Chapter 279 - BrainStorm

Lei Xing's eyes fluttered open and it took her a few moments to register her surroundings and realized she was in the Empress's ceremoniously decorated red bedroom. She quickly remembered the bizarre scene of a dragon and phoenix flying above her head and began chuckling as she rubbed her head.

{...What a crazy dream...pre-wedding anxiety I guess hehehe~ ...}

"You're awake..." Lei Xing froze and then frowned when she heard the Emperor's voice. She promptly sat up and saw him walking towards the bed in his inner clothes. 

"You're not supposed to be here." Lei Xing promptly said and the Emperor knit his brows and asked, "Why can't I be here?" As he sat on the bed. 

"It's the night before the ceremony so you shouldn't be here...It customary, you should leave." She said as she covered her mouth and yawned.

The Emperor raised an amused eyebrow at her, "Xing er', have you lost your memory "again"?"

Lei Xing froze, blinked at him, and then knit her brows. She opened her mouth and then closed it, pursed her lips while the Emperor looked on curious and amused, as he wondered if she would pass out again. 

Lei Xing then leaned forward and looked at him sideways, squinting at him as she tentatively went, "Soo...all that...dragon...phoenix thingy...real?" 

The Emperor smiled a bit, holding back his urge to laugh at her oddness, it was so cute and funny. She was always cute and funny.

"Was it?" Lei Xing inquired again with a pouting frown, obviously irritated with his delay. The Emperor cleared his throat and nodded. 

Lei Xing inhaled a sharp breath and then sat back, putting her hand over her mouth with a deepening frown.

{...What the hell? O_O)...}

The Emperor watched her with a smirk, still holding back his urge to laugh, knowing that it would definitely annoy her but he could not help poking a bit so he asked, "Are you going to faint again?"

"Of course not! I don't f-"Lei Xing immediately jumped to defend but then turned red as she realized how she had gotten to the bed, she promptly glanced to the side with a pout and mumbled, "That was just a-...a universal fluke..." 

It was true, she had never fainted in her life before...but then again, she had never been met with such an insane scene before. 

{...It's perfectly understandable... It was a processing error...Anyone would have passed out... even brave souls like me have a limit... Yes. Facts! ( ￣^￣ )...}

The Emperor snorted and promptly moved closer and wrapped his arms around her, "It's okay...I'm sure you were not the only one who fainted this afternoon...I heard we had a record high of fainting spells today -"

Lei Xing's face lit up as she turned to him, "Truly? - Wait, you record things like that?" Lei Xing asked narrowing her eyes at him, quickly catching herself before she embarrassed herself again.

{...Who are you trying to fool? Do I look like a toddler to you? (≖_≖ )...}

"Um...Well, no...but I'm sure it's the case." The Emperor said with a reassuring smile, "It's nothing to feel embarrassed about...I would have fainted too if I didn't have to carry you..."

"Tch..." Lei Xing went, rolling her eyes. 

{...You must really think I'm stupid or something ≖_≖)...}

Lei Xing let out a breath, "That aside...what do you think -" Realizing he probably did not have the answer to that question, Lei Xing swiftly switched her words, "What happened after? I'm sure the ministers had more to say on that note..." She finished rolling her eyes again, a dragon and phoenix were definitely not on the agenda for the day.

"Well...you're currently being hailed as a phoenix goddess~" The Emperor said with a smirk.

"A what?" Lei Xing exclaimed with knit eyebrows as she looked at him with an incredulous expression. 

"A phoenix Empress to be exact...It's the natural explanation for such wondrous beings to grace the skies on such a ceremonious day..." The Emperor said with a smile.

"Can you be serious, please?" Lei Xing said, completely unamused. 

"Alright..." The Emperor said with a sigh and then proceeded to summarize, "Well, after you... fell asleep. The phoenix and dragon show continued for a while and then they literally burst into...fireworks I suppose? I haven't spoken to the ministers yet, I decided it would be best to do so after the sky had returned to normal...and so I sent them all home and came to sleep with you...As I suspected, I woke to see a normal sky with the moon and stars intact. It seems the sun will also be back ruling the sky tomorrow...so all is well now..." 

