When Zhen Huan and Chun Yuan Meet, Who Will Emerge Victorious?

The snow in the Forbidden City always falls heavier than elsewhere. In the twelfth lunar month of the sixty-first year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, heavy snow fell for three days, blanketing the glazed tiles of the Qianqing Palace and the white marble railings of the Imperial Garden in pristine white. In the warm chamber of the Suiyu Pavilion, Zhen Huan was playing the zither by the window, the melody of "Three Variations on Plum Blossom" clear and melodious, when she was interrupted by footsteps suddenly approaching from outside. "Your Highness, Rong Mama from the Empress's palace has arrived, requesting that you go to Changchun Palace immediately." Huanbi lifted the curtain and entered, her voice tinged with unease. Zhen Huan's fingers paused, and the zither strings trembled slightly. She put down the zither and gathered them together.