388: Quietly Giddy

Quietly Giddy

Lei Xing in her fury went storming back to the Empress's palace and the Emperor, in his wisdom, followed after her. Neither of them thinking about the mess of a scene they left behind. 

Now Doctor Lou and Bai Huan stood outside faced with the scene of Princess Nalan without her hostage and the opposing guards without their Emperor. 

"Well...this looks troublesome." Bai Huan  said as he scanned the scene, "Should we call them back?"

Doctor Lou flicked Bai Huan's offending arm off his shoulder, "Do they seem like people who would obediently come back?"

"Hmm, in that case, we have no choice. You be Xing er' and I'll be Kai!" Bai Huan happily volunteered.

"Why do I have to be Xing Xing?!" Doctor Lou instantly protested.

"I want to be the Emperor." Bai Huan indignantly said.

"Huh? You're already an Emperor! If you want to play Emperor, why not go do your actual job -"

"Exactly." Bai Huan said with a smile, "Besides, it'll be weird for me to play Xing er'. Also, do I seem like I could ever be a hostage to you?" He rhetorically asked as he transformed into the Emperor, observed his new look in a full-size mirror that appeared in the air.

Hard as it might be to believe, in Doctor Lou's world, Bai Huan and Feng Lifen were rulers in their own right, each an Emperor and Empress of their own separate regions. Although the pair now lived a leisurely lifestyle, leaving both their thrones empty for the most part. 

Bai Huan turned to find Doctor Lou still glaring at him, "You best hurry up. If Lifen comes out of that room and we're not back, you're going to have to explain all this and I can't guarantee that she'll b-"

"Fine." Doctor Lou mumbled and he transformed into Lei Xing and went to take his position in Princess Nalan's grasp, still with that disgruntled pout on "his" face.

"See, you already have her attitude, how perfect~" Bai Huan praised, but his good words were only received with a scowl, "If you were a bit cuter, I'd consider adopting you-"

"Just hurry up already!" Doctor Lou ordered, "And don't kill anyone!" He added when Bai Huan got into position with the sword hovering above Molin's neck.

"Not as fun, but okay." Bai Huan reluctantly accepted and the awkward show commenced. 

***

"Xing er'...?" The Emperor tentatively called but he received no response. 

As soon as they got back to their room, Lei Xing tossed off her robes, crawled into bed, and proceeded to "sleep", ignoring him and everything. She did not even blink twice as they walked through the frozen people of the palace. 

It was clear Doctor Lou really went out of his way to put on this showcase of power but Lei Xing was not in the right frame of mind to appreciate his "great work". The Emperor on the other hand was amazed, a little curious, and also very sour. This would have been a lot more useful than the smug "I told you so" he used to get during his time on the battlefield. 

"Xing er'?" The Emperor called again as he sat on the bed and leaned over to see her face, only to find her eyes closed. The Emperor stared at her frowning face and smiled to himself. He knew Lei Xing was probably battling a whole range of emotions right now, but he could not help himself.

First of all, Lei Xing chose him, laying to rest one of his greatest worries. Second, and most importantly of all, his Xing er' was pregnant! He knew something had been off about her the last few weeks. As expected, he could naturally sense the changes in her. He felt proud of himself for that and so he began snickering, he quickly stopped himself. 

But it was too late, Lei Xing turned on her back and glared up at him, "Am I the butt of a joke to you too?" 

The Emperor blinked at her, "Never." He quickly responded, "I'm just happy~" He added with a smile as he leaned down and gave her a kiss. He slightly raised his head and despite the fact that she was still glaring at him, he could not help chuckling as he nuzzled his nose against hers, "Really happy~" He whispered as he put his hand on her stomach, lightly caressing.

Lei Xing had no idea how much he had feared her one day leaving him to return to her "world". The Emperor sat up, still smiling but then frowned when he saw the blood on her neck, "We should get that cleaned up." He said and then got up and walked to the side room to get a towel and water, also a salve if he could find one - if not, then they would have to wait until things were restored to normal to have someone bring it over. 

Lei Xing sat up, still with a pout on her face. She glanced around, then her eyes went down to her stomach. She let out a sigh just as the Emperor returned with a damp towel. 

"It's okay, it'll be okay." He said, stroking her head. He just remembered that having children scared Lei Xing. Even though she later agreed to it, he knew it was just because she wanted to make him happy - which he was, he was very happy, but he had to be understanding of her fears.

Lei Xing knit her brows and kept her head down and was silent as the Emperor wiped the blood from her neck, "...do you think it was real?" She quietly asked.

The Emperor's hand froze for a moment and then he resumed his task, "Perhaps... I don't know. What I do know is that he was intentionally messing with you to get back at me for my brother's death...I'm sorry." He added, running a hand down her arm, taking her hand with a reassuring squeeze.

Lei Xing nodded, then closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She finally looked at the Emperor and weakly smiled at him, "I didn't mean to hide it from you. It's just..." She sighed again, "I didn't want to get your hopes up over nothing. My monthly bleeding has been absent for a few months but this doesn't necessarily mean pregnancy, could be caused by stress or other things. The physicians didn't find anything all this time, even the head physician dared to tell me this morning that I was crazily convincing myself of a fake pregnancy -  you don't think he's lying about this too, do you?" She asked with a frown. 

The Emperor knit his brows in thought, but seeing Lei Xing's worried expression, he quickly said, "No, I don't think he would lie about this...As for the physicians, although they may be skilled, they come nowhere close to the old man's."

Lei Xing thoughtfully nodded but went on to say, "Still, can we keep this to ourselves for now?... At least until the physicians can sense it themselves, hm?" 

The Emperor nodded, "As you wish." He said, kissing her cheek, and then he hugged her, putting her head on his shoulder and stroking her hair. 

