The next day, the snow cleared.
Snow had fallen over the Capital all night, stopping only at dawn.
A foot of snow covered the glazed tiles atop the palace walls, dazzling beneath the sunlight.
Outside the Meridian Gate, the snow had been swept into two heaps. The Imperial Guard stood with halberds in hand, their breath misting in the air.
A Blue-Curtained Carriage approached from the West Peace Gate.
Inside, Fu Niang wore newly tailored winter clothes.
Her padded lotus-root-colored jacket served as an inner robe, fine gray squirrel fur turned out along its collar. Over it she wore a moon-white beizi, its edges trimmed with pale blue embroidery.
Below was an apricot-colored skirt with a hundred pleats, its hem embroidered with small plum blossoms on winding branches that appeared and vanished as the carriage swayed.
A Silver-Gilt Plum Blossom Hairpin adorned her hair, and a narrow purple sable band circled her forehead, framing her fair, clean little face.
She held a Bronze Hand Warmer wrapped in a plain brocade sleeve and tidied her hair before a mirror.
She was entering the palace that day. Princess Luyang had sent word two days earlier, saying it had been far too long since they had seen each other and inviting her over for a visit.
Since she was entering the palace for an audience, her adornments, though elegant, had been chosen to show respect.
The layers of lotus root, moon white, and apricot were neither loud nor austere.
The gray squirrel, purple sable, and silver-gilt ornaments complemented one another, neither extravagant nor plain.
"Husband, are you really not going to visit Kunning Palace?" Fu Niang asked as she tidied her hair.
"The Empress said last time that she hadn't seen you in ages."
"I'm going to the Eastern Palace," Wei Nisheng