Though even an emperor for the ages could never escape the word "usurpation," compared to dying and seeing his clan wiped out, it was simply negligible. Bu Hui was with child. Even if he did not think for himself, he had to think of her and the child.
And the Empress was a crucial link, especially when it came to dealing with the aftermath.
As he was thinking this, he saw three or four noble ladies leaving in the distance. They must have been the female relatives of some ministerial household entering the palace to pay their respects to the Empress. Prince Dai paid them no heed. Watching them leave, he said in a low voice to the eunuch, "Request an audience with Her Majesty on my behalf."
Though spring was warm and flowers bloomed, Eternal Peace Palace remained divided by crimson walls. As usual, no lamps were lit in the palace during the day, with sunlight serving as illumination. The farther one went inside, the more one felt that this great hall was too secluded and deep, as though someone were hidden within the encroaching darkness.
When the eunuch delivered the report, the Empress was resting on a couch in the side hall. As the weather had warmed, there was no need for a brazier; only calming incense was burning.
Having just received the noble ladies, the Empress sat up with the help of several palace maids, sipping the fragrant tea brought before her as she listened to the eunuch's report.
When she heard the eunuch say, "Prince Dai has entered the palace and is currently waiting before the hall," the slight haze in the Empress's mind instantly cleared.
Every day spent in the palace was much the same. No matter how dearly she wished to dream of the