When someone is soothed, they naturally feel at ease, and the Empress Dowager Wang is no exception. Smiling like a chrysanthemum, all her worries dissipate.
The palace maids and eunuchs following her secretly marvel that the one who can make the Empress Dowager happiest is probably this Madam Song. She can flatter so well, so unobtrusively, so naturally.
Song Ci looked at the admiring expressions of the palace maids and eunuchs, thinking to herself that all her past experiences in social circles weren't for nothing; her skill in conversation has indeed been honed.
The two distinguished individuals sat at the pavilion enjoying tea as they watched the rain.
"Autumn is here, and it seems like another year is slipping by quickly," the Empress Dowager Wang sighed softly.
Song Ci, also looking at a ginkgo tree already starting to turn yellow, said, "Indeed, time flies so fast."
