Chapter 244 - Slippery Sage

In consideration of Doctor Lou's dislike for strangers in his space, the Emperor sent Commander An to come to go get the old man. Since they were already familiar, the Emperor hoped the old man will be more welcoming and more compliant.

Commander An arrived at Doctor Lou's pharmacy to find doors open for business as usual, but the counter was empty. He tried calling for the Doctor but received no response. In the end, after waiting for a while, Commander An told the two men who accompanied to wait in the shop while he went into the house to search for the old man.  

Commander An walked into the courtyard to see Doctor Lou lying on the ground in the pavilion.

Commander An immediately rushed over, worried that something had happened to the old man. Only for him to crouch down and turn the old man over to find him clutching a jar of wine and snoozing away with a happy smile on his face.

It was clear that the old man had drunkenly fallen off his chair and decided to make the ground his bed for the night. 

Commander An sighed in relief and called to him, "Doctor Lou...Doctor Lou...Doctor" 

No response.

Commander An knit his brows and then tapped on the old man's shoulder as he called more loudly, "Doctor -"

Doctor Lou immediately swatted the hand away and mumbled with a frown, "Xiao Yiying, I'll feed you later. Now sleep~" 

"Doctor Lou, please rise. I have a message from the Emperor -"

Doctor Lou then threw the jar over his shoulder at Commander An swiftly dodged the projectile. Doctor Lou then hugged himself and mumbled, "En, go play with Xing Xing, she has food..."

Commander An frowned, it was pointless trying to talk to him. So he stood up, took his sword, and banged it hard on the table, "Wake up!" 

Doctor Lou immediately sat up, "Baby!" He then blinked and glanced around his surroundings, then he saw Commander An and blinked, "You're not Xiao Ying..."

Commander An cupped his hands and lightly bowed, but before he could even begin, Doctor Lou went, "We're closed, come back later." And then he laid back on the ground. 

Commander An frowned, "Please rise, the Emperor has invited you to the palace..."

"En. I'll stop by later...I'm busy now." Doctor Lou offhandedly retorted.

Commander An's frown deepened. He felt the urge to simply haul the old man into the carriage but the Emperor had instructed that he was to be treated with the utmost respect. But now he was clearly disrespecting the Emperor, it was becoming difficult.

Commander An then rephrased his words, "Doctor Lou, the Emperor requires your presence at the palace...Now. There is a carriage waiting outside for you, so you may continue to sleep on the way if it pleases you."

There was a stretch of silence, finally, Doctor Lou groaned, rolled over to glare at Commander An, "Can't you see that I am very busy at the moment?"

Commander An's eyebrow twitched, "Regardless, the Emperor has summoned y-."

"Ohhhh!" Doctor Lou suddenly exclaimed sitting up, "It's you, the pervert!"

Commander An frowned in annoyance and reminded, "I am Commander An, commander of the Imperial guards."Doctor Lou kept calling him a pervert to his annoyance during the short time he spent with him in his courtyard. He did not expect that the old would still remember that little issue. 

"Xiao Kai sent you, right?? Why didn't you say so before?" Doctor Lou scolded as he jumped up and brushed off his clothes and then he chuckled, "I knew Xiao Kai would miss me~ These children all like to pretend, but I know~"

"You should not be calling the Emperor by his na-"

"Ahh, I think I should change. Wait for me!" Doctor Lou obliviously interjected and then scurried into the house, leaving a disgruntled Commander An in his wake.

**

The Emperor was playing the qin for Lei Xing, but it served more as a means to distract and calm himself as he anticipated the coming meeting. Finally, an eunuch came in to inform them that Commander An had arrived with Doctor Lou and was asking if he should be sent to Lei Xing's palace.

The Emperor stopped playing and then casually ordered, "Have him sent to the reception hall..." 

After the eunuch left, Lei Xing turned to the Emperor and could see he was feeling tense so she said, "If you really don't want to come, I can see him alone and tell you about it..."

It was obvious to her that the Emperor was uncomfortable with the meeting with Doctor Lou.

The Emperor sighed, "No, you're right. I should be there..." The Emperor said and then got up and held a hand for Lei Xing and they proceeded to her reception hall to welcome the knowledgable old Sage.  