Lei Xing closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his waist, still feeling very uneasy and now regretting not questioning Doctor Lou some more on this issue. If she wanted to go according to her absent periods, then she should be at least two months pregnant, if not three. Yet she had absolutely no symptoms, no morning sickness, swelling, nothing. The physicians could confirm with certainty that Princess Nalan was pregnant by the second month, yet they could not even suspect that she was pregnant. 

This was clearly not normal. 

Lei Xing frowned. Now that she thought about it again, the old man even named her child on her behalf -

{...No, he said the "baby" chose it himself, talking fetuses, how ridiculous (≖_≖ )... Clearly, that old man has something to do with this. I knew it! I should have grilled him properly...}

Lei Xing was now feeling somewhat regretful that she scolded Doctor Lou like that. At this rate, if he really did something to her or if she really needed to get something fixed, would he agree to help her? No, persuading him was not the problem. The real problem here would probably be locating the old man again. Fortune sent him to her door and she threw him out with her own hands!

While Lei Xing was lamenting, the Emperor was also doing some reflection of his own. Despite what the old man did today, he did not want to view him as the enemy. But if the old man lied about this pregnancy simply to cause Lei Xing grief, then even if he could not kill him today, he will make it his life's mission to figure out a way to end him. The Emperor kissed her hair and pulled her even closer, soothingly stroking her back, trying to comfort and reassure her with his embrace. 

They stayed like that in silence for a while, until the doors opening and closing broke the silence. The Emperor raised his head but Lei Xing did not move. He suspected that she had fallen asleep so he did not want to disturb so he stayed still and simply waited for whoever it was to turn the corner and come into view. But no one came. 

The Emperor knit his brows and was about to set Lei Xing down to go check things himself, then the doors opened again. This time, Xiao Ruo surfaced, indicating to the Emperor that things had gone back to normal. The Emperor also just recalled that they left Princess Nalan's situation hanging like that. 

"Your majesty, here is the salve you requested." Xiao Ruo bowed and held her hand out to the Emperor.

"I requested?" The Emperor asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"En, you asked for it for the Empress's wound before coming in." Xiao Ruo reminded.

The Emperor knit his brows and tentatively took the salve. It seems the old man must have found a solution for their absence, "What about the Zou princess?" The Emperor tentatively asked.

"As per your orders, she and her escort have been imprisoned." Xiao Ruo responded.

"And my brother?" The Emperor asked again.

  "Prince Yi is being prepared for his funeral..." Xiao Ruo tentatively responded, slightly knitting her brows in confusion as to why the Emperor was asking all these questions when he was the one who just gave the orders. 

The Emperor nodded, these resolutions were reasonable. It was what he had in mind for Princess Nalan anyway, there was no way he was going to allow her to go free after hurting Lei Xing. He would not kill her but she definitely deserved to be punished.

"Your majesty, do you need anything else?... Dinner maybe?" Xiao Ruo tentatively asked, "The Empress hasn't eaten much today..." 

The Emperor shifted and looked over at Lei Xing on his shoulder and saw her expression was relaxed with her eyes closed. It seems she was really asleep, "Not now, but prepare something light in case she wakes up hungry later." He softly said, gently resuming stroking Lei Xing's back.

Xiao Ruo bowed and then left the couple to themselves. The Emperor watched Lei Xing's sleeping face, smiled, and kissed her cheek, once, twice, three times, his smile widening as he put his cheek against hers. His happiness was back in full swing. 

"Aren't they just the cutest?" Doctor Lou said with a snicker. Unbeknownst to the Emperor and Lei Xing, they still had stragglers in their room.

"I guess." Bai Huan responded with a disinterested shrug.

"Don't be bitter." Doctor Lou said, squinting up at Bai Huan. 

Bai Huan squinted back at him, "Says the one who's been constantly tormenting a poor young man the last few days simply because his daughter likes him more than she likes you?"

Unbeknownst to Lei Yong, Doctor Lou was responsible for his recent string of bad luck. Since arriving at Tung Mei's home, he always seemed to either be tripping on air, getting knocked over by random flying objects - sometimes even by "nothing". There were even times when it seemed like the poor young man narrowly avoided dismemberment or even death. If anyone was bitter, it was certainly Doctor Lou. 

"It's not about that!" Doctor Lou countered with a frown.

"Sure." Bai Huan said with a half-smile and then flatly asked, "Why are we still here? You know we don't have time -"

"Fine. Be that way." Doctor Lou said with a pout, unhappy that Bai Huan was not appreciative of the view like he was. He walked over to the bed and waved a hand in front of the couple and the Emperor slumped down, joining Lei Xing her slumber. Doctor Lou then leisurely pushed the Emperor aside with a finger and then took Lei Xing's wrist to check her pulse, "Hmmmm...."

"What are you doing now?" Bai Huan asked, starting to feel impatient, "Lifen will be-"

"Be patient, I need to check on Wei Wei first!" Doctor Lou dismissively said, "Anyway, I didn't invite you here so you can go if you want -"0

Bai Huan scoffed, "So you can feel free to start trouble again? No~" Bai Huan said, then went to take a seat, crossed his legs, and added, "Take your time."

Doctor Lou glared at him, "I will." He indignantly said, then he turned back to Lei Xing and hovered a hand above Lei Xing's stomach, and began talking to who Bai Huan presumed to be "Wei Wei". 

"Bully you? Who dared?... Oh? I'm sure she wasn't referring to you... She definitely didn't mean it that way… She just sounds mean, she's actually nice enough once you get to know her... There are no other options! Do you want your father to kill me?!... Trust me, she'll make a good mother, have I ever lied to you?... Stop being petty! Either way, you can't continue to be like this!..."

Bai Huan sighed and conjured a jug of wine and a cup, this was going to be really long night. 

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