By the time Manbao finished her punishment and Bai Erlang completed his copying task, spring had returned to the capital. Both inside and outside the palace, green buds and leaves were sprouting everywhere, with many plants blossoming beautiful flowers in an array of colors, especially the most dazzling peony flowers.
In the palace, it was a scene of chirping birds and fragrant flowers. The palace gardeners placed pots of blooming or about-to-bloom peonies in the garden.
Apart from those in pots, there were clusters of peonies planted in the flower beds that were also in full bloom.
Manbao loved looking at them. Mingda and Changyu picked many flowers for her, knowing she enjoyed growing plants herself, and while cutting the flowers, they deliberately cut the flower stems as well.
