Li Tiao's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, gradually calmed down because of the Fourth Prince's rather convoluted words.
Because she understood the Fourth Prince's rather convoluted words, which were almost directly aimed at Consort De.
The knife was at the back of his neck when suddenly someone rushed over and shouted, "Spare his life!"
Moreover, it eased the situation, and Li Tiao was deeply moved. Her eyes were filled with tenderness and gratitude that she herself did not realize when she looked at the Fourth Prince.
The Fourth Prince noticed, but at this moment he dared not relax at all. He glanced at Li Tiao and then looked away, waiting for Kangxi's reaction.
Consort De glared angrily at the Fourth Prince, wishing she could rush forward and fight him, but with Master Kang present, she had a hard time restraining herself.
Time passed slowly, and Li Tiao gradually withdrew from her feelings for the Fourth Prince and began to concentrate on dealing with the situation before her. Master Kang, however, had not yet made any reaction.
Li Tiao looked up nervously and found that although Master Kang had a half-smile, he didn't have any negative emotions like being sarcastic or mean. In fact, Li Tiao could see that he was kind and approachable.
This... is a bit fantastical.
Although Li Tiao was extremely curious, she knew it wasn't appropriate to speak up at this time.
Li Tiao's heart was pounding like a drum. The drumbeat slowed down because of the Fourth Prince's words, but as the silence lasted longer, the drumbeat became rapid again.
The drumbeats were so fast they were almost suffocating.
Li Tiao thought she couldn't just be scared to death like that; that would be a terrible injustice.
She thought that since her situation was already so bad, how much worse could it get? So she mustered up her courage and decided to speak up.
However, at this moment, Master Kang slowly spoke up: "Consort De, you are the fourth prince's biological mother. Did you understand what he meant by what he just said?"
Because of Master Kang's words, the rapid, almost suffocating drumbeats came to an abrupt halt.
"Your Majesty... what I hear from the Fourth Prince is... he means... someone wants to harm his Consort Li?"
The once eloquent Consort De stammered as she spoke a simple sentence.
"Then who do you think wants to harm Princess Li?" Master Kang's tone remained very gentle, revealing no emotion whatsoever; the so-called imperial majesty seemed to be nothing more than a legend.
Consort De's mouth moved as if she had a lot to say, but she couldn't say it in front of Emperor Kangxi.
However, she could not remain silent when faced with Kangxi's persistent questioning.
"Your Majesty, I do not know... I do not know who wants to harm Consort Li."
She didn't expect Consort De to admit that she had anything for her, so when Li Tiao heard Consort De say that, she wasn't disappointed, but she was also a little anxious about what to do next.
Instinctively, she looked at the Fourth Prince.
The Fourth Prince, still using the hem of their clothes as cover, quietly squeezed Li Tiao's hand, telling her to calm down.
“I remember there was a princess named Hui or Yun by the Fourth Prince’s side back then, right?” Master Kang thought for a long time but couldn’t recall Yun Hui’s name. “Back then, Consort De, you made a huge scene in front of me because that princess died. It was then that I took a serious look at Li Tiao.”
It was only then that I remembered what the princess I had chosen for my fourth son looked like.
Now...
Upon hearing that Emperor Kangxi had even brought up Yunhui's past, Li Tiao and Consort De had different thoughts.
Although it is said that the emperor's mind is hard to fathom, Li Tiao thought that this must be the beginning of a reprimand of Consort De. Li Tiao was a little excited.
Consort De naturally understood what Kangxi meant. She was panicked and hurriedly interrupted him before he could finish speaking, "Your Majesty, back then..."
"I haven't finished speaking."
Finally, Kangxi's voice took on a stern tone.
Li Tiao couldn't help but swallow hard.
"Consort De, I have always wanted to know why you are so harsh on the Fourth Prince. What I can't understand is that you are harsh on the Fourth Prince, but you also treat one of his concubines with disdain."
As a concubine, you have absolutely no tolerance for others…
"Your Majesty, it's not that I'm heartless, but it's because Li Tiao is just... Putting aside everything else, just look at what happened today. Chunxi died right in front of Li Tiao... Your Majesty, Chunxi is carrying the Fourteenth Prince's child. This is the Fourteenth Prince's first child, a member of the royal bloodline..."
Emperor Kangxi slammed his fan on the armrest of his chair in a fit of rage: "Consort De, do you really think I'm senile?!"
Li Tiao couldn't help but shudder. She thought to herself that she felt something was off when she first saw Chunxi, and she never expected that Consort De would actually shift the blame onto her.
"Your Majesty, I dare not."
"Dare not? I see you're quite daring. First, you devised a plan to summon me to your Yonghe Palace, then you summoned Chunxi and Li Tiao together, making Chunxi die in front of Li Tiao. You've planned everything so well. If this Consort Li were really as vicious and cunning as you say, would she have so many so-called flaws that you could have found?!"
Li Tiao subconsciously looked at the Fourth Prince. Was Master Kang speaking up for her?
That's really surprising.
The Fourth Prince remained expressionless, giving Li Tiao a look that said, "Listen on."
"Your Majesty, I just..."
Emperor Kangxi interrupted Consort De: "Consort De, I am not senile!"
After saying that, she stood up and walked out, seemingly not wanting to stay in Yonghe Palace any longer. But before she left, Kangxi couldn't help but turn back and say, "Consort De, what did you just say? Oh, right, you said that the servant Chunxi is pregnant with the Fourteenth Prince's child, which is of royal blood. That's true."
"I ask you, what is the punishment for harming members of the royal bloodline?"
Even though Consort De, who always kept her back straight while kneeling on the ground, almost collapsed to the ground upon hearing the Emperor's words, and her eyes flickered fiercely.
However, before Li Tiao could even gloat, Kangxi called on her: "You two... Fourth Prince, you and your princess will come with me."
The heartbeat, which had been pounding like a drum, had stopped abruptly, but upon hearing Kangxi's words, it began to beat slowly again.
Li Tiao and the Fourth Prince exchanged a glance, knowing that this matter would not be so easily resolved, and that the Emperor was not so easily fooled.
On the way from Yonghe Palace to Qianqing Palace, Li Tiao's heartbeat became more and more rapid. The image of Kangxi's back in front of her was like a mountain, as if it could crush her under it at any moment, just like Sun Wukong being pressed under the Five Finger Mountain by the Buddha.
However, unlike Sun Wukong, he was met by Tang Sanzang, who was on his way to the Western Paradise to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures. As fear began to spread in Li Tiao's heart, she felt her hand being pulled again.
She lowered her eyes and looked at the hand she was holding with the Fourth Prince. Li Tiao's panic seemed to have lessened.
However, upon arriving at the Qianqing Palace, after Kangxi dismissed everyone, his first words made Li Tiao feel as if disaster was imminent once again.
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