Wanshan Nunnery was established in the second year of Daxiang during Emperor Xuan of Zhou’s reign. After Yang Jian of the Sui Dynasty assumed power, he designated this spacious temple complex as the ancestral shrine of the Zhou imperial Yuwen clan. All women of the Yuwen family who took Buddhist vows were ordered to reside here. In the second year of Kaihuang, over a thousand imperial consorts from Emperor Xuan of Zhou’s harem were tonsured here in a single ceremony.

Emperor Xuan of Zhou had elevated five empresses simultaneously. Except for his first wife, Empress Tianyuan Yang Lihua – who was the eldest daughter of the new dynasty’s emperor and was granted the title Princess of Leping with her residence – the other four (Empress Tianda Zhu Manyue, Empress Tianzhong Chen Yueyi, Empress Tianzuo Yuchi Chifan, and Empress Tianyou Yuan Leshang) all became nuns under the Sui. Even Yang Lihua, heartbroken after her father usurped her husband’s throne, frequently stayed at Wanshan Nunnery. When her beloved granddaughter died at age nine, she had her buried within the temple grounds, erecting a multi-storied pagoda to pray for her blessings.

Sima Ling’s insistence on joining Wanshan Nunnery was undoubtedly her desire to complete her karmic cycle as the last empress of Northern Zhou. According to what Su Lingyu had heard, because the Zhou imperial consorts in the nunnery had been isolated from the world for so long, they were out of touch with current affairs and often handled dynastic transitions inappropriately. When Sima Ling arrived, she was appointed as the guest-receiving nun by the abbess, and she found peace in the labor of her duties. As word spread that “the Empress of Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou still lives as a nun at Wanshan Nunnery,” it attracted many curious worshippers seeking to glimpse and pay respects to her. This brought prosperity to the nunnery’s resident nuns, benefiting both parties and so Sima Ling continued in her role.

And now former Sui Empress Xiao had come to reside in this nunnery – perhaps she too was following the precedent set by the widowed imperial consorts of the Zhou Yuwen clan…

As these thoughts crossed her mind, figures appeared at the tea hall entrance – Yang Min accompanying an elderly nun in grey robes.

Chai Yingluor and Wei Shubin both rose to bow in greeting. The elderly nun was small in stature, frail and thin, and replied with lowered eyes and pressed palms:

“This humble one, Jiman, greets all benefactors. Being old and weak, confined to a sickbed, it is inconvenient to receive guests. I have repeatedly troubled our benefactors to visit, and beg your forgiveness.”

From her manner of speech, this diminutive elderly nun was indeed the world-renowned former Empress Xiao of Sui.

Though Wei Shubin had partly anticipated this, she was still secretly startled. Looking the elderly nun up and down, she saw a shaved head under a nun’s cap, a weather-beaten face covered in wrinkles. Though one could still faintly discern the beautiful features of her youth, she was now unmistakably an aged woman with wizened skin and white hair. She was about the same age as Sima Ling, yet looked at least ten years older – no doubt due to the hardships she had endured in her years of wandering.

Since the fourteenth year of Daye when she witnessed her husband Emperor Yang’s assassination in Jiangdu, Empress Xiao had carried her only surviving grandson, the posthumous child Yang Min, drifting between Yuwen Huaji, Dou Jiande, the Tujue Khagans Chuluo and Jieli. In the fourth year of Zhenguan, they were sold to Tang forces by Kangsumi’s troops and escorted back to Chang’an as prisoners, having wandered north and south of the Yangtze River and across the steppes for over a decade. Fortunately, the current court treated her with considerable respect, repeatedly sending palace ladies to attend her, and Empress Zhangsun showed her special favor. Because of this, when she chose to put on airs and refuse visitors, even Prince Li Yuanji of the Great Tang had no recourse.

If Chai Yingluor hadn’t accidentally seen Yang Min leaving Wanshan Nunnery and deduced that Empress Xiao had taken Buddhist vows here – taken vows?

Wei Shubin quickly glanced at Empress Xiao’s bald head under her nun’s cap, suddenly remembering Li Yuanji’s mention of finding a wig in her clothes chest when he entered her chambers at night – at the time, they had assumed it was simply an elderly woman’s way of maintaining dignity despite thinning hair, keeping a false topknot to wear with formal headwear. Now it appeared that Empress Xiao had taken Buddhist vows and been tonsured long ago, using the wig to conceal this fact when she went out in public.

