Chapter 344 - Thoughtful Interlude

"He is to wait quietly for my summons... No one is to come here on his behalf again," The Emperor coldly said, without even sparing a glance for the Imperial guard who Prince Yi - who was now in prison had again sent with a plea for an audience with the Emperor. The Imperial guard promptly bowed in understanding and quickly exited the room.

As the guard left, an eunuch came in to drop off a few reports and the Emperor turned to him and asked, "Where is Eunuch Li?" He had barely been seeing that old man these days. On a busy and important day like this, he should naturally be here at his side.

The Eunuch bowed and informed, "He's overseeing the monk's visit with the Empress dowager ..."

The Emperor knit his brows and leaned back in his throne chair, closing his eyes as he massaged his aching head. He had actually forgotten about the issue of the monk and his mother. As much as he liked the fact that Eunuch Li seemed to have a handle on the Empress dowager, it was a bit grating that he has been relegated to the side these days. But he knew he should not complain, after all, Eunuch Li has been effective in managing communications between them since they both dislike the presence of the other.

Thinking of his mother made him wearily sigh. It was not that he actually truly disliked his mother, she was a pitiful soul and he understood that. He wanted to treat her well and had once hoped to do so, but he could not have her ruling his life, especially when she seemed to detest all that mattered to him and all he stood for. If she were more reasonable and thought more, he would have no problem with her.

The Emperor sighed and looked back down at the edict he was writing. It was interesting that no one questioned or even tried to speak up for Prince Yi, he could decide to kill him tonight and no one would care. It seemed everyone had been expectantly waiting for this outcome, it was a bit disheartening. The Emperor sighed again then asked, "Has the Empress returned to her palace?"

"No, the Empress has been at the Imperial pharmacy for a while now meeting with the head physician -" The Eunuch curtly informed. 

"Imperial pharmacy? Is she hurt?" The Emperor quickly cut in with a frown and then promptly realized that the question made no sense and dismissively said, "Nevermind, you may go... Continue to monitor the Empress's movements and let me know if anything happens, even if it's a small development." The Emperor amended and the eunuch bowed and turned to leave. 

He had woken up to find her intently watching him with bloodshot eyes, as if on night's watch duty. Then she proceeded to hover over him the entire morning, even walking him out to her palace entrance. On a regular day, such rare fawning behavior from her would be welcome, but not when she was watching him so intently as if she expected him to collapse at any second. Then while he was setting his mind at ease that she was finally resting, she got pulled into another bothersome affair.

To the Emperor's surprise, just as soon as the doors closed behind the eunuch, it opened again and he looked up to see Lei Xing sauntering in, a smile lighting up her face when she met his gaze.

The Emperor let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she looked better and much like her normal self. So at least she did not look beaten down by the events of the day, the last thing he needed now was her getting ill. He unconsciously smiled and held out a hand to her as she came around the desk.

Lei Xing took his hand and sat next to him and he promptly asked, "Are you feeling better?" 

"Oh, there was nothing wrong with me. You, on the hand... need work" Lei Xing said as she moved things around the table to clear space. Ah Jin who had silently followed her in, promptly dropped the tray she was carrying on the cleared space, then she bowed and made her way out. 

The Emperor blinked and then raised an eyebrow at the brownish-gray liquid in the bowl, "What is that?"

"It's vitality soup, the head physician said it'll help, um... relieve any um...ailment. It's good for you." Lei Xing haphazardly said with a strained smile, raising the bowl up to his lips. 

Actually, she was pretty sure the head physician just chose to make this so she would leave him alone. He had assured her nothing was wrong with the Emperor. Honestly, she was sure that the old man would have tossed her out of there if she was not the Empress. In the end, he settled for illuminating the foolishness of her claim by asking a simple rational question: If the Emperor was not breathing, how could he have woken up with his breathing completely normal, not labored?

Lei Xing naturally had no response for that and he used the opportunity to explain to her as if she were a child that sometimes people feel truly exhausted and sleep like the dead - even clarifying that the dead was just figurative. Seeing that Lei Xing was still not budging, he agreed to make this soup for the Emperor to help boost his vitality just to get her to leave him alone. 

"Vitality soup?" The Emperor said, jerking his head back as she moved it to his lips, "Xing er', you should know better than anyone that I don't need vitality soup." The Emperor said with a slight smirk. Even on an irritating day like this one, being Lei Xing was enough to temporarily uplift his mood.

Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at him and then she tried to urge, "Trust me, it tastes much better than it looks... And you also didn't go to see the Imperial physician -."

The Emperor let out a breath and said, "It's been a busy day..."

Lei Xing nodded, "I understand that which is why I took it upon myself to look after your health so you can have the energy to brave the day~" She sweetly said with a smile, "Please... Just drink this." She finished with a beseeching expression that she knew he could not refuse.

The Emperor looked at her for a bit then helplessly sighed and took the bowl and downed the contents in big gulps. Her concern was most disarming as it was heartwarming.

Lei Xing beamed at him as she took the empty bowl from his hand. The Emperor sighed - he had been doing a lot of sighing today, he took one of her hands and reassuringly said, "Stop worrying, I'm perfectly alright..."

