Chapter 114

Chapter 114

Time was slipping by, yet the two were still engaged in a fierce staring match. Su Yi had already begun to slightly squint her eyes, trying to fight the urge to blink. Her eyes were getting sore, but she was still holding on.

Kangxi, on the other hand, seemed quite at ease. He hadn’t blinked once since they started, his gaze fixed on Consort Rong without wavering.

'I gotta hand it to you, you really don’t blink, huh?'

In the end, Su Yi's eyes were too sore, and she couldn't help but blink first. Then she swiftly changed the topic, "You've been staring at me for a while, just say what you want to say."

Luckily, she had only been thinking it, not saying it out loud. Blinking is normal, isn’t it?

She totally forgot about the whole ‘whoever blinks first is a dog’ thing.

"My neck is killing me for some reason, Consort Rong, can you explain what's going on?" Kangxi now felt a sharp pain every time he slightly turned his neck, his tone was frosty.

Hearing this, Su Yi leaned forward, ready to reach out and have him turn a bit, "Your neck hurts? Let me check it out?" She wanted to see what was wrong.

Kangxi leaned back, pulling at the sore spot, and couldn't help but hiss in pain, "Back off." His eyes were wary, guarding against Consort Rong suddenly doing something to him again. There was nothing Consort Rong wouldn't dare to do!

"Alright," Su Yi responded promptly, then got up to leave.

If he didn't want her to look, that was even better.

The tone of her voice couldn't hide a bit of joy, it was really hard to conceal.

'It's not that I didn't take care of you, it's that you didn't want me to, less trouble for me.'

"Come back!" Kangxi was really infuriated by Consort Rong, she really knew how to grab the chance to bolt, how could she be so good at it?!

Su Yi sat back down with a good temper, her smile gentle, looking as sweet as pie, "Alright then."

"Don’t dodge the question, explain." Kangxi looked unyielding, his cold eyes staring over, indicating that without a reasonable explanation, this wasn't over!

He wasn’t letting it go.

"Alright, listen to my excuse... no, explanation, I admit, I might’ve, just a little, accidentally, gone a bit overboard." Su Yi gestured a tiny bit with her hands, receiving an expressionless response from Kangxi.

"But wasn’t it for your benefit?" Su Yi said with an innocent look.

Kangxi remained cold-faced, not speaking, planning to see how Consort Rong would try to justify herself. Knocking him out was supposed to help him? He wanted to see what kind of nonsense she could come up with.

"Your Majesty, at that time, I saw that you seemed to have eaten something unclean, looking really out of it, so naturally, I had to get the imperial physician right away."

Su Yi spoke earnestly, as if she really had his best interests at heart, don't doubt it.

"Oh, so I should be grateful you knocked me out just in time?" Kangxi couldn't help but want to grit his teeth, couldn't she just say it directly, why did she have to knock him out at that moment?!

"Your Majesty, as long as you don't blame your concubine, it’s really no big deal, no need to thank me." Su Yi acted as if he was being too polite, it wasn't necessary.

"You really have the nerve to take that." She really knew how to climb up the ladder, quite capable.

"Hmm... why wouldn’t I?" Su Yi tilted her head, showing a proud smile.

'You had no clue what state you were in, did you?!'

'Isn’t it standard to call the imperial physician right away if someone’s drugged, how could you still think about sleeping with someone, huh?'

'Don’t bully me for not having read medical books, what’s with the cliché that being drugged needs yin and yang, harmony, to fix it?'

'Just trying to act shamelessly, tsk.'

Kangxi was overwhelmed by a barrage of mental attacks and was left speechless.

After a moment of silence, Kangxi finally spoke again, "You are one of my concubines," reminding Consort Rong of her status.

So why does she always reject him.

"Yes, that's why I am very concerned about Your Majesty's health and immediately summoned the imperial physician. I even chose to tarnish my own reputation to protect Your Majesty's dignity, claiming that I was the one who was ill and insisted that Your Majesty call the imperial physician to see me."

Su Yi conveniently took out the handkerchief she had tucked away, ready to wipe her tears.

She looked on the verge of tears but held back, appearing to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

'It happened so suddenly, I didn't even have time to prepare the handkerchief properly. Damn it, I can't even shed a tear.'

Su Yi's face was full of melancholy as she spoke earnestly,

"Although my reputation as a concubine might suffer later, after all, Your Majesty, you can't let people know that you accidentally took that kind of indescribable drug.

If people were to find out, where would your imperial dignity stand? It would seem as though anyone could easily drug you. In the future, they might think it's easy to do so and might even resort to poisoning. But as Your Majesty's concubine, it is my duty to consider Your Majesty's well-being. Besides, that kind of indescribable drug is harmful to the body, as the imperial physician would confirm!"

Su Yi spoke with a serious face, like a school principal lecturing a child, "You must not jeopardize your health for fleeting pleasure. That would be on me."

'For instance, if things go awry and that thing becomes unusable, what then? I cannot shoulder the blame for this.'

