ISBN:7-5387-2180-0.
Publisher: 时代文艺出版社 (Period Literature Publishing)
Location: Jilin Province, China
Publishing date: 2006-08-01. [2] In the spring of the second year of Yuanding (115 B.C.), the city of Chang'an became a construction site. Those rushing into the city were a bunch of construction artisans who came to build the Cypress Platform for Han Wudi to pray to immortals. The platform was located between the Zhangcheng and the ZhiCheng Gates in the western part of the Weiyang Palace. The platform was so named for its primary use of the fragrant cypress wood. It is said that after the Cypress Platform was constructed, the fragrance of cypress could be smelled for approximately 10 lis around. The platform stands 30 zhangs (99 meters) tall and 20 zhangs (66 meters) wide. The central bronze pillar requires seven men holding hand in hand to fully encircle it. At the top of the pillar is the Dew Collection Plate. The plate's support is in the shape of an immortal's palm, which palms-up holds the plate to the heavens, collecting the morning dew. Following the nonsense of the mystics, Han Wudi collected the dew in the plate and mixed it with grinded jade to make spiritual dew. Supposedly frequent drinkings of this dew would strength one's body, making him more virile and an immortal. Han Wudi was of course happy on possessing this spiritual dew. Despite the astringent and cooling nature of the spiritual dew, he joyfully gulped it down. It was only after suffering a massive illness due to this that he stopped drinking this mixture. Han Wudi was constantly thinking about the bamboo scroll in Shaoweng's coffin, regretting that he might have been too hasty and have offended the immortals. His mind would sometimes wander, thinking about how nice it would be to have a high-level mystic at his beck and call. The Marquess of Lecheng Dingyi figured out Han Wudi's thoughts, so he introduced a mystic named Luan Da to the emperor, saying "Luan Da and Shaoweng are from the same school, but his mystical abilities far exceed Shaoweng's. Luan Da was originally the mystic for Han Wudi's younger brother, the Prince of Jiaodong, Liu Ji. As Liu Ji's wife is Dingyi's younger sister, he introduced Luan Da to Han Wudi. Luan Da was capable at engaging others in conversation and had a large vocabularly and schemes, so he managed to tricked many people into trusting him. His most prominent characteristic was his devil-may-care attitude; once he opens his mouth, he will brag till the cows come home even to the point where he might not even find his own lies convincing. Han Wudi asked Luan Da about immortals. Luan Da steeled his gaze and started to boast. He said, "I used to frequently go over the seas and meet ancient immortals such as Anqisheng and Xianmen. Due to my lowly status, they never trusted me. At the same time, I was the subordinate of the Prince of Jiaodong, Liu Ji, and they thought of him as only a ruler of a feudal state, not worthy enough to receive the pill of immortality." Han Wudi was captivated by Luan Da's bragging and pressed the mystic, "What about your own powers? Are they strong?" Luan Da saw that Han Wudi has swallowed his hook, and nonchalantly drawled, "My immortal teacher once said that when one's skill has attained a certain level, he can make gold, easily dam the Yellow River, manufacture the pill of immortality, and later ascend to become an immortal." Han Wudi was stunned on hearing this. He felt fortunate to have finally met a capable man, so he told Luan Da, "Would you please help me to obtain the secret to immortality? Money and rank is of no obstuction." Luan Da started playing cat and mouse, purposely saying, "I am afraid I would receive the same fate as Shaoweng. When Shaoweng died, all the mystics were frightened and shut down their mouths. None dared to speak of anything touching on the secret to immortality." Han Wudi got anxious and told a quick lie, "It is just a rumor that Shaoweng was killed. He died from poisoning by eating horse liver. Who doesn't know this? I, too, feel pained on losing Shaoweng." Observing Luan Da's expression, the emperor continued, "As long as you can obtain the secret to immortality, I would not hesitate to sacrifice anything." Thinking to obtain greater benefits, Luan Da put on an arrogant face and said, "My immortal master never begs men for favors, it is men who beg from him. If your majesty wishes to receive his favor, then your majesty should respect my master's envoys (Luan Da), making them one of the royal family. Moreover, your majesty should not treat the immortal's envoys as one of your majesty's subject, but should treat the envoy as an esteemed guest. In this way, the envoy will be moved by your majesty's sincerity and convey your majesty's deep desire for the