to consult me, then you need to follow the proper etiquette for asking advice. If you want to threaten and compel me into answering, go ahead and chop off my legs first. You can always ask me afterwards.”

Madame Wang angrily said, “What’s so difficult about chopping your legs off? Xiaoshi, chop his left foot off first!” The servant girl named Xiaoshi replied in the affirmative, then advanced towards Duan Yu, sword in hand. Ah Bi hurriedly said, “Madame, don’t ya be doin’ that, yeah. If ya hurt this fella, he’s real stubborn-like and would rather die and speak.” Madame Wang only wanted to scare Duan Yu in the first place. With a wave of her hand, she beckoned Xiaoshi back.

Duan Yu laughed, “Go ahead and chop off my legs, then place them next to those four vases of white camellias. They really will serve as a superb fertilizer. These white flowers will grow bigger and bigger. Maybe they’ll flourish into a sea of camellias! Haha, beautiful, wonderful, brilliant!”

Madame Wang originally really was thinking of doing just that, but Duan Yu’s every word was filled with irony and sarcasm, rendering her speechless. After being stunned for a moment, she said, “What are you babbling about? What, exactly, is so special about these four vases of mine? Tell me. If you are correct, I’ll pay the proper respects to you then.”

Duan Yu replied, “For starters, Madame Wang, you made the mistake of calling these flowers ‘Full Moon’ camellias. If you don’t even recognize what the exact breed of flowers you have are, how can you be said to understand flowers? One of the flowers is named ‘Red Makeup, White Wrappings’. Another is called ‘Clawing a Beautiful Woman’s Face’.” Intrigued, Madame Wang asked, “’Clawing A Beautiful Woman’s Face?’ Is there really such a weird flower name? Which one is it?”

Duan Yu said, “If you want to ask for my advice, you need to follow proper etiquette.”

Duan Yu had mocked her mercilessly, without her being able to defend herself, but upon hearing that one of her four vases of flowers had such a unique name, Madame Wang was filled with delight. Smiling, she said, “Fine! Xiaoshi, order the cooks to prepare a banquet at the ‘Pavilion of Glorious Clouds’ in order to entertain young gentleman Duan.” After acknowledging the order, Xiaoshi left.

Ah Zhu and Ah Bi gazed at each other. Seeing that Duan Yu had not only escaped death, but was also now being treated as a guest by Madame Wang, both of them were overjoyed at the surprise.

The servant who had taken Tang Guangxiong returned and reported, “That person surnamed Tang from Dali has already been buried beneath a red camellia in front of the ‘Pavilion of Rosy Clouds’.” Duan Yu’s heart went cold. Madame Wang didn’t seem to care at all. She simply nodded, then said, “Young gentleman Duan, please come this way!” Duan Yu said, “I dared to disturb you; I am very blessed indeed that you, my host, are so forgiving.” Madame Wang said, “An able and worthy person has come, bringing great honor and glory to the flowers and ramparts of the Highland Manor of Camellias.” The two of them spoke courteously to each other as they walked, not revealing a shred of the life-and-death danger Duan Yu had been in just moments ago.

With Madame Wang accompanying Duan Yu, the two passed by a forest of flowers, a stone bridge, and a small alleyway before arriving in front of a small pavilion. Below the eaves of the pavilion, Duan Yu saw an inscribed wooden board with the words, “Pavilion of Glorious Clouds”, written in blackish-green ink in the seal-script style. Camellia flowers blossomed all around the pavilion. But in Dali, these camellia flowers were considered to be third or fourth class rubbish. Their appearance totally clashed with the refined-looking and elegantly constructed pavilion.

Madame Wang actually seemed to be very pleased with herself. “Young gentleman Duan, in your Dali there are many camellia flowers, but I’m afraid that compared to my place, there still aren’t quite as many.” Duan Yu nodded. “It’s true that we don’t plant this sort of camellia flowers in Dali.” Madame Wang chortled, “Really?” Duan Yu replied, “In Dali, even country bumpkins know that these camellias are not of very high quality, and too mundane to plant.” The color of Madame Wang’s face changed, and she angrily said, “What did you just say? You say that these flowers of mine are of poor quality? Aren’t these words of yours too…too infuriating and insulting?”

