Chapter 131: The First Empress Dragon Robe
Xie Liuzheng provided design suggestions, Xiao Jinsu and countless Palace Attendants drew the patterns, and over a hundred embroideresses worked around the clock, their needles practically sparking from the effort.
Finally, after a month and a half, the first Dragon Robe for an empress was complete.
When the final product was unveiled, Xiao Jinsu was so moved she knelt before the Dragon Robe.
The first Dragon Robe for an Empress in all of history was made by her hands.
Simply gazing upon this Dragon Robe, Xiao Jinsu felt her entire career as a female official had been worthwhile.
Xiao Jinsu and her attendants delivered the Dragon Robe to Zichen Palace.
Before Her Majesty, they assembled the outfit piece by piece on a mannequin.
The Dragon Robe was made in the crossover-collar style with a base of Xuan black. A golden dragon, woven from pure gold thread, coiled around it, its scales distinct and layered. With every movement of the fabric, the dragon seemed to breathe and float, coming to life.
The Xuan black wasn’t a pure, flat black; it was interwoven with threads of gold and silver that refracted a subtle, understated shimmer. At first glance, the fabric simply looked rich and textured, but with any movement, it would flow with an iridescent, multicolored luster.
It was as Xie Liuzheng had suggested: a brilliantly colorful black.
In addition to the golden dragon, auspicious clouds swirled around the robe, and the bottom hem was embroidered with a vast panorama of the empire’s mountains, rivers, and seas.
Just by looking at the ensemble, one could feel the overwhelming, majestic aura of an Emperor.
To accentuate a woman’s figure, the sleeves were tailored to be narrower along the arms while still retaining their traditionally wide cuffs.
The waist was cinched more tightly, and a wide belt, studded with black and red gemstones, instantly highlighted a slender waist.
The skirt was cut high in the front and long in the back, flowing into a nine-foot train upon which the golden dragon seemed to ascend to the heavens. It was both beautiful and commanding.
The hair crown was also redesigned. It was a Golden Dragon Hair Crown wrought from pure gold, featuring a massive purple gemstone at its center and accented with Dongzhu pearls, making it exquisitely noble and opulent.
Xiao Yang took one look and felt her eyelid twitch.
These people seemed determined to heap all the finest things imaginable onto her. Even the boots were studded with gems and embroidered with golden dragons.
It was undeniably beautiful and undeniably commanding.
However...
"Have you weighed it?"
Xiao Jinsu clearly hadn’t expected the Emperor to ask such a question. "This servant was negligent, Your Majesty. I did not weigh it."
Xiao Yang wasn’t flustered. "Go, bring a scale."
It didn’t take long for a scale to be brought. Xiao Yang had them place the Dragon Robe on it.
Forty-three and a half pounds.
Xiao Yang stared at them, silent for a moment. "Are you all trying to exhaust me to death?"
Terrified, the entire group fell to their knees in a rustle of fabric. "Your Majesty, please forgive us!"
Xiao Jinsu gazed at the Dragon Robe, her heart filled with reluctance. She and Xie Liuzheng had only focused on making Her Majesty look majestic and beautiful, completely overlooking the matter of weight. But this was the most gorgeous and imposing design they had all collectively created.
It would be a terrible shame if it were to be destroyed or simply packed away.
"This servant will design a lighter, more comfortable Dragon Robe," she pleaded. "But I beg Your Majesty to keep this one, even if you only wear it a single time."
Xiao Jinsu offered her suggestion cautiously. The Emperor was younger than her, and a woman besides. But Xiao Jinsu had never viewed her as a younger sister; from the very beginning, she had treated her with the awe and respect due to a monarch, just with an added touch of personal warmth.
Xiao Yang wasn’t actually rejecting it. The craftsmanship was too beautiful to find fault with; she was simply complaining about the weight.
It was heavy, but not so heavy that she couldn’t wear it.
Since Xiao Jinsu had put it that way, she slowly rose and spread her arms.
Xiao Jinsu was overcome with excitement. "We shall help Your Majesty change."
The male-style Dragon Robe was removed from Xiao Yang, leaving her in her inner robes. Then, the new Empress’s Dragon Robe was put on, layer by intricate layer.
Five layers in total.
Finally, the wide belt was fastened, her hair was styled, and the hair crown was set in place.
The young sovereign’s face was fair and flawless, her features as if drawn from a painting, her lips red and teeth pearly white. Even without a touch of makeup, her beauty was unparalleled.
In this attire, she was unmistakably a woman, yet she wore none of the elaborate hairpins or dangling jewelry common for high-status ladies.
The Golden Dragon Hair Crown was a symbol of a woman wielding Imperial Power.
