Chapter 303

Chapter 303

The First Prince stared at the bloodstained spot on his clothes, his mouth twitching involuntarily. This was truly too much.

Though the wound on his leg had been bandaged, being dragged like a grain sack and then roughly manhandled—even if it was for the sake of dressing the injury—how could they be so… so rough?!

After all this torment, the First Prince’s temper was flaring up again, yet he lacked the nerve to actually lash out. The words stuck in his throat. He was so choked up that his face, pale from blood loss earlier, had regained color again.

After a long silence, the First Prince finally remembered a question he had been neglecting all along. "Consort Rong, how did you also…?" Surely she hadn’t, like him, been thrown from her horse and separated from her attendants, leaving no one to come to her aid in time?

At this thought, the First Prince couldn’t help but feel a perverse comfort—ah, so he wasn’t the only unlucky one. Someone else was in the same boat.

But he still felt like he was missing something. His mind, however, couldn’t quite grasp it just yet. Then, the words of Consort Rong made him realize exactly what he had overlooked.

"It was an ambush. In the chaos of fighting, I didn’t pay attention to my footing." Su Yi spoke in a gentle, unhurried tone, her expression unchanging as she recounted the assassination attempt, as calmly as if discussing the weather.

But to the First Prince, her words were like a thunderclap. His mind went blank for a moment.

Right before he had been thrown from his horse—

At the time, he hadn’t been able to spare a thought for his surroundings. But now that she mentioned it, he recalled the thick stench of blood and the corpses strewn across the ground. The assassins hadn’t just come prepared—they had committed all their resources, sparing no effort. Given the scale of the operation, the most likely target was…!

With Consort Rong being so favored, it was highly likely that the emperor had brought her along.

The First Prince went pale. "Could it be… has the emperor been ambushed?!" In his agitation, he jerked his newly bandaged leg, sending a sharp pain through his body. He collapsed weakly back onto the ground.

Su Yi gave a slight nod, leaning back slightly to avoid any flying spittle.

But the First Prince didn’t even notice. His voice boomed loudly, like a man startled from sleep, growing increasingly agitated.

"What?! How could the guards have failed so badly, allowing so many assassins to slip through?! Is the emperor safe? Was he hurt? Say something!"

Su Yi watched calmly as he burst out with a torrent of words. At first, the First Prince was frustrated by her silence. He even reached out to grab her shoulders and shake her.

He didn’t succeed. Su Yi had anticipated his movement and pressed down on the nerve in his arm. She didn’t say a word, but the look in her eyes was unmistakable—and not in a good way. The numbness gradually faded, and the blood that had rushed to his head finally cooled, bringing him some clarity.

"The emperor was ambushed, and you’re this calm?! Don’t you care about him at all?! What kind of—" The First Prince’s voice trailed off.

Su Yi couldn’t help but give him an incredulous look.

Did he really think a piece of cloth could just magically stop the blood gushing from his leg? And now he was making a fuss again?

If not for the fact that the First Prince had been lying quietly earlier, waiting for rescue—he could’ve held on. Even a little strength meant survival, after all. She had just been trying to help him hold on a little longer.

But now he was thrashing around again, looking like he was on the verge of collapse. If he died now, the blame would inevitably fall on her. After all the trouble of bandaging him up, she almost regretted bothering.

This brat wasn’t as cute as the little milk dragon (a term of endearment for young dragons in imperial folklore), nor was he as well-behaved. What was he even thinking?

Now that he was feeling a bit better, he was getting worked up again—and that volume! It was echoing all over the place.

"If you’re so worried about your father’s safety," Su Yi raised a hand, "then crawl." She gestured for him to get moving instead of just sitting there.

Wasn’t he concerned?

Didn’t he want to do something about it?

If he was so determined to drag his injured body to find his father, who was she to stop him?

With a serene smile that suggested all could be resolved with good will, Su Yi encouraged him,

"With your love for your Emperor Father, you can surely do it. After all, you love him so much that even if you had only one breath left, you wouldn’t stay put when he’s in danger. It’s all because of your love for your Emperor Father."

The implication was clear—if you could still sit still, it meant you didn’t love him.

She even tossed in a heart sign for good measure, as if to say, *Let’s see if this doesn’t disgust you to death.* Su Yi’s smile grew even gentler and more amiable.

All bark and no bite, yet you still act so proud.

The Eldest Prince’s face flushed red again, this time from sheer anger. "You—how could you be so—so—!"

Since when was Noble Consort Rong so blunt? What was all this self-righteous nonsense about love solving everything? The Eldest Prince didn’t understand such saintly rhetoric.

But that didn’t stop him from breaking out in hives, completely grossed out and twitchy all over.

She clearly knew he couldn’t move right now, so how could he possibly crawl up? Even if he weren’t injured, he might not be able to make it!

Su Yi, playing the considerate one, offered him an out. "Talking is exhausting. Right now, it’s best to conserve your strength. Otherwise, I’d really worry you might drop dead from exhaustion." Of course, this "out" was more like a trapdoor.

She might as well have said outright: *If you die and it ends up being my fault, that’s unacceptable.*

That snapped the Eldest Prince’s mouth shut, leaving his expression a picture of outrage. Unused to being brushed off so dismissively and mocked like this, he would’ve lashed out if not for the pain in his leg sapping his energy.

Noble Consort Rong’s attitude was breathtakingly dismissive! Even her goddess-like looks couldn’t mask how utterly detestable she was!

There was also something the Eldest Prince refused to admit—even if he threw a tantrum, she probably wouldn’t indulge him. With just the two of them here, he was a little afraid of provoking her.

The way she had pinched his pressure point with such precision and speed, her entire demeanor and manner of speaking—it all made one thing crystal clear: she was not someone to mess with. Finally, the Eldest Prince’s brain started working again.

Though he’d never admit it, he knew when to back down.

Seeing that the Eldest Prince was finally getting a clue, Su Yi felt rather pleased and continued, "The Emperor was indeed attacked. Once the assassins are dealt with, he’ll send help."

Anyone else in this situation would be biting their nails in fear, but she showed not a trace of panic. If not for the mention of the assassination attempt, one might think she’d simply gotten lost and was waiting to be found, not trapped after falling into a pit.

Or perhaps… she had been abandoned by the Emperor. Otherwise, why would she be alone here?

The Eldest Prince almost felt a twinge of glee, but then it struck him as pitiful—being left behind in a crisis. His gaze toward Noble Consort Rong even held a hint of sympathy.

Was she putting on a brave face?

But there was no helping it. The Emperor’s safety came first. Noble Consort Rong should understand the priorities and not hold any resentment. Thinking this, the Eldest Prince voiced his "comforting" thoughts.

Su Yi smiled: *Like father, like son—both mutts.*

"What the hell’s your problem?"

The cats Su Yi kept in the palace were proof enough—dogs are innocent; what’d they ever do to you? She couldn’t let her usual blanket insults take the blame here.