The imperial gardens of the Qin Kingdom Imperial Palace.
Beyond the winding pebble paths and the sea of flowers in every color.
Inside the pavilion at the center.
A young woman sat upright and poised on a stone stool.
She wore a pale pink dress, its silk shimmering with a pearl-like luster, its hem trailing lightly over the ground like wisps of cloud.
The well-tailored dress outlined a waist slender enough to encircle with one hand, with graceful curves extending downward from it before sweeping into a perfect arc at her hips.
Her swanlike neck rose from a standing collar edged with delicate lace, making her skin look all the more luminous and white as jade.
Beneath two crescent brows, lashes rested lightly like butterfly wings. When her eyes moved, they seemed to hold a pool of clear spring water, while the natural blush at their corners looked as though it had been dyed with the juice of spring peach blossoms.
Her thick, dark hair was loosely arranged in a cloud bun, with a few stray strands falling beside her ears, revealing the pearl earrings dangling from her small earlobes.
Sunlight brushed over her creamy skin. Even the slender fingers holding her embroidery needle were translucently white, their nails gleaming with the pale pink sheen of a seashell's inner surface.
She no longer looked like the lively, adorable child she had once been.
Now sixteen, the young woman had something of the charm of "the girl next door, just blossoming into womanhood."
After finishing the final stitch on her embroidery frame, she leaned forward slightly. Her cherry lips parted to reveal pearly teeth as she gently bit through the thread.
"Peanut Sister, what do you think of my embroidery?"
The young woman asked her maid beside her, her eyes curving