Chapter 046

Chapter 046

Just thinking about it, Su Yi seemed to lose her energy. She leaned gently against Qinxin, her expression growing weary. "After walking all that way, I'm exhausted. It was a real struggle to get back."

She started whining about being tired, feeling sore all over.

Qinxin, who was being leaned on, remained silent: ...

She dutifully supported Consort Rong, playing along. "Your Highness, are you okay? Just hang in there a bit longer, you'll be able to rest soon."

She didn't mention how Consort Rong had been striding briskly in her platform shoes, full of energy until just before entering Yonghe Palace, and why she suddenly lost her energy upon returning. She knew nothing about it.

When Su Yi saw Liang Jiugong, his face creased with smiles, she responded with a forced smile.

When she had seen Liang Jiugong before, the chief steward had been somewhat aloof, but now he was smiling with wrinkles.

Well, it was a nice smile, but let's not do that again.

After Liang Jiugong greeted her with a smile, he said, "Consort Rong, you've finally returned. His Majesty has been waiting for you inside for a while now."

His Majesty had followed and arrived at Yonghe Palace after Consort Rong, who had taken a detour, yet he still arrived faster and had been waiting for some time.

It just goes to show how much of a detour Consort Rong had taken.

Whatever these two had to say, they should say it face to face and stop messing with his head.

In just this short time, Liang Jiugong felt like he had aged years.

Su Yi really wanted to let out a few choice words in her head. So she had taken a detour for no reason. Just thinking about it made her furious. If she had known, she wouldn't have bothered with the detour.

"Oh—" Su Yi glanced at the sky, and Liang Jiugong, puzzled, followed her gaze.

"The sun hasn't set in the east, so how come His Majesty has time to visit Yonghe Palace? How unusual," Su Yi feigned surprise.

Liang Jiugong chuckled, "Consort Rong, you're joking." Then he gestured for her to enter.

Still the same Consort Rong as ever.

Su Yi walked very slowly, dragging her feet, even slower than when she had just returned. But no matter how much she dawdled, she eventually made it to the main hall.

Just as she arrived, before she could decide how to face Kangxi, a small apricot-yellow figure rushed over. Su Yi reached out and pressed, her hand landing on a small head. The little milk dragon was suspended in mid-air, still in the motion of rushing over.

The little milk dragon waved his short arms, still unable to reach Su Yi's hem. He asked, confused, "Consort Rong...?"

Su Yi coughed and let go. It was just a reflex. "Oh, it's the little prince. What brings you here?"

The little milk dragon, having just rushed over and not managed to hug her, felt a bit shy now that the momentum was gone. He stood there, rubbing his little hands, "Came to see... Consort Rong."

With such an adorable little cutie in front of her, Su Yi suddenly felt her back and legs no longer ached.

She smoothly removed the protective armor from her hands and handed it to Qinxin to hold. Now that she was back, she wouldn't wear the armor anymore. It was really easy to poke someone, and sometimes it was hard to tell friend from foe.

While poking others, she couldn't avoid getting poked herself.

After removing the armor, Su Yi opened her arms towards the little milk dragon, who had been looking at her with sparkling eyes. Her eyes were filled with gentle warmth as she softly said, "It's so good that you came to see me. Can I hug you?"

Let her take the initiative. There's nothing wrong with being proactive.

The little milk dragon held back his urge to jump up and down, inched forward, and whispered, "Yes, I can."

Then he was pulled into a warm, familiar hug. He was a little unsure, almost afraid to move, but his heart was exploding with joy, like fireworks—he was hugged!

Su Yi easily scooped up the little milk dragon, who let out an excited "Wow!" His chubby arms clung to Su Yi's neck, and he obediently rested on her shoulder without moving.

Su Yi couldn't help but marvel at how well-behaved he was.

Some kids are cute, but when you hold them, they squirm and kick like little devils. If their shoes are even slightly dirty, they leave footprints all over your clothes.

Kangxi had been standing there for some time, but Consort Rong hadn't even glanced his way. He cleared his throat loudly to make his presence known.

