The Fourth Imperial Princess's Velvet Flower Ordeal

Modern office worker Ling Wei dies suddenly of a heart attack after working overtime for days on end. When she opens her eyes again, she has become Ulanara Weiwei, the principal wife of the Fourth Prince's residence in the 43rd year of the Kangxi reign, a young woman crushed by rumors that she is cursed to bring death to her legitimate sons. Her birth mother died young, and from childhood her grandmother, the Fourth Prince's principal mother, has treated her as an ill omen. Even spilling tea earns her a public scolding for being unlucky. The Fourth Prince, Yin Zhen, is as cold as ice. He will not even set foot in her courtyard, let alone spare her a glance. In this grand household, where feudal rules bind everyone hand and foot, Ling Wei has only one rule for survival: follow every convention. She studies Manchu, practices needlework, and keeps her head bowed before her grandmother... until she discovers half a red velvet flower hidden beneath her pillow. The original owner secretly made it using modern velvet-flower techniques, winding nine loops of red velvet thread around a chip of jade at its center. It represents the hope she learned to make by hand in a modern craft studio: a flower that will never fade. To dispel the rumor that she brings death to her sons, Ling Wei incorporates modern velvet-flower techniques into traditional hairstyles and ornaments. She winds red velvet thread into the auspicious number nine, pins a shard of jade at the “fortune spot,” and adds pearl tassels to the ends of her hair... When she wears this unconventional headpiece to pay her respects to the old madam, even the strict matron is stunned. “This velvet flower... is livelier than the ‘double-loop bun’ bestowed by the old madam.” More unexpectedly, the Fourth Prince, Yin Zhen, notices her because of the flower. That day, he stands beneath the covered walkway, the wind lifting one corner of his dark dragon robe. His gaze passes over the red velvet flower in her hair, and his Adam's apple bobs. “This flower...” “It's a velvet flower I made yesterday, Fourth Master. I wound it nine times. Grandmother says nine is the greatest number, and a lucky one.” Ling Wei's heart