Chapter 208

Chapter 208

"That's enough." If it were something else, Kangxi might have been upset, but now he couldn't afford to get angry over this.

To avoid appearing guilty, he let Liang Jiugong rise.

Kangxi touched the back of his neck and told Liang Jiugong to bring a mirror to see how hard that little rascal had bitten him.

Liang Jiugong, not daring to speak, complied and brought two mirrors to show His Majesty the wound. The bite was quite severe, with a deep mark.

Now, even their playful banter had gotten so intense?!

Kangxi glanced at it and couldn't help but take a sharp breath.

Earlier, he had felt it must have bled, and it had. Now that the blood had clotted, it left a noticeable bite mark. Though the mark wasn't large, it looked quite deep—no joke.

That little rascal really bit hard.

He had been gentle, afraid of hurting her, but that little rascal clearly didn't care about hurting him.

Liang Jiugong cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, should we put on some medicine?"

If left untreated, the wound might worsen. Then we'd have to call the imperial physician, and that would be... ahem...

The bite mark looked fresh. It couldn't have been self-inflicted, so the only other possibility was... sigh, it must have been the Imperial Noble Consort.

Truly, unspeakable.

Liang Jiugong thought, thank goodness it was on the nape of the neck. A higher collar could cover it. If it were more visible, it would be impossible to hide.

This playful banter really tests one's heart.

Liang Jiugong, who had never had a companion, couldn't fully understand.

Meanwhile, Kangxi calmly told Liang Jiugong to bring ointment, appearing as if nothing was wrong.

This was probably what the Imperial Noble Consort meant: as long as you're not embarrassed, no one can embarrass you.

Besides, few would dare to make Kangxi feel awkward.

Except for one particularly rebellious person.

As Liang Jiugong applied the ointment, he wondered if he was overreacting.

There was nothing to be surprised about. His Majesty was so composed.

He gradually felt he was making too much of a fuss.

However, the slightly awkward atmosphere, where Kangxi and the others pretended not to be awkward, was shattered when someone presented a box with the scent of blood.

Liang Jiugong seemed to know something. He stepped forward expressionlessly, opened it, and stepped aside with a bow.

Seeing the contents, he showed no unusual reaction.

Once the box was opened, it revealed what was inside.

There were two white spherical objects, with two round black spots on the white spheres, still clinging to bloody flesh, placed within the box.

These two objects that looked like balls.

In reality, it was a pair of eyeballs, and as for whose eyeballs they were...

Emperor Kangxi's expression was calm but deeply indifferent. After a brief glance at the eyeballs, he gave a slight nod, and Liang Jiugong quickly closed the box.

"Ensure he is well cared for; do not let him die," Kangxi said casually.

After all, he had promised the Imperial Noble Consort, and as the emperor, his word was unbreakable. Naturally, he would spare the guard's life.

But those eyes, being too insolent and ungrateful, were better removed.

"Yes," the person replied, then took the box and departed.

——

After Su Yi returned, she completed her usual bathing routine and felt thoroughly refreshed, showing no signs of anger.

However, when it was time to prepare for bed, Su Yi asked Qinxin to bring over the things she had requested earlier.

She ordered that the lights remain lit tonight and that no one enter without her permission. She wanted to be alone to brood over her anger for a while.

If anyone disturbed her, she would vent her anger on them as well.

Although Su Yi said this with a smile, there was an inexplicable sense that she meant every word.

The seemingly gentle and good-natured lady could sometimes be chillingly cold and fearsome.

Thus, the servants dared not take liberties simply because the lady usually appeared gentle and approachable.

Even when the Emperor escorted her back, she sent him to the Qianqing Palace instead of allowing him to stay overnight at the Yonghe Palace. She wanted to... well, brood over her anger alone, undisturbed.

While it was common for palace ladies to sulk, it was unusual for the Imperial Noble Consort to do so.

She must have been genuinely, profoundly angry.

Therefore, the servants took this seriously and all complied.

Qinxin also withdrew, gently closing the door, and even the night watch was ordered not to make any noise that might disturb the lady.

Soon, only Su Yi remained in the inner chamber.

Su Yi sat alone by the candlelight, with several stacks of thick red paper and a pair of sharp-looking scissors laid out on the table before her.

Su Yi picked up the scissors with one hand and a pile of pre-cut red paper with the other, starting to cut patterns into the red paper.

Her focused demeanor as she bent her head demonstrated great care.

Soon, under Su Yi's skilled hands, an ordinary piece of red paper slowly transformed into a small paper figure.

