An old lady, who had served in the palace for many years, heard about the preparations for this gathering and felt sad, because her daughter nurtured a secret love for the prince.

When the old lady got home, she told her daughter and was horrified to learn that her daughter intended going to the meeting. The old lady was desperate.

‘But daughter, what on earth will you do there? All the richest and most beautiful girls from the court will be present. It’s a ridiculous idea. I know you must be suffering, but don’t turn that suffering into madness.’

And the daughter replied: ‘My dear mother, I am not suffering and I certainly haven’t gone mad. I know that I won’t be chosen, but it’s my one chance to spend at least a few moments close to the prince, and that makes me happy, even though I know that a quite different fate awaits me.’

That night, when the young women reached the palace, all the most beautiful girls were indeed there, wearing the most beautiful clothes and the most beautiful jewellery, and prepared to do anything to seize the opportunity on offer.

Surrounded by the members of his court, the prince announced a challenge.

‘I will give each of you a seed. In six month’s time, the young woman who brings me the loveliest flower will be the future empress of China.’

The girl took her seed and planted it in a pot, and since she was not very skilled in the art of gardening, she prepared the soil with great patience and tenderness, for she believed that if the flowers grew as large as her love, then she need not worry about the results.

Three months passed and no shoots had appeared. The young woman tried everything; she consulted farm labourers and peasants, who showed her the most varied methods of cultivation, but all to no avail. Each day she felt that her dream was farther away, although her love was as alive as ever.

At last, the six months passed and still nothing had grown in her pot. Even though she had nothing to show, she knew how much effort and dedication she put in during that time, so she told her mother that she would go back to the palace on the agreed date and at the agreed time. Inside she knew this would be her last meeting with her true love, and she would not have missed it for the world.

The day of the audience arrived. The girl appeared with her plantless pot, and saw that all the other candidates had achieved wonderful results: each girl bore a flower lovelier than the last, in the most varied forms and colours.

Finally, the longed-for moment came. The prince entered and he studied each of the candidates with great care and attention. Having inspected them all, he announced that he has chosen the servant’s daughter to become his new wife.

All the other girls began to protest, saying that he had chosen the only one of them who had not managed to grow any plant at all.

Then the prince calmly explained the reasoning behind the challenge: ‘This young woman was the only one who cultivated the flower that made her worthy of becoming the empress: the flower of honesty. You see, all the seeds I handed out were sterile, and nothing could ever have grown from them.’