Chapter 234 - Irrational Depths (1/2)

As soon as Lei Xing arrived back at her palace, she went straight to her room, sat down, put her hands on the table and cradled her aching head. The Empress dowager was now more than ever, a depressing factor in her new life.

The Emperor who had lingered outside issuing some orders finally sauntered in. He smiled when he saw her like that, walked over and then sat next to her. Then he proceeded to pour a cup of tea which he placed in front of her and then he went on to warmly pat her back, ”There's nothing to worry about...You did very well.”

Lei Xing raised her head and upon seeing his smiling face, she frowned, ”What are you smiling about? Your mother hates me and she's definitely going to cause trouble...”

”As I've told you, her approval is irrelevant. There isn't much she can do anyway, just ignore her...” The Emperor reassured as he took one of her hands, still smiling.

Lei Xing was not convinced and did not find his words reassuring at all, ”What about -” She paused and her frown deepened, then she let out an irritated breath and pressed on with the uncomfortable subject, ”What if she tries to stir up trouble with this whole contraception thing? I mean, I guess stopping would fix that, but even then -” Lei Xing stopped again and let out another exasperated breath and rubbed her forehead as she closed her eyes in thought.

{...This is such a crap situation! >_

On hearing Lei Xing's words, the Emperor froze. He quickly thawed out and immediately asked with some excitement, ”Do you want to then?”

Lei Xing opened her eyes and looked at him, ”Want to what?” The fact that he did not seem to be taking this threat as seriously was a bit irritating to her.

The Emperor blinked at her, hesitated and then simply said, ”Stop?”

Lei Xing knit her brows in confusion and then raised her eyebrows and blinked back at him as she realized what he was referring to. She just realized that she voiced out a bit too much of her thoughts.

{...I mean I could, but...Aren't you asking too much too soon though? One day, we finally start sleeping together, the next day you want me to be Empress and today you want to have a child...Aren't you going too fast? This isn't a speed-family life or anything like that... Give me a bit of room to breathe and come to terms with one reality before jumping to the next >_

Before Lei Xing could find the least painful words to employ in dashing the hope in his eyes, the Emperor lightly continued the conversation, ”There is nothing to be worried about on that issue either, even if the news spread, the court will ignore it. On one side you have your father's faction who would not want to advertise the issue for your sake...and on the other side, there's Prime minister Zhao and the relatives of the other women in the harem who would celebrate the news. With both sides wanting to keep this news irrelevant, how could it possibly start trouble?”

Lei Xing sighed in relief, happy that he got a clue and saved her the struggle and dropped the subject. She could not have hurting him weighing on her conscious at the moment. She was very glad for his understanding and so she circled her arms around his waist and hugged him, putting her head on his chest. She let out a breath and then very quietly said, ”Thank you...”

{...How she had this patient and understanding soul as a son is a mystery beyond human understanding -_-)...}

The Emperor smiled and wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair in a soothing manner. Lei Xing closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She opened her eyes and blankly stared at his chest as she focused on the warm hand stroking her back. He always seemed to be trying to soother her...and a somewhat disconcerting thought crept into Lei Xing's mind.

{...What about him?... Am I soothing to him?...}

Lei Xing frowned, she did not perceive herself to be a soothing person. Frankly, she knew herself to be quite the self-centered individual.

Lei Xing's frowned deepened, feeling even more unhappy. She let out a sigh and then sat up, looked at the Emperor and then asked, ”So she's powerless?”

The Emperor slightly knit his brows, displeased with the separation but then he nodded and said, ”Her power is hollow and she has no allies.”

Lei Xing knit her brows and then nodded. Then she turned to the table and picked up her cup of tea with knit eyebrows and then let out a breath and mumbled under her breath, ”So I only have to worry about poisoning then...great.” She sarcastically made a little toast to the air and drank.

The Emperor, who is always paying attention to her obviously heard her mumble and picked on her meaning. He immediately grabbed her arm with a frown, ”She tried to poison you?”

Lei Xing looked at him with raised eyebrows and went, ”Hmmm...I believe so.” Was the only thing she could manage in response.

”Why didn't you tell me?!” The Emperor irritatedly asked in a loud voice which made Lei Xing jump a little in surprise. The Emperor never shouted, at least not at her. Not even when they were arguing.

But the Emperor was taken aback by Lei Xing's absolute lack of concern over her own safety. How could she hide something so important from him?

”It happened a long time and I couldn't be sure...” Lei Xing explained with knit eyebrows and a mini pout in his direction.

{...Not to mention we weren't even friends then...You were also always interrogating me over one thing or the other, how could I have brought such grand accusations to you. I'm not stupid ≖_≖)...}

The Emperor calmed down a little with that and then pressed on, ”When was this?”

”Well, the first time was my first day in her palace for those ”study sessions”. I didn't drink it but she seemed very disappointed though...”

”You pretended to be ill...” The Emperor said recalling reading a report about her collapsing in the Empress dowager's palace during that time period.

Lei Xing gave a nervous laugh and refilled her cup of tea and leisurely sipped it.

{...Hahaha I am not going to cop to a crime... We're good bit it's a matter of principle, sticking to the story... Therefore, it remains that I was ill...}

Although even if the Empress dowager did find out about the lie, she really could not jump at Lei Xing's throat as she liked anymore and Lei Xing knew that.