382: Setup

Setup

In the end, Lei Xing's restlessness could not let her be. So she got up and headed for the Imperial pharmacy to check on the situation while hoping that the stupid Head physician made himself scarce so she does not get tempted by murder.  2

Unexpectedly, just as she was nearing the building, an exhausted eunuch ran up from behind and halted her. Through ragged breaths, he informed her that the Emperor wanted to see her urgently.

Lei Xing's heart jumped and she froze in place.

{...That stupid - he wouldn't have... right? O_O) Is he not scared?! I could really kill him! - Okay, let's calm down, let's not get ahead of ourselves. No one said anything about that...yet...}

Lei Xing let out a breath she was not aware she had been holding and calmly asked, "What is it about?" After all, there was a lot going on in the palace right now, it could be something else...she hoped. She was not ready to have that conversation with him yet.

"I am not sure..." The eunuch responded, "The Emperor just said to tell you to come over before doing anything else."

Lei Xing knit her brows in annoyance at the vagueness of that phrase. Honestly, she was just stalling right now. After all, it was not like she could avoid him until she felt "ready", if she did not go to him, he would come to her. If she ran out of the palace, he would just chase her down, and then she would have even more explaining to do. Either way, there was no escaping this. 

Lei Xing knit her brows and then as she stared at the eunuch, a lightbulb went off in her head and she asked, "Have you seen the head physician today?" 

"No, Your majesty." The eunuch politely responded and Lei Xing's lips slightly tugged as she relaxed, "That man is really hard to pin down these days, I guess I'll have to send for him later..." She offhandedly said and then turned around to head for the royal study, her mind at ease.

This eunuch was one of the few who accompanied the Emperor everywhere. And while it might be somewhat strange for her to ask an eunuch if the Emperor had seen the head physician today... it was not so odd for her to randomly bring it up this way. If he has not seen the head physician today, then it is more likely than not that the Emperor has not met the head physician either.

This way Lei Xing managed to put her mind a bit at ease as she went to see him. It must have something to do with his brother's situation, maybe he had a lead or something, wanted to rub minds...anything, she would talk about anything else right now.

When Lei Xing arrived at the royal study, she found the Emperor discussing with Commander An. She seemed to have walked in at the end of the conversation, because Commander An quickly said, "I'll see to it..." Bowed to the Emperor, then her and left the room. 

Seeing the Emperor now, Lei Xing's guilty conscience slightly pricked. It was one thing not telling him when she had not acknowledged the issue as she technically did not believe there was an issue. But now that she had acknowledged there might be something wrong with her, she was feeling uncomfortable around him. 

"Why are you standing there? Come over." The Emperor said remained standing at the foot of steps staring up at him.

"Oh, um, yes." Lei Xing snapped out of it, quickly shook herself out of her stupor, and went up the steps to take her place next to him on the throne chair, fixing her eyes on her hands on her lap with a frown. 

The Emperor also frowned as he noticed her odd behavior, "Are you alright?" He asked, putting a hand over one of hers. 

Lei Xing went rigid, but then quickly relaxed and looked up with a half-smile, "I-I'm fine, I heard something happened to your brother?" She asked with knit eyebrows, trying to shift his focus as her eyes darted to a corner in the room. 

"That's no matter." The Emperor dismissively responded and then asked, "I heard you summoned the head physician, are you feeling alright?" 

Lei Xing froze for a minute, when she didn't respond, the Emperor touched her arm only for her to turn a glare on him, "Do you really have to monitor me so much? It hasn't even been an hour and you've already heard about it? Isn't this a bit much?" 

The Emperor was taken aback by that comment. He blinked at her a few times and awkwardly said, "I only do this to take care of you..." Not quite understanding what she was upset about, it was odd for her to suddenly take issue with him keeping tabs on her. She also kept tabs on him, they kept tabs on each other - it was what they did. 

"I'm a full-grown adult, I can take care of myself. I'm probably ev - No, I am older than you. So I can handle myself, okay?" Lei Xing frustratedly went.

The Emperor raised an eyebrow and studied her for a moment, "You're certain everything's alright?"

Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at him, "I am not a baby who requires your constant attention to survive. Everything's perfectly fine - except your brother, of course, what did you mean by nothing to worry about? Did you do this by any chance?" She asked, deflecting the topic from herself again. 

It was now the Emperor's turn to narrow his eyes, "Do you think me so sadistic that I would poison a man just to punish him?"