immortal's favor along with praises of your majesty to the immortal himself." Han Wudi wanted to give Luan Da a satisfactory answer, but he also worried about getting tricked again. He paused for a while before gravely replying, "Why don't you show me a little demonstration of your powers." Luan Da had already prepared a little trick He mixed chicken blood, iron shavings, and magnetic dust, painting the mixture on chess pieces. During the performance, he placed the pieces on the chess board and said a few mumbo-jumbos. Due to magnetism, the pieces kept charging into one another. Han Wudi and the observers, who were ignorant of this, were amazed and cheered, thinking there were mystical forces at work. In this manner, Han Wudi was convinced Luan Da exceeded Shaoweng in the mystic arts. During this time, he had been pondering the inability to dam up the breaches in the Yellow River's banks, leading to the floodings. At the same time, he thought about the empty national treasury. If gold could really be made, it would truly be a wonderful thing. On hearing Luan Da say that it was a piece of cake to plug the breaches in the Yellow River's banks and turn brass to gold, Han Wudi generously conferred a big title on Luan Da. Han Wudi first bestowed the title of the General of the Five Merits on Luan Da. Afterwards, he felt that the title was not enough and conferred Luan Da as the General of Just Cause, the General of the Common People, and the General who Clears the Way. Luan Da's status could be said to have shot to the heavens on having four gold seals hanging from his waist. The mystic, however, did not care about these titles. Although he had four postings as a general, he refused to produce any magic. Moreover, every time he stepped into the court, he did not have any cheerful expression. Han Wudi's enterprising outlook is unmatched. To achieve his aim to become an immortal, he is willing to do anything. He reexamined Luan Da's words to him, and thought that he might not have fulfilled the desires of this immortal's envoy. Thinking that was why the envoy was unwilling to perform his magic, Han Wudi decided to fulfill Luan Da's every desire. In the blink of an eye, the hot summer has arrived. Han Wudi again conferred a title on Luan Da, making him the Marquess of Letong supported by 2,000 households. Han Wudi also ordered a luxurious residence be built for Luan Da in the capital and gave the mystic 1,000 odd servants. To elevate Luan Da's standing, Han Wudi gave the mystic the royal carriage, horses, tents and other utilities, letting Luan Da enjoy the trappings of an emperor. Han Wudi recalled Luan Da's request to let the immortal's envoy become a member of the royal family. To become an immortal, the emperor gave his daughter away to be married to Luan Da. Princess Wei Chang is the eldest daughter of Empress Wei Zifu and Han Wudi. By marrying Princess Wei Chang, Luan Da has become the pauper-turned-prince of the royal family. Luan Da was full of glee in his heart. By his calculations, the dowry brought by Princess Wei Chang was worth 10,000 catties. To show his royal favor to Luan Da, Han Wudi personally paid a visit at Luan Da's residence. This gave Luan Da a tremendous boost in reputation and shocked the whole of Chang'an. After returning to the palace, Han Wudi sent out endless streams of envoys to Luan Da. The officials followed suit; from Han Wudi's paternal aunt, Taizhu Guantao, to the ministers, generals, and 2,000-odd officials, they all rushed to set up banquets at Luan Da's residence as a form of welcome. Han Wudi even gave Luan Da a special sign of royal favor. He ordered an intricate white jade seal, bearing the words "General of Moral Authority" to be made and sent by high-ranking officials to Luan Da at his residence. To show respect to the immortal's envoy, the handing over of the seal was done in the night. Standing on cogon grass used for religious ceremonies, the officials were dressed in large overcoats made with feathers and delivered the seal into Luan Da's hands. Luan Da also wore a large feathered overcoat and stood on the cogon grass to receive the seal, symbolizing that he is no longer Han Wudi's subject but an immortal's envoy who is on equal standing with the emperor. It was only a few months since Luan Da was introduced by Dingyi to Han Wudi and he was now wearing six seals. From a lowly mystic, he achieved this rank purely by telling tall tales. When he steps out of his residence, his bearing was proud, traveling in illustrious covered palanquins. Once back in his luxurious home, he had over a thousand servants to look after him. A single call summons a hundred, he need not lift a single finger to fulfill his desires. Furthermore, he had pretty young things waiting to service his desires. It