Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

Ji-ryeon couldn’t hide her shocked expression as she asked in a trembling voice.

“S-so the Plain Maiden, the Dark Maiden, and the Rainbow Maiden... that... from the Classic of the Plain Maiden?”

And just putting those names in her mouth made her childhood memories surge in like waves.

The Classic of the Plain Maiden.

Deep inside the palace, the book she had secretly stolen glimpses of after opening her eyes to matters between men and women at a young age.

When she was young, Ji-ryeon found that book among piles of dusty old volumes in the imperial library.

It was a book with a thick silk cover, faintly infused with fragrance.

After carelessly checking the contents, Ji-ryeon secretly brought it in and, every night, carefully opened it under the lamp beneath her blanket.

Those nights when moonlight seeped in through the window and lit up the pages.

Each time she turned a page, her fingertips trembled. Each time she read, her heart pounded like it would burst, her face burning so hot she would bury it in the blanket.

The first person introduced in that book was the first of the Five Emperors, the Yellow Emperor.

And the three masters recorded as the ones who transmitted bedchamber arts to him were those three.

The Plain Maiden, the Dark Maiden, and the Rainbow Maiden.

The very beings she had thought were nothing but legend were now right in front of Ji-ryeon.

[That’s right!]

[Hehe, you know. So that book existed in your world too.]

[That’s right. Then this will go a lot faster.]

The three voices answered at the same time, each with laughter, but each in a different tone.

One voice was playfully bright, another was gentle and mild, and the last carried a quiet confidence.

The contents she had read in that book rose in Ji-ryeon’s mind.

The principle of yin-yang unification, how to harmoniously gather force and raise one’s realm, the secret of longevity you could obtain through the joining of man and woman.

It was written that all of it had been perfected under the teachings of those three.

They were described as beings who, through the harmony of yin and yang, extended human lifespan, drove away illness, and even opened the path to reaching the realm of an immortal.

But most people judged it as nothing more than a simple obscene book that began from mistaken belief.

Ji-ryeon had thought so too, but if those three truly existed, it didn’t feel like that.

If those three existed and its contents were true, then in yin-yang unification, they were the greatest masters under heaven, without equal.

Only then could Ji-ryeon fully understand what they had said.

That line about how they could make her do what she wanted most, best of all.

They meant they could make her use bedchamber arts—what was called the dual cultivation method here—better than anyone.

‘Ah...’

Still lying flat on the ground, Ji-ryeon felt her heart pounding.

They seemed to be lofty and great beings, but since she didn’t know who they were, a faint worry had started creeping up.

Because she remembered how they had called her the Heavenly Yin Yao-Bone Physique and praised her as a good vessel to inherit their Dao power and Dao techniques.

The way they spoke and the context somehow felt like it was flowing in an obscene direction, and for a moment, the thought had crossed her mind that maybe they were obscene beings.

But if they were the Plain Maiden, the Dark Maiden, and the Rainbow Maiden, it was different.

Just hearing those names made trust well up on its own.

Ji-ryeon didn’t hesitate any longer, pressed her forehead to the ground, and performed a deep bow.

“J-Ji-ryeon pays respects to the Three Maidens.”

The term used to address the three of them was the Three Maidens.

When she said it and bowed deeply, the three voices rang out, sounding very satisfied.

[Such a well-mannered child, aren’t you?]

[Didn’t I say she was a good child?]

[I’m glad you sisters were watching closely.]

[I’m glad I kept an eye on you. What a good opportunity to find its way here.]

[That’s what I’m saying. The Heavenly Yin Yao-Bone Physique is a legendary body, but she ended up taking refuge in the Buddhist path. When I realized that, my stomach hurt so much. But even so, sister didn’t give up and kept watching, and it looks like that’s why this opportunity came.]

Ji-ryeon felt like her breath stopped.

It seemed that even while Ji-ryeon had been staying within So-ryong’s mindscape, those three had not let her out of their sight.