Lei Xing nodded, "But better safe than sorry..." She said, patting his cheek like a child. She then picked up the folded piece she had dropped on the table on her arrival and handed it to him, "This is for you. Eunuch Li handed it to me at the Imperial pharmacy, he was apparently there checking on some medication for your mother..." She dismissively informed, she did not like discussing the Empress dowager as just the mention of her usually dampened the mood.

The Emperor did not say anything and simply took the folded paper and opened it, within the folded note was another smaller folded note with two words written on it. The Emperor knit his brows and removed the second note and handed it back to Lei Xing, "This is for your sister..." 

Lei Xing blinked, taken aback as she took the folded note in her hand and read the words "Xiao Ting" on the top. Lei Xing snorted in amus.e.m.e.nt and asked, "Is this from that General? He's been writing to her?"

"Now and then..." The Emperor offhandedly responded. 

"I see..." Lei Xing said with a slight smile. She could not imagine that uppity General An writing love notes. She was curious to know its contents, but her morality won out in the end and she placed the note on the table and turned her attention back to the Emperor. She wanted to talk more with him but she knew that now was really not the time.

The Emperor folded the note and turned back to her to find her intently watching him, again. He inwardly sighed and took her hands and repeated the words, he had been saying on repeat since last night, "Xing er', I am truly alright... stop worrying or you'll get yourself sick." He said with a frown.

"En." Lei Xing simply went knitting her brows in a disgruntled pout, before wrapping her arms around his waist in a hug. She was aware that she was being a tad overbearing today but she could not be blamed. She was simply being cautious and attentive. The Emperor sighed and put an arm around her, reassuringly stroking her arm.

They quietly stayed like that for a while before Lei Xing sat up and held his shoulders and seriously said, "You should stop worrying too. The stress lines on your forehead are unbecoming..."

The Emperor touched his forehead with a confused expression, looking even more confused when he felt no lines there, making Lei Xing snort in laughter. The Emperor slightly smiled as he narrowed his eyes at her, perplexed. 

Lei Xing snorted and pat his head like a child and added, "... Don't worry, you still look beautiful even with them~" She jokingly said, trying to brighten his mood, today had been a stressful day for all of them.

Doctor Lou had said to her that the Emperor behaved muddle-headed when she was involved. But as far as Lei Xing could tell, it was when Prince Yi was involved that he truly behaved muddle-headed and incessantly indulgent. After all, she was not gunning for his throne or his life, nor had she ever truly stepped on his toes. Not that she thought that he would not offer her the same, if not more leniency.

The point was that she did not abuse his affection for her - not anymore anyway and her past errors could not compare. Most infuriatingly was that Prince Yi did not appreciate his efforts and kindness towards him, which made it more grating for those watching. Lei Xing inwardly sighed, it was what it was.

The Emperor knew what she was doing and chuckled as he pulled her into a tight hug as he said, "I love you..." 

"I love you mo-" Lei Xing caught herself on the word and knit her brows.

Lei Xing's face colored and she awkwardly shifted a bit, before going ahead and adding, "...more." It was just a word. It took nothing from her and would lighten a heavy day for him so it was nothing she couldn't do. The Emperor straightened up and looked at her face with a blinding smile, causing her to avert eyes with a frown as her face reddened even more as the images from the last time they were here "together" flashed through her mind.

Lei Xing cleared her throat and promptly changed the topic, "Ah...have you heard from the old man recently?" She almost forgot this matter in her fretting over the Emperor. 

The Emperor raised his eyebrows, "No... Why?"

"It's nothing serious. It's just that he told me he was going back to Tung Mei because he was worried about her. You know she's been ill, so I originally thought he was going to heal her but... the head physician told me today that she's not faring well. So I was wondering if something happened to him..." 

The Emperor knit his brows, it was really one thing after another today. But since Lei Xing asked, he would definitely have to look into it. So he said, "... 'll send scouts out to try to find him. As for Miss Tung, the Imperial physicians will continue to do all they can until he makes an appearance... Although, I'm sure he's perfectly fine and has reasons for allowing her illness to continue."

Lei Xing nodded, "I thought so too, but I just thought to mention it just in case you hear from him. I honestly won't put it past him to have forgotten about her somewhere along the way..." She added with a little laugh which the Emperor responded with an agreeing smile. 

"Anyway, I'll be leaving now. Don't work too hard~" Lei Xing said with a smile, dropping a kiss on his cheek before rising to her feet. Uncharacteristically, the Emperor simply smiled and nodded at her departure. Usually, he would be clawing at her to stay longer, this just showed how much burden this move against Prince Yi put on him.

Lei Xing inwardly sighed, this interlude was simply a break from her own nagging problems as well. She had temporarily left everything to Ming Shu and Xiao Ruo because in the irritated frame of mind she was in, she was bound to explode on someone if she did not go discuss find out about the Emperor's health from the head physician.

Now that she had confirmed with her own two eyes that he was alive and well, she had to go deal with the mess caused by a certain boisterous Princess who naturally did not take the breaking news of a certain Prince's imprisonment well.