He lightly tapped the small table beside him, letting out a thoughtful chuckle.
“Sharp-tongued. So, your life or death is up to me… If I were to bestow you in marriage to a nightsoil collector, would you accept?”
Fang He continued to humor the drunk man with patience, as if coaxing a child.
“Thunder and rain alike are all blessings from the Emperor. This servant would never disobey!”
At most, before getting married, I’ll drown your wretched self in a nightsoil bucket first.
Kangxi suddenly yawned and waved a hand dismissively.
“Call Liang Jiugong to roll in here.”
Fang He softly acknowledged the command, exited quietly, and smiled even more sweetly at Liang Jiugong.
“Eunuch Liang, His Majesty has asked for you to roll in again. You’d best hurry—His Majesty seems sleepy. Don’t keep him waiting.”
Liang Jiugong glared at her.
Just you wait!
But this time, Fang He didn’t pretend to be a fool.
Instead, she felt even more at ease than before—more assured than ever.
Because that confidence had been given to her by Kangxi himself.
At least this trip wasn’t in vain.
A marriage decree?
It seemed her value lay in some kind of arranged marriage.
And if it was a marriage that could be of use to the emperor… then it must be tied to her own murky origins.
Fang He became even more curious—what kind of trouble had her real father left behind?
Could it be that someone of great importance had taken an interest in her, and Kangxi wanted to settle the debt through marriage?
Ugh, how melodramatic!
She would have to find a way to have Xiao Chen investigate it.
Yawning behind her hand, she felt the aftereffects of coaxing the emperor—the drowsy tone of her voice had almost lulled herself to sleep.
Thankfully, it was nearly midnight.
Just one more hour and her shift would be over—nothing else should happen.
This night felt endlessly long.
Inside the hall, Liang Jiugong immediately understood that Fang He hadn’t lied.
Kangxi was slumped against the Luohan couch, resting one arm on the small table, eyes closed as if asleep.
Lowering his voice, Liang Jiugong carefully asked, “Your Majesty, shall this servant assist you to bed?”
Kangxi suddenly opened his eyes and shot him a complex look.
If you don’t have the voice for it, don’t try to sound delicate—it’s making me lose whatever sleepiness I had left.
Feeling thoroughly annoyed, Kangxi lazily ordered, “Tomorrow, go to the Imperial Household Department yourself and personally select a few experienced nannies for Zhongcui Palace and Yongshou Palace.”
“Pass on my decree to Hailaxun—no matter what happens, the pregnancies in those two palaces must be protected. If anything goes wrong, he will pay with his entire family’s heads.”
A cold glint flickered in Kangxi’s eyes.
As for whether the fetus in the Noble Consort’s womb would be truly healthy or not… that was another matter entirely.
If it wasn’t, then she could use her own blood to make up for it.
The court was not yet stable, the Russians were still causing trouble, and once the maritime ban was lifted, the southern regions would not remain peaceful either.
Both the court and the harem had to remain under control.
That little rat was right—since the Niohuru clan had the audacity to scheme against him, then he would be the one to decide their fate.
She wanted to give birth?
Then this child would have to be born safely—no matter what.
Hearing the emperor’s ominous tone, Liang Jiugong tensed up and quickly obeyed.
His voice softened further.
“Your Majesty, it is late. Shall this servant prepare for your rest—”
Kangxi’s lips twitched.
With such an irritating eunuch before him, he simply couldn’t bear to listen to his soft-spoken attempts at coaxing.
Waving a hand impatiently, he commanded, “Prepare the bath. I want to bathe.”
Earlier, Changning had been scolded by him, and later, under the pretext of celebrating the consorts’ pregnancies, had kept toasting him.
Fuquan, already drunk, hadn’t even thought to intervene—instead, the fool had joined in.
Since he couldn’t refuse his brother’s goodwill, Kangxi had ended up drinking far too much.
The stench of alcohol clung to him, making his head ache.
Liang Jiugong, oblivious to his master’s irritation, quickly left to order the hot water prepared and instructed the palace maids to attend to the emperor’s bath.
As the maids entered, Liang Jiugong noticed something amiss and stopped one of them, lowering his voice.
“Ru Yue, weren’t you on day shift? Why are you here at this hour?”
The newly appointed palace maids serving directly before the emperor—Liang Jiugong was always worried that they wouldn’t serve attentively, so he had the more experienced sleeping attendants keep them in check, grinding down their temperaments.
Today, His Majesty was already not in the best mood.
If an inexperienced hand suddenly served him and provoked his anger, none of them would be getting any rest tonight.
Ru Yue smiled sweetly and hurriedly explained, “Wenliu, who was on night duty, twisted her ankle. It was Sister Wenxin who asked me to take her place.”
“This servant has carefully learned the rules of serving from the senior attendants and was even praised by them. That is why Sister Wenxin allowed me to come.”
There were no personal-serving maids directly in the Emperor’s presence—only sleeping attendants, who, to put it bluntly, were unofficial concubines that still had to perform menial duties.
Wenxin was a lady-in-waiting with the senior attendants’ approval, responsible for overseeing these palace maids.
