Within the Imperial City, the battle scars in the square before the hall had been repaired overnight, leaving it as good as new.
Outside Taihua Hall, hundreds of officials in court robes of various colors filed out of the Thousand-Pace Corridor, gathering in groups of three or five along the way to discuss how to deal with those implicated in yesterday's case involving Prince Wu.
Behind Taihua Hall, an honor guard a hundred strong escorted the Imperial Carriage toward the Palace of Eternal Joy.
Upon the Imperial Carriage, the Empress of Great Wei wore black-and-red dragon robes, her left leg crossed over her right, exposing a red court shoe and a fair ankle. Her elbow rested on the armrest, her hand supporting the side of her face. Her posture was somewhat languid, yet her magnificent, commanding figure radiated the distinctive majesty of one who ruled all beneath heaven.
The twelve strands of Jade Tassels hanging from her crown veiled her incomparably beautiful face. Her eyes, which had seemed deep enough to see through human hearts at court, now held a trace of distraction.
A vassal prince's rebellion was a major affair, but with Prince Wu's strength, he could not stir up so much as a wave. Given a legitimate pretext, crushing him would take no more than a flick of her fingers. In the Empress's eyes, it hardly counted as a serious matter.
Being rescued by a man last night, and having him see a beauty bathing, was a serious matter for a woman. But the Empress was no innocent young girl; it was not enough to leave her bashful and distracted.
Her distraction now came from considering how to break the deadlock ahead.
Prince Wu was not the only one in Great Wei harboring disloyal intentions. Outside, Northern Liang