At the initial double hour of Shen, the breeze in Qinfang Garden ruffled the fallen blossoms scattered across the ground, rendering the atmosphere within the waterside pavilion exquisitely subtle. Jiang Wan had just taken the jasmine tea handed to her by Wanqing when she saw Ren Yao, daughter of the Junior Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, stand up. Dressed in a madder-red cloud-brocade skirt, with a string of Eastern pearls on her wrist chiming softly with her movements, Ren Yao wore a flash of smug triumph deep in her eyes.
"Hearing Miss Jiang say just now that 'vitality is also sentiment,' I have been deeply inspired," Ren Yao said, deliberately emphasizing the words "Miss Jiang" as she held a piece of gold-threaded poetry paper between her fingertips. "So I composed a poem titled 'Spring Field,' and I ask my younger sisters to offer your guidance."
*No one on the wild path, yet flowers bloom alone;*
*How dare a solitary fragrance hope for a lord's pluck?*
*Pity that such colors ultimately struggle to last,*
*Not matching the peonies planted before the courtyard.*
Chapter 35