was a very opulent life. Han Wudi spent so much and had yet to see what an immortal looked like. Luan Da, however, lived like one. Luan Da's sudden rise to fame and fortune became the hot topic of Chang'an. The news spread like wildfire throughout China. As a result, mystics from the coastal states of Qi and Yan flooded the capital, pointing to the skies and swearing that they could also summon immortals. Half a year went by quickly, Luan Da cavorted with his lovely wife daily and have long forgotten Han Wudi's request to summon immortals. Han Wudi grew anxious and sent men to prod Luan Da to let the emperor meet the immortals. At first, Luan Da kept saying the time was not ripe and continued delaying with a bunch of excuses. Finally, Luan Da saw that he could not push back the request anymore, so he planned to go on a fake cruise to allay Han Wudi's suspicions. The General of the Five Merits and the Marquess of Letong, Luan Da, could only start packing up. He first said his farewells to Han Wudi and bidded his lovely wife farewell, claiming that he planned to go over the seas to find his immortal teacher and help Han Wudi obtain the secret to immortality. Han Wudi, however, always had a bit of paranoia. He ordered an attendant to follow Luan Da. Dressed as a commoner, the spy was to check if Luan Da was up to some trick. Luan Da led his servants through a clear road, sitting in a gorgeous palanquin. Along the way, he toured scenic sights, leisurely arriving at the foot of Mount Tai. Luan Da disembarked and after telling his followers to sweep a clearing for him, faced Mount Tai and said some prayers. His followers, however, saw no immortals coming to converse with Luan Da. The convoy went east and when Luan Da saw that they were about to reach the beach, he ordered a halt, saying "Immortals will never meet with you lowly servants. I alone shall move ahead to summon my immortal teacher. The rest of you shall stay here." The followers felt this was logical and let Luan Da go to the beach alone. Han Wudi's spy, however, sneaked off and followed Luan Da from a distance. Luan Da reached the beach and on looking back, saw no one. He strolled along the beach for half a day before returning to where his followers await, telling them, "I have met my immortal teacher. Now we return to report back to his majesty." In his heart, he was unable to forget his lovely wife at home, and thus this bunch of people quickly went back west. The spy found Luan Da's trickery to be both comical and infuriating. He rushed back to the capital before the convoy and truthfully told Han Wudi of all the details of Luan Da's doings in Shandong. Han Wudi was infuriated. He had given so much only to encounter another conman. He wanted to see what kind of trick Luan Da was going to pull on his return. Luan Da was meticulous in his quest to win fame and fortune. From the start, he knew that he was playing with fire and so he had already planned for some way out. He had first asked Han Wudi to guarantee that the incident with Shaoweng would not be repeated, and followed that by requesting Han Wudi for a standing equal to that of the emperor as an immortal's envoy, thus making himself not a subject of Han Wudi. To secure his life, Luan Da had also requested to become a member of the royal family. All of his requests were fulfilled; moreover, Han Wudi married Princess Wei Chang to him. Luan Da was smug that nothing could go wrong; no matter what happened, even if Han Wudi was to go back on his word, the emperor would never want to hurt his daughter by killing his son-in-law. As such, Luan Da was full of confidence and strutted from Shandong to the capital to report to Han Wudi. Han Wudi put on a happy face when receiving Luan Da. The mystic had prepared his lies earlier on the road, telling the emperor of some conversations with a bunch of immortals and that he had gone into the sea to meet his immortal teacher. While telling his nonsense, Luan Da felt something was wrong. He saw that Han Wudi was no longer intently listening to whatever he said but was coldly laughing and watching him. Luan Da became flustered, forgetting what he was going to say. Han Wudi could no longer contain himself. He scrunched up his face, showing a fierce visage. Yelling with a murderous voice, he demanded what on earth had Luan Da done. Luan Da pretended to be calm and kept thinking up lies. Han Wudi called his attendant and had him contradict every of Luan Da's words. Hence, Luan Da was interrogated to the point where he was left dumbstruck and profusely sweating. Still unsatisfied with Luan Da, Han Wudi ordered his subordinates to arrest the General of the Five Merits, confiscating the six gold and jade seals on him. He pronounced Luan Da to die by severance at the waist.

