Chapter 15 Transition 2

Kangxi's cruelty

She couldn't quite explain why he seemed so familiar, but when she felt him holding her and protecting her stomach, she knew that no matter how scared he was, he wouldn't do anything to hurt her.

This was merely a display of his momentary fear; even those around him didn't perceive any genuine fear in him.

Chen Guanxue looked up and saw Runxi standing to the side looking at Kangxi with curiosity, as if he was just wondering why he had come so early today.

With a gentle wave of his hand, Runxi withdrew.

He wouldn't want anyone to know his fear, nor would he want anyone to know his vulnerability. At this moment, it wasn't appropriate for anyone else to be by his side besides her. If no one else could see his fear, it was hard to guarantee that he wouldn't feel uncomfortable at this time.

Kangxi's vulnerability was only temporary. Soon she felt the force on her body change, and he rubbed his cheek against hers before pulling away.

"I've ordered more people to be stationed around here these past few days, and the noise will stop soon."

He didn't explain the impending crisis to her clearly. It was something he should have intercepted beforehand. Even if he had been a little late, the danger wouldn't have actually reached her. Why did he tell her and make her worry?

For someone to rush here in such a hurry and then say such a calm thing, there must be nothing wrong.

Chen Guanxue lowered her hand and nodded. Seeing his relaxed expression, she was certain he wasn't faking it.

However, something is indeed going to happen in the next few days.

She thought that with more people patrolling the area, danger was approaching, and it would be safer for her not to go out at this time, so she wanted to say something.

Kangxi could tell what she wanted to say from her expression. Before she could speak, he said, "Although there are some more people outside, it has nothing to do with you. You still have to walk the road every day. I will have people watching over you."

How can I reply to that? There's no way to reply.

He opened and closed his mouth, but ultimately didn't know what to say. He could only hum and push him away. "Your Majesty should go and deal with your own affairs. What is the point of staying here with me?"

Seeing that she was getting annoyed, Kangxi moved away from her a little, but did not leave immediately. Instead, he pulled the thin blanket that had slipped down back up and covered her stomach again.

Finally, he reached out and touched her belly, his eyes full of affection.

When she felt a slight touch on her palm, her smile deepened.

The baby is quite far along in his pregnancy and should be quite active at this stage. This isn't the first time his palm has been kicked; the first time it woke him up in the middle of the night.

The initial joy turned into worry when she saw Chen Guanxue's pained expression.

Feeling the touch in his palm, he looked up and saw that Chen Guanxue was only slightly frowning. He figured the kick probably didn't hurt too much, so he relaxed and gently patted her stomach.

"You'll be able to go back soon. Your appetite has improved a lot lately. Just tell them what you want to eat. I'll be even busier these next few days."

After things calm down, I can take her back to the capital to rest and recuperate properly.

He got up and left after she nodded.

After leaving, he composed himself and quickly walked back to his tent where he handled state affairs.

Seeing their puzzled expressions, Kangxi suddenly smiled. While the princes were trembling with fear, he said, "Have someone prepare things. It's time for the one who was released earlier to do something."

"yes."

After giving the order, Kangxi began to arrange other matters, such as contacting internal spies and partners, which were naturally handled by others.

Galdan's spies had been infiltrating the camp for a long time and had even found an opportunity to make a move. However, Kangxi ordered them to be intercepted quickly, and the spies were discovered and taken away before they even got close to Chen Guanxue's tent.

Emperor Kangxi never hid his disgust, and when he saw that the spy was a Manchu, his anger was even more intense.

"You've got some nerve, but you should have known what the consequences would be when you agreed to do it." Kangxi smiled and waved his hand, not giving him a chance to speak, nor did he want to hear him utter a single word.

After the man was taken away, he was not immediately punished, but instead locked up to await Emperor Kangxi's personal intervention.

He calmly changed the deployment, making sure the spy knew everything before ordering everyone to disperse.

Seeing that he was in a good mood and was calm, Yinzhen personally put away the things on the table, and with a smile on his lips, he took off the purse from his waist and put it into the cabinet next to him. He then locked the cabinet and carefully put the lock into his bosom.

He dared not look any further, but he already knew the fate of that spy, which would likely not be good at all. It would be good enough if he could survive unharmed.

That night, Chen Guanxue did not see Kangxi. Liang Jiugong came to deliver a message, saying that a spy had been captured and that Kangxi had something to do that night, so she did not need to wait for him.

Upon hearing this, she never imagined he would be sleeping tonight.

Tsk, what good can come of someone who's set their sights on her falling into his hands? He'll be lucky if he's left with any skin on his body.

That night, he had the candles extinguished early and went to sleep. Kangxi did not sleep, nor did the people of the more distant Dzungar Khanate.

"It's failed. The spy has been caught. Remember to clean up the mess." Galdan knew that if he couldn't succeed this time, there would be no chance of success.

Even before the spy made his move, he didn't think he would succeed. He still sent someone to do it, which was just a last-ditch effort.

"Now that you're back, take a good rest. In a while, come with me to the battlefield and get back the face we've lost." He looked at the person sitting in the corner, his expression revealing his true feelings.

The fact that someone like him could be Kangxi's opponent probably means he had men and horses at his disposal.

The person who was called was someone Chen Guanxue felt looked familiar. After returning, he was asked a lot of questions and then sat down here. As for going back to the battlefield, he felt that there was probably no chance for him.

"good."

After he agreed, Galdan looked away from him and continued to talk about the next steps of the plan.

As the night passed, Dzungar had argued with people, but in the end he silenced them all and unilaterally retaliated using only his own methods.

After leaving the tent, everyone looked at each other and saw the same contempt and regret in each other's eyes. They tacitly dispersed, circled around, and then gathered together again.

"Galdan is too reckless. If this continues, our tribe will simply disappear from the grasslands."

“We can’t let him continue like this. We used to do everything for the tribe, but under his leadership our people are getting worse and worse. Now we might even be completely eliminated by the Qing emperor.”

In their eyes, war is normal, after all, the tribes on the grasslands have always been divided and united.

They didn't know how powerful the Qing Dynasty was before. After being defeated twice, they were ready to give up. But Galdan didn't give up. He even reached out to the Qing Dynasty again without their knowledge.

Seeing their excited expressions, I knew exactly what to say.

At first, everyone agreed, and even volunteered to send their own people to the battlefield. Now they're saying Galdan is wrong.

It's all just a struggle for interests.

They initially supported Galdan out of self-interest, but now they want to bring him down for the same reason.

The outcome of their discussion was known only to them. The person Kangxi released did not send him a message, because he would hear it himself soon. Knowing or not knowing now would make no difference.

As dawn broke, Kangxi emerged from the area where the spies were imprisoned, his clothes stained with blood, and he was wiping his hands with a handkerchief.

He didn't mind having blood on his hands at times, but afterwards he wanted to be clean. He was really angry last night and couldn't even control his own actions.

"When did your Master Chen go to sleep?" Kangxi asked casually as he took the warm handkerchief handed to him by Liang Jiugong.

Liang Jiugong watched her extinguish the candles in her tent last night, and "went to bed earlier than usual."

Kangxi glanced at the sky. It was still early, and even if he had gone to bed early, he should still be asleep by now.

He still wanted to lie down with her for a little while longer, but when he looked down at his clothes, he decided against it.

"Have someone prepare hot water. Tell those who have requests to see us this morning to come back this afternoon."

After he left, the person guarding the tent went inside, and then someone else ran out covering their mouth.