Chapter 82: Hard Peaches
With the arrival of the peach blossom came the arrival of the inevitable parties held in the imperial gardens for the concubines. When he'd been a young scholar making waves amongst the literati back in his hometown, Hua Zhixuan had received many an invite to attend such outdoor gatherings beneath the raining trees. He'd delighted in attending every one of them, accompanying this xiongtai's (1) guqin with his dizi or critiquing that xiongtai's painting with the knowledge gained from his tutors.
After all, revelling in music alone cannot be compared to sharing in the enjoyment as a whole (2).
Or so Hua Zhixuan had thought. Upon entering the inner palace, he had swiftly changed his mind. Mengzi's teachings were hardly applicable in an environment where one was surrounded by others who wanted nothing more than to chew each other up and spit out just the barest of bones.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Queeniecat
Queeniecat (1) Xiongtai: A polite version of 'xiongdi', a term of address for a male in one's generation.
(2) A phrase that stems from the scholarly hobby of appreciating music as a group but has a wider meaning of 'sharing in the enjoyment with others'.
(3) Ambushed from ten sides: An idiom that means to be surrounded by enemies, comes from a battle that took place during the Chu-Han wars, where the terrain of a particular mountain made it such that Liu Bang was able to corner Xiang Yu from ten directions and force Xiang Yu to commit suicide (yes, this was the Xiang Yu that had nearly killed Liu Bang at the Hongmen Feast :>).
A/N: Thank you very much for reading! <3 Happy Yuanxiao (Chinese Valentine's) everyone! It's so cute that it falls one day after Valentine's this year! I'm halfway through another bonus chapter and was hoping to get it done in time for Yuanxiao but unfortunately no :< either tomorrow or Thursday latest!
Special thanks to: everyone who left a golden ticket, we're at 52 now!!! <3 mimikyu, Selinea, Nadine_Linter, Dawnlore, lenuser, Alisha_Vs, AshGray, Fialova, jesse_ just, Junior_Yawa, Ishtar77, Morganita3, SmolBabyBun, Evanna236_otaku, tnl_26, TillTheWeeHours, Shooky_VSiga, Little_bamboo, Tsendee, AgiB, lijffu, Cici_Pizza, AmeTora, Phoenix_Dream, Daoist176232, bubblebunnytea, IuliaA, Frooza, pratikshapawar2541, Severa24, Skulls_and_Roses, 3xthebirdwoman, DaoistHiModA, Bossyjls, Candista, Marcia_Smith_2081, PeaceOut, Germine_Orizu_9364, Qydan, HLewis35, Jenny_Tsang, Lavendelius, Luna_Gupta, army19, anastasia_filmore, and blackceleste for the power stones/comments!!! <3
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