Severance at the waist was one for the cruel capital punishments of the ancient times. Those severed at the waist would usually still be concious after the act and would slowly die in extreme pain. In ordering Luan Da to be severed at the waist, Han Wudi was showing his shame at being tricked. Princess Wei Chang had just married Luan Da for a few months, and now her husband has been sentenced to cruel death by her royal father Han Wudi. Widowed at a young age, her pain was unbearable. Han Wudi was willing to ignore his daughter's feelings for the sake of his pride. Luan Da had seriously underestimated Han Wudi. After dealing with Luan Da, Han Wudi thought about how the Marquess of Lecheng, Dingyi, introduced the mystic into the palace. He had long forgotten it was his belief in superstition and immortals that made him susceptible to trickery, he instead blamed Dingyi for starting the whole event. Han Wudi ordered the Marquess arrest and pronounced him guilty of cheating the emperor. Dingyi had originally thought of gaining the emperor's favor, instead he was bound and brought to the execution ground. His head was chopped off and his body stripped naked and paraded through the streets.

ISBN：9787801877000.
Publisher: 新世界出版社 (New World Publishing)
Location: Beijing, China
Publishing date: 2008-01-01. [3] Luan Da was not his full name. History books tell of many minor characters with no full names, and so the birth order of some of these people was used to complete the name. For example, Luan Da's surname is Luan (栾) and was the eldest--the Da (大)--of his family; as such, he was called Luan Da. There were even more people, especially women, whose names were not revealed in the books. They usually were called by the surnames of their husbands. As such, it was considered sufficient that Luan Da had only his surname recorded in the history books. Luan Da was the pharmacist in the court of Prince of Jiaodong Liu Ji during the reign of Han Wudi. He learned mysticism under the same teacher as the General of Culture Completion, Shaoweng. Han Wudi had an interest in immortals, so during his reign, there was a surge of famous mystic teachers of which the two most well known were Li Shaojun and Shaoweng. Li Shaojun was called the Conveyor of Fortune and well versed in the arts of immortality and food deprivation. He kept his age secret, saying he was eternally 70 years old. He had no wife or children. He was charismatic and able to spin tall tales to entertain, earning him money, clothes and food from the nobles. To the commoners who did not know the truth, they treated him--a man who had no job or enterprise to speak of, and yet of much wealth--as if he was an immortal and rushed to gain his favor with offerings. Once, Li Shaojun went to a banquet at the residence of Marquis of Wuan, Tian Fen. There was a 90-year-old man. Li Shaojun looked at him and claimed to know the old man's grandfather, even saying that Li Shaojun himself had played at a certain place with the old man's grandfather when young. The old man was shocked and revealed that in the old man's youth, his grandfather had brought him to that location. The guests were stunned and looked to Li Shaojun with awe and fear. Han Wudi, on hearing of the mystic's exploits, asked Li Shaojun to appraise a copper vessel the emperor had collected. Li Shaojun's appraisal was: "This vessel was displayed on a cypress shelf during the 10th year of Duke Huan of Qi's reign." Afterwards, an examination of the inscription on the vessel revealed that the vessel was indeed from Duke Huan of Qi's reign. Han Wudi thus conferred Li Shaojun a noble title. Li Shaojun was recognised as an immortal who was a few centuries old. When Li Shaojun died of illness, everyone said that he had gone to the immortal realm. Shaoweng's most famous feat was to summon spirits for Han Wudi. Madam Lee was originally a songstress. Her elder brother Li Yannian composed a song that eventually gained her the favor of Han Wudi. That song was very popular among the people, going "There's a beauty in the north, unrivaled and unique; one look at her and the city falls into chaos, another look at her and the country collapses. If you rather not have your city or country fall, you will never get such a beauty again!" Han Wudi was dazed on hearing the song, saying "Where on Earth can there be such a beauty!" Li Yannian immediately told the emperor that the beauty was his sister. Han Wudi felt like he was on top of the world after taking Madam Lee as a concucbine. Unfortunately, Madam Lee soon suffered a terminal illness, and passed away while young. Han Wudi missed her terribly. Shaoweng took advantage of the majesty's grief and introduced himself to summon Madam Lee's spirit for the emperor. Shaoweng lit candles in the dead of the night in the palace, set up a tent, and laid out wine and meat as offerings. Han Wudi sat in another tent. As Shaoweng performed his ritual, Han Wudi saw Madam Lee appeared as if alive, sitting and walking in the prime of her life. Han Wudi was anguished he could not rush up and embrace her. He sang the