Chapter 368 - Sweet Aftermath

As was suspected, the Emperor went to the bath chamber to find Lei Xing leisurely resting in the bathtub, eyes closed with her head resting on a makeshift pillow that was folded over the edge of the tub, while a maid was giving her a massage. 

The Emperor motioned for the maids to withdraw and they quickly bowed and quietly exited the room. The Emperor then walked over to the tub and stopped right next to Lei Xing, but she did not even flinch even a bit. The Emperor quietly watched her for a few seconds and then said, "If you still wanted to sleep, why did you get up?"

Lei Xing's eyes flew open and she sat up, startled for a moment, "Oh, you're here." She said as she quickly relaxed and glided to the edge of the tub, "I was just thinking about you and you show up like this. Our minds are truly synced~" Lei Xing sweetly said with a smile as she reached out and grabbed his hand. 

The Emperor smirked and narrowed his eyes at her, "What did you do wrong now?" Lei Xing only ever said sweet words like that whenever she was trying to coax him. 

Lei Xing knit her brows, "What do you mean by that? Can't a person express my love without -" When the Emperor raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her, she cleared her throat and awkwardly admitted, "Um, well, yesterday, I was a bit much, wasn't I?... Are you upset?" She carefully asked.

While soaking in the bath, Lei Xing had remembered some, and hopefully all, of her escapades from the night before. She immediately became concerned that he might be upset with her, so she had been considering going to find him before she dozed off in the tub. 

The Emperor snorted in laughter and stroked her wet hair, "How can I? It was good to see you in such a celebratory mood."

Lei Xing lowered her head with a frown and mumbled, "I wasn't exactly celebrating..." Her cheeks quickly reddened in embarrassment.

She had truly embarrassed herself yesterday in all sorts of ways, from clinging to Xiao Ting to even publicly assaulting the Emperor who was just trying to help her. What's worse was that she even got Xiao Ting to join in on the "fun" of attacking the Emperor. Thinking of that, Xiao Ting would probably run herself into a wall in a panic if she had any idea what she did.

Honestly, if it were anyone else, she and her entire family might just be six feet under right now. No matter how much he loved her, yesterday was clearly over the line. Even she would not tolerate herself like that, drunk or not. She had no idea what was in that wine but it definitely was not normal wine - although the ring did not act up, but that was beside the point!

Even if the Emperor was angry, which he was not, it would be hard for him to remain so seeing her lamenting so adorably like this. The Emperor lightly chuckled and crouched down to see her face, "It's alright, I was also in a celebratory mood. I've told you absence breeds fondness between my parents and me..."

Lei Xing just stared at him for a bit, then she put her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, "I'll make it up to you, I promise..." 

The Emperor smiled and patted her head but then he could not help adding, "Just no more alcohol for the next little while, okay?"

Lei Xing eagerly nodded, she was about ready to swear off alcohol entirely, being drunk to the point of stupidity was definitely not to her liking, "Want to join me? The water's still hot~" She informed with a smile. 

The Emperor blinked at her and then his eyes slipped down. Since her arms were up around his neck, her c.h.e.s.t was partially out of the water, showing off the glistening pair of soft mounds on her c.h.e.s.t. His eyes lingered on their two rosy buds in the centers for a moment before he knit his brows and dragged his eyes back up to her face and asked, "Are you feeling better?"

"I wasn't sick in the first place… It was just the alcohol," Lei Xing said with an awkward laugh then gave him another kiss, "I've been neglecting you the last few days. If you don't want to come in, then I will come out~" She coquettishly said, stroking the back of his neck.

The Emperor smirked, "Alright then." He said and then reached into the pool and pulled her out, rising to his feet with her in his arms, sleeves dripping wet, but he was not bothered. 

"There." Lei Xing said, pointing to the lounge chair in the corner. The Emperor glanced at the massage bed on the other end of the room and then back at her.

"I did say I will make it up to you..." Lei Xing mumbled, lowering her head as her blush deepened. The Emperor was lost for a second, but then understanding dawned on him and his eyebrows rose in surprise. 

The Emperor then burst out laughing and marched to the lounge chair as she wished. He laid her down and quickly followed, capturing her lips in a hungry kiss, one hand holding and c.a.r.e.s.sing her face while the other busied itself roaming her body, while Lei Xing busied herself with relieving him of his clothes. 

The maid Xiao Ruo sent to check in on Lei Xing, finally returned and informed, "The Emperor is still with the Empress... I could not enter the bath chamber." The maid's blushing face communicated the rest of the unspoken story. 

