Chapter 323

Chapter 323

A deafening silence hung in the air.

Every single person present felt like their hearts were about to stop, wishing they could disappear into thin air—just when they thought they were finally about to be freed, they were instantly thrown into a living hell. It felt like the next moment, they might all be disposed of permanently.

The Eldest Prince, who had adjusted his position to ensure the Emperor would notice him: What? What just happened?

That sound just now... it didn’t seem quite right. Even the normally thick-skinned Eldest Prince couldn’t help but crack his eyelids open slightly to see what was going on.

What he saw was Rong Noble Consort standing with her back to him, positioned right in front of the Emperor. Kangxi’s face was turned slightly, half of it obscured in shadow, his expression unreadable. The silence in the room was so thick it was suffocating, making the Eldest Prince swallow hard, his instincts screaming that something was terribly wrong.

Had he passed out and missed something crucial? Why did it feel like something major had happened that he, as a prince, was completely unaware of? And that crisp sound just now—why did it sound exactly like...!

Holy shit!

The Eldest Prince played possum, snapping his eyes shut. The pain from his bruised eye sockets flared as he tensed, but he didn’t dare make a sound. At this moment, he wished he had just passed out earlier and remained blissfully ignorant. His eyes rolled wildly beneath his closed lids.

No fucking way! Rong Noble Consort wouldn’t dare—she wouldn’t dare hit the Emperor too, would she?!

Before getting his ass kicked, the Eldest Prince might have been the type to charge in earlier, all fired up, accusing Rong Noble Consort of daring to strike her superior.

But after being thoroughly whooped, the Eldest Prince had learned his lesson.

He was certain that if he so much as opened his mouth to speak, he’d be flat on his ass before he could finish a sentence. Knocking him out was like breathing to her now!

The Eldest Prince fumed with righteous anger. Four knockouts from the same woman?! He had been on high alert, ready to dodge or defend himself—but it was useless. Her hits packed such a wallop he wanted to scream. Who the hell had spread those rumors about Rong Noble Consort being frail and delicate, unable to lift a finger?!

Those damn lies screwed him over good!

Once this was over, he was going to find out who started those rumors!

And now, faced with this nightmare scenario, the Eldest Prince—no longer naive enough to think charging in would solve anything—knew full well that if he stuck his head out now, he’d just get beaten up again. At his age, he was now dealing with a crisis he couldn’t possibly handle.

So he decisively played possum, though his ears perked up involuntarily, straining to catch every word.

He wanted to see how Rong Noble Consort would wiggle her way out of this one. Knocking him out was one thing, but now she’d even dared to strike the Emperor? Hmph! After the initial shock wore off, a vicious sense of satisfaction bubbled up inside him—he couldn’t wait to see her get what was coming to her.

And then he learned what it meant for the attacker to turn the tables first.

"Why did you only come now? You told me to handle things, but do I look like I have endless energy to deal with everything? How could you just sleep so soundly? Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for you?" Finish this mess for me.

The smile vanished from Su Yi’s delicate face, replaced by an expression of utter betrayal, as if all the emotions she had been suppressing had finally erupted, shattering the suffocating silence.

There wasn’t an ounce of remorse over having just struck someone—just as smooth and effortless as when she had knocked out the Eldest Prince. She even had the audacity to turn the tables first. Classic Su Yi move that everyone else present wished they could vanish into thin air, certain they’d be disposed of permanently in the next moment.

Though Su Yi appeared furious, internally she was thinking: Finally, I can drop the act. Smiling for so long just to piss people off had my face hurting from faking it.

It wasn’t like she had planned to turn the tables first—she had been waiting for Kangxi’s reaction. But the silence had dragged on, and standing there doing nothing wasn’t her style.

Since things had come to this, might as well turn the tables first.

This way, Kangxi could take the Eldest Prince away. She couldn’t stand another second of that Buddhist scripture nonsense—pretending to be calm and composed had nearly killed her. Besides, the Eldest Prince had become too docile later on. Where's the fun in that?

As for whether Kangxi would be angry about being inexplicably slapped—of course. Even she found the whole thing absurd, but it had happened anyway.

Anger was exactly what she wanted.

Kangxi suddenly let out a low chuckle. He raised a hand to touch the side of his face where he’d been struck, then looked at Su Yi with an unreadable smile.

Su Yi: What the...?

Su Yi had already prepared to start an argument with a cold face, but the other party's laughter made her a little unsure of herself.

Did she accidentally hit his head too hard?

She knew she had to be careful above the neck—otherwise, it could easily lead to stupidity. She had tailored the force precisely, and the Eldest Prince had endured four test strikes just fine.

