Since the drinking together at the Imperial Ancestor Temple last year, the monarch and minister rarely drank privately again.
"Is Your Majesty happy tonight? Because the Shen family has conceded?"
Zhao Douan was holding a silver wine jug with intricate and exquisite patterns, looking for a wine cup, when he saw the Empress had already picked up another jug and walked freely to the railing by the door.
The door was open, and the light from inside the room spread out through the threshold, illuminating a small patch at the entrance.
Beyond the railing was a body of river water, surrounded by tranquility and desolation, with all the attendants driven away far by Eunuch Hai and other inner court experts.
The Empress popped the lid off the jug with a sound, raised her slender, pale neck, and drank freely from the spout of the silver jug aimed at her mouth.
