Chapter Two: The Legend of Zhen Huan — Xia Dongchun, Part One

The sunlight was warm, the breeze gentle, and the palace selection was proceeding in full swing. The final stage, in which the emperor himself would choose from among the candidates, was fast approaching.

At Upper Goodness Temple, Summer Winter Spring had brought Foam and Bubble Pearl to pray. There she knelt with exemplary obedience, palms pressed together, and began rattling off her wishes.

“Grandfather Buddha…”

After a long while, Summer Winter Spring finally finished. She had spent most of the previous night drafting this prayer, waiting precisely for this moment. Afraid she might leave something out, she had weighed the importance of each request and written a cheat sheet containing only the essentials.

She was about to leave with her two personal attendants when, just as she crossed the threshold, a figure in plain robes flashed past. Summer Winter Spring instinctively stopped and discreetly glanced behind her.

For some reason, merely looking at that young woman made her feel thoroughly uncomfortable.

Foam and Bubble Pearl exchanged a glance when they saw their mistress stop. Foam was steady and composed, while Bubble Pearl was lively and spirited, but both had been carefully chosen by Summer Winter Spring’s mother to serve as her daughter’s advisers.

At first, her mother had never expected her daughter to enter the palace. But as Summer Winter Spring’s beauty grew more astonishing with each passing day, she had trained the two attendants in every conceivable skill.

Foam was skilled in medicine and cooking, while Bubble Pearl excelled at social dealings and martial arts.

At that moment, both understood what their mistress meant. Bubble Pearl quietly drew close and said, “My lady, you return home with Foam first. I’ll find out what I can.”

Summer Winter Spring beamed and left.

~~~

Summer Winter Spring reclined on a soft couch, holding the newest romance from Evening Writing Studio. Foam fed her jasmine cakes, one morsel at a time, while she occasionally whined, “Why hasn’t Bubble Pearl come back yet? Could that woman really have some shameful secret?”

Even as she spoke, she continued chewing noisily.

Foam carefully placed another piece of pastry between her lips. “My lady, there is no need to worry. Whoever she is, she is nothing special from what I saw. She is indeed fair and graceful, but she is not even one ten-thousandth as beautiful as you.”

There was certainly some flattery in her words, but they were also the absolute truth. Her mistress might be impulsive, willful, and overbearing…

But that face of hers was unmatched throughout the capital.

Though Foam had looked upon it for more than a decade, every time she saw her mistress’s features, she still found herself momentarily spellbound.

The young woman at the temple that day had indeed possessed an unusual air, along with a proud bearing unlike anyone else’s. Her hair was arranged in the style of an unmarried young lady, so she was most likely one of the candidates awaiting selection.

There was no harm in letting her mistress inquire after her.

Who did not enjoy a pleasant compliment? Summer Winter Spring enjoyed them more than anyone.

“Hmph. Whoever she is, what right does she have to compare herself with me?”

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. The moment Bubble Pearl entered, she hurried straight to her mistress’s side.

“My lady, my lady, I’m back!”

Seeing her like that, Summer Winter Spring arched her brows high. “Well? What did you find out?”

There was something about that woman that had made her distinctly uneasy—and the more she thought about it, the worse the feeling became. How strange.

Bubble Pearl caught her breath, then hurriedly poured out everything she had learned while following the woman afterward.

“She doesn’t want to be chosen. She only wants to find someone who will devote himself to her completely. And she says she wants to marry the finest man beneath heaven.”

She placed particular emphasis on the fact that Wen Shichu, the son of the former Imperial Medical Academy Director and now a physician there himself, had once proposed to the woman and been rejected.

Summer Winter Spring felt nothing upon hearing that. Foam, however, frowned.

As for Summer Winter Spring, her mind was filled only with the words, “She wants to marry the finest man beneath heaven.”

With a flick of her hand, she cast the romance aside.

“What an utterly shameless creature! Who does she think she is, saying she wants to marry the finest man in all the world? Ugh!”

Even after saying that, she still did not feel satisfied, and added, “And she doesn’t even want to enter the palace. Hmph!”