The eighteenth year of Yuantai, early autumn.


    The Hidden Orchid Villa was a famed location on Huanren County’s Gemstone Mountain. Its original owner had been a refined scholar of the previous Court who held the position of Grand Chancellor, and after he stepped down from the post, he purchased this mountain home in the suburbs of the capital to enjoy his retirement. He’d had a lifelong love for orchids, so he had planted all kinds of rare breeds of them within his garden, earning the place its name.