Chapter 360 - I got you (2/2)

Eunuch Li furrowed his brows but then quickly stopped, wincing in pain due to the bump on his head. Still, he quickly recovered and began to protest, ”Your majesty, I can d-”

”If you insist on not resting, then I will remove you from the mission.” The Emperor sternly interjected, this was not up for debate. Eunuch Li pursed his lips and begrudgingly nodded in acceptance.

The Emperor cast Monk Du another scrutinizing look before he turned to leave. This time, making sure to grab Lei Xing's hand, not making the mistake of leaving her behind again. His heart almost dropped earlier when he heard his mother's deranged scream and realized Lei Xing was not with him.

He had expected that Lei Xing would have happily trotted along behind him when he stormed off. It was only after he had gotten to outside the Empress dowager's palace and turned around to hand Lei Xing into her palanquin - they had both come in palanquins because the Emperor did not believe Lei Xing's claims of being perfectly fine, and Lei Xing thought it was awkward if only she rode one while he walked. Hence, this was their middle ground.

Anyway, when he noticed Lei Xing had not followed him, he turned back, worried that she was bent over somewhere feeling ill. He was not particularly panicked until he heard the Empress dowager's shrill screaming. He raced back to the back garden, only to arrive as Ling mama clunked the Empress dowager on the head.

It was a scene that brought forth a confusing mix of relief and shock within him.

As they exited the Empress dowager's palace, they came across Ling mama who was fretting in the corner of the front garden, talking to a wall, pondering over her life choices, ”What was I thinking? How - how could I -?” She could not even speak her deeds with her own mouth and simply broke into loud crying. Her life was over.

On seeing the poor woman's state, Lei Xing grabbed the Emperor's arm, stopping him, ”Can we take her? Your mother will kill her when she wakes up...” Lei Xing said, turning to the Emperor, somewhat worried.

The Emperor cast an uninterested glance at Ling mama, clearly not bothered with the prospect. Lei Xing quickly added, ”It was really in self-defense, your mother would have killed someone and - you're not really angry, are you?” Lei Xing tentatively asked.

Crazy or not, she was still his mother. It was one thing for him to ”mistreat” her and a whole different story for others to do so. Even though the Emperor had not said anything, he still looked visibly upset at the scene - or at least, bothered by the whole affair.

Back then at the pavilion, after he recovered from the shock, he had simply gone over to pick up the Empress dowager while giving out orders. He had not said anything to Lei Xing, not even while they waited for the physician or while she was hanging on him, trying to offer him ”comfort” over his sudden ”unfortunate” loss. So perhaps he was really upset with her and had simply been holding back.

”I'm not angry, I would have done the same...” The Emperor replied and motioned for one of his eunuchs to go to Ling mama. Then he continued on his way, pulling Lei Xing along.

As Lei Xing sat in her palanquin, returning to her palace, she stared at the Emperor's silhouette through the shimmery curtains of the palanquin. She sighed and massaged her temple. She really should have just kept her mouth shut and ignored the Empress dowager's words at that time.

She knew better than to mess with crazy and even though she ”won”, ordering an assault on your mother-in-law was really a no-no. Even if the Emperor agrees with her choice, it does not mean that he liked it. Even she herself would have trouble with it if the roles were reversed. No matter how crazy one's family was, it always just rubbed the wrong way when others spoke ill of them or hurt them. It was one thing for me to hurt them and a whole different story for others to do the same.

Lei Xing sighed again and resolved herself to soothing the Emperor's ruffled nerves when they got ”home”.

{...It seems I've been doing that quite a lot recently. It's a bit - nevermind, I'm sure I was a bigger pain in the a.s.s - Was I really though? Just saying... I'm not that difficult a person to deal with (ᓀ ᓀ)...}

As they arrived at her palace, she expected the Emperor to storm in without her again but he came over and dutifully helped her out. It was always nice how he cared for her even when they were on ”off” terms. Feeling touched and a smidge - just a smidge, guilty for rejoicing at the prospect of his mother's death earlier, Lei Xing swiftly began her apology speech, ”I'm sorry, I know I -” Her words caught in her throat when the Emperor turned and pulled her into a tight hug as he said, ”I was so worried.”

”En?” Lei Xing went, blinking in confusion. The Emperor moved back, arms still wrapped around her as he asked, ”Why did you not follow me out?”

”I -”

Before she could even begin to answer, the Emperor scolded, ”You should know better than to stay with my mother. You know my mother is dangerous and I have told you to stay away from her. Even though there were servants around, still, why would you linger there? With her?” He finished, letting out a frustrated breath as he frowned down at Lei Xing, who was blinking up at him looking adorably confused. Looking at her face, his annoyance with her started to dissipate, he sighed and softly confessed, ”My heart almost stopped when I heard those screams and you weren't there...”

Lei Xing blinked at him and then lightly chuckled, relieved, amused, and touched all at the same time, ”Well... I naturally went to follow you but then your mother started saying all sorts of nonsense, calling a traitor and whatnot, making herself out to be the unfortunate saint and victim of a crappy son - which is obviously not true, you're a gre -” She paused, he was definitely not a great son but then she was a horrifying mother. Hard to be a great child to a horrifying parent.

Still, Lei Xing could not tout falsehoods to the Emperor, she did not appreciate such and she was sure neither would he. So instead, she diplomatically said, ”You're not a horrible son and definitely not a traitorous son. You've indulged more than most would. Anyway, her words don't matter, you shouldn't pay it any attention.” She said with a resolute nod, patting his c.h.e.s.t.

”I see…” The Emperor said as a slow smirk tugged at his lips, ”You should not pay her words any attention either.” The Emperor said, lovingly patting her head. It always warmed his heart seeing her worked up on his behalf.

”Of course. It'll be a waste of brain cells.” Lei Xing responded, still pouting as she hugged the Emperor.

{...Tch, offering me advice...not even a scratch, heavenly protection my a.s.s. Pretty sure if I put a sword through her throat, she will die... Just saying, the heavens really can't be that jobless -…}

A certain flighty, troublesome old man popped into Lei Xing's mind, and she frowned. He certainly seemed that jobless. Lei Xing shook her head.

{...Nope, he wouldn't. But then again - nope, nope, why would he? He said he didn't know her... And he lies, he lies a lot... It's that old man, isn't it? Of course, it is (≖_≖ )....}