Chapter 213 - Head's Up

The Emperor went outside to find Lei Xing waiting for him. He smiled and approached her only for her to glance at him and then start walking. The Emperor swiftly moved and fell in step with her and held her hand. Lei Xing frowned and immediately tried to pull her hand free but he clung on tighter and so she left it alone and just kept walking in silence. 

The Emperor stopped smiling and knit his brows and asked, "Are you angry with me?" in a surprised tone. 

Lei Xing glanced at him and then at the servants following behind them, then she put on a smile and said, "Of course, not angry." and quickly faced forward and the smile was gone.

{...Irritated is what I am -_-)...}

The Emperor knit his brows but remained silent. It was clear that she was upset but she did not seem to want to talk in front of others, so he decided to wait until they returned to her palace and were alone. 

As soon as they arrived at her palace, a maid came over to inform Lei Xing that Li Ru had come to see her. Lei Xing nodded and then immediately turned to go see her. But before she could take two steps, the Emperor grabbed her arm, "Let's talk." Then he pulled her to her bedroom and as soon as the door was shut behind them, he turned to her and said, "You're angry with me. Why?"

Lei Xing knit her brows and pursed her lips, the Emperor frowned and ordered, "Tell me."

"Well, it's just..." Lei Xing let out a breath, "...Why didn't you tell me?" 

"Tell you what?" The Emperor asked with a raised eyebrow, he was confused as to what she could possibly be upset about. 

Lei Xing looked up at his clueless expression and then sighed, "Well...I mean, you obviously had some ideas going there, but you didn't tell me. Instead you just..." She paused and frowned, "...had me walk in there blind and then started your own ruse with me starring in it what if I didn't play along? What if I had I had contradicted what you said?..."

The Emperor relaxed and smiled and then brought a hand up to her face, "I trusted you to be smart enough..."

Lei Xing frowned and moved out of his reach, obviously not sharing in his amus.e.m.e.nt, "Even then, a heads up would be nice...and this was something small. But you did the same thing in front of the Empress dowager when my life was hanging in the balance. You could have easily told me what you had planned during the carriage ride or even hinted at it as we went to her palace, but you didn't..." 

"...Later, I" She paused and pursed her lips, "...I thought that it was because you were angry with me and so you behaved that way but then today -... It's one thing not to tell me about your plans. I can understand you not trusting me so I won't pry into your secrets. But if it involves me, can you at least give me a brief summary of my role? Bullet points? I don't enjoy being caught unawares or being put on the spot, it's...unnerving and I don't like it." Lei Xing irritatedly rambled with a frown.

The Emperor blinked and then knit his brows. He did not expect that this would upset her. He closed the distance and held her hand. Lei Xing frowned and looked off to the side but did not withdraw. The Emperor then sighed and explained, "That time in my mother's palace...I acknowledge that I was somewhat upset with you and so I might not have acted in the right way -"

"No kidding." Lei Xing sarcastically mumbled and then backtracked, "Understandably so, but I could have easily said something then that would have caused my head to roll, but you being "somewhat upset" was definitely a worthy cause for me to die f-"  

"Of course not." The Emperor immediately defended, "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight then...I didn't mean to endanger you. I would never intentionally put you in harm's way. As for today, I wanted you to give an honest performance which is why I didn't tell you beforehand...I'm sorry it upset and I do trust you."

Lei Xing pursed her lips and looked off to the side, still not fully convinced.

{...Yeah, sure you do -_-)...} 

The Emperor could clearly see the disbelief on her face, he touched her cheek and brought her face up so she would face him and reiterated with all the sincerity he could muster, "I do trust you."

Lei Xing sighed and took his hand from her face and held it. The Emperor could see that she still did not believe his words but he did not know what else to say and just stood there frowning down at their hands.

{...Well, at least she's not pulling away anymore...This is hard...}

He had never had to worry this much over someone else's feelings before or ever been so bothered about what someone thought of him. He heard Lei Xing sigh and was just about to repeat himself again as he could think of nothing else, but she spoke first, "Why did you need an honest performance?"

The Emperor looked up to see her calmly looking at him, waiting for a response and he saw his chance to prove his words. Hee pulled her sit down and then explained, "I suspect that she's a part of the group who drugged you -" 

"Group? So it wasn't Chen You?" Lei Xing asked with knit eyebrows. 

"I think not...She simply made use of the information the maid passed on to her after the fact. She was just a pawn."

"And the maid was the master?"

"It would seem so..." 

"So there's more of them...that's why you let her go..." Lei Xing said to herself as she thought things over, "...And you didn't want me to give it away." 

The Emperor smiled and hugged her to him, "So smart." Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at him and his smile brightened.

{...What're you smiling about? -_-)...And it's not exactly rocket science, you would make a horrible teacher -_-)'...}

"I am a great actress so next time give me a hint or something, otherwise I will be upset..." Lei Xing informed, further narrowing her eyes into slits.

The Emperor lightly chuckled as he remembered her sleep "acting" from their first night in his palace, months ago when she "acted" out being asleep to avoid talking to him.

Lei Xing frowned, "What's funny? I am really good..."

{...I've been acting this whole time, you know...Well, not recently, but before -_-)'...}

The Emperor nuzzled against her nose with his, Lei Xing immediately jerked her head back and frowned at him. Then he let out a happy sigh and went, "Of course you are great...And it won't happen again."