verse of a love song, "Is this an evil, or not? I could only stand and hope, but why has Shan Shan (the love song's target) not yet arrive!" Comforted for his love pinings, Han Wudi was extremely grateful to Shaoweng. The emperor conferred the title of General of Culture Completion upon the mystic and rewarded him with riches. His majesty also requested Shaoweng to invite the immortals for a conference with the emperor. The emperor hoped to learn the way to become an immortal from them. Shaoweng performed a lot of tricks, but failed to pulled off any success for a year. He became anxious and scared of being branded a charlatan, came up with a nasty idea: he wrote a bunch of strange characters on a silk sheet, mixed it with grain, and fed the mixture to a cow. He later went around authoratively telling others that the cow had some strange item in its stomach. When the cow was sliced open, the silk sheet with the strange words was found. Han Wudi could not understand the words and started to suspect Shaoweng. He summoned a handwriting expert to examine the sheet and discovered the writing was actually Shaoweng's! In a fit of anger, he had Shaoweng instantly killed. Fearing others would mock him, he kept the killing a secret. Hence no one knew how Shaoweng died. Five years later, Marquess of Lecheng, Dingyi, recommended Shaoweng's fellow disciple Luan Da to Han Wudi. The Marquess' sister was Liu Ji's wife. She had no child, and when Liu Ji died, his son by a concubine became the Prince of Jiao Dong. Becoming a widow at a young age, Princess Ding could not keep her chastity and had affairs. Fearing the new king might learn of this, she plotted against him. The two of them constantly schemed against each other. On learning Shaoweng had died, Princess Ding decided to gain the favor of Han Wudi and have him as her backer, so he let her brother introduce Luan Da to the emperor. It just so happened that Han Wudi was slightly remorseful for killing Shaoweng; he thought that Shaoweng still had a lot of secrets unrevealed, and he might have lost the opportunity to learn the secret to immortality. On seeing Luan Da, Han Wudi felt as if he had struck the lottery. Luan Da was a tall and handsome man. He boasts without hesitation or a flinch of his eyes. On meeting the emperor, he lectured his majesty: "I once toured the seas and met with famous immortals such as Anqi and Xianmen. These exalted immortals felt I was beneath them. They scoffed at whatever I said, refusing to believe me. I asked for a prescription for the Prince of Jiaodong, Liu Ji, but they felt Liu Ji was only a minor prince, not worthy to become an immortal, and refused to give any prescription. My teacher enlightened me, "'Gold can be made, rivers dammed. The pill of immortality can be made, and one can become an immortal.' However, I am scared that I might suffer the same fate as my fellow disciple, the 文成将军 Shaoweng and suffer a mysterious death. My death is of no consequence, but if I die, the mystics would not dare to speak, especially on mysticism!" Han Wudi on hearing these words of warning, hurriedly lied: "Your senior, the General of Culture Completion, died because he ate too much horse liver. If you truly know the mystic arts of your teacher, how can I be unwilling to sacrifice all for it!" Luan Da answered, "My immortal master never seeks favor from men, it is men who seeks favors from him. If your majesty must deal with immortals, then your majesty should raise the position of the immortals' envoys (immortal's disciples like Luan Da) to that of a royal position and let them have a family, treating them like one's highly esteemed guest, never looking down upon them, and letting them have various seals and letters letting them convey your majesty's words with royal authority. Even if so, whether the immortals might come to a deal with your majesty is still uncertain. Think of how busy they are! Anyway, men plans for things, heaven makes things happen, it is all up to your majesty's doings." Han Wudi half-heartedly believed him, thinking, "Huh, I spent so much and it is still uncertain if I get to meet immortals. How am I supposed to believe all this?" Luan Da saw the doubt in Han Wudi and declared that he would show a little of his mystic arts to prove his ability to Han Wudi. He made the chess pieces on the chessboard charge at each other in random chaotic patterns. Actually this is only a sleight of hand: Luan Da had painted magnetic dust onto the pieces and used a ferrite steel wand underneath the board to move the pieces. The ignorant Han Wudi was overjoyed at this trick and conferred Luan Da as the General of the Five Merits. After about a month, the titles and authorities of the General of Just Cause, the General of the Common People, the General who Clears the Way, and the General of Moral Authority were conferred upon Luan Da. Han Wudi also ordered the mystic, "In the past, the hero Da Yu established his name by controlling the floods (clearing nine rivers and establishing four ditches). However, now there is flooding again. Adding public works and encouraging