Chapter 155

Chapter 155

Liang Jiugong entered at the appropriate time to remind the Emperor that it was late and time to rest, while also tidying up the reviewed documents placed to the side.

As he glanced over the desk, about to lower his head and step aside to await the Emperor's instructions, his peripheral vision caught something bright green on the table.

His gaze quickly returned, landing on the small green turtle that stood out sharply among the serious items.

Not only did it stand out, but it also seemed somewhat out of place.

Liang Jiugong stared at the small green turtle, deep in thought. Where did this come from?

And it was a turtle—wasn’t that just a turtle?

Although Liang Jiugong glanced at it and quickly averted his gaze, his expression was subtle and cautious.

But after withdrawing his gaze, it seemed to drift back on its own to take another peek at the small green turtle.

Upon closer inspection, he found the turtle... rather unique.

Its lively demeanor didn’t seem like a proper turtle at all.

Liang Jiugong recalled that the Crown Prince had just visited. Could it be something the Crown Prince left behind? Who would have thought the Crown Prince had such a childish sense of fun.

Kangxi’s icy stare suddenly swept over Liang Jiugong, who was muttering to himself.

The icy stare was immediately and keenly picked up by Liang Jiugong.

Liang Jiugong stiffened, forcing a nervous smile. "Your Majesty, do you have any orders?" His eyes had already shifted away from the small green turtle.

Kangxi withdrew his gaze, picked up his teacup, and took a sip, his expression a bit weary.

Liang Jiugong, standing nearby, tidied up the documents the Emperor had already reviewed, neatly stacked them to the side, and put the brushes back in place. As he moved his sleeve across the desk, he accidentally swept the small rolled-up paper to the edge.

With a slight lift of his hand, the small paper roll disappeared.

The paper roll was indeed very small, and unlike the bright green turtle, Liang Jiugong hadn’t noticed it on the table.

Not only had he not noticed it, but he hadn’t even sensed anything amiss.

"Bang!" The sudden sound of Kangxi slamming the teacup down startled Liang Jiugong, who immediately knelt and pleaded for forgiveness.

"Your Majesty?" His voice trembled, unsure what had displeased the Emperor.

Liang Jiugong’s mind raced, trying to recall what he might have done wrong to upset the Emperor. His head spun, his thoughts were muddled, and he couldn’t pinpoint the reason.

Not knowing where he had erred, he felt a chill run down his back, breaking into a cold sweat, afraid he wouldn’t escape punishment.

"Get out!" Kangxi said sternly.

The words were like a heavenly reprieve, instantly freeing Liang Jiugong from his predicament.

"Yes, Your Majesty, this servant will leave immediately." Liang Jiugong suppressed the urge to gasp, not daring to lift his head, and quickly retreated, not daring to look around.

Only after Liang Jiugong had left did he feel warmth return to his limbs.

Heaven knew how tense he had been, not even daring to swallow his saliva. Serving the Emperor, with his unpredictable moods, was truly challenging.

Liang Jiugong’s heart, no matter how tempered, couldn’t withstand such frequent shocks.

But after careful recall, he still couldn't figure out what improper actions he had taken while tidying up that displeased the Emperor.

If he couldn’t clarify this, and if he were to make the same mistake again, he might not be as lucky as he was now.

But he had just followed his usual habits; where exactly had he gone wrong? Even when organizing the memorials, his gaze would never linger on them, afraid of offending the Emperor.

As he thought, Liang Jiugong wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

As he wiped, he felt something adhered to his forehead.

He reached out to touch his forehead and felt something, but before he could grasp it, the adhered object fell off, flashed by before he could see it.

Seeing it fall, Liang Jiugong quickly glanced down to see what had dropped.

On the other side

After Liang Jiugong left, Kangxi’s eyes swept over the floor, as if checking if anything had fallen.

But the floor was immaculate; the crimson carpet was completely free of any trash or paper scraps, showing the servants' thorough cleaning.

Kangxi:...

With a stern look, he stared at the immaculate carpet, then turned to the desk. He moved a pile of memorials aside and glanced around. The little green turtle, disturbed by Kangxi’s movements, shivered slightly, and its head began to sway again.

Silently rearranged with pursed lips, he still couldn’t find the small paper ball. He sat back down, frustrated.

Outside

When Liang Jiugong wiped his forehead, something adhered fell off. He crouched down to see what it was—a small paper ball.

So that’s what had been stuck to his forehead.

Liang Jiugong, unconcerned, was about to stand up and have a eunuch take care of it.

But before he could rise, he seemed to remember something and paused.

Where had he acquired this small paper ball?

Why didn’t it fall out earlier or later, but just as he was wiping his sweat?

If it had been on him earlier, it would have fallen off long ago without him noticing.

It must have been recently.

Liang Jiugong repeated the motion of wiping his sweat and, upon seeing his sleeve, he suddenly thought. From this angle, could it have fallen from his sleeve...

Paper items like this, he only came into contact with when near the Emperor, especially today.

Could it be that while tidying up earlier, he had inadvertently picked it up from the desk and tucked it into his sleeve?!

At this realization, Liang Jiugong felt a chill.

He crouched down, picked up the small paper ball, and tried tossing it into his rolled-up sleeve. It fit perfectly without any issue.

He repeated the motion of wiping his sweat, but since there was no sweat this time, the paper ball didn’t adhere to his forehead as before. Instead, it fell out of his sleeve, flashed by just like before.

Connecting this to the Emperor’s sudden displeasure earlier...

Liang Jiugong quickly realized: while tidying up the memorials for the Emperor, he must have inadvertently tucked this small paper ball into his sleeve.

