Shen Huaijin, the last heir to Jiangnan’s “Golden Flowers,” lost his family in a literary inquisition and went into hiding under an assumed name, taking a job as the lowest-ranking gardener in the imperial palace.
He thought he would spend the rest of his life tending flowers and plants, staying out of trouble.
Then a bloodstained orchid was brought into the Palace of Gathered Elegance, and he was dragged before the Noble Consort as a scapegoat.
Everyone was waiting to see him make a fool of himself.
But Shen Huaijin smiled. “Your Highness, this isn’t a poisonous flower. It’s a rouge orchid. The markings on its petals aren’t blood; they’re natural.”
The Noble Consort’s eyes lit up.
From that day on, every flower in the Forbidden City answered to him.
