The east brightened to a fish-belly white, and hollow birdsong began rising here and there from the bamboo grove outside the Daoist Temple.
In a room in the rear courtyard, Hongyu was still sound asleep, while the Empress Dowager, whose early-morning ordeal had driven away all sleepiness, still lay on her side against her pillow, arms folded over her chest, listening to every rustle outside.
Why aren't they back yet...
Didn't the book say it was over in half an hour? Did Ye Jingtang really last this long...
Or was Shui'er too ashamed to face me, too embarrassed to return...
Her thoughts wandered like this for who knew how long before sounds finally came from the courtyard:
Tap, tap, tap...
Creak~
Click.
The sounds of someone entering a room and shutting the door.
The Empress Dowager's eyes shifted. She propped herself up to look outside, then quietly climbed out of bed, slipped on her embroidered shoes, and went outside, coming to the Main House in the rear courtyard to listen at the door.
The room was silent, without the slightest movement inside.
A little puzzled, the Empress Dowager considered it, assumed the dignified bearing of the mother of the nation, pushed open the door, and glanced inside.
The Main House was the boudoir where Perfected Person Xuanji had lived since childhood. Quite a few paintings and pieces of calligraphy hung on the walls, along with collected wine gourds, weapons, and other ornaments. A canopy bed stood farther inside.
The Empress Dowager looked toward the bed and saw Shui'er sprawled facedown on it, her legs draped over the edge, her face buried in the bedding, utterly motionless.
Thinking Shui'er did not want to acknowledge her, the Empress Dowager walked over with a hint of displeasure, sat on the edge of the