Deep within the Imperial Palace, Longfu Palace.
The floor of the bedchamber was covered with a velvet carpet embroidered with lotus patterns, soft underfoot but not sinking. Within the White Jade Incense Burner, calming aloeswood emitted a soothing fragrance. Through the pearl and jade screen embroidered with dragons and phoenixes offering blessings, two silhouettes could be vaguely seen inside the room.
A woman over sixty lounged in a chair, dressed in a deep teal ceremonial robe.
Though her hair was entirely white and her face lined with wrinkles, her eyebrows and eyes suggested she had once been a gentle and stunning beauty.
"Cough, cough..."
She covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, unable to suppress a cough, her cheeks flushed with a sickly red.
Wei Xuan stood below with his hands hanging down, speaking softly, "Empress Dowager, your illness is worsening. Do you want me to call for the Imperial Physician?"
