As the sun dipped toward the horizon, the golden-topped carriage came to a halt before a dilapidated estate in the west of the Capital.
Weimo gathered her skirts and stepped down. The pearls and jade in her hair cast a soft glow in the evening light. No sooner had her embroidered shoes touched the ground than her arrival startled a flock of sparrows from their perches.
The area before the gate was choked with weeds. The heavy, vermilion-painted doors stood half-open, and a weathered plaque hung askew above the entrance, bearing the faint, crooked inscription: "Qingyang Villa."
Chapter 99