The woman wore a plain dress, her features as lovely as a painting, her waist slender and her bosom full. A faint coolness rested on her face, making her seem like an immortal untouched by the mortal world's smoke and fire, with an air that kept others a thousand miles away.
When Dai Xiaoyao caught sight of her, a flicker of confusion crossed his eyes, but he still bowed respectfully. "Your son greets you, Mother."
As Dai Xiaoyao remembered it, his mother had always been pure of heart and free of worldly desires, even when she was still the empress. After the Previous Emperor died, she had used praying for blessings as a reason to find a temple far from the Imperial City, devoting herself to worshipping Buddha and ignoring worldly affairs.
It was said that the Empress Dowager pitied all living beings and prayed for blessings for His Majesty and the people of the Starfall Kingdom.
In truth, that was merely a nicer way of putting it. In reality, Dai Xiaoyao's father had suffered from a failing common to most emperors: he played far too wildly, yet was utterly inadequate in that department. Each time lasted only a few breaths, and despite his lack of ability, he never tired of trying, always leaving the Empress Dowager hanging. Gradually, she had developed an aversion to relations between men and women and could only use Buddhist worship as an excuse to escape the Previous Emperor.
Perhaps the Empress Dowager thought such things were simply pointless.
With the Empress Dowager suddenly returning today, Dai Xiaoyao already had some inkling of why she had come.
"Xiaoyao, you and Wuchang were born of the same mother. If you capture him one day, do not forget your bond as brothers." Sure enough, the Empress Dowager's