Chapter 92 - Lure

As soon as Lei Xing left the royal study, the bracelet began its whining again. By the time Lei Xing arrived at her palace, she was extremely irritated.

{...You are not staying here and that is final!...}

{...*No, it's not!...}

{...Hah! Watch me...}

Lei Xing finally fed up went to remove the bracelet, but then her eyes widened when she could not move it. She panicked and tried to yank it harder, but it seemed glued to her wrist.

{...*Told you I'm no weakling...}

{...Okay, point taken. Get off me -_-)'...}

{...*No! Not leaving!...}

{...We'll see about that!...}

Lei Xing rummaged through her room to find a lubricant. She poured a bottle of scented oil on her wrist, then tried to peel the bracelet off but it still did not budge then she tried cutting the line with a knife.

{...*Ha! Like it'd be that easy...}

Lei Xing then ordered the servants to bring her a jar of honey and dipped her hand right into it and tried again, but it still did not budge.

{...GET THE HELL OFF ME!...}

{...*I'm not leaving! I like it here!...}

Lei Xing took a deep breath to calm herself and tried to negotiate.

{...Okay, I understand that you may be angry with me for holding you hostage, but be the bigger pers- entity! You are definitely above such pettiness, right?...}

{...*Hahaha I am definitely not petty...}

{...*Great! Now, please get off...I'll even apologize, I'm sorry. I'll never, ever... (◔_◔) blackmail anyone or thing again so please get off -_-)...}

{...*Why?!...}

{...*Why NOT?!...}

{...*I don't want to!...}

{...If you don't get off, I'll smash you to pieces!...}

{...*Hahaha You'll probably just end up smashing your wrist to pieces instead hahaha...}

Lei Xing held her head feeling aggravated, this bracelet was driving her crazy and now that she couldn't get rid of it, she was feeling suffocated.

{...*Relax, once you get to know me, I'm great...Won't it be nice to have me always there to share your thoughts with whenever?...}

{...NO! IT WON'T. Please leave -_-)...}

{...*Don't worry. You'll see I'm very likable soon...}

Lei Xing sat down and rubbed her head thinking hard about how to get the bracelet off. It did not hurt but it seemed glued onto her wrist. Since apologizing did not work, she started to think about ways to trick it into leaving.

{...*Hahahaha I can hear you, you know...}

{...Arrghh! This is freaking irritating! Get Lost!...}

{...*Okay, calm down. How about I give you some space to cool off? They do say time heals all wounds haha...}

{...-_-)...}

After that, Lei Xing could not get a response out of the bracelet no matter what she said. It was either ignoring her or it really shut down to give her space. Either way, she was not happy to have it. 

{...Okay, no need to panic... I'm just being terrorized by a Freaking Bracelet!... It's okay. Even if I can't get it off myself, Tung Mei can!... Yep, it's all fine. I'll just talk to her tomorrow and we'll be done with this...unless she can't get it off -_-)...It's her magic crap, she better have a way to get it off me or I'll off her!...}

While Lei Xing was stewing over her predicament, Xiao Ruo ran in excitedly and informed that the Emperor has summoned her to come to serve him tonight. Lei Xing sighed.

{...Ahh, great, just what I needed. Perfect timing -_-)... I guess we might as well just get that over with...And by tomorrow, he'd move on then I can move on, yay -_-)...}

Xiao Ruo was not fazed by Lei Xing's lack of enthusiasm and went on to rummage through Lei Xing's wardrobe, "This one...no, no, no. Oh, this one! This is the perfect opportunity for this!" She excitedly waved the dress in front of the uninterested Lei Xing, who absentmindedly nodded. On Xiao Ruo's persistent insistence, Lei Xing went through a comprehensive spa treatment.

Lei Xing sighed, absentmindedly going through the motions, thinking about the state of her life.

"Done! So beautiful!" Xiao Ruo exclaimed greatly pleased with her work. For once, Lei Xing did not complain and she could fully show off her skills.

Hearing that, Lei Xing's attention was finally called to the scene, to see herself standing in front of the mirror with Xiao Ruo standing beside her with teary eyes and a wide smile.

Lei Xing was wearing a thin-strapped low cut white silk dress with gold vines sewn onto the chest band with the rest of the dress loosely framing the curves of her body. Then on top, an even thinner see-through red robe loosely hanging on her shoulders. Her hair was let down, with a thick braid running across the top, lined with flowery hairpins, making it look like she was wearing a crown of flowers. Lei Xing's subconsciously tried to pull up the dress and frowned at Xiao Ruo, "Isn't this too much?" 

Xiao Ruo happily explained, "The Emperor requested that you dress beautifully so we can only bring forth the best."

Lei Xing looked back at herself in the mirror.

{...But it's not like I'm not going there to seduce him!...*sigh* Let's just get this over with -_-)'...}

Ah Jin then came up to Lei Xing and dr.a.p.ed a cloak on her shoulders and said, "Don't worry, you'll have this on. We'll take it off when you get to the Emperor's palace." 

Lei Xing sighed again, resigning herself to her fate and made her way to the Emperor's palace. When she arrived at the front of his palace, Xiao Ruo swiftly took off the cloak. Lei Xing sighed again and wanted to head inside the building when Eunuch Li informed, "His majesty is waiting in the pavilion." and led her there.

"Your majesty, Noble consort Lei has arrived." Eunuch Li informed.

The Emperor who was leisurely relaxing with a book looked up and his eyes went wide when he saw Lei Xing, then he blinked, knit his brows and glanced at Eunuch Li who brightly smiled at him then said, "I will take my leave now." and bowed out.

{...Let's see how you'll simply just go to sleep with her now...}

The Emperor frowned and then sighed. He looked at Lei Xing who was awkwardly standing there with a hand constantly tugging at the red robe on her shoulder in a pointless attempt to pull it over to cover her chest.

Now that she was standing here, she was really not comfortable with the level of exposure and he just kept staring at her which made her feel even more unnerved. Lei Xing looked off to the side, avoiding eye contact with her eyebrows knit and her face turning red.

{...Stop looking at me like that...It's awkward! I'm not some statue on display, let's just get to the POINT!...What am I even saying?! T_T)...}

After a while, the Emperor finally spoke up, "Why are you dressed like that?"

Lei Xing's expression froze, then she looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

{...W-Why? What do you mean why? Was I supposed to prepare an explanation for my outfit too? What sort weird foreplay is this? o_O)...}