Chapter 270

Chapter 270

Hatred is one thing when others provoke it for you, and quite another when you bring it upon yourself.

The former is passive, the latter is active.

How can the two be the same?

"Release her."

The chief maid of Consort Ping, who had been bowing her head, heard this gentle voice.

At the same time, the hands holding her loosened their grip, and she couldn't help but raise her head to look toward the source of the voice.

It was none other than Rong Noble Consort.

The same Rong Noble Consort who, it was said, had broken out in rashes due to climate sickness and was too disfigured to be seen in public.

Yet here she stood before her, with no veil hiding her face.

And she had arrived swiftly—so swiftly that only Rong Noble Consort was present, with no sign of the Emperor.

Moreover, Rong Noble Consort was not as rumored, her beauty supposedly ravaged.

Even the medicinal patch on her cheek only added a fragile delicacy to her appearance, making her appear no less tender and captivating.

To those who seldom saw her, it was enough to dazzle the beholder.

Those who served by her side and saw her frequently had grown accustomed to her appearance.

Rong Noble Consort wore a faint smile, her gaze meeting her eyes as she looked up.

She quickly lowered her head again, as if daring not to meet her gaze directly.

She wanted to speak, but the gag in her mouth had yet to be removed, so only stifled noises emerged.

However, the instant she could speak again, someone promptly removed the obstruction, allowing her to speak freely.

"This maid greets Imperial Noble Consort. I beg Your Highness's forgiveness. In my earlier panic, I behaved improperly and disturbed Your Highness. I beg Your Highness’s mercy."

Her words began with an apology, but swiftly shifted to:

"Truly, my mistress is now in critical condition. I had no choice but to come and plead for His Majesty to visit her. I beg Imperial Noble Consort to grant this request!"

As she spoke, she kowtowed again and again, her agitation clear—a performance of frantic devotion.

Her voice gradually rose in volume.

One couldn't tell if she truly couldn’t control her emotions or if her words were meant not just for Rong Noble Consort, but for another as well.

As plain as day.

Qinxin’s eyes had already turned cold.

Her seemingly humble plea was, in truth, a calculated move to force her mistress's hand.

Her words subtly implied that it was Imperial Noble Consort who was preventing the Emperor from visiting Consort Ping—an unforgivable insolence.

This behavior surely stemmed from frequent slander against Imperial Noble Consort in private. As the saying goes, *Like master, like servant.* Else how would she dare be so brazen?

"How did Consort Ping get so sick all of a sudden?"

Su Yi looked at Qinxin with a hint of surprise, as if she had just learned about Consort Ping's illness.

Qinxin spoke up from the side, "I heard she caught a chill. The imperial physicians have already examined her and advised Consort Ping to rest well. Since Your Ladyship has not yet fully recovered yourself, I didn't dare bother you with such matters."

This explanation clarified the nature of Consort Ping's illness—merely a chill, which the physicians had already attended to, prescribing rest. Yet, Consort Ping showed no intention of actually resting. Instead, she seemed to be making appearances here and there, and now she was even sending someone to claim the Emperor's attention.

Seeing that Rong Noble Consort was conversing with her chief maid but appeared unmoved by her earlier appeal, Consort Ping's chief maid couldn't help but interject,

"Noble Consort, my mistress has now fainted and is hovering between life and death! With no one to attend to her, I implore Your Ladyship's mercy—allow this servant to request an audience with His Majesty!"

Her voice quivered tearfully, yet her words were unmistakably clear.

Perhaps the gentle smile on Rong Noble Consort's face gave her courage to make such a request to see the Emperor.

Given the current situation, Consort Ping's chief maid played up the seriousness of her mistress's condition. She omitted any mention of what the imperial physicians had said before her arrival.

The most urgent matter was to persuade the Emperor to leave Rong Noble Consort's side.

If Consort Ping turned out to be unharmed afterward, she wouldn’t be punished—she could simply claim she panicked when her mistress fainted and thus overstated the situation.

After all, as someone untrained in medicine, it was only natural to react with alarm and exaggeration in such circumstances.

If the Emperor were to reprimand her, Consort Ping, pleased with her performance, would surely speak favorably on her behalf.

As for the chief maid of Consort Ping pushing her luck, Qinxin's expression turned cold.

"How dare you speak to the Consort like that! Truly—"

Just as she was about to continue, the chief maid raised her hand in a gesture, and Qinxin immediately clamped her mouth shut, though her gaze toward the chief maid of Consort Ping remained icy.

"Qinxin, there’s no need to be so stern. She’s only being loyal—natural under the circumstances."

Su Yi spoke with a gentle smile, putting on a considerate act.

Her looks were deceiving; when she smiled at someone, her affectionate eyes seemed to look at you like you meant the world to her—as if the person before her was someone profoundly important—held in her eyes and heart.

Even now, she defended the other party’s somewhat rude behavior, seeming almost too nice.

It almost seemed too good to be true.

Yet this also put the color back in the cheeks of Consort Ping’s maid, who had paled after being reprimanded by Qinxin.

She hadn’t expected Noble Consort Rong to be so easygoing, showing no anger despite the earlier out-of-line comments.

Only after being scolded by the chief maid beside Noble Consort Rong did she start to get scared.

Now realizing she’d crossed a line, she was relieved that Noble Consort Rong was forgiving and did not hold it against her.

With this thought, the chief maid of Consort Ping didn't hesitate much when Noble Consort Rong beckoned her closer.

"Come here, closer to me."

Su Yi spoke gently, beckoning her with a casual, almost pet-like summons.

Yet no one saw anything wrong with it.

After all, given the earlier disrespectful words from the palace maid, her current attitude was still reasonably kind.

