Chapter 39 - Confusions (1/2)

????: Hello, this is THE ANT...that's what I'm called now, I wanted to use my name but I was told this has ”Power”...frankly, I think it's because they all just keep forgetting my name...but anyway, we left off finding out about the old LX's shady past...of eloping...oh, just suspicion of eloping?... Well, she might as well have been eloping given the circ.u.mstances...I mean why else would a teenager who has everything run away? ????...

...But then again given who she is, she may very well have been into something shady, murder's definitely not off the table here...Honestly speaking both LXs are really shady people, I think they have affiliations to the mafi - *Ahem*...they are both wonderful people and it's nothing but a joy knowing them...nothing shady about them at all...nothing at all ????...Enjoy the chapter! ***

The emperor knit his brows and asked, ”Did she have someone?”

Commander An shook his head, ”That doesn't seem to be the case, there were no indications of that.”

The emperor frowned, ”So how did they find her?”

Commander An furrowed his brows, ”They didn't. It seems the personal maid found her, the two of them came back to the Lei manor later. When asked about her whereabouts, she said she was bored and so went out for a while and wandered around randomly, and that the maid coincidentally ran into her.”

The emperor raised an eyebrow, ”Coincidentally?”

Commander An nodded, ”That was the explanation she gave, she didn't give any specifics. Her parents were quite angry with her for a while about it, but she didn't seem to be affected by it and seemed to be in good spirits.”

The emperor narrowed his eyes, ”Why did the maid run away then?”

”She had said she was worried about her mistress when she woke up and so ran out without thinking to look for her.”

The Emperor knit his brows, ”Ran out? To outside the city? How did she know she left the city? and why would she think she would leave the city? If she was wandering around randomly, what are the odds of the maid running into her? There are so many routes you can travel on exiting the city, what are the odds of the maid picking exactly the one that led to her? She must have had a destination, of which the maid knew? The maid must have tried to stop her, so she drugged her to escape. It is more likely she was running away...”

The emperor then frowned as he continued, ”...the idea of an elopement makes sense. If she was planning on coming back why would the maid have felt the need to rush out to find her?”

Commander An nodded, ”I thought it was suspicious too and thought the idea of an elopement would have explained it, but I really could not find any trace of a potential partner in her life or anyone else suspicious leaving the city around the same time. Also, no matter how much I investigated it, I couldn't find out any traces of their whereabouts during that time. I could only find information on Noble consort Lei riding out of the city and the two riding back into the city together...Although, this could be a due tp how much time has passed, but the whole episode is quite suspicious.”

The emperor frowned, ”What did you find on the maid?”

”She was a beggar on the street that Noble consort Lei picked up one day when she was about 5 years old while out with General Lei. According to the servants with them, she had insisted on taking her home to be her personal maid. It seems General Lei spoils her quite a bit and so took the girl home with them and then helped convince their parents to let the girl become her personal maid. I tried to look into the girl's past before entering the Lei household, but I could not find much on her, all that is known that she was a beggar on the street.”

”Hmm.” The emperor frowned, ”What about Prince Yi?”

”The first time, Prince Yi and Noble consort Lei encountered each other was the day before she entered the palace. She purchased the slave group before Prince Yi could, so he approached her with the intention to buy them off her, but it seems she refused his offer, he didn't seem to be pleased about it either.”

The emperor laughed, ”Ah so she was the one who bought them?”

{...I can imagine he wasn't...she isn't exactly polite even when she's trying to be careful and is probably much less so when annoyed...}

”Yes, according to the men who were surveilling the scene, it seems her sister was going to rush out and so she stepped in instead to avoid her causing a scene. Then she later gave them money and released them go when she returned home.”

The emperor knit his brows, ”I see. Anything else?”

”It seemed she was really intent on entering the palace but her parents were not keen on the idea and refused. She was uncharacteristically vocal about it, pleaded in tears, threw several tantrums, and even went on a hunger strike to persuade her parents. The whole manor was in an uproar for a while because of it. In the end, she went to plead with General Lei and he ended up agreeing to her request behind their parents back. They were all shocked by her actions but everyone seemed to conclude that she had fallen in love with you, emperor.” Commander An finished glancing at the emperor's face.

The emperor frowned.

{...That again...}

”Also about a month before entering the palace, she had accidentally fallen into the pond in the manor and almost died.”

”Almost died?” The emperor's ears perked up.

Commander An nodded, ”It was deemed it a miracle she had survived, they had initially thought she had died. She was in a coma for a few days and woke up muddle-headed but was fine soon after.”

The emperor frowned in contemplation for a while, ”Is there anything strange about her?”