Su Yi, cradling the soft little milk dragon, didn't want to put him down.

The little milk dragon, too, was overjoyed by the familiar scent. Their eyes lit up in perfect harmony.

They completely ignored Kangxi, who was fake-coughing. Kangxi coughed louder, but Consort Rong and Baocheng were too wrapped up in each other to notice.

Kangxi coughed even louder, determined to get their attention.

Liang Jiugong stood to the side, staring at his boots and trying to blend into the background. He didn't want to witness the Emperor's embarrassment, lest he face consequences later.

All of a sudden, Consort Rong covered her nose and mouth, saying, "Who caught a cold? Go rest up and come back when you're feeling better. Don't push yourself."

Liang Jiugong: !!

Kangxi, who had been pretending to cough, accidentally choked and started coughing for real.

This was far more convincing than his earlier performance.

Su Yi could no longer ignore Kangxi.

She covered her slightly parted lips, pretending to be surprised, "Oh my, isn't that His Majesty?"

Still holding the little milk dragon, she said, "I'm not in a state to greet you properly, Your Majesty. Please forgive me."

Even though she could easily half-squat while holding the little milk dragon, she chose not to bow, using the excuse to avoid formalities.

Without waiting for Kangxi's reply, she headed to her seat, still holding the little milk dragon. Liang Jiugong was still patting Kangxi's back to help him catch his breath.

Liang Jiugong watched as Consort Rong took her seat with the Crown Prince, calmly observing him and the Emperor, her expression unfazed, as if asking, "Are you done yet?"

The little milk dragon sat beside Su Yi, curiously watching his father. He wondered why his father was coughing—he had been fine earlier. If his father were sick, he would have known.

Both of them stared at Kangxi, who had been overlooked earlier but was now the focus of their attention.

Kangxi steadied his expression and calmly explained, "My throat was a bit dry and itchy, so I couldn't help but cough a couple of times."

His overly serious act made Su Yi want to roll her eyes. She simply said, "Oh."

The little milk dragon, however, remembered his father and asked with concern, "Father, is your throat uncomfortable? Then don't talk. I'm here with Consort Rong. I'll talk to her for you."

He seemed to say, "Don't worry, Father, I'll keep the conversation going. If your throat hurts, just let me do the talking."

What a natural little troublemaker.

Su Yi couldn't help but laugh. Well done!

Kangxi glared at his troublesome son, itching to give him a good smack on the rear.

Consort Rong, though smiling gently, couldn’t hide the mischief in her eyes.

After not seeing her for a while, Consort Rong was still the same—no, she’d grown even bolder.

Kangxi walked over, hands clasped behind his back, and sat down. "I’m perfectly fine," he said.

Consort Rong forced a smile. "That’s wonderful," she said insincerely.

'Hehe.'

Kangxi wondered why Consort Rong’s laugh felt so off.

"Might I ask what brings Your Majesty to Yonghe Palace?"

Consort Rong asked with a bright smile, as if Kangxi’s earlier outburst meant nothing to her.

'Go on, what do you want now?'

'We just had a bit of peace, and now it’s back to chaos.'

'What a pain!'

Kangxi thought: The same tone, the same act—it was definitely Consort Rong.

He’d been giving Consort Rong the cold shoulder, hoping to curb her seemingly gentle but actually defiant nature.

But Consort Rong was living her best life, completely unfazed by being ignored, sleeping until noon every day, having meals, and then taking a nap. In the afternoon, she’d leisurely listen to the eunuchs telling stories.

Sadness? Consort Rong didn’t have any.

She went about her days in Yonghe Palace as if she hadn’t a clue he was upset.

Today, when he was in the imperial garden, Consort Rong spotted him—and then turned right around and left.

Though Kangxi kept a straight face, he was fuming inside.

He stormed back to the Qianqing Palace, but then it hit him—wouldn’t that be playing right into Consort Rong’s hands?!

He should head to Yonghe Palace instead, to show Consort Rong that her little detour was pointless—he’d still catch up with her there!