Duan Yu said, “Madame, if you don’t believe me, that’s your choice.” Pointing to a gorgeous, five-colored camellia in front of the pavilion, he said, “This flower, you no doubt treat as a precious treasure, right? Hm. Actually, the jade railing next to the camellia is made from actual Hotan jade. It’s very beautiful, very beautiful.” He was gushing with praise for the jade railing next to the camellia while not saying much about the flower itself; this was akin to a person, while viewing someone else’s calligraphy, praise how dark the ink was and how famous and rare the paper was.

This camellia was both red and white, both violet and yellow. The variety of colors it possessed were magnificent and resplendent. Madame Wang had always treated it as a treasure. Now, seeing Duan Yu showing such disdain for it, she immediately furrowed her eyebrows, emitting a murderous look from her eyes. Duan Yu said, “Madame, if I may ask, what is this flower known as here in Jiangnan?” Madame Wang vehemently said, “We don’t have any particularly special name for it. We just call it the ‘Five-Colored Cammelia’.” Duan Yu smiled. “But we in Dali have a name for it. We call it the ‘Failed Scholar’.”

Madame Wang spat. “Bah! Such an ugly name! You must have made that up. This flower is gorgeous to behold. Why would it be called a ‘Failed Scholar’?” Duan Yu said, “Madame, please take a look and count for yourself. How many colors do the blossoms of this camellia flower have?” Madame Wang said, “I counted them long ago. There’s at least fifteen or sixteen.” Duan Yu said, “There are exactly seventeen colors. In Dali, there is famous camellia flower called the ‘Eighteen Scholars’. It is one of one of the highest grade camellias in the world. Each plant has precisely eighteen flowers, and each flower is of a different color. The red flower is totally red; the violent flowers are totally purple. There’s not a single hint of intermingled color. In addition, the shape of each of the eighteen blossoms is different as well, with each possessing their own unique beauty. When they bloom, they bloom at the same time; when they wither, all eighteen flowers wither at the same time. Madame, have you seen it before?” Madame Wang had been listening, stunned. She shook her head. “Camellias like this actually exist? I’ve never even heard of it!”

Duan Yu said, “Compared to the ‘Eighteen Scholars’, there are some other famous flowers that are similar to it in quality. The ‘Thirteen Grand Protectors’ are camellia plants that have thirteen blossoms, each with a totally different color. The ‘Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea’ refers to camellia plants with eight different colored blossoms. The ‘Seven Celestial Maidens’ refers to camellia plants with seven different colored blossoms. The ‘Three Heroes of Hardship’ have three blossoms, and the ‘Two Qiao Sisters’ have two blossoms; one red, one white. For all of these camellia flowers, the color of each blossom must be pure. If there’s a hint of white within a red flower, or a blush of red in a white flower, it is considered a low-grade version.” Madame Wang couldn’t help but be carried away and raptured by his explanations. Lifting her head up, she quietly whispered to herself, “Why didn’t he ever tell me this?”

[Translator’s note: All of the above refer to famous historical or mythical personages in ancient China, each with many legends attached to them. The ‘Thirteen Grand Protectors’ refers to a group of thirteen legendary warriors during the Five Dynasties period who protected Li Cunxu, who proclaimed himself Emperor Zhuangzhong of the Later Tang dynasty. The ‘Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea’ is a very famous story in its own right. The ‘Seven Celestial Maidens’ are all daughters of the emperor of Heaven. The ‘Three Heroes of Hardship’ refers to Li Jing (who later became deified) and his two sworn brothers. The ‘Two Qiao Sisters’ refers to two lengendarily beautiful sisters of the Qiao family during the Three Kingdoms period. The younger sister married Zhou Yu; the older sister was married to Sun Ce, Sun Quan’s older brother.]

Duan Yu continued, “Within the ‘Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea’, there must be a deep violet flower and a light red flower. These two represent Iron-Crutched Li and Female Celestial He. If this isn’t the case, even if all eight flowers have different colors, they cannot be called the ‘Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea’. They would simply be called the ‘Eight Precious Adornments’. They are also considered to be famous flowers, but are a level inferior to the ‘Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea’.” Madame Wang said, “So that’s how it is.”

Duan Yu continued, “Now, let’s talk about the ‘Three Heroes of Hardship’. There’s differences between high quality and low quality versions of these flowers as well. In authentic versions, the violet flower must be the largest in size, symbolizing Qiu Ranke. The white flower is second, symbolizing Li Jing. The red flower is the most delicate and the smallest, as it represents lady Hong Fu. If the red flower is larger than the violet flower or the white flower, then the flower is considered to be of a low quality, and has a much lower status ranking.” Duan Yu spoke of these flowers as though he were enumerating his own family’s valuables, because these flowers were indeed treasures of the Duan family. Naturally, he was very familiar with them. Madame Wang listened to him talk with keen pleasure. She sighed, “I haven’t even seen low quality flowers, much less high quality ones.”

