This chapter sets up more information that will lead directly into the main conflict coming up in this arc. However, the silliness pervading the lives of our tavern’s resident flora and their new innkeeper remains all the same.

To help with visualization: A tavern in the olden days usually consisted of a dining area and counter downstairs along with a center courtyard and back kitchen. The guest rooms were upstairs, bordering the perimeter with an open-air hallway that overlooked the courtyard. I’ve…

The flower and plant spirits are literally called demons (妖 // yāo) but not in the sense that they’re all evil or demonic creatures (惡魔 // è mó). While the word yao in Chinese can have negative implications depending on context, it’d be more…

Finally, something new to breathe some life into this blog. The original plan was to translate a gongting (palace) novel, but my progress has been rather slow. There’s lots of historical terminology and details that I want to take some time combing through, which…