In his usual manner, the Emperor said everything so nonchalantly and calmly that if Lei Xing had not witnessed the chaos earlier herself, she would truly be deceived. So Lei Xing sighed and moved out of his hold, "let's go outside...I want to see for myself." 

As Lei Xing brought her legs down and went to put on her shoes, the Emperor went over to the side and returned with her cloak. He put it on her with a smile and Lei Xing inwardly sighed as she looked at his face. while he tied the cloak.

{...The sky could be burning outside but he'll probably tell me it's alright (◔_◔)...I love him and all but I'm really not a child, obviously, my stupid fainting spell did not help my image at all, now he must think I'm some fragile puppy! >_

As they came out of the bedroom, Lei Xing noticed that she was getting strange looks from the servants...their heads were bowed but they kept sneaking glances at them as they walked past.

Lei Xing sent the Emperor a questioning look but he simply smiled at her and seemed unbothered. Lei Xing inwardly sighed.

{...It's understandable...Even I'd look at me weird after all that crap...}

As the Emperor said, Lei Xing stepped outside to see a normal night sky with one moon and a multitude of stars illuminating the dark canvas of the night.

There was nothing strange about the sky now...all that happened before could have very well been a dream. 

"See...it's normal." The Emperor said with a slight smirk. She was really too skeptical of everything but overall, he considered a good trait so he did not mind it at all. 

Lei Xing glanced over at him and scrutinized him. He really was too calm about all this, it was an excellent trait but she was the sort who liked to know when the roof was burning. 

So she directly asked, "What do you think of all this? Those planets - I mean four celestial bodies in the sky...and then the dragon and phoenix - I take it this is not normal procedure for the ceremony, is it?"

The Emperor slightly knit his brows and was quiet for a while and then he sighed, "No, it isn't... I don't understand it either and as per its usual manner, the Voice did not explain. It rarely ever does."

Lei Xing knit her brows and was quiet for a while before finally saying, "I think that qua - I mean Doctor Lou was somehow responsible for the dragon and phoenix show. I honestly always thought he was an immortal or something, although he denied being an immortal. But he definitely has supernatural powers and he told me to watch the "brilliance" unfold. He might not have caused the four planets and I don't know how but it is clear that he made the dragon and phoenix thing happen..."

"You think?" The Emperor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Definitely." Lei Xing responded with a nod. 

"Hmm..." The Emperor went knitting his eyebrows, "I was actually thinking it was the Voice that had done that...Actually, when I was meeting with the ministers, the Voice told me to come to find you. It even asked that I hurry and gave a reassurance that it will all be fine. Obviously for the dragon phoenix to have had the best effect, we had to be in the same place. At least its how I would have done if it were my plan...So naturally, my assumption was tha -" The Emperor suddenly stopped and frowned.

Lei Xing looked at his expression and promptly asked, "What? What is it?"

The Emperor looked at her for a bit, dragging out the suspense and just when Lei Xing was getting the urge to hurl him, he finally asked, "Is Xing Xing your nickname or something?"

"Huh?" Lei Xing went blinking at him, completely thrown off by the random question. She was thinking that he had just gotten some sort of breakthrough on the state of things but instead he was thinking about her nickname? 

"Well, it's just that Yong doesn't call you that or at least he hasn't used it in front of me. Do you your parents call you that?" The Emperor continued to inquire. 

Lei Xing knit her brows, unamused but she flatly responded, "No, no one calls me that, not even in my old life. The only one who calls me that is that anno-" Lei Xing suddenly stopped herself and stared at him wide-eyed as the realization also dawned on her, "Did your Voice call me that?"

The Emperor nodded, "En, today..." 

Lei Xing knit her brows in thought and folded her arms and quietly said, "Life really can't be that coincidental..."