Seeing Rong Noble Consort summon her forward, the chief maid of Consort Ping, whatever she might be thinking, crawled forward on her knees and knelt beside Rong Noble Consort.

She did not presume to rise just because she was allowed to approach, avoiding any chance for Rong Noble Consort to use it against her.

She wasn't too worried either about what Rong Noble Consort might do to her.

With the Emperor present and likely to appear at any moment, no matter what, Rong Noble Consort would not act against her now—if only to maintain her perfect image before the Emperor.

If the Emperor happened to witness it, that would be trouble.

In truth, the chief maid’s reasoning was sound, for this was how the ladies of the inner court operated.

Even if they wanted each other dead, plotting fiercely behind closed doors, on the surface—especially in the Emperor’s presence—they would always display sisterly affection, grace and generosity. It was the way things were done.

Even the most jealous ones would never show it openly.

Sometimes, they even had to praise those they hated, using it to highlight their own kindness, generosity, and gentleness.

This line of thinking was, in principle, correct.

The chief maid of Consort Ping kept her head lowered until slender fingers gently lifted her chin. As her head rose, she met Rong Noble Consort’s eyes, filled with gentle warmth.

"Don’t be so nervous." The gentle tone seemed designed to calm the unease of their proximity.

The comforting words did seem to help somewhat.

The chief maid of Consort Ping was about to manage a smile when—before she could react—a sickening crack sounded from her jaw.

The pain hit her a belated moment later, but it was only when she couldn't close her mouth that she realized her jaw had been dislocated.

Perhaps it wasn’t just delayed reaction, but shock—her mind refusing to accept what had happened.

Her eyes widened in horror, as if unable to comprehend the situation.

She tried to speak, but only garbled noises came out.

Like when her mouth had been gagged earlier—no, worse.

Now, not only could she not speak or close her mouth, even swallowing became difficult. Drool gathered, impossible to swallow.

And all of this… all of this was…!

Pure terror showed in the maid's eyes, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.

The logic was generally sound—but you just met someone who broke the rules.

Not to mention others, even the attendants around Rong Noble Consort were startled by this sudden turn of events.

Even Qinxin, who had seen plenty in her time, was shocked.

But soon enough, it became clear—this was exactly the kind of thing Her Highness would do.

Still shocking nonetheless.

Such things were truly hard to get used to.

Meanwhile, Su Yi seemed to take notice and asked,

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Her tone was just as calm as before.

As if she hadn’t just popped someone's jaw out of place.

Oh, it was definitely her.

"I was quick, so you shouldn’t have felt too much pain."

Su Yi spoke with a chillingly calm tone.

Then, she moved to ask Qinxin for a handkerchief. Qinxin swiftly handed over a freshly pressed one.

Indeed, Su Yi had acted before anyone—including the poor maid—could react, swiftly dislocating the jaw.

But was speed really the point here?!

The fact that she did it so suddenly was the real issue.

There had been no warning at all.

No, perhaps the warning had been there when Her Highness asked the maid to come closer—or even earlier.

But even if one had noticed, it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Of course, the room was deathly quiet now. No one dared to make a sound, even their breathing unconsciously softened.

The poor maid mumbled incoherently, struggling to say anything, but Su Yi seemed to understand exactly what she wanted to express.

"Your loyalty to your mistress is understandable, but that doesn’t excuse what I just did to your jaw."

Su Yi explained with unsettling patience.

Though her smile remained the same, the same smile now inspired very different feelings.

Su Yi took the clean handkerchief from Qinxin and moved to offer it to the other woman.

This time, however, the chief attendant of Consort Ping instinctively recoiled in fear.

Su Yi’s hand froze in place as she silently observed the attendant’s fearful retreat.

Trembling, she forced herself back to her original position despite her terror.

Gone was the earlier defiant protectiveness—now she shook like a rabbit in a snare.

How could she have ever thought that Rong Noble Consort was someone who could be reasoned with?

True, Rong Noble Consort had been all gentle words until now. Little did they know, she would strike the next moment— —the knife behind the silk.

The next moment, she could act cruelly, and even after doing so, she could still respond with the same calm tone.

As though completely unaware she had done something terrifying!

Seeing the chief maid of Consort Ping return to her original position, Su Yi finally smiled, taking the handkerchief in her hand to wipe the drool about to drip from the other’s mouth.

Like wiping a teething child’s drool.

"Honestly, you didn’t even notice you were drooling."

Because her jaw was dislocated, she couldn’t close her mouth or swallow properly, so drooling was unavoidable.

Even as Rong Noble Consort wiped the drool from her mouth with the handkerchief, the chief maid of Consort Ping didn’t dare relax at all.

Instead, she remained highly tense, as if afraid Rong Noble Consort might lash out again—yet she didn’t dare pull away, her body stiffening in place.

However, Su Yi only gave a token wipe before handing the drool-damp handkerchief back to her, letting her take it and tend to herself.

Because Su Yi didn’t particularly want to keep holding a handkerchief soaked in someone else’s drool.

The chief maid of Consort Ping, on the other hand, couldn’t help but let out a relieved breath at this gesture, quickly taking the handkerchief to cover her mouth herself.

Su Yi observed her now meek, compliant stance and sighed, "Do you know how noisy you were just now?"

She rested her hand on the soft pillow beside her, shifting into a more comfortable sitting position, appearing somewhat languid. "So much better now that you’re quiet."

Forced or not, at least it’s quiet.

"My ears are perfectly fine—it’s not like I can’t hear. But you kept raising your voice, making my head throb."

Su Yi sounded weary as she lifted a hand to massage her temples, but Qinxin had already stepped forward to gently press the spots for her.