the people with oaths and telling them about social responsibility does not work anymore. I have ruled for 28 years. If the Heavens were sincere in giving me a man of capability, then it would definitely be you, Luan Da. The Zhou Yi speaks of "Flying dragon and the swan goose", does that not refer to the two of us?" As such, the emperor conferred the title of Marquess of Letong to Luan Da, putting him in charge of 2000 households. Furthermore, Han Wudi gave Princess Wei Chang's hand in marriage to Luan Da. Who is Princess Wei Chang? She is the eldest daughter of Han Wudi and Empress Wei Zifu. She is also the elder sister of Prince Wei, Liuju, as well as Han Wudi's most beloved daughter. Han Wudi gave 10,000 catties of gold to the new prince-consort, and renamed his estates as the State of Princess Dangli. Han Wudi personally hosted the wedding, which was filled with endless emissiaries offering well-wishes and exquisite gifts. Han Wudi's paternal aunt, along with his generals and officials, attended the extravagant banquet, presenting valuable gifts. The whole of Chang'an was decorated with flowers and buntings. In the history of weddings, the wedding between Luan Da and Princess Wei was the largest ever. Although it might not claim to be unrivaled in future, none could challenge it from its past. A stately yet comical scene happened on the night of the wedding. Han Wudi had a "General of Moral Authority" jade seal made and sent his envoys dressed in beautiful feathered garments to present the seal to Luan Da. The moonlight flowed as if mercury over the feathers as the envoys stood in the cogon grass. Similarly dressed and standing in the grass, Luan Da received his seal, signifying an equal status between him and the envoy (representing the emperor). Afterwards, Laun Da often peformed his rituals at home in the night, summoning immortals to the mortal realm. Even with such a grand estate and social status, he could not move the immortals. Luan Da had no choice, and came up with a plan, telling Han Wudi that Luan Da had to personally go out to sea in full splendor to visit his teacher. In a few short months, Luan Da had gone from an anonymous pharmacist to a prince-consort and a general with six imperial seals. His rocket-speed success to fame and fortune infuriated his peers, making them regret that they never came up with the scheme before Luan Da. For a time, "Learn from Luan Da, keep abreast with Luan Da" became the motto of his peers as they fought tooth-and-nail to boast that they know the mystic arts and can summon immortals. With Luan Da as a figurehead, the empire started to experience a surge of supernatural reports. In the summer, a wizard in Fenyin by the name of Jin was performing a ceremony for the public at the Weizhou ancestral shrine when something hook-like suddenly jutted out of the earth. Everyone dug the mound and discovered a ding. It was larger than other dings and inscribed with strange patterns but had no words inscribed on it. The local authorities reported this to Han Wudi. By this time, the emperor had been tricked too often and became wary of such claims, he sent men down to interrogate Jin and force a confession out of him. The men, however, found no significant signs that it was a trick, and hence sent the ding to Ganquan Palace. Han Wudi sincerely followed closely behind the ding, preparing to offer it to the Celestial Ruler and Supreme God. When they reached Zhongshan, the weather was fine. There were no clouds for thousands of lis, and yet a yellow, large cloud floated over them. Coincidentally, a monocerus rushed by. Han Wudi hurriedly nocked an arrow and somehow killed the beast with a single shot. He took this to be a sign that the Heavens had given the beast to him to use as an offering. On reeaching Chang'an, the officials proposed that the emperor keep and treasure the precious ding. Han Wudi doubtfully said, "The Yellow River constantly overflows, the harvests were poor for a few years, it was a stroke of fortune that we had a bountiful harvest this year and we have yet to thank the Heavens for this. How then did this ding suddenly appear?" The person in charge of the officals flattered the emperor, "The precious ding shall only appear when one meets a sage-king. Once the precious ding appears, good omens shall follow. The yellow cloud and monocerus are good omens. Your majesty, you are a sage-king just like the Yellow Emperor!" These words lit his majesty's visage with joy, and he hid the ding in the palace, praying to it from time to time. In autumn, Han Wudi led a large troop to give offerings to the Five Emperors at Yong county. A man of Qi, Gongsun Qing presented a wooden scroll to Han Wudi, saying "This scroll was written by Shen Gong, a good friend of the famed immortal, Anqi. The scroll says that the sage-king of the Han dynasty should be great-grandson of the esteemed founder Liu Bang. That grandson of our esteemed founder would be your majesty! So you should follow the Yellow Emperor's example and ascend Mount Tai and perform the rituals of assertion. When the Yellow Emperor