Kangxi's face darkened with each word, almost black with imperial rage. This was likely the most significant crisis he had encountered in his imperial reign!

He knew that Consort Rong's words would never be favorable!

"You are truly considerate, showing such concern for me." Kangxi's words were extremely insincere, and after speaking, he could taste blood in his mouth.

Seeing this, Su Yi, the concubine, wanted to reach out and hold Kangxi's face, but his face was still wet and hadn't been dried. Not wanting to wet her hands, she feigned a gesture and instead rested her hand on the edge of the bathtub, saying, "Your Majesty, I am genuinely relieved that you see it this way."

'Do visit again, my dear.'

Kangxi didn't want to speak with his concubine any longer. He feared that continuing the conversation would only fuel his anger. "Enough, keep to yourself and do not disturb me."

After saying this, Kangxi closed his eyes, leaned back against the bathtub, and assumed an unapproachable expression.

Su Yi complied without causing further disturbance and turned back to the bed. As she walked, she nonchalantly removed the qipao dress she was wearing, revealing her nightgown, and then casually threw the clothes onto the clothes rack.

She lifted the blanket, lay down, and covered herself, preparing to sleep. Her actions were executed with remarkable fluidity.

However, just as Su Yi was about to fall asleep, the sound of water from Kangxi's side interrupted her sleep, but only for a moment, and then the sound stopped.

Su Yi endured it and prepared to fall asleep again, but suddenly the sound of water started again. Su Yi irritably turned over and covered her head with the blanket.

Just as Su Yi was about to fall asleep again, determined to ignore the sound of water, something fell to the ground on Kangxi's side, much louder than the sound of water, pulling Su Yi back from the brink of sleep.

It was clear now, this man was doing it on purpose.

With a somber expression, Su Yi sat up, clutching the blanket, and gazed towards Kangxi's side. Although there was a screen between them, her murderous gaze seemed almost tangible, piercing through the screen to the other side.

But there was no more movement from the other side, as if the previous commotion was just a coincidence.

You win!

Su Yi got out of bed barefoot, not going over to Kangxi's side to confront him, but instead started rummaging through the cabinets looking for something.

Su Yi, woken up multiple times, was still a bit annoyed, so the sound of her rummaging through things was quite loud, as if saying, "If I can't sleep, neither will you."

Hearing the noise, Kangxi raised his voice and said coldly, "Consort Rong, what are you looking for by rummaging through everything? I told you not to bother me. Are you trying to defy me?" After speaking, a slight smirk played on his lips.

"Alright, I'll be more careful," Su Yi couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Well, he didn't say anything about what he was doing earlier, making noises one after another, not letting anyone sleep.

Now he's the one complaining about the noise. Unbelievable!

Fortunately, Su Yi also found what she was looking for.

She picked up the heavy black box and a much smaller one.

Su Yi placed these two boxes on the table and opened them. The larger, heavier box held chunks of precious wood in various colors.

The smaller box held sharp carving tools.

Su Yi grabbed a carving knife that felt just right, then picked a piece of wood from the box and started carving on it.

The knife felt natural in her hand, slicing through the wood like butter.

She had promised to prepare a gift for the little milk dragon, and now she was just starting. Though Su Yi carved intently, she had no idea what she was making, so she was just testing the feel. Luckily, she had a pile of wood to experiment with.

Su Yi, a procrastinator at heart, hadn't touched the black box for days, just like when she was rushing to finish homework, not wanting to do it until the last moment.

Now, unable to sleep, she finally remembered.

Great, now she wouldn't have to rush at the last minute!

Kangxi only heard rustling, no words from Consort Rong, and couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing?" He snapped his mouth shut in irritation.

When Consort Rong didn't reply, Kangxi gave up asking. He really didn't want to know what Consort Rong was doing.

After a while, soaking in the cold water, Kangxi's body cooled down, and he didn't want to stay in the water any longer, so he got up.

Kangxi peeled off his wet clothes and toweled off hastily, then picked up the prepared clothes and fumbled into them.

Usually, there were maids to help him dress, so Kangxi naturally didn't need to dress himself, hence his movements were not smooth.

Kangxi knew better than to expect Consort Rong to help him dress. She wouldn't obediently help him, and it was highly likely she would pretend not to hear!

After Kangxi dressed himself and came out, he saw what Consort Rong, who hadn't responded earlier, was doing.

She was busy carving something.

Su Yi, absorbed in her work, didn't notice Kangxi watching her struggle with the wood.

Kangxi instinctively walked over quietly, wanting to see what Consort Rong was carving, but he couldn't tell what she was trying to make.

She looked very serious, but it didn't seem like she was carving anything, more like aimlessly shaving the wood, though her posture was quite impressive.

Kangxi watched from behind as Consort Rong whittled a palm-sized block of wood down to a nub, still shapeless.

"Sigh," Su Yi couldn't help but sigh, throwing the remaining small piece of wood aside and preparing to pick up another piece to continue, when she heard Kangxi's voice from behind, "Hmph."