From the moment she ascended to the Nine Heavens.

Ji-ryeon asked carefully, but in a trembling voice.

“Y-you’ve been watching over me all this time?”

Then the gentlest, softest voice answered, like a mother soothing a child.

[Of course, child. A child who can fully receive our Dao power and Dao techniques has appeared—how could I possibly sit still? I watched over you from the moment you ascended to the Nine Heavens until now.]

Just as expected, it was from the moment she ascended to the Nine Heavens.

At those words, Ji-ryeon’s body trembled.

Because those great beings had personally watched over her.

“That someone as lowly as me was watched over like that... I don’t know where to put myself.”

As Ji-ryeon spoke while trembling, the three questions followed.

[We probably don’t need a long story, and so? Will you serve us?]

[Yes. Have you decided?]

[She’s already decided, isn’t she?]

The first bright voice was probably the Plain Maiden.

The second gentle voice was probably the Dark Maiden.

The last clear, pretty voice probably felt like the Rainbow Maiden.

The three of them were asking whether she would serve them.

Still prostrated, Ji-ryeon spoke.

“I don’t have some grand ambition like wanting to become an immortal. But I want to help my husband, So-ryong.

He’s a good person who saved me and my order when we were dying, and he asked for nothing.

So if you three can make it so I can help So-ryong, then I’ll serve you.”

At those words, voices tinged with laughter came back.

[Oh my, what a kind heart. But don’t worry. If it’s us, we can grant that best of all. Earlier, you seemed to think we meant we’d help you use the dual cultivation method well, but what we meant is this.]

[That’s right. We are the Emperor’s masters. So of course we’ll make it so you can help your partner.]

[That’s right. We are none other than the Emperor’s masters. Whether you like it or not, your man will become an Emperor.]

At those words, Ji-ryeon rose and bowed politely to the three again.

“From now on, Ji-ryeon will serve the three of you for the rest of my life.”

[Finally, we got a usable child!]

[That’s a relief.]

[Then from now on, you are ours.]

A fierce wind rose through the peach-blossom grove in full bloom.

Pink petals whipped around like a storm, covering the sky.

The flower scent spread thickly and wrapped the entire world.

At the same time, Buddhist dharma power drained out of Ji-ryeon’s body in an instant.

The force she had built up over long years vanished, slipping away as if water were draining out, evaporating as if it were mist.

But as if filling that empty space, a new force poured in.

Clear and deep, gently shining Dao power.

It brushed past her bones and joints, circulated through her blood vessels, and seeped deep into her dantian.

Warm and intense, yet at the same time soft.

Ji-ryeon closed her eyes at the feeling that this force was reshaping her body anew.

***

The moment the lotus flowers supporting Ji-ryeon all changed into peach blossoms at once, her force began to visibly change as well.

First, the internal power that Buddhist dharma power had held flowed out like the ebbing tide.

That clear, cold force she had accumulated in her dantian over long years unraveled like thread and scattered into the air.

In that empty space, Dao power began filling in an instant.

A force that faintly shook the heart circulated through her blood vessels and remade each bone and joint anew.

“Th-this...”

“Daoist divine beings?”

As I stared at Ji-ryeon with shocked eyes, her posture changed.

From sitting cross-legged with her palms pressed together, her body slowly leaned forward, her arms naturally resting over her knees.

Her eyes were lightly closed, and her breathing became still.

The posture that the Daoist path called sitting-and-forgetting.

A posture used in Daoist cultivation, sitting while forgetting everything and becoming one with the Dao.

When her force completely changed like that, the peach-blossom petals supporting Ji-ryeon slowly wrapped around her body.

Pink petals overlapped one by one, completely enclosing her as if forming a gigantic bud.

Through the translucent petals, Ji-ryeon’s outline faintly showed.

Inside that, Ji-ryeon’s realm began to rise.

