Pan Peach Gathering

"The Pan Peach ripens once every three thousand years,

And the Queen Mother's Pool hosts a feast where immortals gather.

Today, the Queen Mother opens her birthday celebration,

So I, Magu, have come to offer my birthday blessings!"

Clang-clang-clang~

Onstage, the woman playing Magu drifted gracefully across the stage, her water sleeves fluttering lightly.

It truly was a famous troupe from the capital; both their bearing and their singing possessed a distinctive charm.

In any other place, even performers from the lowest social class would have no shortage of people fawning over them.

But here at Prince Ying's Estate, they had not even been given a hot meal.

Of course, none of the troupe members dared complain.

The former Prince Ying had come from the military. Though he had fought bravely, campaigned across the realm alongside the Emperor, and rendered outstanding service, he had been terribly poor in his youth. Following his parents' arrangement, he married the notorious shrew of his village.

As Prince Ying rose step by step, that shrew gradually became the Royal Concubine, growing even more domineering and tyrannical.

Had Prince Ying still been alive, this old Royal Concubine would never have been able to run wild.

But as fate would have it, Prince Ying had accumulated injuries all over his body on the battlefield. Not long after returning to the capital and surrendering his military authority, he passed away.

From then on, the family traditions of Prince Ying's Estate went completely astray.

Many distant relatives came to seek shelter. They were all shady characters who knew only how to flatter and please the old Royal Concubine. Then, relying on the reputation of Prince Ying's Estate, they ran amok outside. How could the descendants of the estate avoid being influenced?

Take that Princess from earlier, for example.