Xuandi loathed that ugly, inhuman face. He slapped Luo Dangdang across the face, shoving his face away, and said irritably:
"Nonsense! Why would I bother lying to you? Didn't your master tell you that?"
Upon hearing this, Luo Dangdang's face fell even more, and she muttered softly, "My master was murdered. Before he died, in order to protect us, he suddenly drove my brother and me down the mountain."
Although he was muttering softly, Xuan Di heard it. His expression of disgust paused, and he couldn't help but frown. However, he glanced at the crowd of people around him and swallowed the question that was on the tip of his tongue without making a sound.
The playful little dumpling, seeing her mischievous fifth brother blocking her view, immediately puffed up and jumped onto Xuandi's back, grumbling and shouting in her sweet little voice, "Mischievous fifth brother! Niannian wants to play too!"
Xuan Di reluctantly slung the little bundle over his shoulder, letting his little sister cling to his neck, and sighed softly, "Alright, alright, how about Fifth Brother takes Nian Nian to play with talismans when she grows up?"
"No! I want to play now!" The little dumpling pouted, looking both fierce and spoiled.
Xuan Di was having a terrible headache listening to the little dumpling's persistent baby voice, so he quickly gave Zhuang You a look.
Zhuangyou, who had been watching the siblings' "heartwarming interaction" with a smile, was taken aback and quickly wiped the overly gloating smile off her face.
She coughed lightly to cover her mouth, then quickly stepped forward to hug the girl, smiling gently as she coaxed, "Little princess, let's stop playing now. The snake soup is almost ready. Let's wash our little hands and eat the soup, okay? We'll play again later!" (You'll forget about it later.)
Zhuangyou met her little princess's hesitant gaze and smiled tenderly.
The little dumpling was thinking about the delicious snake soup, and then glanced into Luo Dangdang's arms. By now, the yellow talisman had been hidden very well, and the little dumpling could no longer see it.
In the end, the little gluttonous girl still gave a soft "humph," pouted her little mouth, and proudly chose to eat the soup.
Zhuang You smiled radiantly, gently and tenderly taking her little darling into her arms, and told Xia Yi to quickly fetch water to wash her little darling's hands.
While the little one was focused on eating his soup, the adults quickly got down to business.
Xuandi tactfully stepped aside, and the Empress Dowager also pushed away Emperor Chongjin, who was supporting her—she wasn't so old that she needed someone to help her stand for long; her attempts to curry favor were completely ineffective, and she was still angry! Humph.
Ignoring her son who had just angered her, the Empress Dowager waved away the eunuch who was about to step forward and restrain Luo Dangdang again, and asked with concern, "Taoist priest, I see that you have considerable Taoist skills. Do you really have a way to bring back those children who have turned to ashes?"
Seeing the genuine expectation in the Empress Dowager's eyes, not just a pretense by a ruler to gain fame, Luo Dangdang solemnly shook his whisk and bowed to her.
However, just as Luo Dangdang was about to explain to the Empress Dowager, a voice suddenly cut in from behind him in a very impolite manner, full of contempt and sneer.
"A miraculous transformation? Your Majesty, don't listen to these charlatans spouting nonsense! It's utter rubbish, utterly laughable!"
Hearing the disdain and contempt in the other person's tone, Luo Dangdang immediately turned around angrily and saw an old man in his sixties dressed in a mismatched manner walking towards her, his eyes filled with the same contempt as his words.
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