Chapter 107

Chapter 107

"I’ve missed Baocheng so much. It's been a long time since I last saw him, and he looks like he’s lost some weight," Su Yi said affectionately, gently caressing the little milk dragon's cheek with a worried expression.

Qinxin: "..."

Qinxin scrutinized the little prince. He didn’t look thinner at all; in fact, he seemed taller and stronger. How could Her Ladyship think the little prince had lost weight?

After hearing this, Kangxi looked at Baocheng, who had recently grown taller and stronger, and remained silent. What is Consort Rong seeing?

The little milk dragon stayed silent, but his eyes begged for a hug.

Su Yi was tempted to feign ignorance, because the little one looked a lot heavier now.

Those puppy eyes are hard to resist.

Su Yi caved and picked up the little milk dragon, who was being all cute. After all, she had always held the little one like this before.

Noticing how much heavier he felt, she thought to herself, you shouldn’t have said that so lightly.

The little milk dragon happily hugged her neck. Oh, what a delightful little weight.

Claiming you’ve lost weight is just a polite way of saying it. The little one is still a handful to carry.

Su Yi stood and held him for a while, then quickly sat back down with the little milk dragon in her arms. Standing is exhausting; sitting is way better.

"When did Baocheng get here? I completely missed it," she asked gently and softly.

As Su Yi said this, Kangxi shot her a sidelong glance, his eyes clearly saying, 'Quit pretending; you saw us ages ago and still act clueless,' but Baocheng didn’t catch it.

But Su Yi didn’t bat an eye. If she said she didn’t see, then she didn’t.

The little milk dragon almost blurted out that they’d been here for a while, just hiding.

But recalling that he and his dad had been eavesdropping, and shouldn’t let Consort Rong find out, he said, "Um... I came with my father."

That's right, he came with his father. He wasn’t lying, so he wasn’t tricking Consort Rong.

"What was Consort Rong doing just now?"

The little milk dragon asked with a knowing grin, his gums on full display, his eyes full of anticipation. Would Consort Rong spill the beans? Was there a gift in store for him?

Kangxi: Tsk, changing the subject so awkwardly. How did I teach him? Didn’t he learn anything?

"Nothing much, just playing this dart game, it's quite fun."

Su Yi went along with it, feigning ignorance.

She had to avoid the gift issue for now. Luckily, she was smart enough to have mentioned earlier that she wanted to keep some mystery, so the little milk dragon wouldn’t pester her about what it was.

Otherwise, with the little milk dragon looking so expectant, asking her what gift she had prepared for him, if she told him and couldn’t deliver later, she would be in a real fix.

Su Yi picked up the dart and threw it, unsurprisingly missing the target.

So far, there wasn’t a single dart on the target; it was as clean as when it was first hung up, looking very much like a decoration, because the darts always flew everywhere but never hit it.

Su Yi wasn’t embarrassed about missing. She turned to the little milk dragon, "I just can’t hit it; it’s too hard," she said with a troubled expression.

The little milk dragon didn’t laugh at Consort Rong, but his face was full of eagerness, "Consort Rong, Baocheng wants to play too."

Then, under Su Yi's encouraging gaze, the little milk dragon's face turned serious, looking both focused and adorable.

The little milk dragon aimed at the target and threw the dart with force, and the dart landed on the target, just a little off the center. "Not quite on target," he muttered, a bit dissatisfied, then threw another one, which hit the center this time, and the little milk dragon was satisfied.

"Wow, amazing, so skilled!" Su Yi instantly cheered, her face full of admiration.

The little milk dragon, eager to impress Consort Rong, finally heard the praise he desired. He wasn’t usually one to show off, but he really loved hearing Consort Rong praise him.

His serious look melted into shyness, a bit flustered by the praise, but there was a hint of pride in his eyes.

He had already started his archery and riding lessons, so his accuracy with the dart wasn't a problem.

