Flourished Peony 国色芳华 Episode 1

The man from Liu's house in Luoyang got married with great pomp and ceremony. It was said that the new bride was the daughter of a merchant, named He Weifang, with the courtesy name Mudan. The Tang Dynasty had always looked down on businessmen, but it was unexpected that Liu's family would arrange for the wedding procession to enter the house through the backyard. There was no guest in the house, let alone the groom coming out to greet the bride. It would have been fine if the servants of Liu's family did not welcome the bride, but the first thing they did was to take stock of the Gold, silver and other valuables. Mrs. Liu explained why there was no grand ceremony, and the bride did not mind it. She went to the main hall to perform the ceremony of worshipping according to the time. The auspicious time of dusk had arrived, and the drunken groom was supported by two followers to come to the hall to worship. The groom's name was Liu Chang, with a courtesy name of Zishu. He was well-educated and well-mannered, but he looked down on merchants. He was dissatisfied with this marriage and looked down on his bride, He Weifang, who came from a merchant family. This was the end of an absurd wedding.

He Weifang was Liu Chang's legal wife, and according to etiquette she should be arranged in the main house, but the Liu family arranged He Weifang in a remote small courtyard. As the night deepened, it was midnight and Liu Chang had yet to come. The maid Yu Lu was about to go look for him when the door was banged open by Liu Chang. Liu Chang started speaking ill of He Weifang right away, his words full of contempt and disdain for He Weifang, as if in this marriage of convenience, the He family was the one who was marrying up. Fortunately, He Weifang didn't care too much about it. After her mother took the tribute medicine from the Liu family, her complexion improved greatly, so she had nothing to worry about anymore. Yu Lu is worried that the days ahead will be difficult, but who knows?

In the spring of the following year, the mistress saw that the jade pendant Yu Lu was wearing was very valuable, so she signaled the servant to take it away, saying that it was for safekeeping. She also explicitly told He Weifang to use the money to help Liu Chang, who was about to take the provincial examination, to make arrangements, saying that this was to promote He Weifang's The relationship between Weifang and Liu Chang is actually due to their jealousy of the He family's wealth. They wish to take it for themselves and use the money to pave their son's career. He Weifang had no objection. When Liu Chang came, she followed the mistress's suggestion and offered to help Liu Chang with money. However, she was immediately rejected by Liu Chang, which made him even more disgusted with her. The mistress turned around and spoke up for Liu Chang, and He Weifang was made the bad guy. As soon as Liu Chang left, the mistress wanted He Weifang to do it secretly and hide it from Liu Chang.

He Weifang couldn't refuse and had to agree. Today He Weifang wanted to go to Fuyun Temple to pray for blessings, but the mistress told her not to wear new clothes or eat meat. Yu Lu was dissatisfied with He Weifang, but on the other hand, He Weifang could withstand such cold treatment and contempt, and was definitely not a fragile woman. The mistress believed the sorcerer and forced He Weifang to kneel for five hours, during which time he could not eat or drink. She also sent Xiangfu to watch over He Weifang. After Xiangfu fell asleep, He Weifang sneaked out with the money. Uncle Lin, who used to be an old clerk in the shop of He Weifang's father, worked in Fuyun Temple. In recognition of the great kindness shown to him by the He family, Uncle Lin took good care of Mudan and provided him with water and snacks. Mudan was also kind-hearted. She gave money to Uncle Lin and asked him to take Jiuer to get medicine and see a doctor.

Uncle Lin accidentally sprained his waist, and Mudan took the initiative to help him move the flowers to the Zutianshi Temple. The ancestor of heaven is dedicated to killing villains, so Peony deliberately prayed here, and then found a man pretending to be a ghost in the ancestor of heaven, and immediately beat and scolded him, but she didn't know that this man was actually the flower and bird with the title of "the world's number one corrupt official" Send Jiang Changyang. Jiang Changyang came here on the orders of Prince Ning to accompany County Lady Li Youzhen to Liu's Mansion to meet her old lover. Since he heard about Mudan's reverse prayer for Liu Chang, he found Liu's Mansion even more interesting. Liu Shen ordered his men to dig up the precious peonies in He Weifang's courtyard overnight in preparation for tomorrow's flower banquet, which indirectly caused the flowers to become half-dead. In the end, He Weifang had to take care of the peonies himself.