Eight Treasures Trousseau

100

Chapter One Hundred: Second Empress

Three days later, Qilong Emperor welcomed Zhang Qing Yan into the palace as the empress with the rites for a second empress. The entire country celebrated.

The third day after the new empress entered the palace, all noblewomen in Jing above third grade had to go into the palace. As a super-ranking qinwang fei of the Imperial House, Hua Xi Wan was part of the first group to visit the Empress. There were other qinwang fei who came into the hall with her, but she was the youngest of them all.

"Xian Wang Fei, please be careful of the stairs." The taijian leading the way carefully guided them. While there was no fawning to be seen from how he treated Hua Xi Wan, still his actions and movements were filled with respect.

"Many thanks." When Hua Xi Wan passed through the door into the hall, she saw two old qinwang fei sitting inside and went forward to give them the bow of a junior.

"Please, sit." Xu Wang Fei smiled harmoniously as she motioned for Hua Xi Wan to sit beside her. She said as she raised a teacup, "The Empress is most likely going to get up late today."

Hua Xi Wan felt that something wasn't right with the words. Not fifteen minutes later, all of the qinwang fei were in the hall, but Empress Zhang was still not here. The qinwang fei present did not show any displeasure, and their expressions were normal.

Empress Zhang's actions were not appropriate for one who had just entered the palace. While the empress was said to be the mother of the country, those present were all super-ranking noblewomen. Empress Zhang should not let them wait for this long. Did she think that this was a fight in a normal home, and making the other wait for a while was a show of strength?

What the women of the Imperial House did not lack for was acting skills and courage. This level of skill was only enough to displease the noblewomen, and could not intimidate them.

After another fifteen minutes, Empress Zhang finally appeared dressed in the phoenix robe, with a group of servants and taijian. Hua Xi Wan and the other qinwang fei stood up to give a curtsy.

Zhang Qing Yan sat on the phoenix throne and carefully examined the noblewomen present at the bottom of the stairs. In the end, her gaze landed on a young woman with inky black hair and pale skin. Because the other's head was down, she could not see the other's face, but just that beautiful body and the hands that were exposed out of the robe were enough to enchant a person.

Was this the rumored devastatingly beautiful Xian Wang Fei?

After the super-rank noblewomen finished giving their full curtsies, the palace attendants hurriedly helped these noble personages up. Zhang Qing Yan allowed them to sit, and took the chance to glance at Xian Wang Fei. Long narrow eyebrows, expressive eyes, a flower of a mouth—she did have some assets to tempt people. But even so, the other had to docilely kneel in front of her.

"Ben gong has troubled everyone; ben gong really feels very apologetic. Please use some tea and refreshments to rest." Zhang Qing Yan curled her lips slightly and showed a perfect smile. After courteously exchanging a few words with the older qinwang fei, she finally pulled the topic to Hua Xi Wan.

"People say that Xian Wang Fei is devastatingly beautiful. Ben gong has never had the luck to see, and having seen you today, it really is true that seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times. Xian Wang Fei's beauty can be said to be devastating." Zhang Qing Yan jerked her lips. "Even ben gong feels affection when looking at you."