Chapter 270 - Pandemonium

"Pa, did you do this?" Tung Mei asked narrowing her eyes at Doctor Lou.

"Of course not. " Doctor Lou indignantly responded squinting at her, "Moreover, why would I cause trouble for myself? Everything was going so well too! Tch..."

"Then who else would have done something like this?" Tung Mei sarcastically asked rolling her eyes.

Doctor Lou squinted at her, "I DIDN'T do it. I say so if I did, why would I hide it? Hmph! I don't think anyone else is responsible for this though...probably, I don't even think I could do it..." Doctor Lou said stroking his long beard, "Although, it's never been tested before. Hmmm, maybe -"

"Then what are they doing here?!" Tung Mei asked with a frown, obviously not buying his claims of innocence.

"How should I know? Maybe they came to be part of the fun hehehe~ " Doctor Lou said snickering.

"Is it fun playing with people?" Tung Mei asked not sharing in his amus.e.m.e.nt. 

"It depends...I enjoy it. You used to enjoy it once upon a time before certain people rubbed off on you an- Anyway, I really didn't do this and contrary to popular WRONG opinion, I do not always enjoy messing with people." Doctor Lou indignantly defended. He then pouted and pulled on his beard, "Xiao Ying Ying, I raised you but why are you always opposing me? This is definitely the bad influence of that brat -"

"Don't call my -"

"That's enough!" Ah Jin interjected glaring at the father and daughter pair, "Rather than arguing shouldn't we be thinking about how to fix this? This will definitely raise attention and it's already causing trouble here."

The trio were currently in an empty courtyard somewhere in the palace. Doctor Lou had called Tung Mei and Ah Jin to discuss the issue of the four celestial interloping bodies in the sky. But then as soon as they arrived, Doctor Lou and Tung Mei started bickering.

"Ah, that's true...Tch, Ahhh I can already feel a headache coming...Xing Xing is already panicking. Even Xiao Kai is on edge, but it is really fun seeing him panic for a change. He's really too uptight hehe~" Doctor Lou finished with a little snicker.

"It's not funny. Didn't you panic when you first saw them?" Tung Mei said with a frown.

"I didn't panic! I was intrigued and interested but definitely did not panic...You can go ask that annoying Qi Yin when she finally comes out of her stupid isolation. I was cool and calm the whole time. She, on the other hand, went completely pale, she almost fainted~" Doctor Lou finished busting into a loud laugh.

Tung Mei snorted and rolled her eyes as she mumbled under her breath, "I'm sure you were the one who almost passed out -"

"Please focus!" Ah Jin irritatedly cut in again. When these two got together talking to them was always a chore. Doctor Lou always went off track and Tung Mei always got strung along with him. 

"Oh, relax~" Doctor Lou smugly went, raising his head and stroking his beard, "I already have a grand idea on how to fix this. There's absolutely nothing to worry about hehehe~" 

***

"Your majesty, this is clearly a result of disregarding the will of heaven." Prime Minister Zhao smugly said gaining approving nods and whispers from the other ministers who were obviously feeling just as panicked over the current situation.

After being trapped in the main hall area with the other servants and guests, the Imperial guards had opened a door with their swords drawn to keep the crowd at bay and then led them here. Their family members were part of those still trapped there and the Emperor was clearly seemed to be prepared for war. Therefore, most of them were too wary of the Emperor right now to speak out like Prime minister Zhao, but they definitely shared his sentiments. 

"Disregarding the will of heaven?" The Emperor irritatedly went narrowing his eyes at Prime minister Zhao.

Prime minister Zhao cleared his throat and respectfully bowed his head, "...I just meant that this is again an unprecedented sign from the heavens...The sun has been overpowered by - by..." He frowned as he struggled to identify the interlopers "Your majesty, this is obviously not a good sign for the empire. We need to do something to appease the heavens and salvage the future of the empire..." He solemnly finished with a pleading tone, bowing deeper.

The Emperor knit his brows and did not respond, he glanced at Defense minister Lei who simply had his head lowered with a frown. This was a worse situation than even he could have anticipated. 

"Prime minister Zhao I did not know you are now able to interpret the will of the heavens." Lei Yong spoke up on Lei Xing's behalf since his father did not speak. He could see his father was very unhappy with the situation, the Emperor, and probably him for the trouble Lei Xing was clearly on track to face. 

It was obvious where Prime minister Zhao was going with this. Lei Xing would be blamed for this. At the very least, it would end with her being deposed.

