1 Prologue
If I were to be poor, ugly, and ill, would anyone love me?
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The name Hu Zi* belonged to a girl who was well known throughout the capital city of Jin for having a unique eye color.
Her given name, Zi, was named for the very color of her eyes. The color purple.
Her purple eyes were dazzling and enchanting, as if they came from another world, the kind that only immortals possessed. Those eyes were so desirable but no one envied her or wanted to have eyes like hers.
Not even Hu Zi herself wanted to have them.
Because her eyes were useless. Meaningless decorations. Hu Zi had never seen light in her seven years of life.
She was blind.
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Despite the ordeals of being a handicap, Hu Zi could be called the luckiest person in that period of time, for she chose the best household to be born into and ended up having the blood of the Hu family, one of the most prestigious families in the Jin Empire.
In this ancient setting, it was common to have a dozen concubines and a set of wives.
The Great General Hu Quan Li, however, only had one wife.
From his only wife, he had four children.
Hu Zi had two older sisters and one younger brother. Her oldest sister, Hu Bai*, was a very beautiful, intelligent lady. Her second sister, Hu Cheng Se*, had sharp eyes, a sharp tongue, and the ability to think far ahead, making her a formidable opponent even for boys. Her only brother, Hu Ye*, was a promising youth that was well versed in the art of word and was able to wield a sword at the tender age of four.
In their empire of Jin, which valued a woman's intelligence and level of education just as much as her beauty, even a small maid could fly and become a phoenix or an empress if she had the capability. All she needed to do in order to get exposure was to compete in an annual district selection and win the once every five-years competition at the capital.
The last one to become a phoenix through this method was the previous empress dowager, who came from a small family of farmers. There is also Concubine Yue of the current emperor, whose family owned a small inn in the far east, near the border.
Most of the time, this was good news for women all over the kingdom. The peasants had a chance to improve their living standards while the nobles used their resources to find a good school for their children, keeping a firm hold of their position.
Unfortunately, this was not good news for our blind Third Young Miss: she couldn't read.
The Great General and his wife did not give up; they taught Hu Zi other things besides reading, such as cooking, gardening, and dancing. Apparently, Hu Zi showed a high interest but an extreme lack of talent for playing music and singing, so they didn't pursue those.
Hu Zi also attended the school like other girls her own age, but she only attended cooking and dancing classes. She never went into a normal classroom.
Her second sister, Hu Cheng Se, had other ideas. Each night in their shared room, she snuck into Hu Zi's bed to tell her what she learned in class that day. She firmly believed her younger sister was something else and didn't want her to be completely unaware of the world of literature.
