Centuries ago, in China, lived a vain Emperor named Chiuai. Emperor Chiuai was conceited and stagnant, thinking that he deserved to rule forever without lifting a finger. The Emperor also was not grateful for the beautiful Empress he was given. For this woman was like none other in all the land. She was beautiful, a warrior, fearless, and revered by all the people in the land. However, the Emperor could never see this and treated her like she was nothing.

Suddenly, one day, the Sun Goddess appeared to the couple and instructed them to travel to the Land of Morning Calm to retrieve the Crystal of Heart's Desire. The twist was that the Empress was to lead the expedition which made the Emperor very angry. He could not understand why the Goddess would command this and threw a fit as if he was a child. This enraged the Sun Goddess and she executed him immediately.

This frightened the Empress when she saw the anger the Goddess possessed. However, she knew that this was her chance to take the reins and rule the Empire. So she set out on the quest with the land's finest warriors and seamen. The journey was far from easy and started out with many challenges as the waters were rough and the sky poured down on them like daggers.

Finally, after days of these terrible conditions, the Empress knew what she had to do to save her men. She would throw herself overboard as a sacrifice to the Gods. After entering the water, unseen mermaids of the sea greeted her and clothed her in gold armor. The men on board were terrified and knew not what they would do after losing their leader. When they thought that all hope was lost, the Empress emerged from the raging waters and they calmed immediately.

She came out more beautiful and radiant than any woman in all of history. The crew was awestruck and sworn to pledge their lives to the Empress forever. Now that the Sun Goddess had truly taken their side, the journey became easy. The ship made its way to the Land of the Morning Calm with no troubles at all.

Once they reached the land, the native people saw the Empress in all her beauty and let them straight into the city. The King of the land was so struck by her presence and commanding authority that he told her to ask for anything she wanted and he would grant it to her.

Doing as the Sun Goddess had commanded her, the Empress requested the Jewel of Heart's Desire. After the King granted her wish, she pledged to always be an ally to the Land of Morning Calm and set off to return the Jewel to her homeland.

The Sun Goddess was so pleased that the Empress had done what she was told and in return, the Sun Goddess gave a promise to the Empress that as long as she continued following what she was told to do that the Goddess would grant her power to control the land as long as she lived.

Author's Note: The theme of my storybook is based on beauty so I felt like using one of the stories I had read and putting a twist in it to lead it back to my theme was a perfect place to start. I also enjoyed that the original story blended together mythology along with a sort of fairytale. In the original story, the Emperor adored the Empress; however, he was haughty and thought he did not need the help of the Gods. I chose to add the twist of him not adoring the Empress just to give it more drama. For the original, the Sun goddess had sent to the Empress to retrieve the Crystal of Heart's Desire from the Land of the Calm to bring back to her. The jewel also was stolen when the crew left to return home by the dragon's daughter. The jewel has since been lost to the depths of the sea to never be returned. I think it was also important that the Empress was treated so well simply because she was beautiful and commanded attention from people wherever she went. Not only was she beautiful but she was smart and led her people with great strength.

Bibliography- The Jewel of Heart's Desire. Story source: Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917).