Imperial Consort Hui and the other two immediately crouched down to pay their respects.
“Wishing His Majesty eternal peace.”
Imperial Consort Rong forced a smile and replied,
“We just happened to run into Miss Fang He, thinking that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager would be pleased. Out of filial piety, we wanted to get closer to Miss Fang He, so we ended up chatting a bit longer…”
Even though Kangxi had caught them red-handed, Imperial Consort Rong wasn’t too worried, spinning lies without a second thought.
Fang He secretly curled her lips but understood where Imperial Consort Rong and Imperial Consort Hui’s confidence came from.
Given the status of the Eldest Prince and the Third Prince, and since it wasn’t a big deal, His Majesty wouldn’t embarrass them in public.
As long as they could justify themselves, Fang He was nothing.
As expected, Kangxi didn’t get angry.
He only said indifferently, “If you truly have filial piety, then learn the rules well and serve the Empress Dowager properly. Stop meddling in affairs before the throne.”
Imperial Consort Rong was stunned, her cheeks suddenly burning.
She realized the Emperor was reprimanding her for getting too close to the palace servants before the throne, suspecting her of spying on his movements.
Imperial Consort Hui and Consort Jin, who were crouching nearby, also understood the implication in Kangxi’s words and felt relieved they hadn’t been as quick-tongued as Imperial Consort Rong.
Kangxi ignored the three of them, not even glancing at Fang He, and turned to walk towards the main hall.
Liang Jiugong stayed behind, smiling as he bowed to Imperial Consort Hui and the others.
“If the three ladies have nothing else, will this servant take Fang He back? There are urgent matters before the throne waiting for her.”
Imperial Consort Rong, unexpectedly embarrassed by Kangxi, had no intention of dealing with Liang Jiugong.
She flicked her handkerchief and walked away, holding her breath.
Consort Jin stood meekly behind Imperial Consort Hui, not saying a word.
Imperial Consort Hui also didn’t want to speak.
She suspected the Emperor’s words weren’t just about them not respecting their master but also because of Fang He, and her mood wasn’t great.
But unlike Imperial Consort Rong, she wasn’t so foolish.
She left a polite remark with a smile before slowly walking past Fang He with Consort Jin.
Kangxi returned to the main hall with an expressionless face.
Although he showed no outward signs, Li Dequan and Wei Zhu, who were on duty in front of the hall, were as quiet as cicadas in winter.
Anyone with eyes could see that His Majesty was seething with anger.
Li Dequan inwardly groaned.
The little ancestor wasn’t in the palace, so who had the audacity to provoke His Majesty this time?
Wei Zhu’s heart was pounding.
He had a feeling this matter was probably related to his sister…
When they saw Liang Jiugong and Fang He following closely behind, both Li Dequan and Wei Zhu sighed inwardly.
It was her again!
Even Wei Zhu, who doted on his sister, found it hard to feel sorry for her this time.
Out of ten times His Majesty got angry, eight were because of his sister.
Was this what they called “spare the rod, spoil the child”?
He might as well feel sorry for himself.
When Fang He entered the hall, Kangxi saw her slowly taking small steps, preparing to crouch and pay her respects.
The fire in his belly was about to burst.
“Stand there,” Kangxi said coldly.
“Haven’t you knelt enough outside?”
Fang He paused, straightened her slightly bent knees, and lowered her eyes without a word.
Being watched, she couldn’t fidget or pinch her thigh, so she silently tried to muster her emotions.
Kangxi slammed the teacup onto the low table, startling Liang Jiugong, who almost knelt in fear, not daring to breathe.
Fang He, however, acted as if nothing had happened, which only made Kangxi angrier.
“Weren’t you quite capable before? Don’t tell me you had no way to handle a few sour words from others.”
If this troublemaker had just said that His Majesty had urgent matters to attend to, Imperial Consort Hui and the others wouldn’t have dared to stop her, and he wouldn’t have embarrassed her.
“I’ve indulged you enough. Everyone before the throne knows you’re a little ancestor. Why did you lose your tongue outside?”
With Kangxi’s insight, how could he not see that Fang He was deliberately playing the victim?
Whether he had caught it or not, there were people near the small garden, and it would eventually reach his ears.
“Are you going to say that you’re just a palace servant and didn’t dare to disobey your masters?”
“I praised you for being clever, not for using your wits against me!”
Seeing Fang He’s head lowered, only the faint trembling of her thick lashes visible, Kangxi suddenly stood up, stepped forward, and lifted her face.
Seeing Fang He’s face clean and unharmed, Kangxi inexplicably felt relieved, but his anger grew even more.
“Speak!”
His increasingly dark eyes were brewing a storm that was hard to suppress.
“Has your tongue been eaten by a dog?”
Fang He also wanted to speak, but the problem was she couldn’t cry without feeling pain, so she had to keep trying to muster her emotions.
Her mind raced, and a look of confusion appeared in her eyes as she whispered,
“This servant didn’t mean to.”
Kangxi sneered, let go of her, and turned away to avoid seeing her pitiful act, which made it hard for him to stay firm.
He could give her a position, but he didn’t like others using all sorts of tricks to get it.
