That night, Mingxiu suffered Kangxi's revenge. All night long, Mingxiu felt like a ship sailing on the sea, with raging winds, waves, and towering billows sweeping over her one after another.

No matter how hard Mingxiu struggled, she couldn't break free. She could only cling tightly to Kangxi, her body like a floating duckweed, swaying with the slightest breeze. She could only hold onto something tightly to keep herself from being overturned by wave after wave.

The servants outside stood far away. After an unknown amount of time, when things finally came to a complete stop, Mingxiu felt so exhausted that she couldn't move a single finger.

She let Kangxi carry her to the bathroom to wash up, and when she lay down on the bed, she was so tired that she fell asleep.

My last thought before falling asleep: That jerk, what a cheapskate.

The next day, when Mingxiu was woken up by Lvzhu, she opened her eyes groggily and looked outside, momentarily disoriented, not knowing what day it was.

After a moment of confusion, Mingxiu realized that it was time to pay her respects again. She stretched her aching body, sat up with a long face, and rubbed her sore back. She felt terrible. She had already gone to bed very late last night, and now she had to get up so early. It was so annoying.

Mingxiu sat up irritably. In a bad mood, she didn't want to dress up elaborately. She just applied some powder, combed her hair, and skipped breakfast. After getting ready, she headed to Chengqian Palace. Anyway, there was no one worth dressing up for, so she just wanted to go back and sleep a little longer.

Mingxiu's face was really ugly. Green Bamboo and Yulan were serving her but didn't dare to say a word, only serving her carefully.

When they entered Chengqian Palace, it was already quite late, and everyone noticed Mingxiu's unpleasant expression. Although they didn't know why she looked so bad, no one went up to talk to her for a while.

Mingxiu was happy to have some peace and quiet, so she sat down in her seat.

He glanced around, somewhat surprised, and then looked up at Consort Hui, who had been there for quite some time, and gestured to her.

Today's greeting seems to be quite a grand affair, with almost all the well-known concubines from the palace present. Mingxiu even spotted Xiaohesheli and Wuya among them.

When Consort Hui saw Mingxiu's gaze, she subtly looked up to acknowledge the gesture. Mingxiu nodded, indicating that it was Consort Tong who had made the arrangement.

I wonder what they're up to.

A short while later, Consort Tong and her entourage came out from inside.

Mingxiu and the others rose and bowed: "Your Majesty, we pay our respects to the Imperial Noble Consort. May the Imperial Noble Consort be well."

Consort Tong glanced at them and said with a kind smile, "No need for formalities, all of you sisters, please rise."

After expressing their gratitude, everyone returned to their seats. Mingxiu then looked up at the Imperial Noble Consort above.

I glanced at the Imperial Noble Consort with some surprise. Usually, the Imperial Noble Consort's attire was simple and elegant, but today, for some reason, she was wearing a particularly eye-catching crimson hibiscus flower palace dress, and her complexion was also exceptionally good.

Mingxiu felt something was strange, but she didn't show it.

Sure enough, after a short while, the Imperial Noble Consort said with a smile, "I suppose my sisters have noticed that there are more people here today. The reason I have called you all here today is because it is the beginning of a new year, and I would like to hold a competition in the palace to make it more lively. I have already spoken to the Emperor about this, and he has agreed. So I would like to tell you all about it today, and please get ready."

"I wonder what kind of competition Her Highness the Imperial Noble Consort has prepared?" Consort Xi asked with interest.

Everyone was very interested, and Mingxiu also looked at the Imperial Noble Consort with curiosity, her morning grumpiness from not having slept enough had subsided a bit.

The Imperial Noble Consort did not rush to answer. Instead, she smiled and glanced at everyone before replying: "Since it's not spring, we should do something more appropriate for the season. I thought there were relatively few children in the palace, but these young ladies are all quite young, so I decided to hold a kite-flying competition. We'll see which young lady's kite flies the highest and furthest, and the winner will receive a prize."

Upon hearing this, everyone became excited. Life in the palace was too quiet. Flying kites was not a big deal, but it was a competition, and there would be prizes after the competition. Even if they weren't aiming for the prizes, the Imperial Noble Consort had said that the Emperor knew about it, and winning would definitely make them look good in front of the Emperor.

Mingxiu was also very happy. She had never participated in a kite competition before, and she had never flown a kite before.

Seeing the excited expressions of the people below, the Imperial Noble Consort spoke after a while: "However, there is one thing: the princes and princesses in the palace also need to participate. All of you sisters must go back and prepare well. All the concubines in the harem can participate in this competition, so everyone must work hard. Don't let the princes and princesses outdo you, or it will not look good."

"Yes," the group replied with smiles as they rose and bowed.

After finishing the business, everyone started chatting casually. As soon as Mingxiu sat down, someone started talking to her.

"I heard that Consort Ming brought several princes and princesses to your palace to pick fruit yesterday. I didn't know you had such a good interest. I wonder if I, your elder sister, will have the opportunity to taste the fruit in your palace?" Consort Xuan, who rarely speaks, suddenly said.

Mingxiu glanced at Consort Xuan. Although she didn't know why she had spoken up today, she didn't want to offend someone who was smiling, so she said expressionlessly, "It's just that His Highness the Crown Prince wanted to strengthen his relationship with his brothers and sisters, so he discussed with me about picking some fruit here. It's nothing to mention. If Consort Xuan likes it, I'll have someone send some over for her to try when I get back."

"Then I'll wait for the fruit from my sister's palace," Consort Xuan said with a smile.

"Thank you again, Consort Ming. I tasted the fruit that the Third Prince brought back yesterday, and it was very delicious, especially the durian. Although it didn't smell very good, it tasted really sweet," Consort Rong said from the side.

Mingxiu smiled and said, "Since you like to eat it, whenever you want to eat it, just tell me and I will send someone to deliver it to you."

"Then thank you very much, sister," Consort Rong said with a gentle smile.

"It's so nice to be with Consort Ming. She has her own palace and can use every inch of it. It must be very spacious here. Unlike us, we don't have such a big space. We only have a few rooms, and they're full after just a few things." Consort Xi said with a smile.