**

Doctor Lou was escorted to Lei Xing's palace by an eunuch. As he approached the reception hall., he saw Bi Lo and Bi Lu standing in front of the doors and smiled at them as he squinted at them.

The Eunuch handed over Doctor Lou to the twins and then left. Doctor Lou then went, "Ohh, so there's two of you..."

Bi Lu gave a polite smile and said, "Please enter..."

Doctor Lou ignored him and smiled at Bi Lo, "You must be the fun one, right? I can tell~" He finished with a chuckle.

Bi Lo snorted in amus.e.m.e.nt and smugly went, "That's what they say~How -"

"Please proceed. The Emperor should not be kept waiting." Bi Lu promptly interjected and Doctor Lou squinted at him and then went, "See, no fun." He then flapped his sleeves and then entered the hall.

Lei Xing and the Emperor turned as soon as they heard footsteps behind them. Doctor Lou beamed at them and then leisurely glanced about the room. The twins bowed in front of Lei Xing and the Emperor and the Emperor then ordered, "Close the doors and guard the area."

The twins bowed and quickly withdrew. The Emperor then turned to Doctor Lou with a polite smile, "Thank you for coming. We have not had the chance to properly thank you for your he-"

"No need~ Looking after our Xing Xing is naturally what I should do." Doctor Lou waved with a smile.

Lei Xing slightly knit her brows.

{...Our? Who is this "our"? Also, why have you been ignoring me?...}

{...*Hehe~ I was busy ...}

{...Busy with what? Sleeping? -_-)...}

{...*Noooo, busy with...stuff, important stuff...}

{...Who are you kidding? Your hair's still sticking out -_-)...}

"What? Why didn't anyone say something?" Doctor Lou suddenly exclaimed with a frown and glanced around looking for something to use as a mirror. 

"What is it?" The Emperor asked with a confused frown. 

Lei Xing stifled the urge to laugh as Doctor Lou haphazardly tried to rearrange his hair.

{...Relax there's nothing wrong with it hahaha....How does it feel when someone messes with you now?...}

Doctor Lou immediately stopped and glared at Lei Xing, only for him to release his hair and it completely fell apart with his hair stick falling to the ground. Lei Xing snorted and the Emperor glanced at her quizzically but she swiftly looked away, trying to contain her laughter.

Doctor Lou's glaring intensified which only made it harder for her not to laugh. The Emperor then picked up Doctor Lou's hair stick and held it out for him.

Doctor Lou took it with a disgruntled pout, "Hmph!" He said and then stormed off to the nearest seat and sat down and went, "So...what do you want to know?"

The Emperor was completely confused with Doctor Lou's sudden erratic behavior, not to mention Lei Xing was also being somewhat weird. 

"If you're not talking then I'll leave..." Doctor Lou said as he glared at Lei Xing.

"Of course, we're going to talk." Lei Xing said walking over to him. She moved the seat next to him so it was positioned right across from him and then sat down.

Lei Xing then looked over at the Emperor and motioned for him to come over. The Emperor had been standing there taken aback by how comfortable Lei Xing seemed with the old man. He walked over to take the seat next to Doctor Lou. 

When Doctor Lou kept glaring at Lei Xing and pulling at his beard, Lei Xing and she narrowed her eyes at him and inwardly sighed.

{...It was just a little joke, I was bored too...Don't take it to heart. Anyway, we have important business today...}

{...*Hmph!...}

Lei Xing ignored Doctor Lou and glanced at the Emperor and signaled for him to talk. The Emperor nodded, he turned to Doctor Lou, who simply raised his eyebrows at him. The Emperor then knit his brows as he thought of the right words to explain this issue. 

Lei Xing saw his difficulty and then smiled at him, "I'll start." Then she turned to Doctor Lou with a blank expression and flatly said, "He hears a voice in his head, he's apparently been hearing it since he was a kid. It saved his life a few times and oh, it also said we're the "perfect pair"and is the reason that I'm here...What do you think about it?" She finished narrowing her eyes at Doctor Lou.

Doctor Lou immediately turned to the Emperor with surprise, "Truly?" 

Lei Xing looked at him with an unamused expression, while the Emperor nodded and went, "It's true...It has been like a guardian for me all these years. I owe a lot of what I am, as well as what I have today to it." The Emperor said warmly looking at Lei Xing.