Xiao Ruo thought for a bit before she turned to Xiao Ting, who was staring at the blushing maid wide-eyed. 

"Young Miss, why don't you go ahead and eat first? I don't think the Empress is really hungry right now..." Xiao Ruo advised with a smile. In all likelihood, it will be at least another hour before Lei Xing would surface again, that is if she does not fall asleep. 

"En." Xiao Ting robotically nodded, lowering her head with a pout as her face turned bright red.  in response with her beet-red face. This visit to the palace has turned out to be a lot more than she bargained for. She will never be able to look at her "jiejie" the same again. 

***

"Xing er, you should offend me more often~" The Emperor said with a doting smile, completely satiated as he looked down at the head resting on his c.h.e.s.t while lazily drawing circles on her back. An eager-to-please Lei Xing was definitely a rarity.

"Stop saying nonsense..." Lei Xing retorted, playfully hitting his c.h.e.s.t as she sat up and reached over to climb over him. The Emperor swiftly caught her waist and pulled her back on him, "Where are you going?" He playfully asked as he leaned forward to kiss her. 

Lei Xing kissed him, but before the kiss could develop into something else, she pushed him back and tried to sit up again, "Stop playing. I really have to go now, Xiao Ting is waiting."

"Oh." The Emperor dryly responded, he had forgotten about that person. 

Lei Xing slightly knit her brows in worry as she said, "I thought you said you were not angry with her." 

The Emperor blinked, glanced off to the side, and cleared his throat, "I'm not, it's good that she would so fearlessly jump to your defense." He said with a slight smile, releasing her.

Lei Xing looked at his pouting face, chuckled, and then she leaned in and kissed him, "I'll see you tonight~" She added, patting his cheek before she got up to get dressed. 

The Emperor watched her walk to the dressing table and sighed, then he sat up himself to get dressed as well. He picked up his robes, which were now properly rumbled, and frowned. He definitely could not wear them any longer, so he threw on the chair and started to put on his pants. 

"After I send off Xiao Ting later, I'll go see Nalan. I've been ignoring her the last few days so I'm sure she's agitated..." Lei Xing informed as she put a small towel in the washbasin and went about wiping her body. 

The Emperor turned to her as he put on his shirt, "You don't need to bother with her anymore. I already spoke with her earlier, she's well aware of how she should conduct herself." 

Lei Xing stopped and turned to him, "You met with Nalan? Why? Did something else happen?" She asked with concern. She knew the Emperor did not like Princess Nalan, something must have happened for him to go out of his way to meet her. 

"Nothing serious. Just that some people in Zou are twisting the situation to make the most out of it. They claim we defiled their princess." The Emperor said with a scoff.

"How is that not serious?" Lei Xing asked with a frown. The Emperor smiled and came over to her and put his arms around her, "It's nothing to worry about, they can't do anything."

"But -" Lei Xing started but the Emperor blocked her words with a kiss and then he reassuringly said, "It's really nothing to worry about. At most, we will have to take a few losses, nothing more. They know not to be too greedy. After all, it was their princess who put herself in this predicament. They know not to push too much."

Lei Xing knit her brows but then sighed, "Alright then. I hope you weren't too harsh with Nalan. She might be a bit headstrong, reckless, and forward but she's really not a bad person. It's normal for her to be agitated in this situation..."

The Emperor shook his head, "Of course not, I have no reason to be harsh. I already told you that I will support their marriage." He said, kissing her cheek and plastering on a wide smile for her. 

Lei Xing still looked at him with doubt, his expression was a bit too keen to be believable. Before she could further grill him, the Emperor suddenly picked her up, "You're already in the bath chamber, why bother with a towel?" He said as he marched her over to the bathtub. 

"No! Wait! The water's cold, I don't li-" The rest of her protests were drowned by a loud splash as he dumped her in the tub. Lei Xing resurfaced and irritatedly brushed her hair from her face as she glared at the Emperor, who was quickly undressing again to join her.

"If you keep throwing me about like this, I swear I'm going to kill you one day." Lei Xing grumbled under her breath in annoyance as she stood up to climb out of the bathtub. Being teased like this was not fun.

"You're always welcome to try~" The Emperor retorted as he grabbed her waist and sent them both tumbling back into the bathtub with a laugh. He was not quite finished with her yet. As for that sister of hers, well, he can tolerate her presence for a few more days, there was no need to rush.