Chapter 367 - Forewarned

While Lei Xing was having fun teasing someone gullible for a change, the Emperor was in quite a bad mood, dealing with some unpleasant matters. He had just received a message from his contact in Zou kingdom, and the response was irritating. Due to the idiocy of a certain couple, it seems he was about to be forced to take on some losses. 

"Your majesty, Princess Nalan is here." An eunuch informed, the Emperor nodded, and the eunuch bowed and went out of the doors. An irritated Princess Nalan was escorted in shortly after with a dozen Imperial guards on her tail. She stopped in the center of the room, glaring up at the Emperor as she folded her arms, "You forgot the shackles..."

"Retreat." The Emperor calmly ordered, ignoring Princess Nalan's words. The Imperial guards bowed and retreated as the Emperor put down his ink brush and silently scrutinized Princess Nalan. 

Princess Nalan waited a few seconds, and when he still did not say anything, she got irritated and spoke up, "Have you finally decided to release him?"

"No." The Emperor flatly responded and then let out an irritated breath and went on to say, "It has now occurred to me that I have no idea what your thoughts are regarding the... current events." He offhandedly stated, "I ordinarily would not care, but as you are considered a charge of the royal house, it is my responsibility to be concerned."

Princess Nalan knit her brows and blinked up at the Emperor, unsure where he was going with this. Neither his words nor tone conveyed concern, not to mention that he had kept her and her spouse locked up all this time, "What is this about?" She asked, glaring at the Emperor. 

The Emperor was not bothered by her show of hostility and asked, "Did Prince Yi force you?"

Princess Nalan was stunned by the question for a few seconds. When her brain processed the meaning behind the question, she was appalled and angry as she shouted her response, "Of course not! Why would you think that?!

The Emperor ignored her again and continued to ask, "Were you tricked then?"

"No." Princess Nalan flatly said, at this point fuming, "Do you really think so lowly of your own brother?!"

"Your people certainly seem to think so lowly of us..." The Emperor offhandedly responded.

"What do you mean?" Princess Nalan asked with a frown, mellowing down.

"The consensus in Zou seems to be that you were either tricked or forced into your current predicament, and a fuss is being raised. Some are even calling for war to restore the honor of their "precious" defiled princess and wash this insult from the nation's face. Does this make sense to you?" The Emperor asked with a slight smirk. 

His face was smiling, but Princess Nalan had the good sense to know that this was not at all an amusing situation. She slightly gulped, dropped her arms to her side as she shook her head, "I already wrote to my father and even my grandfather explaining the situation. They know it was nothing like that. Yes, what have they said? Random rumors mean nothing! You have nothing to worry about." She argued, regaining her confidence. 

"Worry?" The Emperor scoffed with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile as he continued, "Princess, I do not fear war. Therefore, I do not worry about it. What worries me is that some people have misunderstood my benevolence for weakness." He finished, his smile gone. 

Princess Nalan knit her brows and glanced to the side, not at all sure what to say here. This was clearly not something she was equipped to handle. Even if she was stupid, she knew she had to tread carefully here. War was a serious matter, and being on enemy territory during a war was an even more serious matter.

Seeing that Princess Nalan was quiet, the Emperor put his arm on the arm of the throne chair and relaxed as he leisurely asked, "If we, you and I, as representatives of our nation decide that war is the answer, what do you think my first step will be?"

Princess Nalan slightly went rigid and glanced up at the Emperor to see that the smile was back on his face. She clenched her sweaty palms and raised her head defiantly. She was not scared, she was not scared of anyone - she reminded herself and confidently continued, "This is not a matter that warrants a war. There will be no war. My father granted me full authority over my marriage, which naturally extends to all affairs involving it. It was my choice, and it remains so. I will explain more clearly to them."

"Well said." The Emperor said with a curt nod and then informed, "Your grandfather has requested permission to visit the capital. Now that I have confirmed your side of the story, you may leave." The Emperor said, picking up his brush and resuming his writing. 

Princess Nalan stood rooted to the spot. Her grandfather was coming himself? She did not expect this. Actually, this was not at all going the way she and Prince Yi had imagined. 