Otherwise, a normal punch would’ve knocked him out cold without a peep.

Honestly, it wasn’t just Su Yi who was baffled. The Eldest Prince couldn’t help but peek through a barely open slit in his eyes, dying to know but didn’t dare speak.

Kangxi, grinning, leaned in and took Su Yi’s hand, pressing further, "You’ve been waiting for me all these days." He cherry-picked what he wanted to hear, even adding his own interpretation.

Then, as if making up for lost time, he scrutinized her inch by inch with such intensity that even Su Yi began to feel uneasy.

With the tone of a doting parent lamenting, "My child has lost weight," Kangxi remarked, "You look thinner to me. Weak and listless—you haven’t been eating well. Why didn’t you let the imperial physician examine you while he was here?"

At this scene, Su Yi was speechless.

Was this man now twisting her words??

Even more speechless than Su Yi was the Eldest Prince, who was now questioning reality. His squinted eyes flew wide open, no longer caring about the pain from his bruises.

The words made sense alone, but not the way His Majesty said them. At this close distance, he couldn’t have misheard—was His Majesty acting strange too?

Or was it just the dim candlelight?

His Majesty wasn’t the type to be so blind.

Thinner? He had no idea. Not eating well? He, bedridden, had drooled over her feasting—and that counted as not eating well?

She’d even had midnight snacks—two meals more than most people eat in a day!

Her face wasn’t round, but after staying up all night, she showed no signs of exhaustion—her complexion was even better than his, for heaven’s sake!

And "weak"? That was ridiculous. She’d struck him four times—his neck was swollen, like he’d slept wrong, barely able to turn, and both eyes were black and blue!

Since when do dark circles get that bad from lack of sleep?!

If not for the fact that he was supposed to be "unconscious," the Eldest Prince would’ve bolted upright.

After a long silence, Su Yi ventured hesitantly, "Are you... okay?"

Her gaze flickered over Kangxi’s face, unable to figure out what game he was playing.

Kangxi’s face softened, and he guided her hand to his cheek. "This lord is unharmed. My beloved consort held back for my sake."

To anyone else, it looked like he was petting a cat. Like a cat addict getting his fix, while the cat remained utterly baffled by such bizarre behavior.

Su Yi: ...

Was that what she meant?

She meant, "Did that knock to your head scramble your brains?"

His replies were getting more nonsensical.

An ordinary person: How dare you hit me?!

Kangxi: She didn’t even use much force. She cares about me.

The Crown Prince went from initial shock and disbelief to questioning his entire existence as he listened. Was he actually the abnormal one here?

Otherwise, why was he so lost about what was happening?

The Crown Prince began to wonder—was he the one who was actually not normal?

Was that why he couldn’t understand a single word exchanged between the Emperor and Rong Noble Consort?

Left to spiral into an existential crisis, the Crown Prince couldn’t help but start overthinking everything.

To be fair, Su Yi was also somewhat lost in thought. With her *stellar* mental state, her motto was to never internalize stress—just go wild and make everyone else miserable.

But now, someone even more *unhinged* had shown up. Well, this totally threw her off.

Should she keep going, or what? This man wasn’t reacting normally either.

Suddenly turning into a lovestruck fool—what was this move?

It was like madness running headfirst into a lovestruck fool, totally killing the vibe.

Kangxi’s lips curled slightly as he naturally pulled her to sit down with him. "You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? We rarely share morning meals together."

Smoothly changing the subject back to his original purpose for coming—to have breakfast with the Noble Consort.

Faced with this, Su Yi really couldn’t keep up the act anymore and sat down as well. Her craziness had to wait.

Kangxi, having honed his adaptability, knew by now that dealing with the Noble Consort required ditching logic entirely—otherwise, things would just spiral further off track. The only way was to match her unpredictability.

That he managed to steer things back was pure stubbornness—this breakfast with the Noble Consort *would* happen!

The process didn’t matter!

Liang Jiugong, who had been playing dead way better than the Crown Prince, finally felt like he could breathe again and hurriedly arranged for breakfast to be served, still shaky on his feet.

Early in the morning, and his heart already couldn’t take it—to the point of nearly giving out.

He had thought that after a night, the Noble Consort’s anger would have cooled somewhat. Once she’d cooled off and vented, His Majesty’s visit shouldn’t have been a problem.

But the moment they arrived, they were nearly scared to death. Liang Jiugong could still hear his heart pounding erratically, refusing to calm down.

