Before long, the skewer laden with candied hawthorn was nothing but a bare bamboo stick.
Cat Immortal took the bamboo stick back into the room and, seeing no one around,
slipped it sideways into her mouth, licking the sweetness left on the bamboo.
After a long while, Cat Immortal heaved a heavy sigh.
She turned into a cat and plopped down on a stool.
ε=(´ο｀*))) Sigh.
"Cat Immortal doesn't want to be a grown-up anymore~"
The Imperial Palace, the Palace of Eternal Longevity.
By then, Zhao Ling'er had already donned the official robes that only a first-rank official was entitled to wear.
She sat outside the court antechamber, resting with her eyes closed.
"Minister Zhao, Minister Zhao..."
The Empress's chief personal maid spoke beside her.
"Her Majesty summons you to answer her questions."
Zhao Ling'er opened her eyes, answered, and rose to walk toward the inner hall.
Upon reaching the entrance to the inner chamber, she stopped.
She bowed in greeting. Kneeling and kowtowing were seldom practiced in Great Sui.
Unless the occasion was particularly momentous,
ordinary officials generally needed only to bow when meeting the emperor.
"Come in."
The Empress's cool voice came from the inner chamber.
Zhao Ling'er entered and bowed again.
"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty. It has been many years. Has Your Majesty been in good health?"
"I am well. Give her a seat."
A minister governing an entire region was naturally entitled to sit in the inner chamber.
Zhao Ling'er sat down.
Before her, the Empress sat on a throne in the center of the inner chamber, with the Eight Trigrams arranged on all sides.
Gauze curtains drifted, the Empress concealed in shadow.
There were shadows within the lines, and lines within the shadows.
The real and the illusory alternated, creating quite an