Duan Yu pointed towards the five-colored camellia. “This flower not only has one less color than the ‘Eighteen Scholars’, but the flowers are not pure in color. They bloom at different times, and are all of different sizes. In every aspect, it attempts to imitate the ‘Eighteen Scholars’, but is never able to match up. Isn’t that a sad, miserable thing? Thus, we call this flower a ‘Failed Scholar’.” Madame Wang couldn’t help but let out a breath, then laughed, “This flower’s name is really too acrimonious and unkind. Most likely, you scholars came up with it.”

By this point in time, Madame Wang had full faith of Duan Yu’s knowledge of camellia flowers. She immediately escorted him into the ‘Pavilion of Glorious Clouds’. Duan Yu saw that the furnishings upstairs were rich and beautiful, with a large painting of a peacock spreading its feathers in the middle of the room and two matching poetic lines carved in wood at each side of the painting. The lines read, “A dense cloud of leaves coats the land, even the snow is jealous of the camellia’s beauty.” Very shortly, the banquet began. Madame Wang invited Duan Yu to take the seat of honor, while she herself took a right-hand seat to keep him company.

The dishes prepared at the banquet were very different from the ones which Ah Zhu and Ah Bi had earlier prepared. The dishes Ah Zhu and Ah Bi prepared were very light and refined, showing great craftsmanship in simple dishes. But the banquet dishes at the ‘Pavilion of Glorious Clouds’ emphasized luxuriousness, with such rarities as bear paws and shark fins. Every dish was made from rare and precious ingredients. Duan Yu, being a scion of the royal family, had become accustomed to eating rare and precious dishes since birth. In his mind, the banquet here was actually inferior to the food the two girls prepared at the ‘Pavilion of Zither Melodies.’

After three rounds of drinks, Madame Wang asked, “The Duan family of Dali is a famous, aristocratic family of the martial world. Why is it that you do not study martial arts?” Duan Yu replied, “There are a large number of people in Dali who have the surname Duan. Only the royal descendants of the imperial family study martial arts. Commoners like me do not study martial arts.” Whether he would live or die was wholly under the control of this woman. Being in such a humiliating position, he had decided that no matter what he could not reveal his real identity, for fear of degrading the fame and prestige of his uncle and his father. Madame Wang said, “You are a commoner?” Duan Yu replied, “I am.” Madame Wang said, “Do you know any members of the royal Duan family?” Duan Yu replied, “None whatsoever.”

Madame Wang was lost in thought for some time, then changed the topic. “Earlier, you were speaking about the various merits and qualities of camellia flowers, causing me to suddenly see the light. The flower artisans of Suzhou from whom I acquired these four vases of flowers called these flowers ‘Full Moon’ flowers, but you said that one is named ‘Red Makeup, White Wrappings’, and that another is named ‘Clawing a Beautiful Woman’s Face’. I don’t know how they can be told apart, and would like to ask for your advice.”

Duan Yu replied, “The plant with the large white flowers with faint black spots is the one known as the ‘Full Moon’ flower. Those faint black spots are the cassia twigs which grow on the moon. That other plant with white flowers which has two olive-pit sized black spots on the petals is known as the ‘Beautiful Eyes’ flower.” Madame Wang happily said, “This is a very good name.”

Duan Yu continued, “The plant with white flowers that are sprinkled with red dots is known as ‘Red Makeup, White Wrappings’. Lastly, the plant with white flowers covered by a faint green sheen and thin, hair-like strips of red is known as ‘Clawing a Beautiful Woman’s Face’. However, if too many of those red lines appear, the flower is no longer known as ‘Clawing a Beautiful Woman’s Face’, but rather it is called ‘Resting On a Lovely Railing’. Madame, please consider this. A beautiful woman must be gentle, refined, and warm. If by chance a scratch occasionally appears on her face, it can’t be because she damaged herself while putting on makeup, nor can it be that she got into a fight with someone else. The only possible explanation is that while she was playing with her pet parrot, it scratched her. This is very normal and understandable. Thus, this flower must have a green sheen, which represents the green feathers of a parrot. But if her entire face is scratched and clawed, the only explanation is that this woman always gets into fights with others, in which case, how can she be considered to be beautiful?”

