It was a midsummer morning, and the sky was just beginning to pale. A dense layer of clouds hung so low it felt as if they might collapse at any moment.
Thin wisps of smoke rose from the bronze crane incense burner before Taiji Hall, swirling in the morning light without dispersing. The courtiers had long been standing in formation, their heavy official robes soaked through with sweat and clinging stickily to their backs, yet no one dared so much as twitch a sleeve. Ice-filled vessels sat at the four corners of the hall, exuding a faint chill, yet they could do nothing to dispel the suffocating humidity in the air.
The eunuch attending the Empress walked slowly to the center of the hall, his high-pitched, piercing voice shattering the silence. "Her Majesty the Empress arrives!"
Chapter 86