Searching for Pears

On a spring night in the third year of Jingning, Emperor Jing was wandering about when he accidentally entered a dilapidated palace and saw a woman dancing alone beneath a pear tree.

Pear blossoms covered every branch. She wore only a white dancing dress, barefoot, her hair loose. Her skin was whiter than snow, her brows and eyes cool and aloof, and loneliness clung to her.

Only when a flower is utterly pale do you realize how beautiful it is.

Emperor Jing, who had no favorites among the women of his harem, was dazzled, yet displeased. The Empress Dowager's people were becoming ever more skilled in their schemes, and he hated nothing more than being manipulated.

After a few more glances, he gave a cold snort, turned, and swept away.

The next day, he went early to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager, but the woman was nowhere to be seen. He went again at noon, but still couldn't find her. At last, he couldn't resist asking. The Empress Dowager was astonished and said she had never arranged for anyone to be there, then guessed the woman might have been a palace maid.

Emperor Jing turned the palace upside down and went to wait beneath the pear tree every night, but never saw her again. He was consumed with regret.

A month passed. On the fifteenth, the beauty appeared beneath the pear tree once more, but only he could see her. He reached out to touch her, and it was as if his fingers brushed a breeze carrying the scent of pears.

It turned out she was a ghost, not a living person. She had forgotten her past and was trapped beneath the pear tree day after day. Only by recovering her memories could she be reborn.

The moonlight was clear and bright. She was more beautiful than the moon.

She asked him to help recover her memories, but he harbored selfish intentions. He wanted to pluck this pear blossom and keep it as a treasure, carrying it with him day and night.

A Li x Xie Rongyuan, both virgins

Love at first sight, a sweet little story. Xie Rongyuan does help A Li be reborn in the end, so does that make the main story a bad ending? But they'll be together in the extras.

Theme: Love is letting go