"Exactly.." The Emperor responded back, also knitting his brows in thought. 

The two of them stood there in silence, each with their own thoughts for a long while.

Finally, Lei Xing broke the silence, "You know...the first you told me about having a Voice, I really thought it was him...It was just that he was truly a bit too persi- no, he was very persistent about wanting me to accept you. He was even more persistent about it than you were but then he claimed it was all just for fun" Lei Xing said air quoting the last word while rolling her eyes, "I had a hard time buying that explanation...I still do."

"...Not to mention from day one, long before we were even a true couple, he was pushing for this ceremony. Also back when he told me about the cure for flower poison, he actually tried to get me to promise to agree to be Empress in exchange for saving my life. In the end, he begrudgingly told me after I promised to seriously consider your offer "when" you made it. He spent all that effort and time pushing for this ceremony which turned into this fantastical mess...It can't all be a coincidence." 

"I was thinking the same...The first time I met him, I got an inkling that something was strange and the second time I met him...that night we stayed in his residence, I confirmed that inkling. He felt familiar and I even told him that..." The Emperor said with a little smirk, remembering their night drinking together, "...He actually reminded of the Voice and when you told me about your experience, I honestly thought it might be him too....and when he denied it, I was honestly quite disappointed -"

"Don't listen to him, he's the very slippery sort. Can't trust his words at all, he lies A LOT. This just occurred to me now, can't even imagine why he'd even lie about this BUT he told me that he can't talk to me when we're touching because it "disrupts" his connection to the bracelet or something like that and it bothers him..."

"...But then when he told me about the cure for the flower poison, you were holding me...So see, he clearly lies. All the time for no reason top. It's definitely him...You should trust your instincts - and mine, I have great instincts." Lei Xing said with a resolute nod. 

Doctor Lou was probably the universal master of lies and half-truths. It was just that he was the sort to sound so assertive and convincing that a listener felt inclined to believe him.

{...Actually it was more like you had no choice but to believe him considering he either never explained things or his explanation made you more confused and therefore it was pointless to even keep asking...Still, I am so stupid -_-)'...}

Lei Xing narrowed her eyes, "Now that I think about it, he probably has something to do with me being here, I mean he said all that bullcrap about similar energies coming together and the universe righting itself by me transmigrating here and all that nonsense...and him facilitating things on behalf of the universe..."

"...I mean when you consider everything with him especially wanting a "wedding" and all. He could have very well brought me here just so I could marry you and so this craziness in the sky could happen...maybe?...And then what does that mean? It's Insane, I know...but it makes sense, right?" Lei Xing asked turning to the Emperor.

She had been thinking out loud for the Emperor to hear, but she was truly confused. Her thoughts had reached a dead end so now she turned to him for some affirmation or other theories. 

The Emperor simply blinked at her, she had just said a lot and he honestly did not really understand most of it.

She had been talking quite fast but before he could even begin to respond to her inquiry, Lei Xing suddenly snapped her fingers and exclaimed, "I've seen them before!" with her mouth hanging open. She closed her mouth and then scratched her head as she pursed her lips, looking even more confused now. 

"Seen what?" The Emperor prodded, curious and confused. While her thoughts were all over the place, it did seem like she had more of an idea of what was going on than he did. At the very least, she had a lot more to say about the situation. 

Lei Xing did not respond and simply frowned and continued scratching her head, lost in thought.

"Xing er'?" The Emperor called and she snapped out of it and looked at him in confusion and asked, "What?"

"You've seen what before?" The Emperor patiently inquired. 

"Ahhh...that." Lei Xing said and then ran her hand through her hair and said, "Well...I think I have, I think....I couldn't tell during the day because well...it was different, it looked different and I guess I wasn't really thinking...But looking at the night sky now reminded me. That time earlier when it got dark before the celestial bodies dissipated and the phoenix dragon thing happened...I could be mistaken, but I think...I really think I've seen those...four planet thingys...before..."