A breeze swept up the autumn leaves. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but rouge red.
Ye Jingtang stood beside the lake with his saber at his waist, Dongfang Liren in white robes beside him. Up close, they were a handsome man and a beautiful woman; from a distance, they really did look like the Black and White Fiends.
Dressed as the wife of a wealthy household, the Empress Dowager strolled slowly through the woods with Hongyu. With no strangers around to disturb her, she finally found something of the right atmosphere. After walking a little way, she saw that Ye Jingtang was not watching her and secretly took her treasured book from her robes. She turned to a particular page near the back and compared it with their surroundings.
Hongyu supported the Empress Dowager at her side. Having attended her day and night for years, she naturally understood what she was comparing, and said somewhat helplessly,
"This book was written during the Former Dynasty, over a hundred years ago. And the author was only a minor official in the Ministry of Works. He might only have heard of Maple Leaf Lake. How could we possibly find what he described here...?"
"What do you know? He was a craftsman, a particularly practical man. He even had to specify how many bricks there were in the palace. How could he make things up here...? Look, isn't this the place?"
The Empress Dowager walked between two large maple trees and checked the book.
"Back then, Empress Dowager Yan was lured here, and the heir tied a swing between these two trees. Then the two of them swung while they... ahem..."
Hongyu looked up. She felt certain these two maples were not a hundred years old, but she dared