Under the scattered blossoms, a fair maiden wept on her knees. It was a poetic sight to walk in on, much like stepping into one of the paintings of the Four Great Beauties, each with a more tragic end than the last.
But Yan Zheyun was not in the mood to admire the scenery.
"This child-subject greets Royal Mother a golden afternoon." Yan Zheyun's entrance into the scene was accompanied by a proper salute, calm and unassuming, giving the dowager no means to link him to Yan Xi and criticise him for lacking manners too.
His faultless opening was met with a cold smile.
"What an illustrious family our new empress comes from," was the dowager's acerbic reply. "This old lady daren't associate herself with such."
