Chapter 5

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The afternoon sun was quite high above the golden-red tiles of the palace's sloping roofs, reflecting the rays. Lianhua had stepped outside from her dormitory chamber, stretching her tired arms and decided to take a walk around the gardens, hoping to clear her mind. 

"My Lady, please don't stray too far." Yingtao warned. Trainee concubines weren't allowed to go places alone without a chaperone, except the local gardens, but even then, a maidservant or eunuch would usually be summoned to accompany a new trainee. Lianhua was aiming to just take a stroll through the gardens and admire the koi ponds, and clear her mind in order to relax a little bit.

She had been cooped up in her chambers for several hours since waking, studying various arts and etiquette from the textbooks she had received from the Matron as part of her training. She had also been practising her embroidery patterns and her overall speed, since the first exam of the trials was the embroidery exam.

Yingtao had been an incredible help to Lianhua as she studied the varying techniques and patterns that had been documented and illustrated within the textbooks, taking each one with passive confidence and patience, but at some point, Lianhua's head began to hurt from all that information and concentration, so she was getting a little fidgety to go outside.

"Don't worry, I won't be long." Lianhua called back over shoulder as she departed for the gardens. 

The sun was still quite high in the clear sky as she strolled through the quaint and blossomed gardens and she took in the serene scenery before her, admiring the many flowers that were growing there. She spotted some azaleas and roses as well as hydrangeas and violet bluebells. There were trees growing within the gardens too and she heard the distant splashing of water.

Lianhua breathed deeply, inhaling the fresh air and with each step she took, she quietly recited the names of each embroidery pattern she had learnt from the textbook, counting them on her fingers as she named each embroidery.

"Dual Koi, Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon, Incense Smoke, Gold Lantern, Lotus Flower, Sword Tassel, Swan's Lament…."

She continued her steps, motioning each technique she had to memorise for each pattern since some were more tricky to master than others. She soon stopped to look around and saw a koi pond with a flat stone bridge dividing the large pond in half and allowing others to cross to the other side. She stepped onto the bridge and walked slowly, admiring the many lotus flowers floating atop the crystal-blue surface, the pond shimmering under the sunlight.

It was a beautiful sight to behold and one Lianhua was grateful for as these sights were rare if not nonexistent in the pleasure district since there were no green gardens or flowers or ponds unless she counted the back gardens of the brothel she grew up in.

The very garden she used to play in as a child.

Lianhua went over and peered over the edge of the flat stone bridge and saw her reflection in the water's surface. 

She became amused over the rippling of the water and even spotted a pair of Koi fish swimming about, blowing bubbles and swishing their tails about to propel them in the water. 

'The koi fish look like they're having fun in their pond.'

Lianhua smiled to herself, pleased to see such beautiful creatures existing within this peaceful pond. The pink lotus blossoms floating atop of the water in their leafy boats reminded her of a past almost forgotten about - where she too was floating amongst water lilies and lotus flowers upon a lake.

She spotted her reflection in the water and noted it was pretty much the same in the pond's water as in a mirror - the water acting as some gateway to a reverse world. Lianhua spotted something strange though as she kept looking at the water. There was a ripple and with a blink of an eye, Lianhua saw something strange - her reflection was no longer her own.

'Strange. Must be a trick of the light.'

She knelt to get a better look and leaned over the edge of the bridge just enough to see that her reflection shimmered under the sunlight.

There was a pair of eyes - blue like sapphire. Hair was a shade of deep forest emerald. Her face looked be of a pale complexion but freckles were spotted lining the nose and cheeks of this face like dots of faint stars.

Lianhua leaned in closer, still curious, and narrowing her eyes in concentration. She gripped the edge of the stone bridge to keep herself stead, her knuckles turning white from the effort. 

'Who is that? That's not what I look like.'

Lianhua thought to herself as she peered at the reflection, trying to figure out whether or not her eyes were playing tricks on her.

The illusionary reflection suddenly moved, it seemed to blink, reacting to Lianhua's presence and she yelped, scrambling back in fright.

"Oh my goodness!" She verbally gasped.

She stood up, her breathing staggered as she moved backwards, eyes wide in shock. She had no idea what had happened to her reflection and she found herself stunned, yet in her state of temporary obliviousness, she failed to notice how close she was to the other side of the bridge until she stepped on the hem of her skirt and tripped, gravity pulling her over the edge.

She cried out, flailing her arms about in a poor attempt to steady herself as she fell backwards into the koi pond, her body hitting the water with a loud splash. Lianhua came back up for air, breaking the surface water with her hands and arms, her head bobbing. 

She looked around worriedly, wiping her now soaked hair from her face, strands stuck to her temples due to the water.

"Are you okay?"

Called out a voice - young sounding. Lianhua looked around and saw a man in a yellow tunic coat dash over and he fling himself to knees and was leaning over the edge of the bridge with his arm extended out towards her.

"Swim over and grab my arm. I'll pull you out." He called out to Lianhua. Coughing, she swam over and reached to grab hold of the gentleman's arm and with the other hand, grabbed the edge of the bridge. The gentleman hoisted her up with a grunt and she climbed up, tumbling to her knees and spluttering.

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