Yes! That’s it.

But after a few steps, Kangxi hesitated. Since Consort Rong hadn’t sent anyone with a peace offering, wouldn’t it make him look desperate to go to Yonghe Palace?

Not a chance!

After a moment, Kangxi came up with a workaround.

A way to make it seem casual while still saving face.

Bring Baocheng with him!

When the little milk dragon heard his imperial father was taking him to Yonghe Palace to see Consort Rong, he rubbed his hands in excitement and trotted right after him.

He figured his imperial father had guessed he wanted to see Consort Rong and had brought him along on purpose, which made him over the moon. He was already planning to ask his imperial father next time if he could visit Consort Rong on his own, without tagging along.

After all, there’s only one Consort Rong, and having the imperial father around would just get in the way.

He can come on his own next time.

Upon discovering the little milk dragon's inner thoughts, Kangxi almost ruined the warm scene of fatherly affection and filial piety on the way, but he managed to hold back, ensuring a peaceful arrival at Yonghe Palace.

Noticing that Consort Rong hadn't returned yet, Kangxi couldn't help but wonder about her reaction when she saw him.

Now that he saw it, she really didn't seem pleased to see him.

Kangxi felt a bit awkward, but expecting Consort Rong to soften first seemed impossible.

He ended up saying, "Baocheng wanted to see you, so I brought him along to visit you."

Sons are indeed useful tools at critical moments.

The little milk dragon, used as an excuse by his father, still smiled goofily, nodding vigorously beside him, saying, "Yes!"

Then he leaned against Su Yi's arm, nuzzling it, "Otherwise, I wouldn't know when I could see Consort Rong again, and Consort Rong can't come to see me often either."

There was a touch of disappointment in his voice.

Hearing this, Su Yi's heart softened, and she reached out to pat the little milk dragon's head, "Isn't this a meeting now?"

'Oh my, why is he so eloquent?'

'So sweet.'

Su Yi was extremely excited but could only pat his head, feeling that Kangxi's presence was a bit of a nuisance.

'Is this dog man so free that he has to tag along?'

'Tsk, so pointless.'

The little milk dragon also secretly thought, 'If the Emperor hadn't come along, I might have gotten another hug from Consort Rong. With the Emperor here, I don't dare; he would surely say I'm a big boy now and shouldn't be so clingy.'

Kangxi listened expressionlessly to the thoughts of both the elder and the younger, who both found him unnecessary.

"I didn't expect you and Baocheng to get along so well, Consort Rong. It seems you've hit it off after just a few meetings."

He started to make conversation.

"Yes, you're right, I didn't expect it either. Maybe it's fate," Su Yi replied perfunctorily.

'The real reason can't be said, really scraping the bottom of the barrel for conversation, insisting on bringing it up.'

The little milk dragon just smiled goofily without speaking, feeling a bit guilty towards the Emperor in his heart.

This was a little secret between him and Consort Rong, not to be told to anyone, not even the Emperor.

Kangxi: Already knew.

Kangxi watched as the elder casually made up stories, and the younger couldn't hide the guilt in his eyes.

"I heard you went out for a walk earlier, and you seem to be in much better spirits." Even daring to go out and make a scene.

Yipin was livid when she saw Consort Rong off.

After hearing about Yipin's reaction, Kangxi felt a subtle sense of balance, realizing he wasn't the only one who could be angered by Consort Rong.

"Just went out to visit and chat a bit," Su Yi said softly with a smile.

'What's it to you?'

'You hear this, you hear that, do you have nothing better to do?'

After not seeing Consort Rong for a while, she's become even more sharp-tongued. What she says isn't infuriating, but the thoughts she mutters in her heart are what really make Kangxi feel a pang.

"I'm just concerned about you. It's been a while since we last met, and you seem to be doing quite well."

Upon hearing this, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I'm doing quite well, all thanks to your favor," Su Yi said in a deliberately sweet and delicate voice.

It was a normal statement, but with her voice pitched like that, it sounded really weird.

'Grossing you out.'

