Following the Empress Dowager’s example, the noble ladies and misses all vied for a chance to have me apply their makeup. However, many understood that the Empress would undoubtedly be next.
The Empress then stepped forward; she looked to be about fifty. I truly did not know how this group managed it—the age gap between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law was not significant at all. Even so, the Empress looked visibly younger than the Empress Dowager by a good decade. After I finished styling her, I instructed her on which garments to wear and told her to change before returning. I even had her swap her shoes for high heels. Though she was a bit unsteady at first and needed support, her entire temperament transformed. Suddenly, she possessed the aura of an aloof goddess, and I noticed the Emperor watching her with a dazed look in his eyes.
I thought to myself that the old Emperor and the Empress would likely have a fierce battle of wills later that night. Besides, those clothes were practically designed to be torn.
Chapter 160