Chapter 273

Chapter 273

It was like being a grown adult who had graduated years ago yet still being scolded by a kindergarten teacher for poor sitting posture—so absurd there’s no point complaining.

Su Yi smiled. "Alright then."

Just for now.

Su Yi, who had been called out for her posture, dutifully sat back without leaning forward again.

But expecting perfect posture from her was hopeless—she simply returned to her original stance.

If Kangxi hadn’t complained before, it was clearly fine. That interpretation couldn’t be wrong.

Su Yi played by ear. If it was passable, then it wasn’t hard to grasp the meaning; if not, sorry, but she just didn’t get it.

In the end, she alone decided whether she ‘understood’ or not.

This time, Kangxi said nothing more.

But that might not mean it met the standard—it could just be the gap between ‘barely tolerable’ and ‘disastrous.’

Settling for the former and lowering the bar made it somewhat tolerable.

Su Yi seemed to suddenly remember something and gestured toward the now-silenced person.

"This is someone from Consort Ping’s side, saying Consort Ping is on death’s door." Su Yi spoke slowly, as she was the only one who could explain now.

Kangxi nodded slightly, signaling her to continue.

"Though I understand her urgency, she was making too much of a scene, so I had to quiet her down."

After a pause, she added with a smile, "She wasn’t the reasonable type anyway." As if there had been no other choice but to act this way.

It was a little dirty, but who played fair anyway?

Strike first, and even if they wanted to argue back, they couldn’t. Debating her would’ve been exhausting.

Kangxi’s expression remained unchanged. "Discipline unruly servants as needed."

His tone was so indifferent it sounded like he was discussing a trivial matter.

A cold glimpse of the throne’s ruthlessness.

The situation here had already been reported to Kangxi before his arrival. The earlier commotion from Consort Ping’s maid had been nothing but futile—every desperate ploy exposed.

The servants bowed their heads even lower.

Su Yi gently interjected, "She could still be given a chance to correct herself. I believe she’s realized her mistake now."

Her angelic act might’ve fooled outsiders into thinking she was genuinely kind, speaking up for an insignificant person who had offended her.

Though everyone present knew better.

Playing the bad guy delighted Su Yi.

Really, it was too damn fun.

Perhaps Su Yi’s shit-eating grin was a bit too conspicuous. Kangxi gave her a long look before drawling, "Has Her Highness’ headache miraculously passed?"

Su Yi: "I knew you'd be the one to kill the mood!"

Su Yi let out a soft gasp, raising her hand to touch her temple, her eyes slightly narrowed and lashes lowered. "I felt better just now, but now I seem a bit dizzy again."

Then she swiftly pivoted the conversation. "I heard the court physicians have all gone to Consort Ping’s side. I wonder what the situation is now."

She sent a palace servant to make a quick inquiry. The commotion at Consort Ping’s place was indeed significant, and it didn’t take long for the servant to return with news.

The court physicians had all been summoned, and from the looks of it, she must be gravely ill.

If Consort Ping were fine, even if she wanted to make a scene, she would have kept it measured. But now, it seemed to have gone beyond that.

So, something really must have happened.

"The person from Consort Ping’s side was too distraught to speak coherently. Let’s send someone to fetch one of the court physicians attending to her and ask about her current condition, to spare His Majesty unnecessary concern."

Su Yi affected a look of concern, offering what sounded like a reasonable suggestion.

After speaking, she sighed, then pressed her lips together, her smile fading slightly, letting a note of wounded pride show. "Otherwise, people might think I’m some heartless monster who would coldly watch Consort Ping on her deathbed and even stop His Majesty from caring about her life."

Her words rang true while dripping with subtext.

Kangxi’s mouth quirked momentarily, but his expression quickly returned to normal, so fast that one could hardly notice the change.

Earlier, when the report came in, Consort Ping’s head maid had carried on, implying through her words that if the Noble Consort showed the slightest reluctance, she would be disregarding Consort Ping’s life.

No matter what, such a commotion would damage the Noble Consort’s reputation.

Given the Noble Consort's penchant for payback, of course, she would strike back without delay—right?

She wouldn’t even let it wait till the next day.

"How could that be?" Kangxi gently smoothed the hair behind her back. "Since the Noble Consort has such concern, it is already commendable. Let it be as you suggest."

Then, his tone softened slightly, carrying a trace of helplessness. "This way, you won’t keep thinking about it and lose sleep, and I won’t have to worry about you either."

Otherwise, her crankiness upon waking from lack of sleep would be doubly worse.

Kangxi, an early riser who never lingered abed and rose before dawn, was baffled by the concept of "crankiness upon waking."

How could the Noble Consort, who slept till midday, still have morning grumpiness??

Even Baocheng woke up earlier than her.

But using Baocheng to taunt her about waking up later than a child was utterly ineffective—she remained blithely indifferent, utterly unmoved by external pressures.

You can't make a lazy fish swim.

Push too hard, and the lazy fish might just smack you with its tail.

Now, the Noble Consort was staying up late again. It wasn’t the first time she had dragged Kangxi into her late nights.

But while Kangxi had no hangover from burning the midnight oil, the Noble Consort did—and it was doubly worse.

Kangxi: "???"

All he could say was that he didn’t understand. Night revelers may be merry while staying up, but that didn’t stop them from feeling soul-crushing remorse at dawn.

And vowing never to repeat the folly—only to end up staying up late once more, caught in this pitiful loop.

After Emperor Kangxi gave the order, someone was immediately dispatched to Consort Ping's quarters to summon an imperial physician to give a report.

Su Yi, as if pacified, had her eyes curved into smiles, looking quite expectant about the imperial physician's arrival.

Ah, as for whether taking an imperial physician away from Consort Ping at such a critical moment could be considered adding insult to injury—

Of course not.

After all, it's not like losing one imperial physician would cause Consort Ping to die.

With so many physicians attending her, it's not as if they were taking all of them away. What difference would one less make?

Meanwhile, Consort Ping's head maid, who had previously quieted down, finally understood why Rong Noble Consort had emerged to confront her.

It was never just about reprimanding her and sending her away after learning of her disturbance.

No—it was to seize the opportunity while her mistress was ill to add insult to injury!

Had Rong Noble Consort simply dismissed her harshly and without mercy, she could have earned a reputation for cruelty. But now, not only did that plan fail, she was also held here.

And now, Rong Noble Consort had even persuaded the Emperor to summon an imperial physician from Consort Ping's quarters.

Before coming here, one imperial physician had already stated that Consort Ping was not in serious condition. What if they happened to summon that very physician? What then?

At this point, panicking was useless. She could hardly protect herself now, and worst of all, the Emperor seemed only too willing to trust Rong Noble Consort's words!

Her only hope was that the summoned physician wasn't the one who had examined Consort Ping earlier, and that the other physicians might give a different opinion.

The imperial physician was the first to arrive, having rushed over upon hearing that Rong Noble Consort was indisposed. He had already braced himself for a long, exhausting night that might last until dawn.

Every time he examined her, the imperial physician felt like he lost more hair—evidenced by the handful that came out whenever he combed it!

Though he was knowledgeable about maintaining health, even he had no solution for such excessive hair loss.

Rong Noble Consort was generally easy to deal with, but sometimes she truly was troublesome. She might not make any demands, but then the Emperor’s requests would suddenly multiply.

*Sigh.* The imperial physician dared only grumble about it in his heart. *What a sin, what a sin...*