Kangxi felt uncomfortable and wanted to clean out his ears, "Consort Rong, just talk normally."

"Alright," Su Yi replied cheerfully, still in that same tone.

'I'm not going to.'

"Baocheng, what do you think about this?" Kangxi couldn't help but call out to his son.

The little milk dragon, when called upon, said, "No, Consort Rong sounds really sweet and nice." He didn't find it strange at all, why did the Emperor find it strange?

The little milk dragon, without any bias, whispered to Su Yi, "Consort Rong, it's fine, you sound perfectly normal."

Su Yi was so touched, 'He really is such a little sweetheart!'

"Thank you, little prince. I'm really fine. Your father doesn't like me talking like this, don't think he's being weird. It's my fault for not doing better, that's why your father is so hard on me, really, it's no big deal."

Su Yi, the green tea, is in full effect.

The tea vibes made Kangxi feel something was off as he listened. What did Consort Rong mean, he was being critical... of her??!

Wasn't Consort Rong referring to herself?

Why is she flipping it around?!

Isn't she the one who's being critical???

"Consort Rong, what are you getting at?" Kangxi's tone was not good, and his face was a bit pale.

Su Yi, on the side, weakly held a handkerchief, pretending to wipe away tears that hadn't actually fallen.

It really seemed like Kangxi's attitude towards Su Yi was all over the place, now cold, now hot.

The little milk dragon had a look that said, 'Father, how could you?!'

Kangxi almost laughed in anger again, this long-awaited feeling of frustration, though late, was sure to come!

Just as Kangxi was about to say something, he noticed that Consort Rong's palm holding the handkerchief was a bit red, "Consort Rong, what happened to your hand?"

He only knew that Consort Rong had gone to Yikun Palace and then to Yipin's place, but he didn't know what exactly had happened.

The little milk dragon immediately went over to see what was wrong with Su Yi's hand, his little hands starting to pull at Su Yi's hand to look.

"Ah!" the little milk dragon exclaimed.

Su Yi's palm was red and had some blisters in places, contrasting sharply with her other normal, fair and tender palm, looking somewhat shocking.

"What’s going on?! Didn’t these servants notice your hand was burned like this?"

Kangxi’s tone was stern as he looked at the maids and eunuchs who had returned with Consort Rong.

Seeing the confusion and panic on their faces, Kangxi realized that none of them had noticed the injury.

The mistress’s hand was burned like this, and yet not a single one of them had noticed.

"What are you standing around for? Go fetch the imperial physician, now!" Kangxi’s voice was sharp with anger.

Qinxin’s face turned pale. She hadn’t noticed Consort Rong’s injury on the way back because the Consort had acted so normally, as if nothing had happened. That’s why she missed the fact that Consort Rong’s hand was burned.

During the return, Consort Rong had been holding a handkerchief and acting so naturally that Qinxin hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

This was her negligence. She had only just realized that the mistress’s hand was burned.

She quickly knelt down, trembling. "It’s all my fault. I failed to notice the mistress’s injury." Qinxin’s face was pale, her voice shaking. She knew punishment was inevitable, especially since she had been right beside the mistress.

"You deserve to be punished," Kangxi said sternly, but before he could continue, Su Yi cut in.

"Wait!" Su Yi called to the eunuch. "No need for the imperial physician. It’s just a small burn—some ointment will do."

What else could the imperial physician do but prescribe ointment?

"I said, summon the imperial physician," Kangxi commanded, his voice rising.

The eunuch hesitated, but Su Yi shrugged, letting him off the hook. He hurried out.

Her casual tone prompted the little milk dragon to grab her hand. "Consort Rong, don’t move. Be careful with your hand."

Su Yi motioned for Qinxin to rise. "We haven’t had a drop of water since we got back. Go check if there’s any warm water."

Kangxi glared at her. Was Consort Rong too soft on her maids? One had been injured that morning, and now she was heading out to settle scores.

Now, when he tried to scold her maid, she stopped him.

Qinxin glanced at His Majesty. Seeing he wasn’t looking her way, she knew she was off the hook.