Prince Yi said they would all have no choice but to accept their marriage, but was all this talk about war now? Defilement? Even the people who have never met her know that Princess Nalan cannot be bullied. 

Thinking about Prince Yi was another confusing matter, treason? How?

"Anything else?" The Emperor's cold voice brought her out of her thoughts, and Princess Nalan looked up at him and then tentatively asked, "What about Prince Yi - Your brother? the treason, he couldn't possibly have com-"

"That is none of your concern." The Emperor flatly said, "Leave." 

Princess Nalan frowned, "How is it not my concern? We are engaged, and I am already pregnant. You locked him up under some random pretense of treason! I don't even know if he is dead or alive right now! If the roles were reversed and it was Lei Xing wh-" 

The Emperor suddenly slammed his hand down on the table, and the rest of Princess Nalan's words got stuck in her throat. The Emperor let out a breath and then threateningly said, "What should be concerning you right now is how to make sure I do not lose my patience. Leave." He repeated with a cold hard stare. 

Princess Nalan frowned back at him and stated, "This is not fair." The Emperor did not say anything and maintained his cold stare, waiting. Princess Nalan steadily met his gaze with a glare of her own. 

But after a few seconds and better judgment, she slightly bowed in "respect" and turned to leave, fl.i.c.k.i.n.g her sleeves in the process. She disgruntledly stormed out of the room with a deep frown on her face. Without missing a beat, the Imperial guards promptly fell into step behind her. Princess Nalan glanced at them and clenched her fists so hard her nails bore into her skin, but she could not feel any pain. She had never been so humiliated in her life, neither has she ever been so agitated before in her life. 

{...This is all wrong!...}

***

Shortly after Princess Nalan left the royal study, the report came to him that Lei Xing was awake. Seeing as he was not in the best of moods, the Emperor decided to go have lunch with Lei Xing to uplift his mood. But when he walked into their bedroom, he found an unexpected guest. Xiao Ting was sitting at their table, happily chatting with Xiao Ruo and some other maids.

The Emperor knit his brows and stopped in his tracks. The maids noticed him and turned to bow, and Xiao Ting promptly shot to her feet and bowed along with them. Before the Emperor could ask, Xiao Ting nervously volunteered, "G-greetings to the E-emperor. My s- the Empress told me to wait here..." She nervously said, making sure to keep her head lowered, cold sweat suddenly forming on her forehead.

She had completely forgotten that this was not simply Lei Xing's room, but the Imperial couple's private bedchamber - Lei Xing must have also forgotten. Otherwise, how could she have told her to leisurely hang about here?!

The Emperor did not say anything and silently moved his eyes to Xiao Ruo, who intuitively volunteered, "The Empress went to bathe..."

With the way the Emperor came and left, he seemed like a man on a mission. He was probably going to find Lei Xing in the bathe. Thinking about that, Xiao Ting remembered the kiss spots she had seen on Lei Xing's body earlier, and she suddenly shot to her feet, "I - I think I should I leave..." She nervously declared, holding her burning cheeks.

Xiao Ruo smiled and said, "I was just thinking that with such great weather today, an outdoor lunch will be more to the Empress's liking. What do you think?" She asked, turning to Xiao Ting, who swiftly nodded and took the lead, almost sprinting out of the room. 

Xiao Ruo and the maids all smiled as they watched her, trying to hold back their laughter as they all thought: It seems this young miss is really not as clueless as she appears. 

Xiao Ting could not be bothered by the thoughts of others at the moment. She had no idea why but as soon as she saw the Emperor, her skin started crawling. Now that she thought about it, this was actually her first real encounter with the Emperor, and he was definitely an imposing presence. The Emperor did not look happy to see her, not that he should. It was just that he seemed annoyed. He also did not even acknowledge her presence, much less her greeting back there.

Xiao Ting could not help feeling that she did something wrong. Moreover, she was suddenly overcome with the feeling that she had forgotten something very important... but for the life of her, she could not remember.

{...I hope this won't cause trouble for Jiejie... Aiya, Jiejie, how could you be so thoughtless?! >_<)...}