It's hard to believe Bai Rong was raised in a noble and strict household. On the day she came of age, she chos…
It's hard to believe Bai Rong was raised in a noble and strict household.
On the day she came of age, she chose a peach blossom jade pendant to mark the occasion. Peach blossoms have long symbolized romantic feelings, and when her rigid, old-fashioned father saw it, he immediately flew into a rage. Her mother tried to smooth things over with a line from the classics—"A daughter marries, bringing harmony to her new home"—but the headstrong young Bai Rong retorted without hesitation: "Peach blossom waters run clear, where mandarin ducks bathe above."
A storm of scolding and punishment inevitably followed.
But Bai Rong was born delicate and willful, blessed with striking beauty. In a place like that, whether intentional or not, she was often blamed for things beyond her control.
"If you all insist I'm a seductress, wouldn't it be a waste of the name if I knew nothing of love?"
Out of spite, she joined the Velvet Shade Society and severed ties with her so-called family.
Only her mother ever visited her in Kaifeng—years later, by then spring's tender charm had already made countless admirers fall at Bai Rong's feet. Her mother said little and did even less. She simply left behind the peach blossom pendant and a single remark: even stories of two hearts in love and a daughter's return home are not always something to be condemned.
Did Bai Rong understand what her mother meant? Perhaps she'd long forgotten. But she did, after all, leave that same peach blossom pendant on the flower boat the man was sure to board.