Chapter 131 - Playing Field

"I understand." The Emperor said with a small smile, then went to pat her head, but then stopped midway, knit his brows and withdrew the hand. 

Lei Xing instinctively grabbed the hand with her hands, without thinking. Then she blinked and looked at his face to find him equally stunned and blinking at their hands. 

{...What am I- ... *Sigh* Whatever, let's just go with the flow...}

"It's fine." She said, lowering her head and turning red. She knit her brows, then glanced back up at the Emperor, who still seemed to be stunned. She frowned then mumbled, "I thought you said you weren't angry." 

She glanced at the Emperor who was still blankly staring at her, her frown deepened and she released his hand. The Emperor finally responded and held onto her hand before she completely let go.

The Emperor smiled down at her hand and gently stroked it, then he sighed, "Xing er', I'm really not angry...Hm..." He paused and took a deep breath then looked up at her, "...Other than the fact that I was mistaken in thinking you preferred it this way...It was also because...well, it sometimes makes it harder..."

Lei Xing knit her brows.

{...Makes what harder? Your life?...Didn't seem that way though? -_-)...}

Lei Xing looked him over for a bit, then she frowned and narrowed her eyes then mumbled, "I thought you said you had great self-control."

The Emperor raised an eyebrow, observed her expression and then smirked, "What are you thinking about?" Lei Xing blinked at him, and her confused expression made him laugh, which made Lei Xing's frown deepened and she looked away and flushed with embarrassment.

{...What the hell are you laughing at? -_-)...}

Lei Xing then tried to pull her hand free but the Emperor's hold was unyielding. He looked at her disgruntled face and then hugged her. Then he closed his eyes and sighed. After a bit, he slightly opened his eyes and looked down at Lei Xing wrapped in his arms.

{...This makes no sense...How can I have missed her when I've been with her the whole time?...}

"Xing er', I believe that I am quite the patient man..." The Emperor calmly said while stroking her hair., "So I can wait...But I do have one request." He then moved her back a bit so he could see her face. He held her face and smiled at her then said, "Be sure to tell me when you're ready. I'd rather not have to guess...You sometimes make me feel quite confused." He finished with a light chuckle.

Lei Xing blankly stared at him, she was completely red now.

{...I should do what? O_O)...How can I ever say -...}

Still, she subconsciously nodded, no other option came to mind. The Emperor's smile brightened, then he said, "Don't take too long though..." Then he hugged her to his chest and whispered to himself, "This will be a good test of patience."

Lei Xing snorted, then chuckled. The Emperor narrowed his eyes at the top of her head, still smiling asked, "What's funny?"

Lei Xing glanced up at him, shook her head and then lowered her head back to his chest, and hugged his waist. Then she closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. 

{...Much better...Being awkward is weird and tiring...}

She felt glad he was back to normal and that the awkwardness was gone, she really could not stand it.

The carriage finally jerked to a stop and Lei Xing opened her eyes and immediately sat up. She could not believe she had stayed in his arms for that long without thinking. She blinked up at him, speechless.

{...Did I fall asleep? No way! I wasn - I don't even know. Hibernation? O_O)...}

The Emperor's face was full of smiles, and he said "As much as I would love for you to continue to rest...We, unfortunately, have to get down now. But we can stay if you want." 

Lei Xing immediately shook her head, turning red from embarrassment. The Emperor pat her head and then got up.

{...What am I doing? This is isn't healthy T_T)...}

She took a deep breath to calm herself and then followed the Emperor out. This time, after he helped her down, he tightly held on to her hand. Tightly too, so Lei Xing could not slip it away and walked up to the others. 

The others looked at the couple with raised eyebrows. The atmosphere around them was very, very different now. The Emperor was smiling and while Lei Xing was looking off to the side with her eyebrows knit, there was also a faint blush on her face. They could all tell that their carriage ride was definitely an interesting one.