“If you have nothing else to say, tomorrow I’ll have someone send you back to the capital, fulfill your wish, and have you enter a nunnery. That way, I won’t have to see you and be annoyed.”
Fang He inwardly curled her lips.
Was scaring her the only trick he had?
If she believed that, pigs would start climbing trees tonight.
But she still didn’t speak, lowering her head with a look of shame, trying hard to think of sad things from her past life.
Unfortunately, there weren’t many sad memories.
Kangxi didn’t hear Fang He speak and was first furious, then somewhat unaccustomed to it.
Since Fang He had come before the throne, whether she was playing dumb or being clever, she had always been lively.
Even when she pretended to be pitiful, her eyes were so noisy that he couldn’t have peace.
Without even looking at this troublemaker, it was hard to stay firm.
Suddenly, her silence inexplicably extinguished most of his anger.
Kangxi glanced at Liang Jiugong.
Liang Jiugong tactfully retreated, personally guarding the door.
Only then did Kangxi pull the stubborn Fang He, who was biting her lip, into his arms and sighed helplessly.
“What’s wrong with you? I’m not angry about anything else. I’m angry that you don’t know how to protect yourself.”
Kangxi’s tone softened to the point where even he felt strange.
He had never been so earnest in his life, but he didn’t want to see this fierce troublemaker turn into a house cat.
“You don’t want to serve in bed as a palace maid, and I won’t force you. But giving you a position also needs a proper reason. We’ll have to wait a bit longer. I’ve kept it in mind.”
“Sometimes I can’t openly speak for you; that would harm you. You need to stand on your own.”
He had Chunlai, a third-class palace maid, openly serve Fang He, treating her differently from others, even allowing Liang Jiugong and Li Dequan to secretly treat Fang He like a little ancestor, giving her confidence.
Sometimes, a position doesn’t mean everything.
Even though Kangxi spent most of his time in the front court, he knew that in the rear palace, an unfavored concubine didn’t live as comfortably as a favored noble lady.
Couldn’t this troublemaker see what was most important?
“Today, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager summoned this servant and asked me a question.”
Fang He suddenly spoke despondently, continuing Kangxi’s words in a soft voice.
“Her Majesty asked me if I was happy in the palace and if I wanted to leave.”
This lord had said all sorts of good and bad things, and his patience was probably running out.
But Fang He was indifferent.
How long could such ethereal favor last?
Trusting men was like trusting ghosts.
Given the number of children Kangxi had and the size of his harem, even if she tried her hardest, she couldn’t compete with the endless stream of fresh flowers.
If she were to turn herself into a tragedy of this era, Fang He might as well die.
She chose to start competing from the beginning.
Hearing this, Kangxi slightly frowned. “You still want to leave the palace?”
Fang He thought about her savings from her past life, raised her head, and her eyes moistened as her acting skills kicked in.
“This servant thought I wanted to leave the palace, but I unconsciously shook my head.”
Her eyes grew more confused, but the glistening tears at the corners never fell.
“So, this servant doesn’t want to leave the palace anymore…”
She sighed, hugged Kangxi’s waist, and leaned into his embrace.
“Actually, this servant hasn’t been happy since entering the palace. Life in the palace has been very hard for me.”
Kangxi instinctively tightened his hold on Fang He.
“Do you still feel that way now?”
Fang He shook her head lightly against his chest.
“Since coming before the throne, Your Majesty has indulged my mischief and even given me warmth I’ve never felt before. This servant no longer feels that life is hard.”
Kangxi’s expression softened, but he didn’t see that while Fang He’s words were sweet, her face showed no emotion.
These things were within her reach in her past life.
If she could leave the palace, with her skills, finding someone to flatter her for a lifetime wouldn’t be a problem!
Suppressing her inner self, she moved on to the next stage of her plan:
“But encountering the two imperial consorts and Consort Jin made this servant suddenly realize that only by Your Majesty’s side can I be myself.”
“Even if I were given a position and had children, they still wouldn’t treat me as a human being.”
“This servant is afraid, so afraid. I’d rather not offend anyone now than have a hard life later.”
She was referring to Noble Consort Liang, whose Eighth Prince was already five years old, yet she still lived in seclusion in the Changchun Palace, not even as comfortably as Imperial Consort Hui’s chief maid.
Kangxi patted Fang He’s shoulder.
“You’re overthinking it. As long as you stay the way you are now, I won’t let them step on you.”
Fang He thought to herself,
“Cut the crap. Adding conditions to sweet talk? Why don’t you just fly to the sky?”
In the earlier scene, just a few more words, and Kangxi would have worried about embarrassing the Eldest Prince and the Third Prince.
When the number of princes grew up, Kangxi wouldn’t harshly embarrass them either.
How much suffering would she have to endure?
She could eat anything, but she wouldn’t eat losses.
In her past life, after Fang He started working at a hotel, her strong business skills earned her the manager’s favor.
The manager had also said something similar to Kangxi.
In reality?
As long as she remained a waitress, she was excluded from middle-level training, pay raises, and bonuses from the emergency funds distributed by the front desk department.