The silver-thread charcoal in the brazier had burned through completely.
Whitish ash struggled in the cooling brazier, exhausting its final shred of lingering warmth.
The candlelight flickered, making the "phoenix piercing through peonies" embroidered on the sheer robe appear extraordinarily ornate. It seemed almost as if the motif had sprouted slender tentacles, struggling and desperate to break free from its elaborate and cumbersome constraints, lunging forward.
Pei Hengyu picked up the solid gold hairpin he had bought from the Kunluo jewelry store, and personally inserted it into Lu Qingyan's dark, raven-wing hair. "I chose the right hairpin after all," he said. "It matches Sister Qing's outfit perfectly."
Smoothing her temples, Lu Qingyan let out a coquettish laugh. "Since Your Majesty has spoken such golden words, declaring that these peonies and phoenixes suit your humble concubine, I shall wear garments of this pattern from now on."
Chapter 43