Tie Shan Gongzhu/Stories
Quotes
- When Entering Dragon's Roost
- Well, how sweet you are. Do take your time and relax.
- You'd like me to wax poetic with tales of my lover? Well, just try to keep it a secret, mmm?
- How fortuitous that I am in high spirits today.
- After Receiving a Gift
- I know what courtesy dictates; you may have this gift in thanks.
- A tribute. Commendable, is it not? Now take it and scatter hence.
- After Bond Level Increase
- You have unexpected promise.
- Come closer—I promise not to gobble you up.
- Idle After Bond Level 1
- I show no mercy to enemies nor husbands. I do what I must when I have to—nothing more.
- Only he and you have seen my true self and not known fear.
- You're also quite the popular one, aren't you?
- Idle After Bond Level 10
- Beauty must ever be honed— thus does a good woman toil endlessly behind the scenes.
- Love is not some limp and tender thing—it is the courage to accept all that your partner is.
- No man before or since him has been worthy of being my companion.
- Idle After Bond Level 20
- ...You find me quite loving? Ah, but anyone would be if they had one they wished to love as I do.
- I pray you, too, can meet someone with whom to share your life.
- It is only natural for one to wish to remain the pride of their beloved.
Dragon Story Episodes
Good Wife, Wise Scheme
When Tie Shan Gongzhu, a dragon
of Taiwu, exchanged vows with
Niu Mowang, they flew off to live
as one at the summit of the
beautiful Jiaoyun Mountain.
When a village at the foot of
the mountain received word
that an army was advancing,
the panicked villagers pleaded
to the dragon couple for succor.
Tie Shan Gongzhu, known as
the Rakshesha, stood beside
Niu Mowang in battle. However,
the enemy army had also installed
a dragon as their general.
This dragon was a violent one, and
ill-mannered towards his enemies.
He had also once loved Tie Shan
Gongzhu, and found that those
feelings still burned bright.
Alas, the power of jealousy is a
dreadful thing, and the general
promptly laid waste to the village
soldiers and overwhelmed both
Niu Mowang and Tie Shan Gongzhu.
Long battles bring only attrition.
When the couple gasped for breath,
worn to the bone, the enemy
proposed a cease-fire, calling
on Tie Shan Gongzhu by name.
Her husband suspected mischief,
but Tie Shan Gongzhu disregarded
his worries and made her way
to the enemy camp.
The enemy general gaped at her
beauty—unchanged from the time
when he loved her so—and began
to entertain her with a banquet
full of food, drink, and song.
But Tie Shan Gongzhu was unmoved,
and her steely heart had no room
for such earthly pleasures. Instead,
she asked her opposite to
begin negotiations at once.
With a leering smile, the general
informed her of his proposal.
"If you will be my wife," he said, "I
will withdraw and spare the village."
Tie Shan Gongzhu stared in disbelief.
This dragon had lent his strength to a
human army purely out of desire for
her. Heavy on her mind, though, was
her utterly exhausted husband.
The fierce Rakshesha closed her eyes
and thought for several moments.
Finally, she spoke in a voice heavy
with the moment's gravity...
"Very well. I accept."
The enemy general danced wildly for
joy. But suddenly, Tie Shan Gongzhu
lunged out and doused him with
a bowl of cold water.
"However!" she continued, "I will be
with no man weaker than my own.
If you would make me your bride,
you must defeat my husband
in single combat."
The enemy general chuckled, for he
knew Niu Mowang was exhausted.
Perhaps this was the perfect chance
to let that man know what it felt like
to lose something terribly precious!
He agreed to the terms without
another second's hesitation,
and the great bargain was begun...
Tie Shan Gongzhu agreed to become
an enemy dragon-general's wife in
order to end a long war—under the
condition that her oppressor defeat
her husband, Niu Mowang, in battle.
Thus was the occasion established
for two lovers to do battle for
the heart of a single woman.
Though riddled with wounds, Niu
Mowang roused himself well and
cut a magnificent figure when he
stood before the enemy general.
But the general struck first with
a ferocious attack that forced his
rival into a frantic defense.
Confident in his victory, the general
yelled in elation to his beloved.
"Behold, Tie Shan Gongzhu!
See how much stronger I am!"
"You are a fool if you think my
Niu Mowang will fall," replied
the dragon coolly.
Seeing how her heart was a calm
sea, the general grit his teeth and
redoubled his attack on the
overwhelmed Niu Mowang.
"Look at this cur!" he cried.
"How can you still believe in him?!"
"Ah, but it is a wife's joy to
believe in her husband."
The bonds of a true relationship are
more solid than stone, and faced
with this strength, the general
decided to unleash all of his might
in a final, devastating blow.
Yet his strike stopped in mid-air as
the supposedly beaten Niu Mowang
rose up, grabbed the enemy's arm
with all of his fighting spirit, and flung
him into a nearby boulder.
The enemy general collided with
the boulder with a deafening noise.
"Why...are you so strong?" he
whimpered before crumpling to the
ground like a puppet with cut strings.
"A husband's joy is to reward his
wife's trust," said Niu Mowang
with a broad smile.
With their general lost, the enemy
army collapsed. Thus was beautiful
Jiaoyun Mountain saved, and all the
villagers deeply touched by the bond
between husband and wife.
One must not fear trial and hardship.
A husband and wife support each
other for better, for worse, in sickness
and in health. There is no limit to how
strong one can grow for a beloved.
Perhaps because of that, Tie Shan
Gongzhu began training her love.
"You will not fight so clumsily again!"
she was heard to cry. "Now try again,
and show more spirit this time!"