was at Yong district paying his respects to the Supreme God, a bearded dragon with meat hanging from its throat descended from the Heavens to greet him. The Yellow Emperor, along with his 70-odd officials and concubines, rode the dragon to the Heavens. The minor officials could not sit on the dragon and tenaciously clung to its beard. As a result, the beard was torn and the Yellow Emperor's bow fell down. The people saw the Yellow Emperor ascend to the Heavens and clutched his bow and the dragon's beard, loudly crying that their beloved emperor has became an immortal and left them." Han Wudi was spellbound and sighed, "Ai! If only I could follow the Yellow Emperor and ascend to Heaven in that manner. My wife and children are but like shoes to me, easily taken off without care. There is nothing that could hold me back." As such, he made Gongsun Qing a groom and bid him to wait at Mount Taishi for the arrival of immortals. Han Wudi prays to the gods regularly, fervently hoping that the immortals will come and fetch him to become one of them. The anxious Han Wudi asked when would Luan Da set out to sea. Luan Da had no intentions of risking his life on the dangerous waters. He simply toured the east coast, spending public funds on his trip, and went to Mount Tai to perform some rites. Han Wudi was already suspicious and had a spy tail Luan Da on the journey. The spy reported that Luan Da was carousing and cavorting all day, blowing his conch everywhere, and yet never seeing the trace of an immortal. Han Wudi realized he had been tricked by Luan Da. On the second year, Luan Da returned to Chang'an and reported that he had met his teacher. However, his teacher had used up all his mystic powers and could not satisfy the emperor's requests. At this point, Luan Da had exhausted his bag of tricks and could no longer maintain the scam. Han Wudi was infuriated and ordered Luan Da to be chopped in half at the waist. In just a year, Princess Wei Chang has become a widow. The matter is yet settled. At the border of Henan, Gongsun Qing, who was enjoying his days, reported that he discovered the footprints of immortals in the city of Goushi, and even saw a mysterious creature that looked like a wild chicken lurking around. Han Wudi quickly went to the city and saw nothing. He warned Gongsun Qing, "Do you want to follow in the footsteps of the Generals of Culture Completion and Five Merits?" Gongsun Qing replied, "Your majesty, you must understand that it is not the immortals who are looking for you, it is your majesty who is looking for them, could you please be a bit patient?" Afterwards, Gongsun Qing performed minor tricks to continue fooling Han Wudi, even encouraging Han Wudi to go out to sea to look for immortals. At the end, Han Wudi never saw an immortal, and only till his dying days did he finally give up this notion. Short opinion In Duke of Deer Mountain, the protagonist Wei Xiaobao relies on little schemes that are real to fool people. When added up, all the little truthful details add up to one big scam. Luan Da is similar; his small tricks are good enough to trick people, but because there are no such things as immortals, how can he summon them? As such, he can only resort to trickery, lying here and there and gaining wealth, title, and even a beautiful princess in the process. At the end, his own life was lost to the lies he had constructed, leaving the poor princess alone. Luan Da was "bad" because of the extent of his ambitions. He played big, playing to the fullest, cavorting and carousing till the jars run dry and the sun comes up. He did not care if he is going to the deepest dregs of hell; if he was going to fool someone, he might as well fool the country's highest ranked person. At least he tasted the pleasures due to the highest ranks and traveled off the taxpayers' money. Although he did not get to go to other countries, at least he had carnal pleasures with the country's top beauty and had the country's esteemed leader dancing in his palm so as to speak. It was all worth it. What do bad men want? Those who are bad never fear going to hell. If they were afraid of such things, they would never have gone bad. The bad think of power, money, wine, and women. The desires of the world's bad people are that simple. The only difference is in their methods to obtain their desires. Actually their methods are pretty much the same, the key difference is to whom do they hurt and cause to suffer.

It does not matter if it is a black or white cat. As long as it can catch rats, it is a good cat. Therefore, if you want to determine if a cat is good, send it to catch rats. As long as it catches rat, it is good. Similarly, the best way to prove someone is a quack is to get him to show what he can do, seeing the results is the only standard to find out whether a cat is good or a man is a quack. It is a pity that many do not understand this reasoning, or should we say that many are willing to be tricked and thus allow Luan Da to create such a big lie. Han Wudi might have finally figured this out in his twilight years, but it was all too late.