The palace servants, too, felt like they had narrowly escaped death, teetering at the gates of the underworld—just one step away from reporting for duty—when Her Ladyship raised her hand.

Fortunately, the situation took a dramatic turn, and they were given a second chance.

Compared to this, the Crown Prince’s drama was nothing.

After several such encounters, Kangxi had learned one thing: if trouble found the Noble Consort, regardless of the circumstances, he *would* be implicated—whether he was present or not. If he was there, he’d be dragged in immediately; if not, he’d face the consequences later. This time was no exception!

Thankfully, he hadn’t arrived while her anger was at its peak. Having already experienced the *weight* of the Noble Consort’s "love taps," Kangxi’s first reaction this time was—Huh, this is her *normal* force?

At first, Kangxi was also a bit dazed by the strike, but he quickly realized—Ah, this is just her venting frustration. She just doesn’t want me relaxed. If he got angry, the Noble Consort wouldn’t back down an inch—she’d only grow more excited.

Though the Noble Consort had struck him, it wasn’t as if she started it without reason.

As for why he had become the target of her frustration...

Kangxi's gaze shifted and landed on the Eldest Prince, meeting his shifty, darting eyes—those dark circles making them appear even blacker and brighter.

This disgrace of a son still has the nerve to look?

This was the Eldest Prince’s mistake. If he had just pretended to faint properly, he might have been carried away already. But he couldn’t even fake a faint convincingly.

Earlier, when no one was paying attention to him, he could still peek through barely open slits. But now, caught in sheer shock and disbelief, the sudden scrutiny made him jolt like he’d been doused in cold water.

Then, instinctively, he looked up—only to find the Emperor staring coldly at him. Realizing he’d been caught, the Eldest Prince didn’t dare to play dead by squeezing his eyes shut. Terrified, he scrambled to sit up.

He quickly averted his gaze, refusing to meet his father’s eyes. "Y-Your Majesty, this son pays his respects." Gritting his teeth, he hauled himself up on one leg to bow.

As he lowered his head, his mind chanted in panic: *Save me, save me!* He should’ve just committed to the fake faint—why did he have to open his eyes at all?!

It wasn’t like he was deaf and couldn’t hear clearly!

Could he still claim he’d seen and heard nothing?

But wouldn’t that just be as good as a confession?

Well, at least the Eldest Prince’s brain was working smoother now—he actually realized that insisting he heard nothing would be as good as a confession.

Sure enough, Kangxi’s gaze lingered on the Eldest Prince’s panda-eyed sockets. Those dark circles looked rather ridiculous, but Kangxi rarely laughed outright. Still, seeing them did bring him a petty satisfaction.

It’s like when you realize you’ve been beaten, but someone else got it worse—suddenly your own beating feels lighter.

"When did you wake up?"

This brat brought this on himself, leading to the Noble Consort taking her anger out on *him*, and yet he still had the audacity to watch?!

Was he hoping to see if there was a slap mark on his face? Was that why he was lurking like a kicked mutt? The more Kangxi thought about it, the colder his glare became.

The Eldest Prince was truly jinxed—his worst fear always came true. Getting caught faking a faint by the Emperor himself? Gods above, must his luck *always* suck?!

If he said he just woke up, how would he explain playing dead on the table like a rug earlier?

If he admitted he’d been awake for a while, that was even worse. Why pretend otherwise? Why spy instead of greeting his father properly? Was he trying to get front-row seats to the Emperor’s misery?

The thought alone was gut-wrenching.

The Eldest Prince was dense, but not dumb.

In short, the answer wasn’t complicated—but answering it was. In those few seconds, sweat pooled at his temples under the Emperor’s bone-crushing glare, leaving him too terrified to speak.

He didn’t understand how he’d suddenly been painted into a corner.

Unlike the Noble Consort, the Eldest Prince wasn’t about to push his luck. He wasn’t foolish enough to think *"If she can do it, so can I."*

Su Yi watched for a moment, finding the Eldest Prince’s cowed act far more agreeable than his usual brainless bravado. "So you’re awake now," she remarked, with fake sweetness.

Then, with mock approval, she added, "At first, you were out for so long. But now you can wake up on your own—truly, the human capacity for adaptation is downright impressive."

Read: *You took a beating, but hey—tougher skin now.*

Typical Noble Consort talk—never a kind word.

Had this been earlier, the Eldest Prince would’ve boiled inside, forced to swallow his anger under the circumstances.

But now, his usually rigid mind suddenly became flexible, and his words grew tactful. "It’s all thanks to the Honored Mother Consort. Without her, this son might’ve slept through his filial duties—nearly missing the chance to greet Your Majesty."