The key point is, His Majesty must have noticed the small paper ball was gone in a flash, which is why he suddenly became upset.

Liang Jiugong, who just realized this: !!!

The once light and easily blown away paper ball now felt like a ton of bricks in his hand.

He’s doomed; he just figured it out!

Liang Jiugong looked at the small paper ball he was holding, feeling a bit anxious.

Should he go in and tell His Majesty, or not?

What if His Majesty never found the paper ball, and the content inside was very important to him? If it was lost and couldn’t be found, would His Majesty take it out on him?

The sweat Liang Jiugong had just stopped was now pouring out again.

Liang Jiugong: Just... panicking!

Liang Jiugong held the small paper ball, thinking he still needed to tell His Majesty. Maybe His Majesty was looking for this thing. At worst, he’d get scolded, better than having no chance to fix things when His Majesty blew up.

Before going in, Liang Jiugong called out from outside, "Your Majesty, I have something to report." His heart was racing.

There was silence for a moment, and Kangxi did not respond.

Liang Jiugong had to repeat it, this time raising his voice a bit to make sure His Majesty heard.

Liang Jiugong listened intently, feeling on edge.

Perhaps he was too focused, so he heard a crash from inside.

Apart from that, His Majesty still showed no intention of speaking.

Could something be wrong? Liang Jiugong thought uneasily.

If something happened to His Majesty, it’d be bad. Liang Jiugong was about to call out again. If His Majesty still didn’t respond, he’d go in to check on His Majesty.

As Liang Jiugong fretted, he heard His Majesty say in a somewhat impatient tone,

"Come in!"

Liang Jiugong: Phew, His Majesty’s fine, but why didn’t he answer earlier?

Though he thought this, Liang Jiugong still bowed his head respectfully and walked in, then hurried over to His Majesty before glancing up, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

"What is it?" Kangxi supported his forehead with one hand, seemingly somewhat tired. Even though he tried to control it, his tone still carried a hint of irritation.

His gaze was also a bit cold.

Under His Majesty’s extremely oppressive gaze, Liang Jiugong extended his hands, holding in his palm the small paper ball he had accidentally taken earlier.

He cautiously said, "Your Majesty, I accidentally dropped a small paper ball from my sleeve earlier, and I’m not sure if it belongs to Your Majesty. I think I might have accidentally taken it while tidying up earlier."

Upon hearing this, Kangxi turned around, his gaze even sharper than before, his eyes slightly narrowed, making Liang Jiugong’s heart almost jump out of his chest. Could it be... that it wasn’t His Majesty’s thing?

But human survival instincts always burst forth with infinite possibilities at certain moments,

"I only discovered it after going out and wiping my sweat, something fell to the ground, and I’m not sure what the small paper ball is.

Fearing it might be some important secret, I dared not handle it on my own. After picking it up, I thought to ask Your Majesty to avoid mistakenly discarding something of Yours. If it’s not Yours, I’ll dispose of it immediately."

He didn’t even bother to open it and see what was inside the little paper ball!

“Put it down,” Kangxi said, shifting his gaze and lifting his chin slightly, his tone indifferent, finally retracting the oppressive look from his eyes, appearing neither happy nor angry.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Liang Jiugong said, breathing a sigh of relief, carefully placed the small paper ball on the table, and then tactfully retreated.

Without a word from the Emperor, Liang Jiugong quickly retreated.

Seeing the Emperor’s lack of reaction as he left, he knew he’d done the right thing.

The Emperor had been upset earlier because the small paper ball was missing.

If he hadn’t realized earlier that he’d accidentally taken the paper ball.

Or if it had fallen and he’d ignored it, simply ordering a eunuch to clean up, the Emperor might have been unable to find the small paper ball, and when his anger flared up, Liang Jiugong might have been in trouble without even knowing why.

Liang Jiugong fearfully touched the back of his neck, then slapped his other hand, muttering, “You careless fool!”

After Liang Jiugong left, Kangxi, who’d been holding his forehead, finally rubbed his temple, hissed, and slowly lowered his hand.

The temple Kangxi had covered was slightly red, as if he’d hit it.

When Liang Jiugong tentatively called out, Kangxi was squatting, searching everywhere for the paper ball but couldn’t find it.

Kangxi thought it’d be a waste to stop now, so he stubbornly kept searching, even crawling under the table.

That’s why he missed Liang Jiugong’s usual call.

When Liang Jiugong called louder the second time, Kangxi, still under the table, finally heard.

It’d be improper if Liang Jiugong saw him squatting under the table.

Kangxi suddenly stood, forgetting he was still under the table.

He hit his head with a loud thud.

The impact nearly made him groan, but he endured the pain and quickly returned to his seat.

After adjusting his clothes, he deliberately covered his forehead.

His clothes were fine, and the carpeted floor left no stains.

Then Kangxi called Liang Jiugong in.

When Liang Jiugong said he’d come to deliver the paper ball, Kangxi felt a flash of annoyance.

Though he knew Liang Jiugong couldn’t know, he still felt annoyed.

Noticing his mood, Kangxi quickly composed himself.

He knew Liang Jiugong wouldn’t dare open the paper ball, so he let him put it down.

Kangxi picked up the note he’d been searching for; it made no sense to throw it away unread.

Hmph, he wanted to see what Consort Rong had written—if she’d calmed down and realized her actions were inappropriate.

If she couldn’t come, she might’ve sent a note to reconcile—a first for Consort Rong.

As a magnanimous Emperor, he wouldn’t hold it against her... Kangxi unfolded the paper, about to smile, but froze at its content.

“It seems you’re not seriously hurt,” with a smiley face.