Jiujiu spent the whole day squatting in the garden, busy with all sorts of physical tasks—digging holes with a small shovel, pinching bugs to scare her sister, and more.
After a solid cry, she finished dinner and soon fell asleep.
Fang He noticed Kangxi’s meaningful gaze and felt a flutter of anxiety in her heart.
She wanted to snatch Jiujiu for a quick cuddle, but the little bundle was already snoring happily when carried away, paying no mind to her mother’s worries.
Once Jiujiu was taken to the Side Hall, Liang Jiugong and Cui Wei, accustomed to these two needing no attendants during their private time, quickly led the palace maids out and quietly closed the hall door behind them.
Kangxi sat leisurely on the soft couch, sipping his digestion tea with a smile as he watched Fang He.
Though the scene was entirely ordinary, Fang He felt like pins were pricking her from beneath.
She racked her brain for something to say to Kangxi.
“During this morning’s court session, did the Emperor face any trouble from the Censors?”
Kangxi replied coolly, “They’ve been admonishing me since I was young; I’m used to it by now.”
Fang He probed carefully, “When will the Imperial Study finish drafting the edict?”
Kangxi lifted his eyelids, glanced at her, and smiled, “Come closer, and I’ll tell you.”
Suddenly, Fang He didn’t want to know anymore!
Quickly, she turned to leave with a serious face.
“Jiujiu was wronged today, and I’m really worried. If she has a nightmare, what should I do? I have to go check on her…”
Before she could finish, Kangxi’s long leg blocked her path.
Fang He: “……”
Isn’t leg-blocking a thing of the past, even for elementary schoolers?
They press you against the wall these days!
Seeing her twist sideways to bypass him, Kangxi stretched out his arm and effortlessly pulled the little fox… no, little tiger resisting him right onto his lap.
He tapped her head gently, “You’re avoiding me.”
“How could the Emperor say such a thing!” Fang He immediately protested.
“I wish I could be with Your Majesty every day. My whole heart is yours, and I only want to feed you soup and water all day long. Please don’t accuse me wrongly!”
Kangxi chuckled lightly, “These past few days, you’ve been sending mung bean soup to Chunhui Hall but have been nowhere to be seen yourself. Is that how much you care about me?”
Fang He stiffened her delicate neck and murmured softly, “You were holding court for three days straight earlier; I was afraid people would find out you were helping me…”
Kangxi said, “The one who went to Chunhui Hall dressed as a palace maid wasn’t you. Are you trying to back out on me now?”
He lowered his head, resting his forehead against hers, staring deeply.
“Or is it that you don’t want to be close to me? I clearly remember you took good care of our little one at night. You seemed quite happy.”
Fang He blushed and covered his mouth, lightly biting her teeth as she glared at him.
“I wouldn’t back out! I… I just worry about Your Majesty’s Dragon Body and want you to rest a few more days, but you don’t recognize a good heart.”
She was indeed happy, but she also stayed up late every night, exhausted till mid-morning, weakly lying on the soft couch pretending to be missing out on many things.
Yet this dog of a man didn’t deserve the nickname at all—he only slept two or three hours but had more energy than a hunting dog and was getting increasingly unruly behind the curtains.
Weren’t they supposed to do three days on, two days off?
She wasn’t afraid; since there was no ground that couldn’t be cultivated, she was just playing hard to get and trying to extend this gentleman’s shelf life, so he wouldn’t be squeezed dry and live shorter than in history.
That was all her earnest love!
Kangxi laughed and scooped her up horizontally, heading toward the bedchamber.
“Fine, if I don’t recognize a good heart, then I’ll gratefully honor a promise made.”
Fang He gave a feeble struggle.
“Wait, Your Majesty, I think I forgot something important. Let’s sort it out again… mmph!”
Kangxi tossed the kicking Fang He onto the soft, warm bedding and went straight to fetch a small purple sandalwood box with gold-inlaid corners from behind the kang screen.
Fang He: “…..”
She had hidden those things at the very bottom of her least-used trunk; where did he find them?
Kangxi smiled, giving her a sidelong glance and said, “Your trunks are usually packed by palace maids. Do you think they dare hide the things I sent you?”
In truth, once Kangxi said these were his items temporarily kept by Fang He, Cui Wei didn’t ask a single question and immediately ordered Xinzi to retrieve them.
Only Fang He thought she could keep her flushed face and muttered complaints from the little hiding game a secret from her attendants.
Fang He stared at the unearthed gold chains, several gold bells decorated with Eastern Pearl beads, and a small jar of wine, her heart pounding fiercely, her lower abdomen growing weak.
The more she resisted, the more exciting it seemed… ‘cough, no, who was Cui Wei’s attendant anyway!’
Wasn’t she afraid they’d find something that would cause the boss to be angry?
