August 6th.
The Mao Hour had just passed, and it was now the Chen Hour.
By rights, at this time in August the sky should already be turning pale with the first light of dawn, but at this moment heaven and earth were still shrouded in darkness.
In the main bedchamber of Prince Wei's Mansion.
This was the coolest time of day, the temperature pleasantly comfortable, yet on the bed surrounded by curtains, the scene was one of sultry fragrance and a tangle of bare white limbs.
One jade-like arm and beautiful leg after another were draped together in a jumble, and the thin quilt that had originally covered the people on the bed had long since been kicked to the floor in their sleep, no one knew by whom.
