In some earlier reign, it matters not whose, in which

many women served who were of the two highest ranks

after that of the Empress herself, there was one who,

though not of the most unassailably high birth,

was beautiful and popular with the Emperor

above all the others who, for their part, had once

thought of themselves as first in his affections and who,

now, found themselves hating the upstart.

One can imagine how ladies further down on the social scale

must have felt in such an impasse.

For this favoured lady's part, she was

at the Emperor's side from morning to night,

incurring the ill feelings of all around her, until,

perhaps from, at last, being unable to bear the burden

of their resentment, she grew very sickly and morose,

constantly wanting to leave the palace for the security

of her home outside the palace walls.

The Emperor, on the other hand, though he was concerned

for her mental condition, paid not the slightest heed

to the warnings which came his way, until his love

came to be compared to an historical precedent.

Men who served in the inner Palace had no choice but

avert their eyes in disgust at the obvious pleasure

the Emperor took in her. Despite the talk of how such

an incident in China, which had caused the whole

state to crumble, might occur in our own country,

rumors of this despicable state of affairs escalated

until even the name of Yang Kuei-fei was on everyone's lips.

The lady had no choice but to continue in the public eye,

enduring the numerous insults that were thrown in her way,

placing her trust in the strength of the Emperor's

awesome regard.

(Translation by KLR)