"It’s not that big a deal, not as amazing as Consort Rong makes it out to be," he said, though he was extremely happy after being praised.

"Consort Rong didn't hit the target at all, Baocheng hit it twice, much better than Consort Rong," Su Yi lavished praise, as children need appropriate encouragement and praise.

One was a natural at praising, the other basked in it, and the atmosphere was great.

However, at that moment, a dart was hurled out of nowhere, slammed into the bullseye with a loud thud.

The bullseye had a small area, and this dart landed right on the center point, the force even shaking the flimsy target, causing another dart that had been on the bullseye to fall off.

Su Yi and the little milk dragon turned to look at Kangxi.

Kangxi launched into a serious explanation of dart-throwing techniques, including the force, using Baocheng's earlier throw as an example, saying that even if the throw was accurate, if the force wasn't enough, the dart wouldn't stay firmly in place and could easily fall off, then he explained the technique of throwing.

It quickly turned into a mini lecture.

Su Yi rolled her eyes: "..." Really, no need to be so intense.

The little milk dragon’s cheeks puffed out in frustration: "..." His Majesty is just too much! He knocked my dart off, and now I look bad in front of Consort Rong!!

After finishing, Kangxi looked at the two, thinking he had performed well, and with a serious expression, he secretly waited for their admiring looks.

However, the older one just said, "Oh, got it."

The younger one, cheeks puffed, looked thoroughly annoyed but couldn't get angry because His Majesty was teaching him the key points, so he said, "Baocheng understands, thank you for the guidance, Your Majesty."

Although he said that, his tone had a hint of defiance, different from his usual obedient demeanor when receiving His Majesty's teachings.

Kangxi, expecting admiration, was baffled: "What kind of reaction is this?"

But the two turned their heads and started experimenting with the key points they had just learned, throwing darts one after another, not including him.

They even got the maids to pull out his dart.

Consort Rong secretly grumbled to herself that he had ruined her target.

Baocheng thought, "At least in front of Consort Rong, I’m still the best—His Majesty can’t top that!"

Kangxi’s expression slowly turned into one of ‘benevolence.’

On the other side, Consort Liang wasn't idle either, seemingly always trying to please Consort Tongjia, but actually using each visit to try to find out something.

She would occasionally inquire about something from Consort Tongjia, while also routinely trying to sow discord.

"I heard that the Emperor went to Yonghe Palace again, and he took the Crown Prince with him," Consort Liang said with a worried expression.

Her mention of this was more than it seemed on the surface.

The Crown Prince now resides permanently in the Qianqing Palace with the Emperor, and it is rare for him to meet with the concubines. He is usually taken care of by the Emperor's side, and the harem concubines rarely have contact with him.

"Hmph!" Upon hearing about Consort Rong, Consort Tongjia's expression turned sour, her eyes filled with jealousy.

Seeing that Consort Tongjia didn't grasp the deeper implications, Consort Liang couldn't help but curse inwardly. How could Consort Tongjia not think at all?

If it weren't for the fact that Consort Tongjia was from the Emperor's maternal family and had a cousin relationship with the Emperor, how could someone with her level of intelligence have achieved the position of Consort?

But it suited her just fine—the dumber, the better.

"It's not unusual for the Emperor to take the Crown Prince with him, but the Crown Prince is still young and impressionable, and Consort Rong is skilled at manipulating people. I heard that Consort Rong was very close to the Crown Prince before. Not to mention, the Crown Prince resides in the Qianqing Palace with the Emperor. If the Crown Prince speaks a few good words about Consort Rong in front of the Emperor, alas..."

Isn't that the case?

The Crown Prince is the Emperor's most favored son. If the Crown Prince occasionally speaks well of Consort Rong to others, the impact would be entirely different.

Today, the Emperor finally made time to visit the harem, and he went to Yonghe Palace, taking the Crown Prince with him.

It's hard not to think that the Crown Prince wanted to see Consort Rong, and the Emperor simply followed along. It seems like everything is going Consort Rong's way.

