Destined to Love You

“What is this love that binds beyond life and death?”

Lifetimes ago rumors about a love between a mortal man and one of the nine daughters of Jade Emperor, spread far and wide across the heavenly kingdom. When the rumors reached to the ears of the Jade Emperor, he was fuming with anger. For the laws of the heavenly kingdom strictly forbid love between mortals and immortals. After finding out the rumors were true, he sent his celestial warriors to capture Lai Wah and Lok Tin. The couple was then brought before the Jade Emperor and given choices of renouncing their love or spending all eternity in one of the eighteen levels of hell.

But neither one of them chose to forsake their love. Coldly, the Jade Emperor sent the lovers down to the Underworld. As Lai Wah and Lok Tin’s souls were taken from their bodies, Lai Wah said," To be immortal without Lok Tin would mean eternal loneliness. But to be a mere mortal with him would mean everlasting happiness.”

Although the Jade Emperor was very strict, he cared very much for his ninth daughter and so with help of Yuet Lao (The God of Love) they devised a plan to test Lai Wah and Lok Tin’s love for each other. The plan was to give Lai Wah and Lok Tin three lifetimes together. For the first two lifetimes together, each of them was to break the other’s heart; the third lifetime, decided their fate as a couple. Usually, the couples’ souls would not be able to decide their own fate. However, Yuet Lao under the Jade Emperor’s order made this possible for Lai Wah and Lok Tin’s soul to decide in the third lifetime.

In the first lifetime of Lai Wah and Tin Lok, they reincarnated into the time setting of early Ming dynasty with different backgrounds. Tin Lok lived a poor life of a scholar while Lai Wah had all the wealth of a merchant's daughter. One day while Lai Wah took a walk with her maid; a scroll fell from a hill nearby. The scroll turned out to be a beautiful watercolor painting of a spring night. The painting also included a poem of Li Bai:

“In what house, the jade flute that sends these dark notes drifting,
scattering on the spring wind that fills Lo-yang?
Tonight if we should hear the willow-breaking song,
who could help but long for the gardens of home?”

When Lok Tin, the owner of the painting came to claim the scroll. Lai Wah commented on how much she had admired his artistic talent. As days and months went by their friendship grew through common interests in art, literature, and music. Not long after, Lok Tin and Lai Wah fell in love however, these days of happiness did not last long. Lai Wah’s parents found about them and were not please at all. Their hopes and dreams were marrying Lai Wah off to a rich family. Her parents ordered servants to beat Lok Tin and threatened to take his life, if he ever saw Lai Wah again. Only through the help of two loyal maids, did the two lovers met once more. Lai Wah then persuaded and also given money to Lok Tin to go to the capital and take the exams in hope to become a wealthy magistrate to ask Lai Wah’s hand for marriage.

A year had went by Lai Wah had locked herself in her room, waiting patiently for Lok Tin‘s return. Unfortunately as days went by there was still no news of him. After sometime, Lai Wah’s family went bankrupt after other companies stop selling to her family. Her family then went to wealth to rags. Not soon after her parents died of ill health. With no family Lai Wah decided to take her chances and traveled to the capital and find Lok Tin. With no money, her travel took her two long years to reach the capital. Tired and dressed in rags, she looked all over to find her beloved Lok Tin but no one paid attention to her. By mere chance when she visited the temple of the Goddess of Mercy, her prayers came true. As she left the temple she bumped into Lok Tin dressed in the richest garments and hand in hand with another woman.

In Lai Wah’s pale complexion and shock, she fainted. After three days of being unconscious, she found herself in a warm bed. It had to be a dream, but she would only find it is the complete opposite. After she had bathed and dressed in new clothes, she was brought into the main hall. Lai Wah was delighted to reunite with Lok Tin but clearly the woman who sat beside him was not. The woman beside him was beautiful and was dressed like a princess. Reluctantly, Lok Tin introduces the two women and sighed. The woman indeed was a princess, a jealous princess at that. She glared and threatened to tell her father to take away all the title and fame that Lok Tin had earned throughout the years. Unless he was willing to serve Lai Wah a poisoned wine cup as a symbol to end of their love and only then the princess would forgive him. ‘Would he chooses to fame or his true love? Has he changed?’ In a few minutes, she got her answer. Fame, wealth and the title of the princess’s husband won Lok Tin’s heart. The poor scholar in whom Lai Wah loved was gone. Her heart-felt heavy and hurt as if a thousand knifes were stabbing at her heart. Without a second thought, Lai Wah took the cup in her hand and drank it bitterly. Lok Tin was later hanged for intentionally offending the Emperor.

In the second lifetime, Lok Tin and Lai Wah were born into wealthy families. Their fathers were good friends and so were they. Since childhood Lok Tin and Lai Wah were inseparable friends. Even more inseparable when Lai Wah’s father died from a war battle. And since Lok Tin’s mother and Lai Wah’s mother were distant family, Lok Tin’s family took them in. Years went by Lok Tin and Lai Wah’s love like a small seed bloomed into a beautiful flower in spring. Until one day on her mother‘s deathbed, her mother confessed a very cruel secret to Lai Wah, which would wither the young flower.

The reason Lok Tin’s father had befriended Lai Wah’s father was not because they were generals with common goals, but the fact was the friendship was only an existed so that Lok Tin’s father could keep in contact with his old lover. When Lai Wah’s father found out the truth, that his wife and daughter was truly not his, he was devastated. He was the first general to go into battle the Japanese and also among the many that lost their lives. The secret overwhelmed her with many feelings of pain. However, Lai Wah knew if Lok Tin found out the truth, he and his father would be on bad terms with each other and decided to keep this secret a secret as well. In knowing Lok Tin was really her brother, she was distressed. She knew she could never marry the man she loved and so she decided to kill their love the only way she knew. She knew Lok Tin’s best friend, Ka Fai was very fond of her and when Ka Fai asked her hand in marriage she agreed.

Everyone was happy to see Lai Wah married to Ka Fai but Lok Tin felt betrayed. His best friend had taken away the love of his life. Even though, Lai Wah was married to someone else he tried to accept it and wished her all the happiness. One year after Ka Fai married her; he was out fooling around with another woman, a club singer. Most of the time, he left Lai Wah waiting at home till the early morning. Lok Tin had confronted and fought with Ka Fai but that would only make Ka Fai even madder , which led him to mistreat Lai Wah.

Lok Tin found it even harder to understand when she defended Ka Fai. It tore him to pieces trying to find the answer to why she had chosen to marry Ka Fai over him. Lok Tin tried to keep his control over the matter but no matter what he could not forget her. One morning, Lai Wah’s personal maid told Lok Tin to see her master right away for Lai Wah had a fatal disease, tuberculosis. He immediately rushed over only to see her leave him forever. She only left behind a letter to him, which explained why she had chosen Ka Fai. Lok Tin couldn’t believe it. He was determined to prove it was wrong and he did. He used the blood that he found on Lai Wah’s handkerchief and tested it with his. It did not mix together at all.

What hurt Lok Tin most was that she didn’t trust him or their love enough to tell him what was bothering her. The pain and suffering of the lie could have been prevented.

Is their love strong enough to pass the Jade Emperor's Test? After two lifetimes of tragic love is there still love between Lok Tin and Lai Wah?

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Thanks for reading!

Chapter 2 is coming soon.

MISTY RAIN
Copyright © 2002-2005
Originally written and posted 09.02.2002