Kangxi sat on the bedside with a smile, his phoenix eyes deep as he looked at Fang He.
“If Noble Consort is unwilling, I will never force you. Actually, if not for your inspiration, I wouldn’t have thought of such things.”
Fang He showed a conflicted expression, half moved and half afraid.
“What if I don’t want to?”
Kangxi raised an eyebrow, “Nothing will happen. It’s just that I’ll be sad and might not have time to go to Jiaotai Hall to request the seal for the edict…”
Fang He immediately threw herself into his arms, looking resigned but heroic.
“I promise Your Majesty, I will never back out. Whoever backs out is a little dog!”
Originally, she was quite looking forward to these things, but agreeing so easily felt boring.
Even old couples needed some freshness.
The more difficult Kangxi got his way, the more invested he’d be in reforming the selection system.
She was well versed in psychological games!
Kangxi saw her excitement bubbling over and smiled, leaning down to let the cold, delicate gold chain rest against her creamy, jade-like skin.
Sometimes, this little rouge tiger’s noisy antics were quite enjoyable, and he pretended not to notice.
“Mm…” Fang He could hardly keep her heroic face, her frail wrist dangling over the carved edge of the canopy bed, tilting her head up in resignation to the intoxicating aroma of wine on her body.
It seemed to be Jade Pear White, a fine tribute liquor from Jiangnan, only a few dozen jars brought into the palace each year.
Even Kangxi usually didn’t allow himself to indulge, yet now it all filled the tent.
The golden bells loosely dangled on her slender ankle.
Fang He peeked down and saw Kangxi pull out a plain white gauze decorated with tiny bell beads, gently covering her eyelids.
Fang He immediately protested, “I don’t want to…”
Before she could finish, Kangxi bent down and kissed her gently, murmuring, “No, you want to.”
Fang He whimpered and tried to argue but felt the warm wine scent spread between her lips.
Her mind grew hazy, and she lost the strength to speak.
Outside, Liang Jiugong and Cui Wei caught faint whiffs of the wine aroma and heard the clear, tinkling bell sounds from inside the hall.
Sometimes hurried, sometimes gentle, the rhythm was embarrassing enough to blush over.
Occasionally, the bells rang frantically in disorder, then abruptly fell silent.
Like music, but the sound couldn’t cover the cries and shouts inside.
Inside, Fang He was given water several times, yet still felt overwhelmingly thirsty.
She had lost control of her crying several times, some of the wine she spilled on herself ended up drunk by her own mouth.
The deep intoxication made her dizzy and forget where she was.
She pressed her delicate yet firm skin, searching for the most precise spot of pleasure, letting the golden bells cast flickering shadows in the candlelight.
Only when she stood on a soft, glowing cloud bathed in silvery moonlight did she feel like a fish thrown ashore, weakly collapsing into the wetness saturated with wine aroma.
But the bells jingled again as she rolled over, plunging once more into the floating sea of wine, lost in the hazy night, letting some unknown force wash away the scent.
In her drowsy drifting, a sudden flash of clarity struck Fang He—she remembered what she had forgotten.
Her hoarse voice called out, “Erbao…”
She had left her son behind at Ruijing Pavilion!
But she was too tired.
Feeling comforted, she slipped into a deep sleep.
Well, Erbao was only six months old.
As long as Jiujiu didn’t recall this, Erbao surely wouldn’t remember his mother’s little mishap.
The next day, close to noon, Fang He finally woke up.
As she got up, she was still a bit puzzled.
Although she didn’t remember clearly, she felt she must have done a lot of physical work last night.
Others felt weak after drinking, but she felt like flying.
She had to tire everyone else out before she would settle down.
She remembered she had pinned the gentleman down and acted all domineering.
In the end, she raised the white flag from exhaustion.
After such fatigue… she surprisingly didn’t feel too uncomfortable.
Much better than the old aches and pains in her waist and back.
She was approaching that fierce age, and thinking back, she wondered what play she could still use to keep this gentleman’s enthusiasm alive.
After washing up, she felt the slight soreness in her body and sighed.
It seemed the eldest prince was right—the more you cultivate this land, the better it gets.
Turning her head, she saw Cui Wei stifling a yawn.
Fang He immediately recalled last night’s betrayal and snorted, “Cui Auntie stayed awake all night feeling guilty for giving my things to the Emperor without my permission?”
Cui Wei showed no expression.
“Mistress, when you hid those things, you might as well have said they were in the tent. Your memory isn’t good. Our maids can’t… search when the arrow’s on the string, can they?”
“Or did you plan to rummage through the trunks yourself and then somehow get those things out for the Emperor?”
Everyone in Yanxi Palace knew their mistress’s face-saving tendencies well.
Better to take them out early than to be blamed later for missing the cue and to avoid anyone seeing things they shouldn’t.