But being deposed on the same day as being crowned was a great shame that had never happened before. It was also doubtful that they would even allow her to simply return to being a noble consort or even remain at the palace. 

If Lei Xing was truly ousted out of the palace today, given the situation it would be to a temple at best, and banishment at worst. Regardless, none of them were attractive options for Lei Xing right now. How would she survive on her own with nothing?

"Hmph! One doesn't need to be seer to see the obvious! Fine then, we should naturally let the professionals speak on the situation!" Prime minister Zhao haughtily responded and then cupped his hands and bowed, "Your majesty, please send for the seers to give us clarity on this UNPRECEDENTED situation." 

Most of the other ministers followed and bowed and repeated Prime minister Zhao's call for action save for Defense minister Lei, Lei Yong, and a few of the Lei family's loyal supporters.

Even Chen Bo followed Prime minister Zhao's lead, blatantly disregarding his familial ties to the Lei family. But he did not care, Chen You had stupidly chosen to leave the palace and Lei Xing had wickedly allowed his daughter to go waste her life away in a temple out of jealousy. It was obvious she was worried about losing the Emperor's favor now that Chen You had the Emperor's sympathy. 

He honestly could not understand this fear Chen You was raving about when she came to bid him farewell. The Empress dowager was nothing if you had the Emperor behind you! Lei Xing was an obvious example of that. But instead of his stupid daughter to learn from that she foolishly wasted this golden opportunity her mother's death had presented her.

What a waste!

Even before this incident, Chen Bo had been considering getting a concubine or two to produce more children for him because Chen You was not proving to be viable, and then she went and made this stupid mistake. Now that she had truly proven herself to be truly useless and his wife was gone, he would just go marry a new wife.

Hopefully, he would get a son or even a daughter, a daughter he could later send to the palace. The Emperor was still young so even if he had a daughter a few years in, it would still be a very appropriate match. Moreover, the age difference was nothing when the power of crown was involved.

But all that were plans for the future. As for today, as far as Chen Bo was concerned, it went from a bad day to an incredibly good one.

Since his daughter could not have it, why should he help someone else have it? Lei Xing should have thought about family ties when she permitted his daughter's foolishness. Therefore, her deposal was none of his business.

"Your majesty, please send for the seers to give us clarity on this UNPRECEDENTED situation." The ministers repeated again.

The Emperor simply frowned and still did not respond.

He did not need to see a seer to know what they would "see". They would simply echo what was already on everyone's mind that this strange happening was heavens disagreeing with his choice for Empress and being angry with him for disregarding the warning.

Following that, the ministers here will then plead for him to dethrone Lei Xing at the very least. They might even take it a step further and ask that he cast her out of the palace to appease the heavens and "save" his people.

And if he refused - he could not refuse. 

"Your majesty, please send for the seers and save us from the wrath of heaven!" Prime Minister Zhao repeated, now falling to his knees and kowtowing and his comrades-in-plea followed suit, echoing his words.

The Emperor looked over at Defense minister Lei and Lei Yong, who were both glaring at the bowing Prime minister Zhao.

The Emperor's frown deepened and he let out a breath. He could not do this to Lei Xing...He could not bear to.

But at the same time, there were things bigger than him.

{...You said we were perfect for each other, then what is this? What does this mean?...}

The Emperor thought, calling for the Voice. His expression got even worse when he received no response. All he heard was the ministers repeating, "Your majesty, please spare us from the wrath of heaven!"

Although everyone here could guess what the seers were going to say, they could not guess what the Emperor's reaction to this 'I told you so' scenario would be. He been warned and even pleaded with to change his choice after the incompatibility reading, but he insisted on going down this path and even went as far as threatening them to get their cooperation.

And given the Emperor's current reaction now, they could really not tell what he would react this time.

Although there were rumors and suspicions of the Empress dowager's "illness" being caused by the incompatible ill-fated match of his, it did not do much damage to the Emperor's reputation and standing in the minds of the people. The Empress dowager's reputation was not good amongst the people and so no one really paid it much attention other than idle talk. 

Therefore, it was fine as long as nothing had happened. But now with this happening on the day of her ascension, during the ceremony itself, the Emperor would be in trouble if he continued to insist on Lei Xing.

This celestial bodies usurping the sky was a phenomenon that had never been seen before and it was very worrying. If they in the palace were confused and feeling panicked, one could only imagine the state the common people were in.

The Emperor let out an irritated breath. The Voice that pushed him on all this time was not responding and could not remain silent on this issue. He could not delay it forever and so solemnly gave the order, "Send for the seers..."