The little paper figure, crafted from red paper, even wore tiny clothes and had eyes and a mouth, appearing both cute and delicate.

Su Yi placed the completed paper figure on the table, rested her chin on her hand, and examined it. The little figure had a crescent-shaped mouth, seemingly smiling.

"It's really well done," she said, essentially praising herself.

Su Yi's fingers tapped idly on the tabletop, seemingly out of boredom.

With each tap, an invisible ripple spread out like water waves, stopping at the door without spilling outside.

In the candlelit room where the lights were not extinguished, one could vaguely see a figure pick up the scissors and red paper again, bending down to start cutting out another paper figure, the movements almost identical to Su Yi's earlier actions.

However, Su Yi in the inner chamber made no movement at all, resting her chin on her hand and gazing at the little paper figure on the table, not cutting any paper.

Su Yi's previous sentence was praising the little paper figure she had cut out, but the next sentence seemed out of place,

"Why have you been following me around?"

It was eerily quiet at that moment, with no sound other than Su Yi's voice.

And Su Yi's voice didn't even reach the door before it was silenced, nothing could be heard outside, and the night watch outside heard nothing but the occasional sound of paper-cutting.

"Why don't you stay with your lover till death do you part?"

Su Yi said with a smile, looking up ahead.

Although there was nothing in front of her, Su Yi seemed to see something, speaking to thin air.

Such behavior would indeed be quite frightening if seen by others.

Just because there was nothing in front didn't mean Su Yi saw nothing.

At this moment, Su Yi looked up and locked eyes with the Junior Concubine.

Previously, Su Yi had never made eye contact with her, acting like a normal person who couldn't see her, ignoring her.

But now, Su Yi was looking directly at her.

The Junior Concubine still retained her appearance from when she was alive, frozen in the moment she died.

A bloody hole in her neck still bled, but the blood never reached the ground.

Her face no longer bore the timid, pleading look it once had.

It seemed that after becoming a ghost, she had unleashed her deepest malice.

Her eyes, now filled with malice, were fixed on Su Yi.

She seemed poised to rush forward but held back, as if fearing something.

However, when she realized that Su Yi could actually see her, she was completely stunned.

She seemed unable to believe that Su Yi could see her.

When Su Yi asked why she wasn't staying with her lover, the hatred in the Junior Concubine's eyes deepened, her ghostly form contorted, and her face turned instantly ferocious.

Her hands morphed into claws, her nails as black as pitch, and with a flash, she lunged at Su Yi with ferocity.

As she watched her move, Su Yi's smile widened, and she reached out to grab the Junior Concubine, who seemed to appear instantly in front of her.

She grabbed her by the neck, holding her in place, preventing any further movement.

Her quick reaction made it clear how futile the Junior Concubine's attempt to stab Su Yi from behind had been when she was still human.

Su Yi's hand seemed to clutch at nothing, but in reality, her hand, smooth as jade, gripped the Junior Concubine's neck with unyielding strength.

Though Su Yi applied no visible force, the Junior Concubine's face contorted in agony, and a sharp scream escaped her lips.

Her hands shot up to claw at Su Yi's arm, desperate to break free.

But the instant her fingers brushed Su Yi's arm, it felt as though she'd been scorched, recoiling as if from a searing heat.

Yet, even so, this did not alleviate her suffering in the slightest.

The neck gripped by Su Yi continued to endure searing pain, a torment that struck directly at her soul.

The force, harmless to a person, now felt like iron shackles, leaving her utterly trapped.

Su Yi listened with a smile as the Junior Concubine's piercing screams gradually weakened.

As the Junior Concubine's shrill cries grew fainter, she visibly appeared increasingly frail.

Her once venomous and ruthless gaze now seemed feeble, stripped of the ferocity that once marked her as a vengeful ghost.

It was evident she had endured immense suffering.

"This looks much better," Su Yi remarked before finally letting go of the Junior Concubine's neck.

As soon as Su Yi let go, the weakened Junior Concubine seized the opportunity, instantly transforming into a cloud of black mist and bolting away at breakneck speed, as if fleeing for her life.

Su Yi simply watched, unmoving.

The black mist, on the verge of escaping through the door, slammed into an invisible barrier and was hurled back, a scream of agony echoing in its wake.

The nearly dispersed black mass, refusing to give up, lunged at the roof, attempting to escape through it, but met the same fate as before.

This time, the impact scattered the black mass. It reformed into a translucent human figure that collapsed to the ground, staring at Su Yi in disbelief and terror.

"Why not give it another shot?" Su Yi said casually, her gentle smile now deceptively harmless.