For the next ten days we were kept very busy selecting materials for winter clothing and also official robes for my sister and myself to be worn during the forthcoming birthday celebrations. These dresses were full winter Court dresses, of red satin embroidered with golden dragons and blue clouds, and were trimmed with gold braid and lined with grey squirrel. The cuffs and collars (which were turned down) were of sable. While Her Majesty was giving one of the eunuchs instructions as to how these were to be made, the Young Empress beckoned to me, and I went out. She said: "You go and kowtow to Her Majesty as it is a great favor for her to give you a dress trimmed with sable. This is usually only worn by a Princess." So when I returned to the room I availed myself of the first opportunity to kowtow and thank Her Majesty for the great favor she had granted me. She answered: "You deserve it, and I see no reason why you should not be treated as a Princess anyway; many of the Princesses are not of the Imperial family. Any title may be bestowed for special services rendered to the country and you have been of more help to me than any other Court lady I have ever had, and I can see that you are faithful in the discharge of your duties. You may think I do not notice these things, but I do. You are certainly entitled to be ranked as a Princess, and in fact I never treat you different from the Princesses, but rather better in many ways." Turning to a eunuch she said: "Bring my fur cap here." This cap was made of sable, trimmed with pearls and jade and Her Majesty explained that our caps would be something after the same style except that the crown, instead of being yellow as in the case of Her Majesty's cap, would be red. I was naturally delighted. In addition to the cap and full Court dress Her Majesty had two ordinary dresses made for everyday wear, one lined with sheepskin and the other lined with grey squirrel. Then she gave us four other dresses of finer material, lined with black and white fox skin, and all trimmed with gold braid and embroidered ribbons. In addition there were two other dresses, one of a pale pink color, embroidered with one hundred butterflies and the other of a reddish color embroidered with green bamboo leaves. Several short jackets, also lined with fur, were also included in Her Majesty's present, and several sleeveless jackets went to complete the lot.