Up till now, Madame Wang was repeatedly nodding as he spoke, very pleased. Suddenly, her face sunk with anger as she shouted, “How dare you! Are you mocking me?”

Duan Yu was startled, then hurriedly said, “I wouldn’t dare! I don’t know how I offended you, madame.” Madame Wang angrily said, “Whose stories did you listen to, for you to come here and concoct these wild lies to insult me? Who says that a woman can no longer be considered beautiful after learning martial arts? What’s so good about being gentle, refined, prim and proper?” Duan Yu was startled. “My words were based upon the standard, accepted explanation for the naming of this flower. There are many women who know martial arts that are both beautiful and stately.” He didn’t expect that Madame Wang found these words grating to the ear as well, as she yelled, “So are you saying that I’m not stately?”

Duan Yu replied, “Whether or not you are stately, you yourself know best, madame. How would I dare comment wildly? But for you to demand that a man murder his wife and wed another woman is definitely not proper at all.” By now, he himself was getting angry as well, and no longer cared about what he was saying.

Madame Wang gestured with her hand, and the four girls who were serving them stepped forward in unison. Bowing, they said, “Yes, madame?” Madame Wang said, “Take this man into your custody and away from my sight. I command that he be given the task of watering my camellias!” The four servants said in unison, “Yes, madame!”

Madame Wang said, “Duan Yu, you are a person from Dali, and your family name is Duan. I should have killed you long ago. For the moment, I’ll postpone your execution, but I’ll punish you by giving you the task of taking care of all of the camellias in this manor. You need to take especial care with the four which we have brought home today. Let me be clear. If a single one of these four vases of camellia flowers dies, I will chop off one of your hands. If two die, I will chop off both. If all four die, I will turn you into a limbless cripple.” Duan Yu asked, “And if all four live?” Madame Wang said, “After all four flowers begin to flourish, your job will be to cultivate other famous camellias for me. ‘Eighteen Scholars’, ‘Thirteen Grand Protectors’, ‘Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea’, ‘Seven Celestial Maidens’, ‘Three Heroes of Hardship’, and the ‘Two Qiao Sisters’. I want several of each! If you can’t accomplish it, I’ll tear your eyeballs out.”

Duan Yu loudly objected, “These famous flowers are rarely seen, even in Dali. It will be almost impossible to find them in Jiangnan. If you can get several of each just like that, how can they be considered to be rare and precious breeds? Just go ahead and kill me now! I refuse to accept the torture of having you cut off my hands today and gouge out my eyes tomorrow.” Madame Wang loudly rebuked him, “You must be tired of living, to act so rudely in front of me. Take him away!”

The four servant girls walked towards him. Two of them grabbed him by his arms, one by his chest, with the last grabbing him by the back. All five of them descended from the top floor of the pavilion. All four of the servant girls knew martial arts, and Duan Yu found himself totally unable to resist. All he could do was secretly lament, “Damnit, damnit!”

Pushing and tugging, the four servants pulled him to a flower nursery. One servant stuck a gardening hoe in his hand, while another grabbed a watering pail. She said, “If you listen to the madame’s orders and obediently water the flowers, you can keep your life. But the way you keep offending her, you are tremendously lucky that she didn’t immediately order for you to be buried alive.” Another servant said, “Aside from doing your duties to preserve the flowers, you aren’t allowed to run about wildly within the manor. If you break into one of the restricted areas, no one will be able to save you. It’s the equivalent of asking to die.” The four servants lectured him in extremely solemn tones for some time before leaving. Duan Yu could only blankly stand there, not sure whether he should laugh or cry.

At Dali, he was only inferior in rank to his uncle and to his father. In the future, after his father ascended to the throne, he would become the crown prince. How could it have happened that he was kidnapped and brought to Jiangnan, almost be burned to death, then risk having his arms and legs chopped off or his eyes gouged out. As if that wasn’t enough, now he was forced into being someone else’s gardener. Even though he had an amiable temperament, and, in his palace, often chatted with the gardeners while watching them prune the flowers, work the earth, and spread the fertilizer, he was still a prince. In his heart, he felt that gardener’s were very lowly people.