Chai Yingluor helped Empress Xiao – now calling herself by the Dharma name “Jiman” – to sit inside, checking her pulse and asking after her health, including questions about “when Madam took her vows, and why no one knew of this.”

“This humble nun has devoted herself to the Way, and gave up meat and wine after returning to court in the fourth year of Zhenguan,” Jiman replied calmly. “I had already presented this wish to Empress Zhangsun, begging the inner palace to allow me to enter the gate of emptiness and complete my remaining years. The Empress was merciful and did not explicitly forbid it, only saying that my grandson was still young and might not be able to manage all the household affairs alone and that this old nun still needed to maintain appearances when going out, so that the two princes and three nobles of the previous dynasty and envoys from foreign states would see proper dignity, demonstrating our great Tang’s gracious treatment of those remaining from the previous dynasty. How could this old nun dare disobey the inner palace’s gracious instructions? Thus I have not publicized it, only practicing in private.”

The implication was that Empress Zhangsun had not permitted her – the mother of the previous dynasty and grandmother of two current princes – to publicly take Buddhist vows, to avoid criticism that the new dynasty was treating her harshly.

However, given her shaved head and grey robes, the only difference from an official nun was probably just the lack of an official ordination certificate… She had long been living primarily within Wanshan Nunnery, rarely returning to her grandson’s home in Buzheng Ward.

Chai Yingluor understood and asked no more about this, saying only: “Yingluor has come by imperial command from the Emperor and Empress to inquire about matters from the previous dynasty, and thus has intruded to request an audience. I beg Madam’s forgiveness.”

Jiman’s eyelids lifted slightly as she glanced at her, showing a flash of shrewdness that helped Wei Shubin connect this frail old nun with her former status as an imperial mother. Chai Yingluor continued to address her as “Madam” rather than “Dharma Master” or “Great Master,” following Empress Zhangsun’s wishes to not acknowledge the legitimacy of Empress Xiao’s religious vows. These subtle dynamics were naturally clear to Empress Xiao, who had spent a lifetime in palace politics.

As it would have been inappropriate for Chai Yingluor to wear Daoist robes when visiting a Buddhist temple, she wore a dress and veiled hat like Wei Shubin, and also refrained from referring to herself as “this poor Daoist.” Using her childhood name, she continued:

“Yingluor dare not take up too much time. The Great Tang is currently at war with Tuyuhun, as Madam has surely heard. There is a key figure involved – the former Crown Prince of Tuyuhun, Murong Shun, who was once ordered to marry a woman of the Yang imperial clan who was granted the title ‘Princess Dehua,’ and they had a son. After the Jiangdu Palace incident, the husband, wife, and child were separated. Now we have been commanded to locate Princess Dehua and her son, but after so many years, the records are lost and scattered. We can only come to ask Madam: whose daughter was Princess Dehua? What became of her and her son with Murong Shun?”

Jiman sat cross-legged on her meditation cushion, eyes lowered and composed, as if in meditation. Everyone else in the room held their breath, waiting for her answer. Just as Wei Shubin was growing impatient, the elderly nun finally sighed deeply:

“Dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, like dew and lightning – all appearances are empty and false. Why do you benefactors insist on pursuing matters from twenty years ago? That marriage alliance princess was not born to the imperial family. Transplanted to foreign soil, her fate was like that of grass and trees. When great disaster struck, she achieved perfect stillness in the mortal realm. It was the fulfillment of her karmic merit, shedding her old shell to cross over to the next life. We nuns all gathered respectfully around her, chanting her virtuous deeds…”

She was using the same approach as in her earlier letter to Li Yuanji, implying that Princess Dehua was dead without stating it directly. Chai Yingluor interrupted the old nun’s sutras without ceremony:

“Forgive Yingluor’s rudeness, Madam. Whether Princess Dehua is alive or dead can be set aside for now. Yingluor only wishes to know her background – whose daughter was she? What became of the son she bore?”

Jiman fell silent, gazing at her for a long while, seemingly moved by the determination in her face. Slowly, she answered:

“If that is the case, this old nun should not deceive you. Princess Dehua was naturally a daughter of the Yang family, of the former Sui imperial clan… the daughter of a Prince.”