Once the Empress was fully dressed, everyone slowly retreated. They dared to steal only a single glance, unable to look directly at her for long.
Noble, majestic, and without equal in all the world.
Song Qingyi had intended to step forward, but the sight froze her where she stood.
She clutched at her chest, her mind reeling. ’Her Majesty is a woman.’ She had just seen her in nothing but her inner robes. Yet any fleeting sense of loss she might have felt was completely swept away by the frantic pounding of her heart as she beheld Her Majesty in the Dragon Robe.
She began to wonder, ’Am I in love with Her Majesty, or with this Dragon Robe?’
The next morning, Xiao Yang wore the magnificent Dragon Robe to court and took her seat upon the Dragon Throne.
After all had kowtowed and risen, they looked upon the Dragon Throne and saw the Emperor’s new attire. Every one of them was struck speechless.
Until now, Her Majesty had continued to dress as a young man, which had at times made them forget she was, in fact, a woman.
But this new ensemble was an undeniable reminder: Her Majesty was well and truly a woman, and it was a woman to whom they knelt.
Yet, even as a woman, her authority was in no way diminished; she remained incomparably noble and dignified.
The role of Emperor was about capability. As long as one had the talent to rule, gender was secondary.
Xiao Yang, for her part, was not hampered by the elaborate clothing and conducted court as usual.
It was just... Rong Yin’s gaze was impossible to ignore. ’To stare at the Emperor with such fervor... it’s practically treasonous!’ she thought.
Xiao Yang shot him an irritated glare, only to turn and find Meng Xuechen also staring directly at her.
Meng Xuechen’s gaze lacked the same aggressive intensity, but it was just as powerful and impossible to overlook.
Xiao Yang raised an eyebrow. ’Men,’ she mused. ’Truly audacious.’
-----
"I want to see Her Majesty! Let me see Her Majesty!"
"Let her go! I want to see Her Majesty!"
A disheveled, bearded man frantically beat against the bars of his cell. Who would believe this was the once refined and elegant Young Master Liu, the man once described as a cold, aloof Immortal who seemed entirely above mortal concerns?
He stared intently at the cell across from his, his eyes red and streaming with tears of blood.
His sister was bound to a cross, tortured so brutally she was barely recognizable as human.
Copper nails, branding irons, whips... countless tortures were inflicted upon her. Her shrill screams echoed throughout the dungeons.
That was his sister, the only family he had left in the world.
He looked to the young man seated outside, watching the scene, and fell to his knees, begging, "I’m begging you, please spare her! She doesn’t know anything! She’s innocent!"
Xu Xingchen had not taken part personally. He had originally wanted to, but after seeing Liu Yumian in her filthy state, he had chosen to simply sit and observe the torture.
His own wounds were ninety percent healed. All that remained were a few deep scars that would take time to fade, and his hair, which had yet to grow back.
He hated these people, but blessed with Her Majesty’s favor, he didn’t want to waste any more of his emotions on them.
And so he watched, feeling no great thrill of revenge—only the simple, detached desire to return to her everything he had suffered.
Hearing Liu Shixu’s words, Xu Xingchen looked back at him. "The wounds I suffered—three nails, four brandings, one hundred and forty-seven lashes, my hair shorn, my skin flayed, and slaps across the face—I have her to thank for all of it."
"And you say she is innocent?"
The screams cut off abruptly. Liu Yumian had finally succumbed to the pain and passed out.
A jailer approached. "Sir, we have followed your instructions to the letter. Everything has been repaid in kind. I’m afraid she’s only got a single breath left in her."
Liu Shixu was on the verge of collapse when Xu Xingchen’s voice rang out again. "I am a fair man. I returned to her exactly what she gave to me. The difference is, I have Her Majesty’s favor, which is why I am alive and sitting here. I wonder if she will be fortunate enough to survive."
Xu Xingchen rose, his gaze sweeping over the other cells, where other prisoners lay half-dead from similar tortures.
These were all captured from the Liu Family estate. They were the remnants of the Liu Family’s forces who had followed Liu Shixu and his sister in their attempt to help Xiao Sheng seize the throne.
When Xiao Sheng’s coup failed and Liu Shixu and Chen Qian were captured, these people attempted to kidnap Xu Xingchen, hoping to force him to secure their release.
When Xu Xingchen refused, Liu Yumian had descended on him like a rabid dog, beating, cursing, and torturing him.
"Kill them all," he ordered. "Behead them and toss the bodies in the paupers’ grave."
As for Liu Yumian, he hoped she would live. He wanted her to have a good long look at her own hideous reflection.
A pity she wasn’t fated to.