Ashes to Crown

Chapter 186: Chapter 17: The Grand Ceremony

Due to the great turmoil that had shaken the country, the late Emperor, the Crown Prince, and the others were buried quickly, followed by the coronation of the Imperial Grandson.

And, the grand ceremony to instate the Empress.

The ceremonies for the Imperial Grandson and the Empress were held concurrently. This was against protocol, but Deng Yi and Xie Yanfang both insisted, so the court officials’ objections were futile. After all, Deng Yi had been entrusted with the new Emperor’s care by the late Emperor and held both the Jade Seal and the Tiger Talisman. Xie Yanfang, meanwhile, was the Imperial Grandson’s only living relative. With the Yang Family nearly wiped out by the Third Prince and the Zhao Family exterminated to the ninth degree, more than half the officials in court were scrambling to curry favor with the Dongyang Xie Family.

With one man speaking with iron resolve and the other smiling without a word, half the court was silenced.

Before dawn, Chu Zhao began her preparations.

Eunuch Qi was more worried about Chu Zhao than the Imperial Grandson. The boy had grown up in the royal household, and its etiquette was ingrained in his very bones. That was why the eunuch had specifically taken the time to come and check on her.

The hall was brightly lit and lined with palace maids and eunuchs. As Eunuch Qi stepped inside, his eyes immediately fell upon the girl seated in the center. She was in the midst of her preparations, still wearing a simple palace gown, but she sat there with dignified posture and a composed expression.

She was looking in the mirror, and her eyes held a strange expression. It was as if she were lost in thought, yet her gaze was also focused, radiating an effortless authority.

In that moment, for reasons he couldn’t explain, Eunuch Qi felt that she truly was the Empress.

The girl was perceptive. She looked up, and upon seeing it was Eunuch Qi, the hint of gloom in her eyes vanished, replaced by a smile.

”Is Yu doing well?” she asked.

Eunuch Qi bowed quickly. ”Everything is fine, just fine. His Highness was worried about you and urged me to come take a look. If I hadn’t, he would have run over himself.”

Chu Zhao smiled. Her gaze swept over the table, and she picked up a dish of plum blossom cakes, handing it to Eunuch Qi. ”I’ve tried these. They’re just right—not too rich or too dry. Let him have a few bites, but he shouldn’t eat too much of anything else.”

Eunuch Qi agreed and accepted the dish with both hands.

Just then, a palace maid came over, carrying an assortment of red hairpins and the phoenix crown.

Chu Zhao held up a hand to stop her. ”Let’s change my robes first. If my hair is styled now, it will be a mess to change later, and it will be uncomfortable to move about.”

The palace maids assented, while the senior palace women nearby remained silent, not uttering a single word.

Eunuch Qi couldn’t resist another glance at Chu Zhao. ’Her words are strange. It’s almost as if she’s been adorned like this before... but then again, perhaps it’s just the sort of experience young women have.’

’Still, it’s rare to see someone so mindful of such practicalities—and her own comfort—at a moment like this.’

’This girl is truly something else.’ Eunuch Qi was deeply impressed. He couldn’t help but recall that night she had drawn a blade and killed a man without a moment’s hesitation. Then again, thinking of her father, Chu Ling... hadn’t he been as steady as a mountain when he first entered the palace? ’So perhaps it’s not so strange after all.’

Eunuch Qi looked away, took his leave with the plum blossom cakes in hand. ’There’s no need to worry about Miss Chu,’ he thought. ’I’d best go and look after the Imperial Grandson.’

Chu Zhao had noticed Eunuch Qi’s look but paid it no mind. She glanced around the hall. ’Now that I’m here again,’ she thought, ’I have neither the desire nor the energy to act like a stranger.’

She glanced at the palace maids and senior women standing around her, their eyes obediently downcast.

’In her last life, when she was instated as Empress, they had given her no end of trouble.’

’Those palace maids, senior women, and eunuchs hadn’t been nearly so docile. They’d looked down on her, a nobody from the Border County, and used ’protocol’ as an excuse for everything. And she, in turn, had been a bundle of nerves, terrified of bringing shame to Xiao Xun.’

At this thought, she stood up and looked at her reflection in the mirror, now clad in the ceremonial robes of an Empress.

’Protocol,’ she thought. ’Protocol is set by the one in charge.’

’And this time, *she* was the one in charge.’

...

...

Ah Le took a deep breath. Listening to the ceremonial music swelling around them, she couldn’t help but glance at Xiao Man on her other side.

”Xiao Man,” she whispered. ”Don’t be nervous.”

Xiao Man, who was dressed as a palace maid, glanced back at her.

Even for the Empress’s instatement ceremony, Xiao Man was positioned beside Chu Zhao, responsible for holding the ceremonial shawl along with Ah Le. This role should have been assigned to a senior palace woman, as it was a critical ceremony where not the slightest error could be tolerated.

A senior palace woman had indeed raised an objection, but Xiao Man had adamantly refused.

”The more important the occasion, the more dangerous it is,” she had said. ”And we are the ones who handle things on important occasions.”

Her words left the senior palace woman stunned. ’Dangerous? Did she mean the danger of taking a wrong step, walking too slowly, or accidentally tearing something? And what kind of ”work” did she do on important occasions?’

Chu Zhao had simply smiled. ”It’s fine. Let her do it.”

Hearing Chu Zhao say that, Ah Le had immediately insisted on joining as well.

What more could the senior palace women say? This previously unknown Miss Chu had been personally ennobled by the late Emperor, was clung to day and night by the Xiao Emperor, and was treated with reverence by Eunuch Qi. She could sit across from Grand Tutor Deng Yi and converse at length with Third Young Master Xie, a member of the Royal Family. When she stepped outside, the Imperial Guard of the Imperial City lowered their heads in salute—