Mrs. Su-Hua, however, remained stubborn as she performed the greeting, only then rising to her feet, "Rituals must not be discarded. Your grandfather repeatedly instructed us before he left the house that first, you are the mother of the nation, next the queen of His Majesty, and only then our daughter. It is only proper for us to pay our respects to you first, to avoid giving people something to talk about and to spare the Empress and His Majesty any trouble."
These words left Su Pan'er at a loss for response.
She had to admit her grandfather was right.
Yesterday, a bloody storm had covered the sky, and it seemed that the stench of blood still lingered in the air.
Those were either the blood of innocent commoners who had been wrongly killed or that of those treacherous traitors.
