Chapter 341 — The Dragon State’s Ritual Procession, Blessing Both Shores (5K words — please vote monthly ticket~)
Year 468 of the Ming, February 17, Spring Equinox.
Auspices: offerings, prayers, purification rites, travel, forming alliances.
Early in the Yin watch.
Across the Central Land the night still lay heavy, but down below the Yellow Sea, the Dragon Palace burned bright as day.
In the inner court, the Purple Imperial Hall.
The Dragon Lord and the Dragon Consort stood arm in arm while a dozen attendants helped them don their robes.
The attendants moved quietly and deliberately, each step measured and calm.
The Dragon Lord wore the gunmian regalia.
On his head sat a crown with twelve hanging pearls, white jade beads dangling before and behind.
He wore dark robes with crimson hems, embroidered with suns, moons, stars, mountains, dragons, auspicious insects, ancestral vessels, water designs, flames, patterns of sprinkled rice, and the twin square motifs — twelve emblems in all.
His waist was bound with a great gold-and-jade belt; white jade pendants hung at his side, and red ceremonial shoes adorned his feet.
The Dragon Consort wore a deep teal yi robe, embroidered with twelve pairs of decorated pheasant feathers, her head crowned with a nine-dragon, four-phoenix tiara set with pearls, jade, and golden phoenix ornaments.