"Well, did you?" Lei Xing asked, meeting his gaze with an accusing frown. 

The Emperor studied her again for a moment and then sighed, "Xing er', are we arguing right now? I don't know what this is..." He honestly said, looking at her with both concern and confusion.

Lei Xing blinked at him and then realized that she was picking a fight over nothing in a subconscious bid to cover up her guilt.

{... *sigh* This is clearly not going to work -_-')... I need to sort out these stupid emotions! Relax...breathe...We've sorted it, just have to find the old man and fix this! It'll be all fine! Just get it together and don't lose it, okay? That doesn't help anyone...}

"I'm sorry..." Lei Xing said with a sigh, grabbing hold of his hand with both of hers, "I'm just...tired. It's been a long day. Why did you send for me?" She asked, trying to move the conversation along before the Emperor could dwell on her meaning. 

The Emperor sighed, he could sense there was something more behind her attitude today but he would leave it alone for now, "You're right, it does have to do with my brother's situation... I need you to stay out of this."

"Was he really poisoned then?" Lei Xing asked with concern. 

"Yes, but I had prepared for this. We've been feeding him detoxifying supplements since he was imprisoned. It was just made to look worse because he happened to cut his face, somehow, on his way down when he collapsed so there was some blood, but he'll recover..." The Emperor explained.

"So what's the problem then?" Lei Xing asked with knit eyebrows. He would not tell her to stay out of it if it was not something serious. 

The Emperor sighed, "The Prime minister's son collapsed on his way out of the palace earlier, he was poisoned too..." The Emperor stated, "... We also found a deerskin pouch with a residue of poisoned wine in my brother's cell, which he had visited earlier. It can't be a coincidence. "

"You think he poisoned him and is now playing the victim?" Lei Xing speculated with raised eyebrows, this was really interesting.

"No." The Emperor responded with a frown, "I've known him a long time. He's harmless...mostly. Besides, he couldn't come up with something like that on his own."

"Well, you never really know -"

"He didn't do it." The Emperor stated with conviction, "Someone used him. Moreover, he has no reason to want my brother dead and..." The Emperor let out an irritated breath, "I don't think he can survive this. They still have not identified the poison and his situation...It doesn't seem like he will long enough. So, I need you to stay out of this. It's no secret that your family and the Prime minister's family don't get along. I can't have you in the middle of this, alright?" He said, running a hand down her arm. 

Lei Xing nodded, understanding the situation, "Also, I think I should tell you this. Today, Nalan told me that her oldest brother, Prince Houli? I think, he seems to believe that your brother is only using Nalan and wants his life...do you think he could have done this?"

The Emperor knit his brows in thought for a bit, "Perhaps..." The Emperor responded, knitting his brows in thought. With a palace filled with people, it was not possible to fill all the cracks no matter how hard one tried, "Did she tell you anything else? Anything specific or...?"

Lei Xing shook her head, "No... But I could ask her again...later." She added, "...Also, since I can't go to Nalan. Should we send for Molin? It may be good for her to have someone at her side at this time... He'll probably be better than me anyway." Lei Xing thoughtfully suggested. 

The Emperor absentmindedly nodded and Lei Xing sighed as she watched him, deep in thought See, this was what she meant by stress. How could she possibly add on her "problem that might not even be a problem" on top of all this?

Prime minister Zhao's only son was about to die. Even if the man and his son were famously always at loggerheads, he was still his only son. Right now, that same unyielding Prime minister who screamed about disowning his son was still at his son's side at the same Imperial pharmacy kicking and threatening the physicians to find a solution.

The Emperor honestly blamed himself a little for this. He had taken careful steps to ensure Prince Yi's safety while in prison, his food and items were double and even triple-checked. But in the end, he used his own hand to carve out the hole for the rats to enter. 

When Zhao Chang weaseled his way into the palace, the Emperor thought nothing of it. If anything, it was a bit funny, but it was good to see the young man finally trying to do something with his life - albeit for the wrong reasons. But he was harmless and his loyalty was admirable. So when he tried his best to get into the prison to see Prince Yi, the Emperor turned a blind eye. After all, these visits were good for Prince Yi as well and they were ignored. 

Unbeknownst to him, this simple leniency would come back to bite him in a big way and this was just the beginning of the cascade. 

But it was too late to regret it, too late to backtrack...and perhaps even too late to correct certain mistakes.

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