Xia Huai'an did not answer directly. Instead, he steered the conversation in a new direction. "Has County Vice-Magistrate Zhou ever heard the story of the winter peony?"
County Vice-Magistrate Zhou nodded. "I certainly have. An emperor in a past dynasty loved peony flowers, but was troubled that they could not bloom in all four seasons. Later, a master craftsman managed to present a blooming peony to the court in the dead of winter."
"The emperor was overjoyed and issued a decree to bring the craftsman into the palace to teach the technique of growing winter peonies. However, the craftsman met with an accident halfway to the capital. From that day on, the art of the winter peony was lost."
Chapter 92