Long ago, in China, there was an Emperor who had only one daughter. She was beautiful and intelligent and admired for her wonderful singing. As Emperor was getting old, he decided to get his daughter married. The Princess did not want to marry but the Emperor was adamant. The Emperor announced that the man who wished to marry his daughter must first find a blue rose.
A wealthy merchant, who did not want to waste time looking for the blue rose, went to a flower-seller and offered him a bag of gold if he could find a blue rose for him. The flower-seller dipped a white rose in the blue dye and gave it to the merchant. “Keep the rose in the vase with the dye when you give it to the Princess,” he told the merchant. The merchant did the same. The Princess took the rose from his hand and exposed the rose as a fake.