Wenliu, on the other hand, was in charge of the bathing rituals.
The sleeping attendants were divided into three categories.
The first were those who had already received imperial favor, such as the late Hesheri lady.
They were respectfully called “Young Lady” and could move from the side chambers to the inner chambers, receiving light duties such as making personal garments for the Emperor.
The second type had not yet been favored.
They were responsible for the sleeping arrangements, the bedding, the bathing, and the doors of the imperial quarters.
They were always prepared to serve in bed and were considered the lowest rank among the attendants, known as Fengyu female officials.
Wenxin and Wenliu belonged to this group.
The third category included those like Ru Yue, who were only assigned miscellaneous tasks inside the Emperor’s palace, mostly during the day, rarely having the chance to even meet the Emperor’s gaze.
Initially, Ru Yue had been patient.
She hoped to gain the favor of the senior attendants and slowly work her way up to an official position, believing that she would eventually be favored.
But ever since returning from Nanyuan, things had been anything but smooth.
First, the Hesheri lady had snatched the task of returning the meal trays.
After that, she had treated Ru Yue with disdain, her words sharp and cutting.
Ru Yue had cried more than once in frustration.
The other palace maids tried to console her, saying that once she climbed the ranks, no one in the side chambers would dare to make things difficult for her.
As long as she became an official Fengyu attendant, she would be respected.
Ru Yue had intended to wait.
But the maids in charge of sleeping arrangements and bedding—perhaps bribed by the Hesheri clan—had been deliberately making things difficult for her, clearly refusing to let her rise in rank.
The Kang Prince’s household would not wait forever.
If she remained unfavored for too long, they would give up on her and send another girl in her place.
Not only would she lose the silver she had invested, but she might not even get to stay in the Emperor’s presence.
Growing increasingly anxious, Ru Yue overheard a conversation a few days ago about bribing the senior attendants to receive training in bedchamber service.
She took the hint.
Gritting her teeth, she converted the rewards she had received from the Imperial Tea Room into silver, giving a large portion to the senior attendants and a smaller portion to Wenxin.
Finally, she secured the rare opportunity to serve at night.
Ru Yue was ruthless.
She knew that opportunities to bathe the Emperor were rare, and she couldn’t let this one slip by.
After brushing off Liang Jiugong, she slipped behind the screen and pressed her last silver hairpin into the hands of Wenlian, who was assisting Wenliu on duty.
“Sister, please help me just this once. Later, may I serve His Majesty as he retires for the night?”
“I will only serve this one time. Once word spreads, at least those in the side chambers won’t dare to openly make things difficult for me anymore.”
Wenlian’s eyes flickered—earning silver from both sides?
There was no downside to that.
She discreetly tucked the silver hairpin into her sleeve, glanced at the incense burner beyond the screen, and gave a silent nod.
Ru Yue exhaled in relief, overwhelmed with excitement.
As she tended to the Emperor, who had his eyes closed in the bath, she was more attentive than ever.
She failed to notice that as Wenlian handed over the ladle and bathing herbs, she also secretly sprinkled something on her.
After an incense stick’s time, Wenlian gave Ru Yue a meaningful look and graciously stepped back, allowing her to assist the Emperor in dressing.
Ru Yue’s face was already flushed from serving such a strong and powerful body.
As she approached the Emperor, the faint scent of dragon musk from his garments made her legs weak.
Heat surged through her body, spreading from her abdomen to her heart.
This only made Ru Yue even more excited.
She suppressed her ecstasy, taking extra care with each step.
Ru Yue wasn’t foolish.
If she had been clever enough to use Qiaowen to uncover her ties to the Kang Prince’s household and use that to position herself closer to the Emperor, she wasn’t about to make a reckless move now.
She knew that if she acted inappropriately, there would be no good outcome.
But His Majesty had been drinking.
And when men drink, don’t they often act on impulse?
A few unintentional touches, a little leaning closer—if she could tempt the Emperor into making the first move, that would be her ticket to the top.
So, until the Emperor was fully settled in bed, she remained obedient, not making a single inappropriate move.
But she had come with the intention of climbing into his bed.
And now, as she watched the Emperor sleep peacefully with no indication of favoring her, her heart pounded wildly.
Unable to hold back, Ru Yue leaned forward, her soft chest brushing against the Emperor’s as she pretended to be carefully tucking in his blankets.
Kangxi’s eyes snapped open.
His gaze was murderous.
He shoved her off the bed with force.
Ignoring her, he turned his head and vomited into the spittoon beside the imperial bed.
Ru Yue was terrified, her face drained of all color.
She fell to the floor, trembling, and crawled forward to beg for mercy.
“This servant deserves to die! Your Majesty, please forgive me—”
Hearing the commotion, Liang Jiugong immediately rushed in.
Before the Emperor even finished vomiting, Liang coldly barked,
“Guards! Drag this wretch out—”
Kangxi barely held back another retch.
His voice was hoarse yet ice-cold.
“Wait. Summon Imperial Physician Qin immediately!”
