Without Little Concubine's presence, the Emperor felt an emptiness; he could no longer concentrate on reading, and everything he did seemed so lonely. He always wondered if she had arrived yet, and what she might be doing once there.
After sitting like this for a quarter of an hour, unable to stay put any longer, the Emperor simply called in Zhang Qing for a change of clothes, readying himself for the flower-viewing banquet.
Meanwhile, Lian Hua had arrived early at Jinwu Garden, the chosen location for this flower-viewing banquet.
Surrounding the perimeter of the garden were tall paulownia trees, forming a circle, with an exceptionally large paulownia at the center, its branches lush and leaves beginning to turn a shade of golden yellow—quite a magnificent sight.