From the Transformation Realm, past the Profound Realm, all the way to the Life-and-Death Realm.

Up to the stage this cultivation world called the Golden Core Stage, she broke through rapidly.

Then the bud slowly opened, and Ji-ryeon opened her eyes from within the fully bloomed peach blossom.

The other wives took about three days to reach the Life-and-Death Realm, the Golden Core Stage, but Ji-ryeon’s realm increase had ended in an instant.

“So-ryong.”

Ji-ryeon’s voice reached me.

The voice was the same, but the resonance inside it was different.

It was the Ji-ryeon I knew, but at the same time, a completely different Ji-ryeon.

Her cheeks were faintly flushed, and her lips shone deeper red, ripe and luscious.

The outline of her body looked softer than before, and more pronounced.

The curves of her chest, waist, and hips were naturally emphasized, and an indescribable sensual allure that subtly provoked a man’s lust seeped out from her entire body.

Even her smile looked a little dangerous.

The corners of her lips lifted slightly, and her eyes glistened moistly—her smile held an enchanting charm, like it could beguile someone.

‘No, why is she this lewd?’

Thinking that Ji-ryeon looked far too different, I walked up, took her hand, brushed her forehead, and asked with shocked eyes.

“Ji-ryeon? What happened?”

Then Ji-ryeon answered in a sulky voice.

“No, we haven’t even been married for a year, but to raise my realm, they told me to throw you away, So-ryong. So... I do feel sorry to my teacher in the Lower Realm, but I quit the Buddhist path.

They said better people would become my teachers.”

“C-can you do that?”

I couldn’t help thinking, can you really quit that that easily, but Ji-ryeon nodded and said,

“I didn’t know either, but you can. The Buddhist path always felt like it didn’t fit me, so this worked out well.”

That was when.

Zihwa, who had been listening, asked with a worried expression.

“The force itself is Dao power, but did you confirm the true name of the beings you decided to serve? There are also beings who are evil, or who grant power and then demand something strange.”

At those words, I looked at Ji-ryeon with worried eyes too, but Ji-ryeon smiled slightly and said in a tone telling us not to worry.

“They’re good people, so it’s fine.”

“Who are they?”

“Oh, So-ryong, you’ll know too. The Plain Maiden, the Dark Maiden, and the Rainbow Maiden.”

“The Plain Maiden, the Dark Maiden, and the Rainbow Maiden?”

I tilted my head at names I was hearing for the first time, and then I heard Zihwa’s shocked voice.

“T-that three came to you?”

“Yes.”

I was startled by Zihwa’s reaction and looked back and forth between Zihwa and Ji-ryeon.

Then Ji-ryeon looked at me and asked.

“So-ryong, do you know the Classic of the Plain Maiden?”

“Isn’t that some kind of perverted book? With maidens...”

The Classic of the Plain Maiden I knew was a book that wrote down how an emperor mates with a young woman.

That was why I said it, but Ji-ryeon opened her eyes wide and said,

“N-no. ‘Plain Maiden’ doesn’t mean a young woman.

Plain means plain, pure. It means a pure woman. Dark means dark, mysterious. It means a dark woman.

And Rainbow means to pick, to gather, to be beautiful, to shine. It means a shining woman.”

“T-that’s how it is.”

So the emperor didn’t feel like some kind of freak after all.

While I was thinking I was sorry for misunderstanding, Ji-ryeon said,

“I started serving them. They’re the ones who founded bedchamber arts.”

“Mm...”

Ji-ryeon’s words left me completely flustered.

From the force I could feel and from Zihwa’s reaction, they didn’t seem like bad beings, but if they were the ones who created bedchamber arts, then no matter what, they felt like the cosmic sex masters of this universe.

Right. My wife had become the disciple of cosmic sex masters.

‘A sex master came in person to scout her. Ji-ryeon, just what kind of person are you...’

Somehow, it felt like the nights ahead weren’t going to be easy nights.