In the Xuanyan Celestial Court, black was the fashion.
The robes of civil and military ministers were overwhelmingly black; the only distinction of rank was marked by embroidered patterns of strange birds and divine beasts of different colors.
So the everyday garments worn by officials were also black robes, cut much like their formal court robes but without all the elaborate bird patterns — just a few cloud motifs on the sleeves and hems.
Such ordinary robes were instantly recognizable to the common folk.
Yu Dianhu had once served as a Great Yanyin Divine Martial General; he had a soldier’s sensitivity to court systems, rituals, and ranks in his bones.
Early that morning, among the thousands of devotees waiting outside the mountain gate, at least thirty-some were officials of no low rank.
None had female companions; instead they were flanked by burly men, clearly bodyguards... or simply clerks from the yamen.
They put on airs carrying bamboo baskets with incense and candles inside.
Only their offerings... were a little too perfunctory.
All of them were plain white mantou buns, straight from the snack stalls outside the gate.
Thirty-some officials had prepared nothing but plain steamed buns as offerings — ha!