each other, thus creating a vast space in the middle for the dance performance later.
The types of food presented were a feast for the eyes, much to the delight of Tara. It was a stark contrast to the simple dishes Prince Chen consumed every day.
“These desserts look so creative, dainty, and appetizing!” commented Tara as she saw a plate of desserts with seven nautical-themed objects such as a boat wheel, a lifebuoy, an anchor, a lighthouse, a compass, a spyglass, and a ship.
“This dessert set is called Seven Treasures of Enlightenment. The seven delicacies represent the seven jewels of Qibaota, which are in fact the seven factors of awakening – mindfulness, investigation, energy, happiness, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity. This magical dessert is said to have the power of healing and purification. Anyone who consumes this dessert will develop the seven qualities of attaining Enlightenment.”
Tara was impressed with the haute cuisine of the dragon world. Every single dish was dainty, delightful, and delicious. The creative dishes were a testament to the expertise, dedication, and creativity of the Imperial Chef.
“These cookies in ten shapes are so colorful and adorable. Are there any meanings behind the ten shapes?” asked Tara, looking at the colorful cookies in the shapes of circle, square, oval, triangle, rectangle, rhombus, star, heart, trapezium, pentagon, hexa
gon, and octagon.
“Yes, the ten shapes symbolize the Ten Factors of Life; they are Appearance, Nature, Entity, Force, Action, Cause, Condition, Result, Effect, and Consistency from Beginning to End.”
“I see. Ten Factors of Life, that’s interesting,” said Tara, picking up a red circle cookie and munching it. “Hmm…it’s sweet, just like a macaron.”
Tara saw the twelve cakes in the shapes of twelve different animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.
“These animals are exactly the twelve Chinese zodiac signs! What is the symbolism behind these cakes?”
“These twelve cakes denote the Twelve-linked Chain of Causation: Ignorance, Actions, Consciousness, Name and Form, Six Senses, Contact, Sensation, Desire, Clinging, Existence, Birth, and Aging-and-Death. The Twelve-linked Chain of Causation is the basis of Dependent Origination. Ignorance is the fundamental cause of birth and death.”
The majestic dragon orchestra performance and the spectacular dance performance were exceptionally impressive, to say the least. As a professional dancer herself, Tara could not help but praise the high standards of the imperial dance performance.
The performance continued smoothly until the principal dancer sprained her ankle and fell with a loud thud, making some guests shriek. This incident spoiled the buoyant mood of the dinner.
“Prince Chen, I can continue the performance of the last dance,” said Tara, feeling sorry for the principal dancer.
“It’s alright Tara, you don’t have to do it,” said Prince Chen. “Just continue with your dinner.”
Disregarding Prince Chen’s advice, Tara helped the principal dancer sit by the side and discussed with the rest of the dance team as to how to proceed with the performance. Shortly after, she made some modifications to the dance steps and performed the dance with such exquisite gracefulness, fluidity, and artistry, much to the astonishment of the rest of the guests.
Despite the stupendous performance, the applause was unexpectedly lukewarm. Except for the Dragon King, Prince Chen and a few others who applauded Tara’s performance with vigour and appreciation, many of the guests regarded Tara with disapproval, especially the Dragon Queen who was silently seething. This was because dancers were not highly regarded in the dragon world. They were ranked quite low in the social hierarchy and they were often despised by those of nobility-birth and higher social status.
Finally, the official birthday celebration was over, and it was rather late at night. Yet, Prince Chen insisted Tara dance with him at his Sapphire Palace. She relented and they had a wonderful time dancing together. After the music had ended, it was almost midnight.
“Tara, it’s pretty late now. If you don’t mind, will you stay over at my palace for tonight?” asked Prince Chen longingly, holding her hands.
“I’m not too sure if it's convenient for you to do so,” said Tara reluctantly. “We’re not engaged or married yet. I’m sure tongues will start to wag if people find out about this. Besides, it’s not part of the dragon custom for a prince to invite his girlfriend for a sleepover on his birthday night."
“I really don't care about what people think or say about me. You must be exhausted by now and I want you to rest early. I’m happy to sleep on the daybed. You can have my luxurious bed all to yourself,” said Prince Chen, trying his best to convince her to stay.
“You are a prince; I don’t feel comfortable letting you sleep on the daybed while I sleep in yours. Although the opinions of others don’t matter to you, they matter to me. I want to maintain a clean slate of reputation, even if I have no enviable titles or noble background to speak of,” said Tara firmly. “I wish to go back to Damsel Retreat now. I mean it, Prince Chen. Please respect my decision.”
Prince Chen found Tara’s exotic beauty and lingering bodily fragrance irresistibly charming and attractive to him. Feeling amorous, Prince Chen wrapped his arms around her sylphlike waist, embraced her sensually, and moved his head closer to her. “Tara, I really need you to be here with me tonight.”
Tara’s heart was pounding furiously but she remained unperturbed and adamant about her decision. “No, not tonight. I’m sorry.”
With skillful application of her martial arts, she dodged his advances, deftly wrestled herself from his grasp and bolted out of the door. As she continued to sprint in the courtyard toward the exit gate, she whistled Queenzy over, jumped on the back of the phoenix nimbly and flew into the star-filled night sky all the way back to her Damsel Retreat.
