Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Su Yi entered the inner chamber and began to undo the clasps, but stopped when she sensed the hidden surveillance had disappeared.

She had something to confirm.

Su Yi raised her hand and sketched symbols in the air. A glowing silver spell circle materialized beneath her feet, centered around her. At the same time, a silver flame-like mark appeared between her eyebrows, and her clothes began to flutter without any wind.

As the mark appeared, the symbols she had sketched in the air sprang to life, spreading out and moving according to her will.

Throughout the imperial city

"Why are all the fish coming out?"

The fish feeder was at first delighted, thinking the fish food had attracted them, but then noticed that although the fish had come out, they didn’t approach. Even the fish that had been nibbling at the food swam away, gathering together as if drawn by something.

"Why aren’t they eating?" The feeder dumped all the fish food into the pond, but the fish still didn’t come, instead clustering together.

In the stables, the previously restless horses suddenly calmed down, and not just the horses in the stables.

Nearly all animals in the imperial city quieted simultaneously, as if cowed by an unseen force, their eyes momentarily dulled.

However, this anomaly lasted only briefly before normality resumed. Those who noticed the oddity soon dismissed it as normalcy returned.

Meanwhile, the symbolic mark bearing Su Yi’s desired information dissolved into an unseen light and returned.

The spell circle beneath her feet faded, and Su Yi swayed, her face paling. The color drained from her face in an instant, and the silver flame mark between her eyebrows disappeared as well.

Typically, Su Yi could oversee palace events without resorting to such measures, even if she didn’t leave the Palace of Eternal Harmony. But this time, the scope extended beyond the palace, necessitating the use of the spell circle.

Yet, even a relatively simple spell circle left her drained. A body untempered by heavenly lightning is indeed frail.

Had she not cast the spell within this body, the heavenly laws would have detected it instantly, summoning a lightning strike.

Su Yi swiftly donned a qipao and had just finished when Yun Hua called from outside.

"Come in," Su Yi said.

Yun Hua entered alone, her garments damp, her face etched with worry. Her voice was tinged with helplessness yet held a trace of amusement.

"Your Highness, Pot Lid... Your Highness! Are you alright?" Yun Hua hurried to Su Yi’s side, grasping her hand and shuddering at its icy touch.

"Your Highness, what’s wrong? Your hand is freezing, and you’re so pale! I’ll summon the imperial physician immediately!" Yun Hua said anxiously, unable to understand how Su Yi, who had been fine just moments ago when she went in to change, now seemed to be ill.

Su Yi eased into a seat. "Calm down, there’s no need for the imperial physician. I’ll recover shortly." She patted her chest, her voice weak and breathy. "Didn’t we prepare some medicinal pills here? I’ll take a few and be fine."

She was just a bit exhausted.

Did they think she was doing something in there because she took a while to change?

Yun Hua wasn’t entirely reassured and still thought it would be better to call the imperial physician, but Consort Rong shook her head. Although she looked weak, she wasn’t coughing up blood, so Yun Hua quickly brought the prepared medicinal pills, took three, and fed them to Consort Rong, giving her water.

Consort Rong, who usually disliked bitter medicine, showed no reaction this time, as if she was too uncomfortable to care about the taste.

Yun Hua held Consort Rong’s hand, worried, and only relaxed when she felt the hand gradually returning to a normal temperature and Su Yi’s complexion improving.

Su Yi smiled at her. "I told you, I was just feeling a bit unwell earlier. Taking a few pills made me feel better." Her voice was no longer as weak as before.

Then Su Yi asked Yun Hua what she had wanted to say earlier.

Yun Hua then remembered and explained, "It's about the cat. It must have gotten scared somewhere today. When I was holding it to give it a bath earlier, it was quite docile.

But as soon as the bath started, it began to fuss. It got all wet and hid in a corner, refusing to come out no matter how much I called. I couldn't reach it either, so I had the eunuch who takes care of it try to coax it out.

I thought I’d come and ask if you wanted to check on the cat. Maybe seeing you, it would come out."

Then she added, "But since you weren’t feeling well earlier, maybe it’s better to rest now. It’s just a bit of a hassle to get it out."

Su Yi laughed softly after hearing this, "Don’t worry, I’m feeling much better now. I should go see my little darling, or it might get upset with me later." Then she stood up with Yun Hua's support.

Seeing Consort Rong walk a few steps without any issues.

It seems she was just feeling a bit uncomfortable earlier and rested in the inner chamber for a longer time. It was just a bit tense; changing clothes naturally takes time.

Seeing that Consort Rong seemed fine, Yun Hua didn't persuade her further.

Consort Rong indeed dotes on the cat. If they don't sleep together at night, she always finds time during the day to play with it.

Su Yi didn’t take Yun Hua’s other hand, instead clenching her own tightly inside her sleeve. The pain in her palm kept her expression normal, looking just as usual.

Su Yi didn't need to bathe the cat herself; there were servants to do that.

Su Yi sat nearby, smiling as she watched the cat. Finally, she held the freshly bathed and dried cat, played with it for a while, and after it fell asleep, she had the servants take it away to care for it.

Su Yi picked up the carving knife again and began to carve. But this time, her focus was noticeably sharper. Earlier, her carving seemed somewhat casual, more like playing and passing time, often ruining several pieces of wood.

But now, every stroke of Su Yi’s knife was more deliberate than before.

Her intense focus kept Qinxin and Yun Hua from daring to disturb Consort Rong.

Qinxin glanced at Yun Hua, asking with her eyes, what about dinner?

Yun Hua: You remind Her Ladyship it's time for dinner.