Fortunately, he was a happy person and a lively spirit by nature. Upon meeting any problems or setbacks, at most he would only be dispirited for a short while before becoming happy again. He said to himself, “At the jade cavern of Mt. Wuliang, I already kowtowed and accepted the dear goddess as my master. Aside from the age issue, this Madame Wang looks very similar to her. Why don’t I just think of her as my martial-uncle? It’s natural for a pupil to labor hard and obey the commands of his master. Not to mention, cultivating flowers is an artistic sort of work done by literati. It’s definitely much more elegant and sophisticated than waving around sabres or poking around with spears. And it’s definitely ten thousand times better than being burned alive by Jiumozhi in front of Mr. Murong’s tomb. The only problem is, these flowers are really too inferior in quality. Having the prince of Dali take care of them is a waste of talent, like killing a scrawny chicken using a giant blade meant for butchering cattle. Haha, actually, can I be really be considered a cattle-butchering blade? What sort of flower-planting talent do I have, anyhow?”

Then, he thought to himself, “If I stay at the Highland Manor of the Camellias for a bit longer, there’s always the chance that I might have the good fortune of seeing that girl who wore the pale pinkish grey dress. This can be called, ‘Duan Yu, how do you know that planting flowers won’t be a lucky thing for you?’”

Considering the question of whether he was lucky or unlucky, Duan Yu grabbed a handful of grass. “Let’s see how long it will be before I have the chance to see that girl.” He began to pass the grass from his left hand to his right, then from his right hand to his left, trying to tell his fortune. After divining for some time, he ended up with a ‘Gen’ divinatory symbol, with an upper ‘Gen’ and a lower ‘Gen’. He thought to himself, “‘You shall see her back, but you will not win her body; you shall go to her courtyard, but you will not see her person. No fault.’ This divination is really appropriate. Even though I won’t see her, in the end, it won’t be my fault.”

He started over. This time, he ended up with a ‘Kun’ divinatry symbol, along with an upper ‘Dui’ and a lower ‘Kan’ symbol. He inwardly groaned, “‘Hard-pressed down amongst plants, as though you had entered a secluded valley. You will not present yourself within three years.’ I won’t even see her within three years. I really am very hard-pressed.” Then he thought, “If I can’t see her within three years, that means I’ll see her in the fourth year. There’s plenty of time in the future. Why think of myself as being hard-pressed?”

Since his divinations were very unfavorable, he dared divine no more. Humming a little melody, he picked up the hoe and began to stroll about aimlessly. He thought to himself, “Madame Wang told me to make those four vases of white flowers flourish. These four plants truly are famous breeds. I need to find a very graceful place to plant them, so as to show them off in the proper setting.” While strolling about, he reviewed the local scenery. Suddenly, he burst out in loud laughter. “Madame Wang doesn’t know a damn thing about camellias, but insists on planting them, and even calls this place the Highland Manor of the Camellias. She doesn’t even know that camellias prefer the moon, not the sun, and planted them in places where there is a lot of sun. Even if the flowers manage to somehow survive, there is no way they can flourish. Then she smothers them with fertilizer, by which point, any and all famous breeds of camellias will have been killed by her. What a waste, what a waste! But so funny, so very funny!”

He avoided the sunlight, only going to shadowy areas underneath trees and other large plants. After passing a small hill, he heard the gurgling of water. To his left-hand side was a row of green bamboo plants. The entire place was very quiet and secluded. The area was hidden in the shadow of the hill, where the sun could not reach. Madame Wang, knowing that this place was not suitable for planting flowers, did not plant a single camellia here. Duan Yu was overjoyed. “There’s no better place than this.”

Returning to his starting place, he carried the flower vases one by one to where the bamboo plants were. He shattered each porcelain vase then planted each camellia along with the mud in the vases. Although he had never done this before, he had seen this done many times. Surprisingly, although he was just making it up as he went along, he did it perfectly. Within an hour’s time, he finished transplanting the four white camellias next to the bamboo. He planted the ‘Clawing a Beautiful Woman’s Face’ to the left, the ‘Red Makeup, White Wrappings’ and the ‘Full Moon’ to the right, and the ‘Beautiful Eyes’ flower right behind a large boulder. He said to himself, “This is like the saying, ‘Only after you call and entreat her to come out many times does she appear, carrying a pipa and covering half her face.’ when these plants are placed in an appropriate setting do their true beauty and charm shine.” In Chinese history, flowers have always been compared to beautiful women. The art of cultivating flowers is equivalent to the art of a beautiful woman using makeup. Duan Yu came from a royal family and read many books; naturally, his understanding of these things was a level above most people.