Lei Xing blushed a little and lowered her eyes, feeling shy. That quickly evaporated when Doctor Lou stroked his beard and commented, "Ahh, there are so many wondrous in this world. The Universe is indeed mysterious..." 

The Emperor turned back to Doctor Lou, "Xing er' told me that you might know something about this...entity." The Emperor tentatively said, "Please do enlighten us..." 

"Hmmmmm..." Doctor Lou dragged out stroking his beard and then he went, "Why?"

"Why what?" Lei Xing asked knitting her eyebrows. 

{...Can't you just answer the question for once? -_-)'...}

Rather than address Lei Xing, Doctor Lou turned to the Emperor, "Why do you want to know? As you said, it has been a guardian to you all these years, it even saved your life...If it chooses to remain in the dark, why do you want to pursue it? Of what use will that knowledge be? What purpose would it serve?" 

The Emperor knit his brows in thought.

He had honestly never contemplated these questions before. What happens after he knows? He honestly never thought he could truly know. When he told Lei Xing about this, it was just to share a part of him. He did not expect her to actually point him to answers. 

But now that it had been asked, he had to think about it. Other than satisfying a seemingly mild curiosity of his, he truly had no reason for this pursuit but that reason seemed too vain to hold up to scrutiny.

Before the Emperor could respond, Lei Xing commented, "The pursuit of knowledge needs no other reason but the search for understanding. As an elder, you should naturally be delighted and willing to do us the favor of enlightenment..."

Doctor Lou narrowed his eyes at Lei Xing, who raised her eyebrows back at him in challenge.

{...Stop trying to avoid the subject...Say the truth, is it really you?...}

Lei Xing put it very nicely, but the Emperor still felt that he needed to give a response since the question was to him, "Other than satisfying a simple curiosity, I have no other use for the knowledge. Rest assured, I mean no harm, nor do I have any intentions on using what I learn...I simply wish to know." 

The Emperor could understand that the old man might be worried that he planned to use the entity or the knowledge of it for political gains or nefarious purposes. So he said those words so that Doctor Lou could set aside whatever reservations he held. 

"Oh, I'm not worried about that." Doctor Lou said blinking at the Emperor, then he folded his arms and went, "It's just that I am not sure that I can help you..."

The Emperor knit his brows and Lei Xing frowned at Doctor Lou.

{...Oy, don't lie to him. This all can't be a coincidence...You know. Don't lie ( ≖_≖)...}

Doctor Lou cast Lei Xing a side glance.

{...*A liar is not in a place to chastise someone else for the lying...Also, I already told you, I DON'T lie! I said I'm not sure, therefore I am not sure ( ￣^￣ )...}

Lei Xing inwardly scoffed.

{...Okay, then you're not telling what you know. That's lying by omission...If you won't tell him then I will...}

Doctor Lou snorted.

{...*Well then, I'll simply tell him what I know too~...}

Lei Xing frowned.

{...Are you threatening me?≖_≖)...]

{...*Nooo, I'm suggesting a mutual trade of information, if you're feeling threatened then maybe you should just tell him yourself...But then that will never happen, now will it?...}

Lei Xing leaned back in her seat and raised an eyebrow at Doctor Lou, amused.

{...I know what you're doing, you're trying to egg me on...It won't work. Moreover, I'm not the one being questioned here, you are -_-)...}

{...*If you, his wife, can't even trust him with information, why should I? I am simply following your great example! ( ￣^￣ )...}

{...Fine. Then just tell me. I at least deserve to know, given the situation...}

{...*I disagree. You never shared any information with me. I know all I know because I am Brilliant. Therefore, I owe you nothing...He, on the other hand, is forthcoming and might deserve to know. But given the situation, he appears untrustworthy so therefore, there is nothing I can tell him either~ ( ￣^￣ )....}

"So you know nothing at all about this entity...?" The Emperor asked, cutting through the battle of the minds ensuing unbeknownst to him. This was disappointing.

"It depends...could be nothing, could be something. I can't be sure..." Doctor Lou responded narrowing his eyes at Lei Xing, who narrowed her eyes back at him, clearly irritated.

The Emperor glanced between the two of them. He could sense the tension between their gazes. The friction was palpable.  He had always known there was more to the relationship between these two.

But witnessing their encounter now, it was obvious that their ties ran deeper than he suspected.