Chapter 835

The crowd turned, their faces showing astonishment at the sight of the woman entering from outside. The Empress was dressed in plain white robes, void of any jewelry. A simple white silk ribbon bound her thick, lustrous hair, which hung neatly down to her waist. Her pace was slow, yet remarkably composed, as if the gazes of others held no power over her. A murmur rippled through the hall—the ministers were debating how a consort of the inner palace could dare to intrude upon the morning court. It was a flagrant violation of tradition! Some pointed fingers, others glared, and some merely looked on with cold indifference. Only Shu He, standing near the back, watched with a look of concern. Though she was not close to the Empress, perhaps because they had shared the same space and held similar secrets, she felt an inexplicable sense of kinship.