Chapter 427: Chapter 427: Why have you entered the Palace again?
As soon as the Empress Dowager finished speaking, a delicate, charming giggle reached her ears.
"TEE HEE HEE... Fly higher, Big Phoenix! Fly higher!"
Nanny Xiao and the Empress Dowager blinked in disbelief, then abruptly looked up at the sky.
"Ah... Suisui... Xiaosuisui!"
The Empress Dowager and Nanny Xiao both stared wide-eyed, momentarily thinking their eyes had deceived them.
"Am I seeing things? I must be getting old. It’s not just that my ears are playing tricks on me, but now it seems my eyes are failing too."
Frightened, the Empress Dowager rubbed her eyes, then rubbed them once more. She hastily called to Nanny Xiao, "Quickly, send someone to the Imperial Medical Bureau to summon an Imperial Physician skilled in eye ailments to examine me!"
Upon hearing this, Nanny Xiao couldn’t help but think, It’s not just Her Majesty the Empress Dowager who needs to see an Imperial Physician! I must be hallucinating too! Look, on the back of that Big Phoenix flying in the sky—it’s the Eldest Princess! Sigh! It wasn’t just Her Majesty the Empress Dowager who missed the Eldest Princess; I missed her too.
Just as Nanny Xiao had this thought, she heard the Eldest Princess’s childlike voice calling, "Grandma."
"Oh, heavens! It seems I’m not hearing things after all! The figure standing on the back of that Big Phoenix truly is my precious darling!"
"Indeed! This old servant sees her too. That truly is our Eldest Princess!" Nanny Xiao quickly affirmed.
"Hee hee! It really is my precious darling! Weren’t you supposed to have left the palace? How did you get back in? Did you never actually leave? Or did you leave and then come back?" The Empress Dowager’s face lit up with a joyful grin.
"Grandma! I just entered the palace with Seventh Uncle!" Xiaosuisui, who had been flying a circuit on Big Phoenix’s back, heard the Empress Dowager’s question and hurriedly answered. Then she patted Big Phoenix’s back. "Big Phoenix, stop!"
Big Phoenix obediently landed before the Empress Dowager and Nanny Xiao. Xiaosuisui hopped down from its back and, with arms open wide, reached out for the Empress Dowager to pick her up.
"Grandma, hold me!"
The Empress Dowager beamed, her smile stretching wide, as she bent over to scoop Xiaosuisui into her arms.
"My dear, how did you enter the palace with your Seventh Uncle again? Is there an outcome in the matter of Princess Ata’s assassination attempt?"
Ji Youzhi was the head of the Divine Hunter Platform. Although he wasn’t formally part of the imperial court’s established structure, the Divine Hunter Platform was under the young Emperor’s direct control. Thus, Ji Youzhi was effectively second only to the Emperor, wielding authority over countless others. He could enter the palace at any time, a fact the Empress Dowager was well aware of.
Xiaosuisui had clearly left the palace only this morning, yet she had reappeared within its walls before dusk. This spoke volumes.
"Yes, there’s been progress," Xiaosuisui replied crisply.
"Oh! So you accompanied your Seventh Uncle back to the palace to report the findings?" the Empress Dowager inquired further.
Xiaosuisui shook her head. "No, I’m here to help Princess Ata by extracting the Gu Insect from her!"
The Empress Dowager’s eyes widened in surprise. "Suisui, you also know how to handle Gu Insects?"
Xiaosuisui nodded. "I can, I can! My Second Uncle taught me!" She nodded vigorously, brimming with joy.
The Empress Dowager reached out, wanting to pinch her small nose, but there was no way to do so with the veil. "Can you take off that veil?"
Xiaosuisui thought for a moment. "I can!" she said, and then she removed the veil.
"Can’t you have that scar on your face removed?"
Xiaosuisui shook her head. "I can’t. My Second Aunt said that without this scar, I can’t conceal the Spiritual Qi on my body!"
Ji Youlin had once made a scarless mask for Xiaosuisui, but no matter how ordinarily he crafted it, it still didn’t quite achieve the desired effect when worn.
Hearing this, the Empress Dowager felt quite helpless and could only settle for the next best thing. "Then, if you took off that veil and someone showed disgust for the scar on your face, saying you’re ugly, would you be sad?"