She found she didn't mind it.
This surprised her.
In the palace she had endured court functions as operational necessities. Lian Mei, apparently, found them mildly interesting.
She accepted a glass of something from a passing attendant and stood near the eastern wall and watched.
The emperor was across the room.
She had known he would be. She had positioned herself with the eastern wall specifically so she could see him at distance before proximity was required.
He was talking to three people — two men and a woman, all of them in the clothing of established noble houses, all of them in the specific posture of people who considered themselves essential to the person they were talking to. He was laughing. The laugh was easy, warm, the laugh of someone enjoying themselves.
She watched it.
