Chapter 344 - Thoughtful Interlude (1/2)

”He is to wait quietly for my summons... No one is to come here on his behalf again,” The Emperor coldly said, without even sparing a glance for the Imperial guard who Prince Yi - who was now in prison had again sent with a plea for an audience with the Emperor. The Imperial guard promptly bowed in understanding and quickly exited the room.

As the guard left, an eunuch came in to drop off a few reports and the Emperor turned to him and asked, ”Where is Eunuch Li?” He had barely been seeing that old man these days. On a busy and important day like this, he should naturally be here at his side.

The Eunuch bowed and informed, ”He's overseeing the monk's visit with the Empress dowager ...”

The Emperor knit his brows and leaned back in his throne chair, closing his eyes as he massaged his aching head. He had actually forgotten about the issue of the monk and his mother. As much as he liked the fact that Eunuch Li seemed to have a handle on the Empress dowager, it was a bit grating that he has been relegated to the side these days. But he knew he should not complain, after all, Eunuch Li has been effective in managing communications between them since they both dislike the presence of the other.

Thinking of his mother made him wearily sigh. It was not that he actually truly disliked his mother, she was a pitiful soul and he understood that. He wanted to treat her well and had once hoped to do so, but he could not have her ruling his life, especially when she seemed to detest all that mattered to him and all he stood for. If she were more reasonable and thought more, he would have no problem with her.

The Emperor sighed and looked back down at the edict he was writing. It was interesting that no one questioned or even tried to speak up for Prince Yi, he could decide to kill him tonight and no one would care. It seemed everyone had been expectantly waiting for this outcome, it was a bit disheartening. The Emperor sighed again then asked, ”Has the Empress returned to her palace?”

”No, the Empress has been at the Imperial pharmacy for a while now meeting with the head physician -” The Eunuch curtly informed.

”Imperial pharmacy? Is she hurt?” The Emperor quickly cut in with a frown and then promptly realized that the question made no sense and dismissively said, ”Nevermind, you may go... Continue to monitor the Empress's movements and let me know if anything happens, even if it's a small development.” The Emperor amended and the eunuch bowed and turned to leave.

He had woken up to find her intently watching him with bloodshot eyes, as if on night's watch duty. Then she proceeded to hover over him the entire morning, even walking him out to her palace entrance. On a regular day, such rare fawning behavior from her would be welcome, but not when she was watching him so intently as if she expected him to collapse at any second. Then while he was setting his mind at ease that she was finally resting, she got pulled into another bothersome affair.

To the Emperor's surprise, just as soon as the doors closed behind the eunuch, it opened again and he looked up to see Lei Xing sauntering in, a smile lighting up her face when she met his gaze.

The Emperor let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she looked better and much like her normal self. So at least she did not look beaten down by the events of the day, the last thing he needed now was her getting ill. He unconsciously smiled and held out a hand to her as she came around the desk.

Lei Xing took his hand and sat next to him and he promptly asked, ”Are you feeling better?”

”Oh, there was nothing wrong with me. You, on the hand... need work” Lei Xing said as she moved things around the table to clear space. Ah Jin who had silently followed her in, promptly dropped the tray she was carrying on the cleared space, then she bowed and made her way out.

The Emperor blinked and then raised an eyebrow at the brownish-gray liquid in the bowl, ”What is that?”

”It's vitality soup, the head physician said it'll help, um... relieve any um...ailment. It's good for you.” Lei Xing haphazardly said with a strained smile, raising the bowl up to his lips.

Actually, she was pretty sure the head physician just chose to make this so she would leave him alone. He had assured her nothing was wrong with the Emperor. Honestly, she was sure that the old man would have tossed her out of there if she was not the Empress. In the end, he settled for illuminating the foolishness of her claim by asking a simple rational question: If the Emperor was not breathing, how could he have woken up with his breathing completely normal, not labored?

Lei Xing naturally had no response for that and he used the opportunity to explain to her as if she were a child that sometimes people feel truly exhausted and sleep like the dead - even clarifying that the dead was just figurative. Seeing that Lei Xing was still not budging, he agreed to make this soup for the Emperor to help boost his vitality just to get her to leave him alone.

”Vitality soup?” The Emperor said, jerking his head back as she moved it to his lips, ”Xing er', you should know better than anyone that I don't need vitality soup.” The Emperor said with a slight smirk. Even on an irritating day like this one, being Lei Xing was enough to temporarily uplift his mood.

Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at him and then she tried to urge, ”Trust me, it tastes much better than it looks... And you also didn't go to see the Imperial physician -.”

The Emperor let out a breath and said, ”It's been a busy day...”

Lei Xing nodded, ”I understand that which is why I took it upon myself to look after your health so you can have the energy to brave the day~” She sweetly said with a smile, ”Please... Just drink this.” She finished with a beseeching expression that she knew he could not refuse.

The Emperor looked at her for a bit then helplessly sighed and took the bowl and downed the contents in big gulps. Her concern was most disarming as it was heartwarming.

Lei Xing beamed at him as she took the empty bowl from his hand. The Emperor sighed - he had been doing a lot of sighing today, he took one of her hands and reassuringly said, ”Stop worrying, I'm perfectly alright...”