Chapter 290

Chapter 290

In the end, Su Yi slumped sideways to escape the situation—collapsing fully wasn’t an option, as she couldn’t rely on Qinxin and the others' reaction speed.

If you won’t let me eat, then you can’t keep dragging this out either.

Pfft, fine. I’ll just pass out then.

Pretending to faint indefinitely wouldn’t work, but she could always just crash outright.

Those who can’t be woken aren’t just people pretending to sleep—there are also lazybones who bail at the drop of a hat.

For example, she could have repaired the dismantled palace hall, but she couldn’t be bothered.

I *could*, but I just *won’t*.

After finishing the task, the cleanup was divided down the middle—the cracked walls and floors were fixed, but the rest Su Yi openly noped out of.

Hypocrisy was crystal clear: *You* have to fix it, but *I* will adapt as I see fit.

Now, forcing her to keep watching Kangxi enjoy his meal while she drooled like a starving dog—who would suck it up? Sometimes, you just shouldn’t push it.

Suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe? Yeah, she was feeling it right then and there.

Su Yi face-planted onto the table, causing an obvious tremor—even the braised pork on the plate wobbled with a comedic *thud*, and the food Kangxi had been holding with his chopsticks fell off.

Ah, this—her collapse was simple, brutal, and suspiciously dramatic, with a preamble that felt utterly rushed.

The scene fell into a deafening silence for a moment.

Clearly, everyone was totally flabbergasted.

The collective mindset could be summed up as: *I can tell something’s off, but I’ll pretend I don’t notice—though what if the Emperor sees through it? This is bad!*

But the silence lasted only a moment before everyone snapped back to work, carrying on as usual—as if to say, *Go ahead and faint—we’ve got your back.*

The guiding principle was: *I know you might know, but it’s fine—I’ll just act like you don’t.*

No one was foolish enough to ruin the act. After all, what you’d really be risking wasn’t the performance—it’d be your head.

Kangxi wasn’t the least bit surprised. Even without flipping the table, Su Yi would still find other ways to act out.

Amid the highly dramatic scene, Kangxi’s emotional stability made him stand out like a nun at a nightclub—akin to *I’m too sane for this circus.*

At this point, it was perfectly natural for Kangxi not to do anything. Usually, he’d be the one watching, and though the current situation followed the usual script, the calm in his eyes had everyone’s hearts racing.

To be fair, the palace servants were highly efficient—they’d already fixed up the bedroom in record time.

Su Yi found the newly replaced bed much softer and was quite pleased, immediately crashing onto it.

When her forehead was flicked, she didn’t even flinch.

But pinching her philtrum? That was crossing a line!

Who the hell taught you that? That’s not something you should even know!

And your fingers have calluses—don’t you realize how rough they feel on my skin?!

Get someone with gentler hands, will you?

Su Yi’s eyelids twitched against her will, but she refused to open them.

Fortunately, the pinch on her philtrum was brief, and the pressure eased almost immediately. Su Yi thought to herself, *Guess you’ve got some sense.*

Then she heard Kangxi casually remark, "Wow, she’s *really* out cold."

Confirmed—the philtrum pinch was deliberate.

Kangxi seemed to say it offhandedly, but then he proceeded to poke and pinch her all over, as if thinking, *Since you're unconscious and won’t know, I might as well take this chance to retaliate now.*

Honestly, it was the kind of situation where you never knew what new trick he’d come up with next.

It’s like when a cat with a bowl-cut just wants to lie down and nap, but someone with an obsessive urge to pet cats keeps squeezing and poking—annoying as hell. The cat won’t complain, but it’s pissed.

Well, that’s exactly what Kangxi was doing now.

He didn’t usually like to "pet cats," but after watching others do it enough, he picked it up. In theory, it was weirdly stress-relieving.

Su Yi: *Thanks, I know I’m a magnet, but mind your own plate!*

Life’s a rollercoaster—mostly plunges, with a tiny climb before the next drop!

It’s a mind game.

Even when nothing’s wrong, these emotional rollercoasters can shatter your composure.

Nothing messes with your head more than thinking hope is finally rising, only to be told, *Psych! You imagined that.*

Even after climbing to such a high position, you’d think you wouldn’t be easily broken—yet here you are, broken in a blink.

If we’re talking about messing with people’s minds, Su Yi and Kangxi are practically partners in crime—or more like two cunning foxes, both equally ruthless, no innocence here.

Today, things were dropping like flies. Even with Su Yi being the main troublemaker hogging the blame, everyone else’s messes piled up too, making it impossible to replace everything in time.

Originally, they thought that "accidentally" breaking something now wouldn’t matter—after all, who’d bother calling them out with the biggest headache already stealing the spotlight?

But when the palace staff couldn’t promptly replace the "accidentally" broken items, the pent-up rage exploded again.

Consort Yi was especially disappointed and couldn’t help but seethe at Consort Ping. *All talk, zero action. We agreed to team up against Rong Noble Consort, but when the Emperor arrived, she didn’t even bother to send word!*

It wasn’t like Consort Ping didn’t know—in her state, she was useless to the Emperor, yet she still didn’t send anyone to notify her in time.

Clearly, she never gave a damn about their deal.

If she truly wanted to help, with Consort Ping’s cunning, she’d have *made damn sure* to act.

But now?

All hot air—she just wanted to throw Consort Yi under the bus while staying back to cash in on the fallout.

Though Consort Yi saw through it, she couldn’t afford to openly clash with Consort Ping yet. Still, she couldn’t help feeling resentful.

If not for… why would she have to endure this?!

She was stuck riding Consort Ping’s coattails for now, with no way off.

While Consort Yi seethed at Consort Ping’s slip-up, little did she know—Consort Ping had been too busy drowning in her own drama to remember her fake ally.

Consort Ping had suffered such a great humiliation that she naturally wanted to keep the whole thing completely hushed up.

If any palace servant dared to gossip and leak information at this time, Consort Ping would make sure they died painfully. Even if she couldn’t touch others, she could still squash a nobody who dared to bite her!

Consort Ping was ruthless, already determined that if the news leaked from her side, she would make them beg for death.

No matter how secretly the information slipped out, Consort Ping would hunt them down no matter what.

If she had to use her system’s power to track down the source, whatever she spent in the process, she would make them pay back ten times over.

Under Consort Ping’s sinister threats, how could the palace servants dare to tempt fate? It was clear to all that she had murderous intent—getting caught would mean not just getting off lightly but forfeiting one’s life. They had no choice but to keep their mouths shut.

The specifics of the situation remained unclear to most. All they knew was that the Emperor had visited Consort Ping and then left to see Rong Noble Consort instead.

But even this much was enough to make Consort Ping the butt of palace jokes. Who would have thought that, even at this point, the Emperor would still remember Rong Noble Consort?

Could it be said that Rong Noble Consort wasn’t doing this on purpose?

Who else had a temper as big as hers, making sure every little thing was turned into a huge spectacle just to steal the spotlight?

At this stage, who wouldn’t have some choice words?

Originally, Noble Lady Qing had planned to continue visiting Rong Noble Consort today. But upon learning that Consort Ping had gone ahead early in the morning, she immediately changed her mind, deciding not to get involved at this moment.

Given the current situation, getting involved would mean getting sucked into the drama—a highly unwise move for her.

Besides, she didn’t believe Consort Ping stood a chance against Rong Noble Consort this time.

Sure enough—"What an embarrassing defeat."