Chapter 234

Chapter 234

Well...

Su Yi's smile held a hint of mischief.

Kangxi felt his eye twitch involuntarily at her expression. His original intention in mentioning this to Consort Su was that it would be an opportunity to leave the palace and relax—not a reminder for her to cause mischief again.

The shift in Kangxi's gaze was far too irritating. Su Yi immediately looked back at him, her tone sweetly dangerous, "Yes, Your Majesty? Why are you looking at me like that?"

That 'I knew you'd make trouble' look was way too much.

How rude. Was she really so untrustworthy in his eyes?

Did they not share even a shred of trust between them?

Kangxi: "..."

Kangxi fell silent for a long moment, as though steadying his emotions.

His mental fortitude was quite strong, however, and he quickly regained his composure.

Then, with warmth returning to his expression, he reached out and took Su Yi's hand, speaking softly, "I'm only concerned that you've only just recovered from your illness. If you were to fall sick again on the journey, what would I do?"

That look was eerily reminiscent of the brand of unfounded worry about one's child losing weight after just a few days.

Su Yi coughed lightly for show. "What Your Majesty says makes sense. In that case, perhaps it's better if I wait in the palace for Your Majesty's return." Isn't this just setting up 'you go on a long trip while I do whatever I want at home'?

Oh yes, what would you do.

Hmph.

Kangxi: "..." She really wanted to end the conversation right then and there, didn't she?

No matter. Just a small hurdle.

"If you remain in the palace, I won’t be able to see you for some time. That would make me even more... concerned for you. On second thought, the royal physicians will be with us, so it shouldn’t be an issue."

Kangxi smoothly corrected his earlier words, patting the back of Consort Su's hand reassuringly.

Ah, having to save face himself and smooth over his own words—otherwise, the conversation would have died entirely.

But there was no helping it.

To be honest, Kangxi was uneasy.

If he had to put it into words, his unease could probably be likened to the worry one feels before leaving home for a long trip—fearing that Consort Su might wreak havoc.

When it came to household destruction, was mere mental preparation enough to face it calmly?

Clearly not.

Between cleaning up afterwards and preventing it in the first place, Kangxi chose the latter.

Su Yi quickly noticed his hesitation. Face it—he'd obviously meant to say he was even more uneasy about her.

Really, men. Do they have to be so fake?

"As long as Your Majesty is happy, that’s all that matters." Su Yi responded just as smoothly with a perfectly diplomatic response.

Yeah, yeah, whatever you say must be right.

"Hmm?" Kangxi drew out his tone slightly, narrowing his eyes as he leaned closer to Su Yi. "Is the Consort perhaps blowing me off?"

Written as a question, read as a statement.

That's how things stood.

Kangxi currently wore an expression that screamed, "You'd better speak properly, or I'll lose my temper right now."

Having returned to normal, Kangxi was back in form.

"No, I didn’t, don’t make baseless accusations." Su Yi immediately hit him with a threefold denial.

Then, with a self-righteous tone, she shot back, "Am I the kind of person who’d just blow things off and slack off at the slightest disagreement?"

Yes, exactly, that’s exactly the kind of person I am.

But so what?

This couldn’t even be called stubbornness—some people’s mouths stay hard even three days after death.

Compared to that, hers was nothing—just having a thick hide, that’s all.

Su Yi yanked her hand back, as if to say, "If you want to talk, talk properly—keep your hands to yourself."

You’re acting like this and still want to hold my hand? Go touch grass instead.

Kangxi was visibly stunned by the Consort’s unapologetically bold attitude.

Never doubt that when a woman wants to start an argument, she’ll always find a reason—even if she has to make one up on the spot.

Kangxi gave the Consort a long, deep look before reluctantly offering a denial, "I suppose not."

There’s a difference between being insincere and *being insincere*.

Su Yi let out two fake laughs before abruptly cutting them off. "What a lukewarm response. Are you brushing me off now, Your Majesty?" Finally tossing it back at him.

Must your conscience be so loud right now?

It’s never around otherwise, but now you just *have* to speak from the heart, huh?

What such an insincere man.

Insincere men always pay for it.

Struck by his own insincerity coming back to bite him, Kangxi fell silent for a moment. Expressionless, he picked up his teacup and took a sip, clearly needing to collect himself. "Consort, perhaps you should have some tea first."

After all that talking, you must be thirsty.

Su Yi wasn’t thirsty. How could a fairy like her drink tea? She only lived on dew.

She filled her own cup to the brim and placed it in front of Kangxi, offering false concern. "Your Majesty should drink instead. You seem to need it more. If it’s good, have as much as you like—I won’t fight you for it."

Kangxi stared at the tea on the verge of spilling from the overflowing cup, then at his own half-drunk one, which suddenly felt heavier in his hand.

This... was completely unnecessary.

It's not as if the tea was bad—it's not poisoned, after all.

But he had reason to believe that after drinking, the Honored Mother Consort would suddenly become enthusiastic, pulling him into conversation or finding some excuse to pass the time, leaving him no chance to excuse himself.

Considering this possibility, Kangxi couldn’t bring himself to drink the tea.

When Little Milk Dragon arrived, it was in this tense silence. Kangxi naturally set down his teacup, his expression shifting seamlessly—nothing seemed amiss except for the slightly louder clink of the cup against the table than usual.

With a stern and composed expression, Kangxi looked at Little Milk Dragon who had come to report. Admittedly, Baocheng’s timing couldn’t have been better.

He had nearly ended up drinking a bellyful of tea.