Qinxin: Why don't you go?

Yun Hua: I'm afraid of disturbing Her Ladyship.

Qinxin: So you're scared, and I'm not?!

After several exchanges of glances, Qinxin finally gave in, planning to try a soft reminder first.

Just as she was about to speak, she saw the Emperor arriving and hurriedly wanted to bow, but Liang Jiugong beside her gestured for them not to make a sound.

Kangxi had recently taken a liking to coming quietly. Normally, when he arrived, the servants would immediately announce his presence loudly to inform everyone that the Emperor had arrived.

But occasionally when he came to Yonghe Palace, Kangxi preferred to come 'quietly,' though this 'quietness' was quite relative.

But it was useful now. Kangxi lightened his footsteps, wanting to walk behind Consort Rong to see what she was carving.

Actually, he didn't need to lighten his footsteps now, as Su Yi was so focused on the wooden plaque that she didn't notice at all.

Because Su Yi had previously said it was best not to disturb her, the servants had been very quiet, doing their tasks softly to avoid disturbing Su Yi.

Otherwise, Qinxin and Yun Hua wouldn't have been so conflicted about whether to remind Consort Rong about dinner.

Kangxi, not noticing where he was stepping, stepped on a piece of wood that had been discarded on the ground and then stepped back.

But she bumped into a stool nearby, which happened to fall over and hit the small table where Su Yi was working on the wooden plaque. The table wobbled slightly from the impact, shifting the wooden plaque on it. The spot where Su Yi's carving knife was about to land shifted, and if it landed in the wrong spot, all the previous work would be wasted. Su Yi jerked the knife in her hand, accidentally slicing the back of her hand. Blood instantly gushed from the wound. Ignoring her hand, Su Yi quickly moved the wooden plaque further away to avoid the blood from staining it. The cut on the back of her hand was deep, and the blood flowed quickly, soon covering her entire hand, making it look downright terrifying.

"Ah!" came the exclamations and gasps from the servants.

Everything happened so quickly.

Kangxi's face darkened instantly, and he stepped forward to grab Su Yi, though he was careful not to use too much force. His voice was sharp and unrestrained, "Handkerchief! Call the imperial physician!"

The entire Yonghe Palace, frozen in a moment of stillness, suddenly burst into action, with everyone starting to move.

A servant immediately handed over a clean handkerchief, which Kangxi took and pressed onto Su Yi's bleeding hand. Only then did he turn to Su Yi, "What were you doing just now? Stabbing your hand like that—do you even care about it?!"

He threw the blood-stained carving knife to the ground.

His voice was laced with anger and frustration.

"It was just an accident," Su Yi defended herself after being scolded.

Kangxi's expression turned icy, "Accidental?!" He had clearly seen that Su Yi had forcefully turned the knife, causing it to cut her hand.

And she called it accidental.

Kangxi glanced at the wooden plaque, now mostly adorned with a floral pattern.

He moved to grab the plaque, but Su Yi was faster, grabbing it with her uninjured hand.

It was nearly done, and she’d just risked her hand to protect it, unwilling to let it be damaged.

Kangxi’s hand closed on nothing, and seeing that Su Yi was still concerned about the plaque at this moment, he was torn between anger and amusement. He shot her a glare, noticing the handkerchief he was pressing was nearly drenched in blood.

The cut was clearly deep, with blood gushing out so fast that it had stained the handkerchief in no time. He turned to the servants nearby, "Handkerchief!"

Seeing Kangxi's intimidating expression, the servants didn't dare to delay and immediately handed over a clean handkerchief.

Kangxi took it, threw the blood-soaked handkerchief aside, and pressed the new one onto the wound. As he momentarily lifted the handkerchief to check the wound, he saw how deep the cut was.

Yun Hua was frantically searching through the medicines stored in Yonghe Palace, looking for something to stop the bleeding. In her frantic search, she knocked over several bottles.

But there was no time to worry about that now. At last, she found a medicine to stop the bleeding and exclaimed in relief, "Found it! This powder can stop the bleeding!"

"Bring it over quickly!"

Yun Hua hurried over and opened the bottle. Kangxi moved the handkerchief aside and stepped back.

He had intended to apply the medicine himself, but Kangxi, who was usually waited on by others and had never done such things himself, didn't know how. So he stepped aside and let Yun Hua apply the medicine to Su Yi.

Yun Hua poured the medicine onto the wound, and the moment it made contact, the sting was intense. Su Yi's hand twitched involuntarily, and Kangxi scolded in a low voice, "Don't move."

Su Yi couldn't help but hiss in pain, and Kangxi said, "Be gentle!"

"Yes."

But it was no use—the pain was unavoidable as the powder touched the wound.

Just as the medicine was applied, it stung and hurt, but it would feel better later.

"Your Highness, just hang in there, it’ll get better soon."

Yun Hua was comforting her on the side, looking extremely anxious. Her hand trembled uncontrollably as she applied the medicine, and her voice also had a quiver, as if it were her own hand that was cut.

The maids around were also extremely nervous, as if they were the ones in pain. Some couldn't help but cover their eyes, looking as if they were in great agony.

Su Yi, however, remained the calmest. It was indeed painful, but it was bearable, so she could still endure it.

But these maids, and Kangxi beside her, all seemed more nervous than she was, making her appear the most composed in comparison.

Su Yi couldn't help but wonder, if she were to throw herself into Kangxi's arms now, sobbing and asking for a comforting hug, would it still be okay?

The wound was quite deep, and even after applying a lot of healing powder, the bleeding hadn't ceased.