When His Majesty had spoken, she braced for punishment, but the mistress intervened, making an excuse to dismiss her. Out of respect for the mistress, His Majesty let it go.

Qinxin kept her expression neutral, but inside, she was deeply grateful. "Yes, mistress. I’ll see to it at once."

"Let me see your hand," Kangxi said, leaning closer.

At first, the three of them were sitting comfortably, but as Kangxi moved closer, the little milk dragon in the middle felt squeezed.

The little milk dragon suddenly felt squished. Ahhh! His Majesty was taking up all the space!

He was trapped in the middle, unable to move!

Because his thoughts were so noisy, Kangxi simply picked him up and placed him on the other side.

Now, it wasn’t crowded anymore.

The little milk dragon blinked, realizing where he was sitting now, and felt even more aggrieved!

His face scrunched up into a pout, clearly upset!

How could Father be like this?!

Now it’s not crowded anymore, but he can’t sit next to Consort Rong anymore!

With a tearful face, he wanted to look over at Consort Rong, only to see Father’s broad back. Father, he, he blocked Consort Rong!!

He can’t even see Consort Rong’s face!?

The little milk dragon wanted to look at Liang Jiugong. After meeting the little prince’s gaze, Liang Jiugong awkwardly touched his nose, signaling he couldn’t help and that the little prince should figure it out himself.

Kangxi held Su Yi’s hand and looked at it for a while, unsure what to do. “It’s burned so badly, Consort Rong. Aren’t you feeling anything?”

Su Yi leaned casually to the side and said, “It’s okay, just a bit of a burning sensation.”

‘Anyway, that Wanbi has already been burned badly, this is nothing compared to that.’

‘Totally worth it,’ she thought.

Kangxi’s nervous demeanor made her a bit uncomfortable.

“Alright, just apply some medicine for a few days, ah!” Su Yi exclaimed, then glared at Kangxi, “What are you doing?!” He almost popped the blister on her hand!

‘Truly a jerk, catching me off guard like that!’

‘What if the blister pops?!’

‘Thought you’d changed, but here you are messing with me.’

Su Yi pulled her hand back and checked it carefully. Thankfully, the blister wasn’t broken, or it would’ve been a nightmare if it got wet later.

“You said it was nothing, didn’t you?” Kangxi replied.

“Fine, it was my mistake, my hand really hurts, wah wah wah.” Su Yi started to pretend to cry, covering half her face with a handkerchief.

‘Do I really have to cry for you to take me seriously?’

‘Fine, fine, I’ll satisfy you.’

Kangxi flicked her forehead with a loud snap, almost making Su Yi let out a curse.

“Behave yourself, Baocheng’s here. Don’t let him pick up your bad habits.” If he starts pretending to cry in front of me later, thinking he’s doing a good job.

Su Yi stared at him, baffled: ‘???’

‘Are you serious? What bad habits are you talking about?!’

“What bad habits?” The little milk dragon finally managed to peek out from behind Kangxi and heard Father saying something about not learning bad habits from Consort Rong.

“Consort Rong’s great! I won’t learn any bad habits from her.” He peeked out and gave Su Yi a sweet smile, worried that she might be upset because of her hand injury, he immediately tried to cheer her up.

But since he was so small, only his little head peeked out from behind Kangxi.

Su Yi’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at the little milk dragon behind Kangxi. “So sweet,” she thought.

She wanted to hug the little milk dragon, but Kangxi was in the way, blocking her.

Su Yi couldn’t help but glance at Kangxi, annoyed that he was in the way. This jerk was really hindering her communication with the little milk dragon.

Just a second ago, the little milk dragon was right beside her, and now he’s been shoved aside. Seriously!

So she stood up and tapped Kangxi with her good hand, gesturing for him to scoot over so she could sit.

Kangxi stayed put, holding his breath, curious to see how Consort Rong would react if he didn’t move.

When Kangxi didn’t budge, Su Yi used her small size to squeeze into the middle, shoving him aside.

Done.