Chapter 395: Angrily Banished to Mangshan
The hundred flowers of the Imperial Garden slumbered through the harsh winter, storing their vitality, waiting only for spring to bloom.
However, the Empress's imperial decree suddenly descended—
"Flowers must bloom tonight, await not the morning breeze."
The Hundred Flower Immortals gathered together, looking at one another with fearful expressions.
"How... how can flowers bloom in the dead of winter?" the Peach Blossom Immortal asked timidly.
"But this is the Empress's decree—who dares defy it?" the Plum Blossom Immortal said worriedly.
The Magnolia Immortal bit her lip and whispered, "If we disobey, I'm afraid..."
The flower immortals fell silent for a moment, then sighed one after another.
"Forget it. We'd better obey the decree."
Thus, the peach blossoms tremblingly unfurled their petals, the plum flowers shyly revealed their stamens, and magnolia, crabapple, hibiscus, lilac... all were forced to bloom in the cold winter night, terrified of offending the Empress.
Only the Peony Immortal watched coldly from the side, completely unmoved.
"Sister Peony, why haven't you prepared to bloom yet?" the Crabapple Immortal asked anxiously.
"I am the chief of all flowers—I obey only the Heavenly Dao," the Peony Immortal snorted arrogantly. "Flowers bloom in their season and fall in their order. No matter how powerful Wu Zhao is, she is merely an earthly emperor—how could she defy the Heavenly Dao?"
"But... if we anger the Empress, the consequences will be unimaginable!" the Lilac Immortal urged.
The Peony Immortal flicked her sleeve and turned away, saying indifferently, "I have my own plans."
Her skirt billowed like snow waves as she disappeared into the vast wind and snow without looking back.
The Crabapple Immortal hurriedly chased two steps forward, reaching out to call: "Sister Peony—"
"Don't chase her." The Magnolia Immortal raised her hand to stop her, a wisp of cold air congealing at her fingertips, freezing the falling snowflakes into crystalline ice. She gazed at Peony's departing figure and said softly, "Do you know her origins?"
The Crabapple Immortal shook her head blankly.
The Magnolia Immortal sighed softly. The ice crystal at her fingertip shattered, turning into fine snow that drifted down: "It is said that the Peony Immortal was originally the cherished pearl of a great deity from the Thirty-Three Heavens. Due to a dispute with her father god, she left the celestial realm in anger and willingly descended to the mortal world to become a flower immortal."
"Then... then why isn't she afraid of the Empress?"
The Magnolia Immortal shook her head with a bitter smile: "She has her father god's secret protection, so naturally she dares to look down upon earthly emperors. But what about us?"
She turned to look at the hundred flowers shivering in the garden. "If we offend Wu Zhao, we might be reduced to ashes in an instant."
The Crabapple Immortal stared blankly at the red figure gradually disappearing into the wind and snow—that was the coral hairpin in the Peony Immortal's hair, never withering, like a ball of fierce fire burning through the snow curtain.
"So... we were never the same after all," she murmured.
...
The next morning, when the palace maids pushed open the gates of the Imperial Garden, they cried out in shock—
"Heavens! The flowers... the flowers have really bloomed!"
They rushed back to the main hall and knelt to report: "Your Majesty! The hundred flowers in the Imperial Garden... they actually bloomed overnight!"
Wu Zhao was stunned, then recalled the poem she had written in jest while drunk the night before. She felt both surprised and delighted.
"Imperial power is supreme—even the hundred flowers dare not disobey!" she murmured to herself, a flash of smugness in her eyes.
"Your Majesty, shall we go to the Imperial Garden to view the flowers?" a palace maid beside her asked carefully.
Wu Zhao smiled slightly and rose, saying, "Prepare the carriage for the Imperial Garden!"
...
Inside the Imperial Garden, it was a riot of spring colors.
Peach blossoms, plum flowers, magnolia, crabapple, hibiscus, lilac... all competed to bloom, brilliant and dazzling. White snow set off the delicate flowers, morning glow dyed the crystal petals red, and a gentle breeze brushed past as the flower branches swayed like a fairyland.
Wu Zhao strolled among the flowers, observing carefully, feeling extremely pleased.
"Your Majesty, look at these peach blossoms—how brilliantly they bloom!" a palace maid pointed to the peach blossoms in full bloom on the branches and said with a smile.
Wu Zhao nodded, reached out to gently touch the petals, and smiled: "Indeed, you have not disappointed my expectations."
She continued forward when suddenly, her gaze froze—
Amidst the splendid blossoms, only the peonies remained in bud, refusing to bloom.
Her smile instantly solidified, and anger rose in her eyes.
"Bold peony! How dare you defy the imperial decree!"
The palace maid beside her was so frightened that she knelt to the ground, trembling: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger..."
Wu Zhao coldly surveyed her surroundings and issued a stern order:
"Transmit my decree—banish the peony from Chang'an to Mangshan in Luoyang! Let it keep company with wild graves and desolate tombs, never to bloom for all eternity!"
The gardeners of the Imperial Garden carefully dug up the peonies with trembling hands and gently loaded them into carts, preparing to send them to Luoyang.
"Ah, why must the peony be so stubborn?" one gardener sighed.
"Yes, defying the imperial will is ultimately asking for trouble," another shook his head.
The peonies were transported out of Chang'an, jolted along the way, and finally planted in the desolate land of Mangshan in Luoyang.
The cold wind howled, the withered grass grew thick, and the surroundings were filled with desolate graves—a truly miserable sight.
...
In the private room on the third floor of the Dream Immortal Tower, a gilded incense burner exuded curling smoke.
Ji Hongli reclined on the soft couch, the white jade wine cup in her hand reflecting the snow light outside the window, flickering between light and dark.
In the Listening Wind Array, several scholars in a room on the first floor were discussing loudly: "Have you heard? Yesterday, a strange event occurred in the Imperial Garden! The Empress wrote a poem that made the hundred flowers bloom against the season, but that peony defied the decree and has been banished to Mangshan in Luoyang!"
Lin Wan's hand, which was holding the wine pot, paused slightly.
"Interesting." Ji Hongli tapped her fingertips on the table, causing ripples in the grape wine in the crystal cup. "A mere earthly emperor can actually command flower immortals?"
Outside the window, the wind and snow howled. Lin Wan looked toward the direction of the imperial city: "Although they are minor immortals, they have still obtained divine positions. This Empress is merely a mortal body..." She suddenly smiled lightly. "The rules of this prehistoric world are indeed interesting."
This matter seemed to have been deliberately spread. Not only in the private rooms but also in the main hall downstairs, many people were talking with spittle flying about the Empress angrily banishing the peony, while the drinkers beside them listened with great fascination.
Lin Wan suddenly put down her wine cup. "Shall we go to the Imperial Garden to take a look? I have a vague feeling that this matter might be related to the regrets in this dream."
Ji Hongli smiled and shook her head: "What's the hurry? We might as well see how this matter develops first."
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