Wenlian’s face went pale.
She discreetly shifted her feet, attempting to inch toward the window.
She had originally stood near it, intending to discreetly crack it open to air out the room.
But Kangxi wasn’t just now noticing something was wrong.
He had realized it the moment he entered the bath.
Back when Oboi was still alive, there had been numerous assassination attempts, including palace maids attempting to poison the Emperor with incense.
Oboi had been dead for too long now, so few people knew how sensitive Kangxi was to scents.
To prevent anything suspicious, he had forbidden any fragrances in his quarters except the subtle dragon musk blended by Imperial Physician Qin himself.
When he suddenly detected a warming, cloying scent mixed with the usual dragon musk, he had immediately pressed the inner gate acupoint on his arm as a precaution.
Qin had once warned him that while inhaled aphrodisiac incense required antidotes, vomiting could mitigate the dizziness and help him stay alert.
Realizing the scent was similar to Cuiqing Xiang, an arousal-inducing incense, Kangxi knew it wasn’t fatal—but he wanted to flush out the culprits.
Feigning ignorance, he had signaled the imperial guards to stay alert, intending to observe what the culprits had planned.
But the scent on the palace maid serving him was unmistakable.
Slightly dazed from the wine and acupressure, his body had reacted instinctively.
He had chosen to vomit rather than risk further intoxication.
His eyes, sharp and cold, remained fixed on Wenlian and Ru Yue.
Banging his fist against the bed frame, he roared,
“Guards! Seize them both!”
Liang Jiugong and Li Dequan also let out a deep breath of relief, though they still didn’t dare to relax completely.
In just a short time, they were drenched in sweat as if they had been fished out of water.
When the incense burner was brought over, Imperial Physician Qin’s expression eased even further.
“The dosage wasn’t high, and given that Your Majesty drank quite a bit of alcohol, there should be no major harm. Drinking more tea and relieving yourself a few times will help sober up and clear the heat.”
Although Hehe Xiang was meant to enhance pleasure, a man who had consumed too much alcohol would struggle to—well, perform.
It had little effect, other than making one feel hot and restless.
After all the commotion, the alcohol had completely hit Kangxi.
Feeling dizzy, he got up without further comment and moved to the Eastern Warm Pavillion to rest.
The physician had advised drinking tea, but Liang Jiugong didn’t dare let His Majesty simply fall asleep like that.
With all the palace maids attending to His Majesty taken away, there was no one left to serve.
Letting an untrained eunuch handle things would only risk disturbing the Emperor.
So Liang Jiugong instructed Li Dequan to stand guard while he personally went to arrange for tea.
Fang He had already heard the clattering inside and saw that all the palace maids had been taken away.
She knew this night was far from over.
Drunken mess…
She thought back to an incident from her previous life before she transmigrated and knew better than to get involved in this drama.
She huddled in the Imperial Tea Room, determined to keep her head down.
But just because she stayed put didn’t mean she could avoid trouble.
The moment Liang Jiugong reached the tea room door, he spotted Fang He standing by the tea cabinet.
It couldn’t be helped—Ran Xia, upon hearing the commotion, was so terrified she looked like she wanted to crawl into the stove.
Bai Min’s expression was off, and she used the excuse of needing to visit the restroom to flee.
That left Fang He standing there alone, completely conspicuous.
Liang Jiugong paused for a moment, then fixed his gaze on Fang He.
“Hurry up and brew a strong pot of Liu’an Guapian tea and bring it to His Majesty. If you don’t want to be dragged to the Bureau of Punishments, don’t waste time.”
Fang He: “…So nobody’s sleeping? We’re just drinking tea and partying all night?”
Before she could say a word, Liang Jiugong had already turned to leave.
Fang He had no intention of saying anything anyway.
In situations like this, the less she spoke, the fewer mistakes she would make.
The safest approach was to act like an object, not a person.
She turned to Ran Xia and instructed, “Watch the fire. If you want to stay alive, no matter what happens, do not leave this stove. No. Matter. What. Do you understand?”
This whole mess was definitely connected to Ru Yue, which meant Bai Min was likely involved as well.
Judging by the scale of the fallout, Bai Min was ruthless enough to end someone’s life.
There was no guarantee she wouldn’t drag the rest of the Imperial Tea Room staff down with her.
Ran Xia shivered and nodded vigorously.
Only then did Fang He calmly prepare the tea, rinse the cups with boiling water, and head towards Zhaoren Hall.
Just as she reached the hall entrance, Liang Jiugong grabbed her.
Though he dearly wished to send Fang He to her doom, he had no intention of dying alongside her.
In a situation like this, if she provoked the Emperor’s wrath again, Kangxi’s temper would not allow for an easy resolution—and Liang Jiugong himself wouldn’t escape unscathed.
With a pale face, he lowered his voice and warned her viciously, “If you want to keep your head, get rid of any unnecessary thoughts and serve properly.”
Fang He: “…What thoughts could I possibly have?!”
The only thought she had was wanting to drag this damn eunuch outside and feed him to the dogs so she could go back to sleep.