Xuanyuan Hill was a city steeped in history, yet brimming with vigorous life.
It was a city that brought light to humanity, yet was quietly being eroded by an invisible darkness.
Amid the interweaving of light and darkness, everything in this city became three-dimensional in Zhang Tie's eyes, no longer monotonous.
Many of Xuanyuan Hill's roads were lined with peach trees. Most of them were old trees, their trunks twisted together in a strange kind of beauty. Though the flowering season had passed, Zhang Tie could still imagine the magnificent spectacle of Xuanyuan Hill when its peach blossoms were in full bloom each year.
Uncle Zhong said that every March and April, when the peach blossoms of Xuanyuan Hill were in full bloom, was the city's most beautiful time. If one looked down from the sky in the distance then, one would find the entire Xuanyuan Hill blazing like fire, too beautiful to take in.
As for why Xuanyuan Hill had planted so many peach trees, it was said that the Emperor Xuanyuan had met the present crown prince's mother in a peach grove when he was young. They had fallen in love at first sight, and so the Emperor Xuanyuan had planted countless peach trees throughout Xuanyuan Hill.
Among the common folk, this was a romantic love story. In the past, Zhang Tie would have believed it too. But now, hearing such a tale again, he had grave doubts about its authenticity. He knew that many so-called folk legends, especially those involving the people in power, carried profound intentions behind them. The likeliest possibility was that this story had been fabricated by someone with an agenda. Once it spread, the peach trees of Xuanyuan Hill would practically be proclaiming to Great Xia and all humanity that the Eastern Palace