Chapter 216 - Ardour

The next day.

Lei Xing had originally planned to leave early so she would have enough to spend at each of her stops. But then she woke up and was notified that the Emperor ordered that she wait for his return from Court.

Lei Xing frowned but even if she was worried that he still wanted to come along, she could not outrightly disobey his orders and runoff. It would be super suspicious, not to mention asking for unnecessary friction in their now wonderful relationship. And she understood it was all out of worry for her, so she had no choice but to wait for him to return so she could reassure him some more.

So Lei Xing decided to go see Li Ru to while away the time. Unlike Lei Xing, Li Ru was an early riser and was incredibly happy to see Lei Xing, and on seeing her she immediately bowed and congratulated her. Lei Xing quickly stopped her bow and brushed it off, this whole congratulations thing was nerve-racking. To shift the conversation, Lei Xing apologized for being unable to visit the day before with the excuse that she was not feeling well. 

Of course, the actual reason was because of a pouting Emperor who apparently had nowhere else to be yesterday. If she hinted at leaving, the Emperor did not protest but just simply looked at her with this adorable puppy-like expression that Lei Xing could not deny.

So she ended up reading with him until dinner time and at that point, she could not imagine being anywhere else but the bed. She took a quick bath and then crawled into the bed and the Emperor promptly crawled in after her, itching for some fun and then coerced her into participating with that same puppy expression. 

Lei Xing sighed as she recalled over the Emperor's behavior the day before.

{...He was definitely pulling that face on purpose...I shouldn't spoil him too much...}

{...*He spoils you INCREDIBLY much ( ≖_≖)...}

{...Well, I never asked him to~ ヽ(￣～￣　)ノ...}

{...*tsk, tsk, tsk, It has always been this way...}

Lei Xing raised an eyebrow.

{...What has?...}

{...*The one who loves more, suffers most...Be nicer to him! You ungrateful brat! >_

Lei Xing snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Is everything alright?" Li Ru asked as she refilled Lei Xing's cup of tea.

"I'm fine." Lei Xing replied with a smile, "Oh, by the way, I'm going out today, do you want anything?" She usually brought back souvenirs or random items for Li Ru whenever she went out. It had become a bit of habit to get Li Ru things.

Even though Li Ru had a sizable allowance that came with her position, having not grown up with much, she never felt the urge to use any of it or thought to ask for anything. She still felt she could not. 

While Lei Xing was usually not an avid shopper when it came to herself, she always enjoyed buying things for her younger brother in her old life, and random things would pop at her whenever she was out. She did not always buy because she was reasonable with her spending but on occasion, she would indulge these urges.

And with no younger brother, her attentions seem to have fixated on Li Ru as a little sister. While she did not have much time to bond with her "actual" little sister, Xiao Ting, she had plenty of time with Li Ru and had picked up the habit of spoiling Li Ru. Lei Xing would buy things for her and share whatever she had. She even filled Li Ru's study with books after she noticed Li Ru wistfully admiring Lei Xing's upgraded study a while ago.

Li Ru smiled at Lei Xing and shook her head, "I already have plenty, just enjoy your visit with your family." She finished with a smile.

Lei Xing sighed, "Don't worry very soon, I'll take you touring around the city." Lei Xing had always wanted to take her around the city with her. But in the past, she thought she could not ask for it. Now that she knew the Emperor would definitely agree to the request, but she could not take her along today for two reasons.

First, she needed to talk to Doctor Lou and did not feel comfortable having Li Ru wait in the carriage alone. And secondly, she was going home for a celebration and there would be guests around and with how shy Li Ru was, it would be an awkward environment for her.

Therefore, today was not ideal, their tour will have to wait.

The Emperor finally sent an eunuch to get Lei Xing and she returned to her palace, eager to start her day.

Lei Xing found the Emperor waiting for her in the reception hall, sipping tea with two guards standing before him. When he saw Lei Xing come in, he smiled and got up as he waved her over and then he introduced the guards, "These are Bi Lo and Bi Lu. From now on, they are your personal guards and they go wherever you go, even within the palace for your safety..."

