Drunk in the Flower Shade

[Pinned] The whole story is written and ready. Updates whenever.

When Zhao Xiangying was fourteen, she became the most carefree and talented young lady in the capital. They said she was the best talker in the pleasure quarter, and in Ying'an Prefecture she was so proud of her talent that she invented the "Zhao style."

Zhao Xiangying thought she would live so carefree until old age, until her father, an academician of the Hall of Literary Glory, finally began to worry about her marriage. After her gentle, charming cousin Zhangsun Dongli was brought to live with the Zhao family, Zhao Xiangying found that she had fewer and fewer chances to go out and enjoy herself.

*

At first, when Zhangsun Dongli heard Zhao Xiangying boldly declare, "A woman's fragrance should endure through the ages," he thought it was merely youthful bravado. Later, when the Empress Dowager promoted her to become the first female official in Nanwu, Zhangsun Dongli finally understood that he had long since fallen for her genuine talent and passion.

"Even after a thousand sails have passed and the world has changed, what I want most is still to drink wine and trade poems with you."

A few things to know:

1. Most of the poems are quotations, with a few made up on a whim.

2. The clothing and official positions are modeled on the Song Dynasty, but Nanwu is fictional.

Theme: Strive to open up a new world