Prince Chen stood there in his room, stunned and stupefied by Tara’s phenomenal improvement in her application of the Dragon Fists. He wanted to cast a spell to stop her but decided against it. Casting a spell on Tara would never be an option for him, especially because he adored her so dearly.
CHAPTER 25
SUMMER SOLSTICE WATER FESTIVAL
One of the renowned summer festivals in the dragon kingdom was the Summer Solstice Water Festival. It was an exuberant celebration of the summer with water splashing and dancing around the Dragon Flower Tree.
The rising sun cast a pearly, salmon-pink hue across the morning sky of the Summer Solstice. A chorus of melodic chirping songs drifted in the air.
“Where are you bringing me so early in the morning?” said Tara, befuddled by Prince Chen’s excitement.
“It's the Summer Solstice Water Festival. Be ready to get splashed and wet!”
“Sounds to me like the Songkran Festival in Thailand,” replied Tara, imagining the fun of playing in the water just like little kids. “Must be real fun!”
The Summer Solstice Water Festival was held at the River of the One Vehicle not far from Main Street. Upon reaching the river, they saw Venerable Wenshu and Venerable Sage performing the ritual of purifying the water through prayer, chanting, and meditation. There were many imperial guards assisting in filling buckets of water from the river.
The Water Festival was inaugurated with Venerable Sage riding on his magical, six-tusked white elephant mid-air, as it sprayed water on the crowd through its trunk. Venerable Sage wore a golden crown and an elaborate bluish gold flowing robe. His hand held a white lotus.
Throngs of people were gathering around the white elephant, waiting to be splashed with water. It was believed that the water from the white elephant would purify their six senses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. Staring at the elephant, Tara was mesmerized and awed by its magnificence.
As Venerable Sage gave away crimson stalks of the celestial golden lotus flowers, he sang a melodious Sanskrit song:
“Adaṇḍe daṇḍapati daṇḍāvartani daṇḍakuśale daṇḍa sudhāri sudhāri sudhārapati buddhapaśyane sarvadhāraṇī āvartani sarvabhāṣyā var-tane suāvartane saṃghaparīkṣani saṃ gha nirghātani asaṃge saṃgāpagate tṛadhvasaṃgatulya prāpte sarvasaṃgasamatikrānte sar-vadharma suparīkṣite sarva sattvarutakauśalyānugate siṃhavikrīḍite.”
“We must not miss getting splashed by the six-tusked white elephant, for it has the magic healing power to purify our six senses!” said Prince Chen, holding Tara’s hand and worming his way through the milling crowd to make sure Tara got herself splashed, and thus blessed, by the six-tusked white elephant.
The white elephant raised its trunk and splashed the pristine water all over the people in its vicinity. Tara got splashed and drenched to the skin. She started to get excited; it was as if she was a child again, splashing water around with impunity.
Dragon people around her took buckets of water from the river and splashed each other. Children used the water guns to spray one another, laughing hysterically, and playing raucously.
Tara was soaked. Her outfit stuck to her skin, making it appear more translucent, thus accentuating her enviable hourglass figure.
Prince Chen stood there staring absent-mindedly at Tara, deep in a reverie. Tara is seductively alluring, even when she is drenched wet.
“How dare you ogle me! Let me show you some colors!” hissed Tara.
Taking a bucket of water, she gleefully poured it on the distracted Prince Chen and shouted, “Wake up! Lecher!”
Splashed by the water, Prince Chen finally woke up from his reverie. “Hey …okay …so you want to play water games? Let’s see who wins!”
Prince Chen retaliated by taking a bucket of water and splashed it all over Tara. “The wetter is better! Haha!”
Tara laughed heartily attacking Prince Chen with buckets and buckets of water. Giggling and laughing, they continued having a whale of a time splashing each other.
Some dragons were splashing water in the sky as well, resulting in the falling of rain. Everyone was buoyant and high-spirited, getting drenched wet and spiritually purified by the water.
In the afternoon, Tara and Prince Chen participated in the mass dancing encircling the Dragon Flower Tree. People were free to dance in whatever way they preferred.
With the folk-dance music being played by drums, cymbals and a double-reeded horn in the background, Tara danced to her heart’s content. She found dancing among so many people thoroughly enjoyable and fun. She invited Prince Chen to dance with her around the tree, much to his delight.
A lady who was dancing beside Tara accidentally bumped into her, causing her to trip and fall, spraining her ankle as a result.
“Ouch!” Tara moaned in pain, holding onto her right leg where the ankle was sprained.
“Are you alright, Tara?” said Prince Chen in a voice of deep concern. “Let me take a look.”
He tried to move her right ankle a little to loosen it but that made Tara howl in pain and agony. “Stop, stop! You are making it worse!”
“Let me take you back to Cloud Nine. I will get the Imperial Physician to treat you.” He transformed himself into a dragon and took Tara back to Cloud Nine.
The Imperial Physician was summoned to treat Tara’s sprained ankle. Having examined her injured ankle, the physician applied a cold, ice compression bandage around her ankle to reduce pain and swelling.
Tara Zenyora : and the Seven-Jeweled Lighthouse Page 17