A faintly aggrieved voice rang out. Li Chen instinctively looked toward it and saw a woman in a magnificent palace dress slowly enter the Ancestral Hall.
Every time he saw her, Li Chen found her a feast for the eyes.
Even walking normally, she managed to make her curves gently sway. Surely only a woman as regal and elegant as she could do that.
The others, however, did not share Li Chen's thoughts. The Empress Dowager's presence was imposing. The moment she appeared, Li Sining, Consort Yi, and the others nearby felt an invisible pressure, as though they had suddenly shrunk by half.
The palace maids and eunuchs who had been busily working all put down what they were doing when they saw the Empress Dowager, lowering their heads and not daring to look directly at her.
Awe and trepidation were written all over their faces, and even their breathing seemed to grow cautious.
The Empress Dowager's arrival was like a sudden gust of cold wind, sweeping away the cheerful atmosphere and leaving the entire Ancestral Hall somewhat somber.
Only Chu Ruoyan looked at the Empress Dowager the same way Li Chen did, seemingly unafraid of her.
But seeing how cautious everyone around her had become, she could only stand there obediently.
The Empress Dowager slowly approached the Sacrificial Altar. Her gaze lingered on Li Sining's face for a moment, and a barely perceptible trace of satisfaction flashed through her eyes.
"It's just a little ceremony, something for Sining to play with. Did you need something, Empress Dowager?"
Once Li Chen spoke, everyone around him seemed to relax a little.
This emperor, who wielded such immense power, truly was the servants' pillar of support.
His tone was so casual that the others felt considerably more at ease.
If even Li