"Consort Rong is really good at scheming!" Consort Tongjia said angrily, finally realizing the situation.

"However, the Crown Prince's closeness to Consort Rong is probably due to the fact that when the Crown Prince was ill, Consort Rong was there to take care of him. The late Empress passed away prematurely, and the Crown Prince was primarily cared for by the palace maids. Otherwise, Consort Rong's schemes wouldn't have worked."

Consort Liang implied that it was all because the Crown Prince no longer has a mother. After all, he is still young and at an age where he craves a mother's care. Consort Rong is adept at pretending, and it's only natural that the Crown Prince couldn't see through her facade and was easily deceived by her appearance.

Although the current Consort Xi is from the Hesheri family, she is not from the same branch as the Crown Prince's maternal family, so there is no connection between them.

"If there were someone from the Crown Prince's maternal family in the harem, they could prevent the Crown Prince from being manipulated by Consort Rong," Consort Liang said.

The Crown Prince's closeness to Consort Rong is troubling. The Crown Prince, favored by the Emperor, has a good relationship with Consort Rong, which will undoubtedly be a great advantage for Consort Rong in the future.

No, it already is.

All of this is because there is no one from the Crown Prince's maternal family in the harem. If there were someone from the Hesheri family in the harem, Consort Rong wouldn't have been able to take advantage of the situation.

It's only because the Empress passed away early that Consort Rong was able to benefit. I don't believe the Hesheri family would stand by and watch the Crown Prince grow closer to Consort Rong while having little contact with his maternal family.

Consort Tongjia was also thinking about this issue. Indeed, they were all wary of the Crown Prince and avoided him.

Getting too close could lead to trouble, and there was no legitimate reason to approach the Crown Prince. Moreover, they feared that approaching the Crown Prince would displease the Emperor, so the concubines dared not casually approach the Crown Prince.

But the Emperor took the Crown Prince to see Consort Rong, which shows that Consort Rong has put in a lot of effort with the Crown Prince.

Among all the concubines, only Consort Rong could approach the Crown Prince without displeasing the Emperor.

Although this is a matter for the Hesheri family to worry about, it is not favorable for them. The Crown Prince doesn't need to say much, but even a slight mention of Consort Rong in front of the Emperor would have a different effect.

Seeing that Consort Tongjia was clearly deep in thought, Consort Liang didn't say anything more to interrupt her.

Consort Tongjia had finally started to think about this. It was difficult for her to explain all this, and she was afraid that Consort Tongjia wouldn't understand, making her efforts in vain.

Later, during the court session, Suo'etu passed by someone from Tong Guowei's side and was subtly mocked by Tong Guowei through others.

Suo'etu's already stern face looked even colder.

What does Tong Guowei mean by insinuating that the Crown Prince is not close to his maternal family but instead favors others? He might even come to see the Niohuru family as his maternal family in the future.

But Tong Guowei was merely discussing common family tales with his colleagues and didn’t directly say it out loud. However, these seasoned officials caught the drift immediately.

When Suo'etu stepped into his sedan chair, his expression was extremely unpleasant.

Indeed, Tong Guowei had struck a nerve. Among the imperial concubines, the Crown Prince was closest to Consort Rong, something Suo'etu had long been aware of.

But his previous attempts not only failed to distance the Crown Prince from Consort Rong but instead, due to her care during the Crown Prince's illness, their relationship grew even closer.

Furthermore, the Emperor found out. If Suo'etu hadn’t confessed and pleaded for mercy in time, the situation would have been difficult to resolve. Now, taking further action is out of the question.

In the palace, the Crown Prince’s original wet nurse was removed, and the maids serving the Crown Prince were all replaced by the Emperor, avoiding anyone from the Hesheri family, which was different from before.

With the Emperor keeping a close watch, making any further moves is nearly impossible.

But in the harem, there must be someone from the Hesheri family to maintain the relationship between the Crown Prince and the Hesheri family!