Stretching his hands into the small stream, he washed away the dirt and mud. Taking a seat on top of the boulder, then stared at that ‘Beautiful Eyes’ camellia plant, turning his head this way and that to view it from every angle. Just as he was feeling proud of himself, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from a distance. Two females were walking his way. One of them said, “This place is the most quiet and secluded place here. No one ever comes…”

The sound of her voice was very pleasing to the ear. Duan Yu’s heart thumped loudly. The voice obviously belonged to the girl who wore the pale pinkish grey dress which he had seen earlier in the day. Duan Yu held his breath, not daring to make the slightest sound. He thought to himself, “She said she refuses to meet with any male strangers, and I, Duan Yu, am obviously a male stranger. For me to be able to listen to her say a few words and hear her goddess-like voice is already my infinite good fortune. No matter what, I can’t let her know I am here.” His head was originally leaning towards one side; now, he didn’t even dare straighten his neck, and so he just left his head in that inclined position rather than risk his neck straightening and making even the slightest bit of noise, scaring that girl.

That maiden continued, “Xiaoming, what have you…have you heard, regarding news of him?” Duan Yu couldn’t help but feel a sour feeling in his heart. The ‘him’ the maiden was referring to obviously couldn’t be himself, Duan Yu; rather, it was young master Murong. From Madame Wang’s earlier words, young master Murong seemed to have the given name of ‘Fu’, ‘recover’. The maiden’s question seemed to be filled with concern and tender affection for him. Duan Yu could not control the feelings of jealousy from springing forth from his core as they once more hurt his heart. Xiaoming mumbled haltingly for a long time, appearing to be very uncomfortable.

The maiden said, “Tell me! I definitely will take good care of you afterwards.” Xiaoming said, “I’m afraid…I’m afraid the madame will blame me.” The maiden said, “Silly girl, after you tell me, do you really think I will go tell the madame?” Xiaoming asked, “What if the madame asks you?” The maiden said, “Naturally, I still won’t tell her.” Xiaoming hesitated for another period of time before saying, “Your cousin, the young-master went to Shaolin.” The maiden said, “Shaolin? Why is it that Ah Zhu and Ah Bi said he was going to Luoyang to meet with the Beggar’s Clan?” Duan Yu thought to himself, “Her cousin, the young master? Oh, young master Murong is her maternal cousin. The two of them must share the innocent affection of cousins, which they have had since childhood. Then…then…”

Xiaoming said, “This time, when the madame was out travelling, she came across second master Gongye. He said that the all the leaders of the Beggar’s Clan have come to Jiangnan, intending to put on a huge show of force and question the young master about something which had to do with one of their masters. Second master Gongye said that he received a letter from the young master. The young master wrote that he had arrived in Luoyang but was unable to find any of the leaders of the beggars, and so went to Mt. Song to visit Shaolin.” The maiden said, “Why did he go to Shaolin?” Xiaoming said, “Second master Gongye said that in the letter, the young master wrote that an old Shaolin monk died in Dali, and that Shaolin was falsely accusing Gusu’s Murong family of having done the deed. The young master was very angry. Fortunately, Shaolin isn’t very far away from Luoyang, so he decided to go there and clear up the matter.

The maiden said, “If he’s unable to clear things up, then won’t things end up in violence? Since the madame found out about this news, why did she come back home instead of rushing to Shaolin to help the young master out?” Xiaoming said, “This…well, I don’t know. I imagine that it is probably because the madame doesn’t like the young master.” The maiden angrily said, “Hmph. Even if she doesn’t like him, he’s one of us. If Gusu’s Murong family loses face to outsiders, will our Wang family gain anything from it?” Xiaoming did not dare to reply.

The maiden walked back and forth near the copse of bamboo plants. Suddenly, she saw the three white camellia plants which Duan Yu had planted, as well as the shattered remains of the porcelain vases. She let out a startled sound, then asked, “Who is planting camellias here?”

Duan Yu moved quickly, emerging from behind the boulder. Bowing deeply, he said, “In accordance with the madame’s orders, your humble servant came here to cultivate camellia flowers. I’m sorry to have disturbed you.” Although he bowed very deeply, he stared straight ahead at her. He was afraid that the maiden would just repeat the words, “I don’t associate with male strangers,” then leave again, with him once more missing a wonderful opportunity.

As soon as he saw the young lady, he felt a buzzing sound in his ears. He felt as though his vision was becoming blurry, and his legs went w