Outwardly calm, Kangxi inwardly sighed in relief.

Getting rescued by his son—just saying it out loud was embarrassing.

Su Yi’s take on this was: *Ah, sometimes in confrontations between people, you can’t afford to be too proud. The one who cares too much about dignity is always the one who ends up at a disadvantage.*

Kangxi (who cared too much about dignity): "..."

When Little Milk Dragon saw that his imperial father was also present, he toned down his excitement, dutifully paid his respects, and then headed straight for Honored Mother Consort.

Of course, his steps were so wobbly he looked like a toddler learning to walk and hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it yet.

Truly, the poor little thing looked as if he had been pushed too hard.

*Ah, this little one has endured so much at such a young age.*

Su Yi beamed, even adding an exaggerated touch of surprise. "Oh, it’s Baocheng! You’re here!" She looked thrilled—definitely not laughing at him.

Absolutely not.

*Poor little thing.*

Su Yi put on a sympathetic face, but her lips were curled high, and her eyes crinkled with amusement.

Kangxi, standing nearby, shot her a look, as if he wanted to say something but was struggling to hold back.

*Honored Mother Consort, is that really okay?*

*So fake. Do you really think just because Baocheng is a child, he won’t notice?*

Well... Little Milk Dragon really didn’t notice.

"I’m a little late today. Did Honored Mother Consort miss me?" Little Milk Dragon edged closer, wearing a slightly bashful expression for his tardiness. His chubby cheeks at this moment were absolutely adorable.

*Of course Honored Mother Consort smiles when she sees me—isn’t that only natural?*

*Because Honored Mother Consort is happy!*

Kangxi silently took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and repeated the process a few times.

"Of course I did," Su Yi replied smoothly, well-practiced in the art of comforting children. "But today, you look a little too tired, don’t you?"

With a face full of concern, she took out a handkerchief and dabbed his forehead. His little face even seemed a bit thinner.

It really didn’t look like she had just been laughing at him.

Kangxi watched from the side, had nothing left to say.

Hearing Honored Mother Consort’s gentle and caring words, Little Milk Dragon nearly nodded right away. *Exactly! It’s been so exhausting—I only just recovered halfway here!*

Working so hard without telling Honored Mother Consort and acting a little spoiled would be such a loss. Clever as he was, little milk dragon was about to nod with a pout.

Kangxi, standing nearby, let out a subtle cough, as if clearing his throat, then picked up his teacup for a sip, as if he were just a little thirsty.

Little milk dragon's impending nod froze mid-motion—ah!

He cautiously glanced at his imperial father's expression, like a pitiful little thing reading the room, then reluctantly shook his head against his true feelings. "Not tired at all, Honored Mother Consort."

Wahhh, that’s not true!

Why’s being a man so tough? He’s still so young—can’t he put off growing up a little longer?

Little milk dragon put on a brave face, pretending to be strong.

He just looked even sadder, poor baby.

Su Yi's expression of sympathy grew more genuine as she also glanced at Kangxi before silently shifting her gaze away and moving slightly farther from him.

What kind of jerk does that? So unfair!

Kangxi: ?!

Just moments ago, you were the one laughing at Baocheng—how can *you* call *him* worse?!

Excuse me?!

"It's alright, Honored Mother Consort gets it. You must be thirsty—have some water first." Su Yi smoothly picked up the teacup that had been placed before Kangxi, then seemed to recall something. "This tea’s too strong for you."

Kangxi was… speechless.

Honored Consort, you weren’t like this before!

And wasn’t this tea poured for *me*?

When you poured it for me, you didn’t care if drinking too much would keep me awake at night.

Sleepless?

Then it hit Kangxi—he’d jumped to conclusions.

Why would she drown him in tea just to yap at him and deny him a chance to excuse himself? That line of thinking was clearly off the mark.

Nope, she just wanted to wreck his sleep—how unhealthy!

Su Yi then had Qinxin bring over a pot of warm water. She checked the warmth before deeming it just right and handing it to little milk dragon.

Little milk dragon held the cup, sipping carefully. Even if genuinely thirsty, he never guzzled it down.

What a sweetheart.

At this point, Su Yi had completely forgotten who Kangxi was—did that even matter?

Not in the slightest.

A jerk or an adorable kid? No contest.

Obviously the kid.

Kangxi, standing to the side, was like a lurking cat—you couldn’t miss him.

Hinting he could go handle his paperwork or whatever, and didn't need to stay here, but he wasn't taking the hint.

Fine, Su Yi had no problem with it. She could handle being watched—what was Kangxi anyway?

Little Milk Dragon was genuinely a bit nervous, like a student under that watchful gaze that catches every slip-up.

Wahhh, Huang Ama.

Su Yi also felt this wasn’t good, just leaving Kangxi like this.

So she had someone bring over Puddinghead, along with a grooming brush, ready to give Kangxi something to do.

Puddinghead’s expression changes when being carried over were also extremely vivid—from the lazy, boss-like demeanor in the palace servant’s arms, to instantly turning into a sweet-talking kitty voice upon seeing Su Yi, and then the utterly bewildered, disbelieving look that questioned his entire feline existence when placed in Kangxi’s arms.

He looked just as stunned as Kangxi.

Kangxi, dumbfounded, held the grooming brush Su Yi had shoved into his hands, glancing at the imperial consort before looking down at the chubby cat in his arms. Man and cat mirrored each other's looks of disdain and resistance.

Puddinghead: Meow meow meow?!