Lei Xing blinked she did not expect this. She scanned the two identical twin guards as they bowed to her. They looked a bit pale, perhaps even sick but otherwise, they seemed sturdy. 

{...Everywhere I go? Even in here?... Ahh, I thought "men" weren't allo- Well, if the Emperor says it's okay, then it is...And it's not like I'm ever going to be alone with them and even then it's not like I'm a hor-...}

Lei Xing just stood there absentmindedly staring at the twins. The Emperor waited a bit and then called to her, "Xing er'?" After the third call, Lei Xing finally blinked up at him, "Yes?"

"Is something wrong?" The Emperor asked with knit eyebrows.

Lei Xing blinked in confusion and then gave a nervous laugh, "Nope, nothing~...Oh, so personal guards? Okay, thank you." She said and then turned to the twins with an outstretched hand, "Um, nice to meet you."

The twins both raised an eyebrow at her hand and she did the same, then immediately realized her folly and just smoothly swept the hand to the Emperor's arm and turned her smile to him, masking her embarrassment, "I'll just go get ready~" She said with a nod and then sauntered off wanting to slap herself.

After Lei Xing left, the Emperor narrowed his eyes at the twins, "There will be no excuses." The  twins immediately bowed to him and Bi Lu guaranteed, "There will never be a second time, Your majesty." 

"Definitely not. We will be sure to stick to the Noble consort and never depart from her side, misplacing her will definitely be impossible. " Bi Lo reassured with a wide smile. 

The Emperor nodded and then followed after Lei Xing. Bi Lo let out a relieved breath and then saw his brother glaring at him and blinked, "What?"

"Mind your words." Bi Lu said and then turned to go outside to wait.

Bi Lo rolled his eyes and fell in step with his brother and mumbled, "But it's true though, if we had been guarding her. No one would have been able to bump into her much less Prince Yi gett-" His words were cut short, when Bi Lu elbowed his side and said through gritted teeth as he glanced around, "Mind your words."

"Ah, hehe~, my mistake." Bi Lo responded as he also glanced around for gossipers. They did not need to get on the Emperor's bad side again. The last few days of being punished and imprisoned were enough for them. They were only just released two days ago, the memories were still fresh.

They were honestly surprised when the Emperor had appointed them as Lei Xing's personal guards this morning. They expected that he would have sent them on a faraway mission with harsh conditions to further punish them.

But then Eunuch Li called them to the royal study this morning, gave them a harsh lecture. The Emperor then arrived and said that as Commander An's best students he had great expectations for them and had great faith in their skills.

Then he continued on with saying that they had proven their selves valuable assets during the last war, that he trusted them and their skills. The twins were waiting for the hammer to fall, but then the Emperor simply said no more mistakes will be tolerated. They immediately reassured him that it will never happen again. And then he went on to appoint them as Lei Xing's personal guards to their shock. 

The twins were very grateful for the Emperor's trust and understanding, after all, that situation was not ideal. 

After about thirty minutes, Lei Xing came out dressed in a noble woman's outfit with the Emperor walking beside her and Ah Jin following behind them, and two servants carrying a trunk which contained Xiao Ting's gifts. 

The Emperor insisted on escorting her to her carriage and Lei Xing just let it be but when they arrived at the carriage, she was stunned. She stopped and pulled the Emperor's arm and whispered, "Isn't this a bit much? ..." She asked as stared at what looked like thirty guards lined up around the carriage, ready to go.

The Emperor raised his eyebrows and whispered back, "The Empress is going out, this is normal."

Lei Xing gave a nervous dry laugh and flatly informed, "I'm not Empress yet..."

"Well then, a Noble consort is going out, this is normal..." The Emperor acquiesced with a smirk.

Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at him, "This is still too much, too attention-grabbing. When you guard something like this you attract trouble..."

"And when you don't guard, you get in trouble..." The Emperor countered, narrowing his eyes at her, "You either take them or I accompany you." The Emperor finished and straightened up and faced forward, the conversation was over. 

{...Touché...but this is obviously overkill -_-)...}