Chapter 252

Chapter 252

It was simply a surprise on top of a surprise—being able to find the Honored Mother Consort already up and about in the morning.

The kiddo was thrilled!

Liang Jiugong felt the weight off his shoulders instantly, though he remained mindful of keeping his relief and excitement in check.

Kangxi smiled slightly upon hearing this, his expression gentle. His first words were, "Has the Crown Prince not arrived at the Imperial Study for morning reading yet?"

Liang Jiugong: Apparently not.

However, the Crown Prince wasn’t exactly late. There was still some time before morning reading started—it was more a matter of not arriving early rather than missing the scheduled time.

But pointing this out to His Majesty at the moment wasn’t advisable. Liang Jiugong certainly didn’t dare, so he simply lowered his head further.

Upon hearing Kangxi’s words, Su Yi didn’t speak, but the look she gave him could roughly be interpreted as, “Are you a devil?!”

“You haven’t gone to... court yet either,” Su Yi almost said ‘work’ instead, though her tone couldn’t hide its complexity.

Waking up in the early hours every day to attend court, with almost no breaks throughout the year—might as well call it work!

This was ridiculous.

And now, pushing this grind on the next generation too.

The little milk dragon’s school schedule, if placed in later times, would shock people today—a child who had to rise before dawn.

Was this morning reading???

This was torture.

Summer or winter breaks? Forget about it!

No extended holidays was one thing, but there weren’t even weekends.

Since the concept of weekends didn’t exist back then, double rest days? Not happening.

If they were lucky, there was one day off each for New Year’s, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, and birthdays.

Kangxi, as the father, got two days off for his birthday.

New Year’s Eve didn’t even grant a full day—just an early dismissal by half a day.

Half a day!

No other holidays existed. Out of 365 days a year, the total days off barely amounted to a small fraction.

The number of vacation days couldn’t even fill ten fingers.

Wow, this was absolutely brutal.

Honestly, even stressed-out high school seniors got at least one Sunday off for adjustment.

The little milk dragon, at such a tender age, became a little overachiever.

Yet this little one still went out of his way every morning, not crashing immediately after school and instead finding the energy to come over for head pats and acting cute.

Ah, such remarkable resilience.

Su Yi spoke gently, considerately reminding Kangxi, "Your Majesty, it’s nearly time. You should head to court now."

You should leave soon, or you’ll be late for court.

Kangxi fell silent.

Then the Honored Consort also got up, and Kangxi thought she was going to see him off.

"I’ll join you," Su Yi said. "Come to think of it, I’ve never sent Baocheng to the study hall before. Since I’m up so early today, why not send him to school today?"

Su Yi jumped right to it, instructing Qinxin to fix her hair into a presentable updo and pick out suitable clothes while she spoke.

At the same time, she sent a palace attendant to inform little milk dragon to wait for her—she’d be ready soon and would accompany him to school today.

This was a new experience for Su Yi, and she found it quite refreshing.

New experiences are fun!

However, getting ready to go out took some effort, and Su Yi suddenly found herself quite busy, bustling about to prepare.

No wonder she was such a homebody—if going out was this troublesome, might as well stay in. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen the place before.

Kangxi watched as the Honored Consort, who had just been sweet with him moments ago, now not only urged him to go to court but also skipped her usual morning nap to send Baocheng to his early study session.

Was that sweetness just fleeting?

"Honored Consort, you didn’t sleep well last night. Won’t this tire you out? Baocheng is used to going to study on his own. That’s how it’s always been," Kangxi said, following her.

Clearly, he wasn’t in a hurry to start work yet.

Su Yi was already sitting at the vanity, combing her hair while idly playing with a hairpin. Hearing this, she replied straightforwardly, "I’ll nap later. It’s just a quick trip—it’s not like I’m going to attend the study session with him."

Not to mention she couldn’t handle the studies anyway.

"I’ve never sent him before, and since I’m up early today, of course I’m going to do it," Su Yi said eagerly, frequently checking the mirror to see if she was ready. Noticing Kangxi was blocking the light, she sweetly asked him to move aside a little. "Come closer, so we can chat."

In reality, he was blocking the light.

Kangxi paused, then said, "Alright."

Little milk dragon had only meant to greet Honored Mother Consort, never expecting she would be sending him to his study session later.

It felt like a surprise so thrilling he wanted to jump for joy to ease his overwhelming excitement.

But in front of the palace attendants, little milk dragon restrained himself, sitting quietly and waiting obediently. His anticipation was clear—he looked downright precious.

That’s exactly what Su Yi thought when she came out after getting ready.

What an absolute sweetheart!

The moment little milk dragon saw Honored Mother Consort emerge, he immediately broke into a wide smile and darted over for a hug.

Little milk dragon was truly a master at sweet-talking—who could say no to such a sweet talker?

Then, spotting his Imperial Father was also there, he skidded to a stop and instead walked over properly, bowing properly first.

He looked just like those perfectly behaved kids from other families.

Then, playing it cool, he moved closer to Honored Mother Consort, gently tugging at the edge of her sleeve and calling out, "Honored Mother," his tone with a hint of excitement.

Though he didn’t outright ask if Honored Mother was going to accompany him to morning study, his bright, sparkling eyes as he looked up at Su Yi said it all.

Su Yi patted his head and said, "Were you waiting long? We’re about to leave now."

The little milk dragon shook his head. "Not long at all, Honored Mother. No rush."

Then remembering something, he glanced at the Emperor and added, "Baocheng won’t be late. We’ll make it in time for morning study."

Seeing that the Emperor didn’t say anything—why hadn’t he left for morning study yet?—the little milk dragon quietly sighed in relief.

It had to be said, he really understood the Emperor quite well.

Because it had already been mentioned earlier, and Su Yi had spoken up, Kangxi couldn't easily jump back in.

The Noble Consort really dreaded waking up early—getting her out of bed was no easy feat.

Kangxi couldn’t help feeling sorry for himself when he thought about it. Every morning when he rose early, she was always sound asleep.

At this moment, Kangxi just nodded, keeping his cool.

And indeed, they hadn’t missed morning study.

But if Kangxi didn’t leave soon, he might miss the morning court session. Liang Jiugong quietly prompted him.

So they wound up leaving together—one heading to court, one to morning study, and one escorting the other to morning study.

But they were going different ways, so they would have to part soon. Only the stretch from Yonghe Palace was shared; beyond that, they would go their separate directions.

Well, not exactly—it was just Kangxi walking alone, while Su Yi took the little milk dragon with her.

As Kangxi watched the Noble Consort and Baocheng happily walk away hand in hand, while he boarded the imperial palanquin to take another route, his feelings were mixed.

Who was it that had gone through all the trouble to wake the Noble Consort up early this morning?

The early-rising Noble Consort hadn’t even offered to see him off to court—not even to the gates of Yonghe Palace!

Not at all!

If not for accompanying Baocheng to morning study today, the Noble Consort would probably already be taking a nap.

Kangxi felt the spot where the Noble Consort had shoved him this morning throbbing again.