Chunhua, God of Wealth

A story of two feelingless old immortals who catch feelings down in the mortal world. An immortal’s days run long and idle; make no trouble, and the heart grows restless. Lord Beichen and Chunhua, the God of Wealth, met for a secret tryst by the Cold Pool — and were caught red-handed by a flock of little fairy-maids. The Eternal Heavenly Emperor handed down his decree: the two of them were cast down together into the mortal world, to weather its tribulations and reflect on their fault. It is the age of the Great Yun Dynasty, a hundred years past the peak of a golden century — calm on the surface, dark currents churning beneath, monsters breeding in the dark. In the city of Bianling, the Zhangsun family is given a daughter; at her birth she holds a sprig of golden primrose in her mouth, so startling the midwife that she overturns the washbasin. Old Master Zhangsun takes up his brush and names her: Zhangsun Chunhua. Zhangsun Chunhua has but one lifetime; Chunhua the God of Wealth has ages without end. This whole opera of “envying the mandarin ducks and not the immortals” is to be forced upon her, like it or not — and how is it to fit? One-line summary: Others go down to the mortal world to weather their tribulations; I go down to make a fortune. Theme: It seems heartless, and yet the heart is there.