True Dragon Hall had become a greenhouse.
The once-empty great hall was packed with every kind of flower—blooming and unblooming, fruiting and fruitless—all piled together until stepping inside meant breathing fresh air steeped in floral fragrance.
Amid so many flowers, the green lotus in the yin-yang taiji pool seemed increasingly plain and ordinary...
Flower stands of all heights were crammed with blossoms. Many ornamental rocks and lake stones had even been brought in as decorations. Amid the lush green plants stood an extra bed, dazzlingly golden, with even the quilt made of gold. Perhaps funds had been tight lately; the promised gold-thread cotton quilt had become one merely covered in gold thread, though it was still usable.
But lately, the gardeners tending the flowers in True Dragon Hall had been walking on eggshells.
Previously, a gardener had been sweet-talked by that Dragon Girl into pulling the golden talisman and had nearly actually torn it off. The Imperial Household Department later beat him half to death and threw him out. Rumor had it that if the golden talisman were removed, the True Dragon would fly away, and he had nearly caused a terrible disaster.
Bai Yujun apparently still refused to give up and occasionally sweet-talked newcomers into pulling the golden talisman.
Later, whenever the imperial palace recruited palace maids or eunuchs, "Do not enter True Dragon Hall without permission, and under no circumstances pull the golden talisman" was simply listed among the rules they had to know. It was even more important than how to salute His Majesty. Li Chongqian had even carved the rule onto a warning stele and erected it before True Dragon Hall.
It was said that many people had seen the True Dragon herself pull at the golden talisman.
That sight was truly terrifying.
Lightning flashed and