"Greetings to Consort Xian Pin."
Honored Lady Cheng, who had served in the Emperor's bedchamber last night, did not arrive very late today.
As soon as Xia Ruqing entered the room, she rose to her feet in a very proper manner to pay her respects.
Xia Ruqing looked at her.
She was dressed in a light lotus-colored jacket with overlapping fronts and a skirt of lotus leaf green beneath it, her feet adorned in Shui Hong-colored shoes embroidered with delicate flowers.
The ornaments in her hair were not flamboyant but rather modest; a few simple Zhu Hua, with the most presentable being a pair of Southern Pearl hairpins.
Xia Ruqing had a pair of those hairpins too, awarded by the Empress during the New Year celebrations.
Hers were much more exquisite and superior to these!
This attire, when set against the backdrop of the brightly dressed ladies of the harem, was honestly not very eye-catching.
It even seemed a bit plain.
But it matched Xia Ruqing's aesthetic quite well.
