The Oath of the River Goddess

"You shall be my consort, whoever you may be."

Thus spoke the mighty Emperor Yao to the ethereal Goddess Luo, who stood before him in mortal guise, her beauty like the moon reflected upon the Yangtze—radiant, untouchable, intoxicating.

Enthralled, the emperor offered her his empire, his treasures, even his life.

Luo replied: "I will be your wife, but under these conditions: You must never ask who I am, nor whence I came. You must never question my deeds—be they noble or cruel. And you must never speak a word of displeasure to me. Break this vow, and I shall vanish like mist upon the river. Do you agree?"

Blinded by love, Emperor Yao swore his assent.

Thus, Luo became his empress, and for a time, they lived in bliss—so lost in each other that even the turning of the seasons seemed to pause.

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Luo bore him many sons. Yet with each birth, she took the newborn to the Great River and cast the child into its depths, returning to the emperor with a smile as serene as still waters.

Yao's heart twisted in horror, but bound by his oath, he remained silent. Who is she? he wondered. Why does she do this?

Seven sons vanished beneath the currents.

When the eighth was born and Luo moved to drown him as well, Yao could bear it no longer.

"Stop!" he cried, seizing her arm. "Why do you murder your own children?"

Luo's eyes darkened like storm clouds. "You have broken your vow. Now, I must leave you. But before I go, know this: I am Luo, Goddess of the Waters, bound by the curse of the sage Laozi. The Eight Celestial Generals offended him, and I was doomed to bear them as mortal sons, then free them by returning their spirits to the river. Seven are already released. This last—General Bai—I shall raise myself and return to you in time."

With that, she vanished into the waves, the infant in her arms.

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Long ago, the Eight Generals had wandered the sacred Mount Kunlun, where Laozi's celestial cow, Jin Niu, grazed. One general's wife, enchanted by the beast, begged him to steal it.

"We are immortals," he protested. "Why risk Laozi's wrath?"

But she pleaded: "I have a mortal friend who yearns for its milk. Just this once!"

Relenting, the generals took the cow—only for Laozi to discover the theft. In fury, he cursed them: "You shall be born as men!"

Horrified, they begged mercy. Laozi softened his decree: "The thief, General Tian, shall live a long and glorious life. The rest shall die at birth and return to the heavens."

To fulfill the curse, Luo descended to earth as Yao's doomed bride.

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Years passed. Yao, heartbroken, ruled as an ascetic—until one day, walking the riverbanks, he saw a youth of divine bearing, Bai Qi, halting the Yangtze's flood with a barrage of arrows, laughing as if taming a playful dragon.

Luo emerged from the waters. "This is your son," she said. "I have raised him. He has mastered the arts of war under Sun Tzu, philosophy under Confucius, and statecraft from the ancients. Take him. He is yours."

With a blessing, she vanished forever.

Bai Qi knelt before his father—a warrior without equal, a scholar without peer.

And thus began the legend of the man who would become China's Unbreakable Vow.