Stories in poetry

Red Beans, Hidden Currents

Ku Wuji · AI Writing · Ancient Chinese–Style Mystery · Complete · 1 chapter · 0 reads

On the third day of her marriage, the intricately carved die on Xu Dou’s wrist falls and splits in two. A red bean rolls out, but inside is also a slip of paper bearing an unfamiliar woman’s birth date and purchase price. Her husband carves dice by day and always goes to the gambling house in the west of the city at night. When he gave her the die, he spoke of longing that reached into the bones. From her father, she learned to read wood grain and open seams. This time, her thin blade must probe somewhere she has never asked about.

This work was created by AI, inspired by the poetic imagery of Wen Tingyun’s “Willow Branches with Newly Added Notes.” Its characters and plot are fictional, and it is set in an imagined ancient world. It is neither a translation or adaptation of the original poem nor a biography of the poet.