Molin snorted and quietly whispered, "It seems the ride was too short." Prince Rui frowned at him and he cleared his throat and looked away. 

The Emperor heard his words, but he left it alone, his smile slightly widened and he turned to Lei Xing, "Let's go shopping." And then turned around with her, with some servants following and left the other royals standing there to deal with themselves.

Considering the Emperor was there, Prince Rui was not sure if they could go off on their own and so led the party to follow Lei Xing and the Emperor, from a distance. Occasionally stopping here and there to peruse through items Princess Nalan found interesting.

Prince Yi was following the group, the entire time he had his eyes fixed on Lei Xing and the Emperor ahead. Looking at their backs made him feel upset for some reason. The more he watched them, the more upset he felt. He frowned then looked away, but still, he found his eyes darting towards them unconsciously and it infuriated him.

Lei Xing and the Emperor were oblivious of their tag-alongs and were walking along hand-in-hand. The Emperor was glancing around randomly, while Lei Xing was looking around absentmindedly and generally disinterested.

They appeared to be a couple out on a leisurely stroll, one with money ripe for picking to the vendors. 

"Young master, why don't you buy a gift for your beautiful wife?" An older woman with a jewelry stall called out to the Emperor. The Emperor stopped and glanced her way.

Seeing his hesitation, the woman added, "You know...they say gifts are a great way to lock the heart..." She finished with her eyes motioning towards Lei Xing, knowingly.

The Emperor raised an eyebrow, he glanced at Lei Xing and remembered Eunuch Li talking about gifts as well. So he walked up to the old woman's stall, pulling Lei Xing along.

When they got there the woman started making recommendations to Lei Xing, but then quickly realized the Emperor was the easier target of the two. So she swiftly focused all her attention on the Emperor who seemed to be seriously scrutinizing the pieces. 

Lei Xing glanced at the Emperor and then said, "I don't really need these things, I already have plenty..."

The Emperor glanced at Lei Xing, but before he could speak the woman jumped in salvage this business opportunity, "Haha, Young master it is never a bad thing to have more options...Even if she doesn't need it, it's always nice for a beauty to have more options..." The woman then whispered, "Not to mention she'll remember you every time she sees them, it's great...the more, the better..."

The Emperor smirked and then took a piece the woman offered and held it up next to Lei Xing's head. Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at him, and he just smiled back at her. 

"It looks pretty good." The Emperor calmly said.

"Of course it does. Your wife is so beautiful, anything will great...Actually this one here is even better, and this one...this one too. Oh, this one is perfect!..." The woman rambled on as she excitedly recommended one piece after another. 

"These look quite good." The Emperor commented as he looked through the selections.

After a long back and forth, the Emperor finally made his selections and the old woman was over the moon, he was taking over half her stock. He motioned for one of the servants to come forward to make the payments. The Emperor then turned to Lei Xing and smiled at her and Lei Xing pursed her lips, unamused.

"You two make such a beautiful couple...truly a match made in Heaven." The woman happily praised, mid-packing their purchase. Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at her.

{...Of course, we're the perfect couple, I can see the money signs obscuring your entire face -_-)...}

The Emperor thought the woman was wise and nodded in agreement and then said, "We'll take everything." 

Lei Xing's mouth immediately fell open and her eyes went wide and she protested, "We don-"

"It's fine." The Emperor interjected, flashing a reassuring smile at her.

Lei Xing frowned, opened her mouth, then closed it.

{...All that money...Wasted!...Okay, it's not my money...But still!... Okay, I guess I can sell them...Money not lost, just converted...It's okay...}

The other vendors seeing the woman's highly effective method luck started commenting about how beautiful Lei Xing is and how they make such a great pair. The Emperor glanced their way and Lei Xing immediately hugged his arm and pulled him away while glaring at the vendors.

{...Stupid! How dare they try to take advantage of him?!... And how can he be so gullible?! >_

The Emperor happily chuckled, enjoying being dragged off. 

{...This shopping thing is quite fun...}