I, Kangxi, am here to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming!

On this day, Hong Xiguan had just finished reviewing a pile of long and tedious memorials, and was rubbing his temples, preparing to have the imperial kitchen prepare some late-night snacks to appease his rumbling stomach.

A fragrant breeze wafted over.

Hesheli arrived.

The newly appointed Empress was dressed in a light pink everyday outfit and held a bowl of lotus seed soup that was said to have been simmered for three hours.

Looking at that tender face of a twelve-year-old, Hong Xiguan sighed.

Sin!

If this were in modern times, she would be an age where she has just graduated from elementary school and spends all her time scrolling through short videos on her phone.

Now look what's happened, she's become my legal spouse.

Despite inwardly complaining, Hong Xiguan still managed a professional fake smile: "Why has the Empress come? It's late and the dew is heavy, you should get some rest."

This is clearly an invitation to leave.

It means: I'm very busy and don't have time to play house with you. Go back to your Kunning Palace and do your homework.

But the "respectful" interactions of the past few days have clearly given Hesheli a false impression.

She felt that although the young emperor was busy, he seemed easy to talk to and handsome, probably the kind of "gentle husband" described in storybooks.

Then, the young lady's temper flared up, and she slammed the lotus seed soup onto the table, making a crisp "crack" sound.

Hesheli pouted, her eyes reddened, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Does Your Majesty dislike me?"

Hong Xiguan paused, his cinnabar brush in his hand, his head buzzing.

No, sister, this is a political marriage, a corporate merger, not a love match! Did you pick up the wrong script for the female lead in this romance drama?

He patiently replied, "What nonsense are you talking about? How could I possibly dislike you?"

"Why hasn't His Majesty come to Kunning Palace these past few days?"

Hesheli became more and more aggrieved as she spoke, and tears streamed down her face like beads from a broken string.

"I'm all alone in that hall, with no one to talk to. Back home, my father and grandfather always doted on me. I've never been treated like this before..."

She cried as she began to dredge up old grievances.

"And...and His Majesty doesn't care about me at all! In recent years, every year during festivals, I've had people send purses and shoes and socks to the palace, which I sewed stitch by stitch! But what has His Majesty done? He hasn't even given me a return gift! Even a hairpin or a handkerchief would have been fine!"

Hong Xiguan was stunned. He searched his memory for a long time and finally found this memory in an unknown corner.

It seems that there is such a thing.

A few years ago, Sony did send gifts to the palace frequently to show their loyalty, but at that time, I was preoccupied with how to avoid being killed by Ao Bai in my sleep. How could I have been in the mood to care about these little girls' craft assignments? Those things were probably thrown into the warehouse to collect dust long ago.

No, is this even a big deal?

Hong Xiguan felt a throbbing sensation in his temples.

I was risking my life fighting Ao Bai in front of you, and you were making a fuss about me behind me because you didn't receive a Valentine's Day gift?

Is the skill gap between us a bit too big?

Looking at the little girl in front of him, crying her eyes out and babbling incessantly, Hong Xiguan finally ran out of patience and threw the vermilion pen in his hand onto the table.

"Snapped!"

The sound wasn't loud, but it was particularly jarring in the quiet Imperial Study.

Hesheli's crying stopped abruptly, and she looked at him with tears still on her face.

Hong Xiguan leaned back in his chair, his eyes instantly turning cold, revealing an undisguised, condescending indifference characteristic of modern souls.

"Have you cried enough?"

He said coldly, "I'm very busy right now, and I don't have time to play this boring 'guess if I'm angry' game with you."

"In this palace, if you want something, you have to fight for it with your own abilities, not ask for it with tears."

Hong Xiguan pointed to the doorway, his tone chilling: "Now, wipe away your tears and try to soothe yourself. If you can't… believe me, I'll stab you to death!"

This statement is too ahead of its time, too violent, and too inconsistent with the image of an emperor.

Hesheri was completely terrified.

She had never seen such a person before, and she never expected that the usually gentle and refined emperor would utter such harsh words like a thug.

Just then, one of Hesheli's personal maids suddenly stepped forward.

This is Hesheli's dowry maid, named Chuntao. She grew up with Hesheli since childhood and they were like sisters. In the Suo family, she was a person who could do whatever she wanted except for her master.

Driven by her fierce protectiveness of her mistress and still caught up in her role as the "head maid of the Prime Minister's residence," she acted impulsively and retorted, pointing at Hong Xiguan:

"How dare Your Majesty speak to the Empress like that!"

"My young lady is the apple of Lord Suo's eye. She has been pampered since childhood and has never suffered such humiliation. Now that she has become Empress, she should be enjoying a life of luxury. It's one thing for the Emperor not to love her, but he even beats and tries to kill her. If this gets out, it will break Lord Suo's heart..."

The air suddenly fell silent.

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Hershey turned pale. Although she was delicate, she knew that these words were not right.

Li Xu, standing beside her, had his hand on the hilt of his sword, staring at the maid with the look of someone who was already dead.

Hong Xiguan laughed.

He laughed out of anger.

Good grief, do you really not know how to write the word "death"?

Trying to intimidate me with Sony? Do you really not know what the Forbidden City is like now?

Hong Xiguan slowly stood up, walked around the imperial desk, and stood in front of the maid. He sneered, "You've got guts."

The maid only then realized what she had done. Her legs went weak, and she knelt on the ground with a thud, trembling.

Hong Xiguan looked down at her condescendingly: "You've reminded me that this is the Imperial Palace, not the Suo Mansion. Your young lady isn't some precious darling. She is my Empress. As for you..."

Turning his head to glance at Li Xu standing in the shadows, Hong Xiguan uttered a few words indifferently:

"Drag him out and execute him!"

It was said so casually, as if it were just saying, "Throw this bag of trash away."

"Yes, sir!"

Without saying a word, Li Xu stepped forward and grabbed the maid's hair like he was catching a chick.

"Ah! Your Majesty, save me! Your Majesty, spare me! I was wrong! I was really wrong!"

The maid let out a piercing scream and struggled desperately.

But Li Xu's hand was like an iron clamp, dragging her along the smooth gold brick floor, leaving a long mark, and pulling her directly out of the palace gate.

Not long after, a muffled thud came from outside the hall.

The screams abruptly stopped.

The world is quiet now.

Hesheli collapsed to the ground, her whole body trembling violently, her pretty face as pale as paper, even her lips were quivering.

That was her childhood playmate!

He was standing there alive just a moment ago, and just because he talked back, he... he's gone?

Is this what imperial power is?

Is this what the emperor is like?

Hong Xiguan looked at the little empress lying paralyzed on the ground, but felt no emotion.

Is it cruel? Maybe.

But if we don't kill this chicken, this monkey will never learn its lesson. If we don't make her understand what true imperial power is, she will eventually kill herself and even me because of her damn spoiled princess temper!

Hong Xiguan squatted down, reached out and lifted Hesheli's chin, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"Were you scared?"

His voice remained cold: "Remember, Empress. You used to be the daughter of the Suo family. You could be willful and spoiled, but from the moment you stepped into this Forbidden City, in this cage, only I can give you dignity, and only I can take your life."

"Neither Sony nor Suo'etu can save you. If you want to live a good life, put away your spoiled princess attitude and learn how to be a proper empress."

"Did you understand?"

Hershey looked at the boy in front of her, her eyes filled with deep fear.

At that moment, she finally understood that the man who received the worship of thousands of people in the Hall of Supreme Harmony was not the boy next door at all.

He is a dragon in human skin!

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... As you command..."

Hesheli answered tremblingly, her voice trembling with undisguised sobs.

……