394: Trial Error

Trial Error

The Emperor sat there in shock for a moment, then he knit his brows - this quickly turned into a confused frown as he looked down at the woman on his lap.  2

{...Did she just -?...}

He let out an irritated breath, "Xing er'?" When she didn't open her eyes, he tapped her face, "Xing er'..." He called more impatiently, he could see from the rise and fall of her chest that she was breathing. Annoyed, he grabbed her arms and sat her up, and called her again, even shaking her a bit but she remained limp and unresponsive. 

The Emperor scoffed in disbelief and laughed to himself as his eyes scanned the room, surprisingly finding something amusing about this situation. What sort of joke was this? He had spent the last few days stressed, worried sick about her, waiting in anticipation for her to say something, anything really... but for her first word to then be that? 

He was tired of the old man's games. 

The Emperor stood up, picked up Lei Xing, and marched out of the room. He silently passed the servants and Xiao Ruo not quite sure what he was doing now, hesitantly followed behind him. The Emperor went into the bathroom where a group of maids were currently cleaning, walked up to the empty tub, and stopped, "Fill it."

Xiao Ruo guessed he wanted to bathe Lei Xing, it was a bit unannounced but it was alright, she turned to the maids and said, "Quickly boil water-"

"No need." The Emperor interrupted, "Just get water from the pond."

"Eh? T-the pond?" Xiao Ruo questioned in confusion.

"Now." The Emperor impatiently barked, annoyed with the delay in process. The maids jumped and quickly ran out to do as he said, while Xiao Ruo remained there with the Emperor, covertly studying him with knit eyebrows in confusion. The weather may be warm but the pond water would still be cold, not to mention, possibly unsanitary. How could he want to bathe Lei Xing in that water? If he couldn't wait, then he could simply leave it to her then. Unfortunately, she did not have the guts to voice out her complaints.

The servants trotted in bit by bit, filling the tub, careful not to look at or splash any water on the Emperor who was imposingly standing right in front of the tub. As soon as the tub was full, to the horror of some, the Emperor took a step forward and dropped Lei Xing into it - he didn't put her down, he put his arms over the tub and released. 

The tub was big enough that even the Emperor could lie at the bottom, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was sick and unconscious right now, even when she was conscious these days, she could not be safely left alone in the tub. As expected, she sank right down. 

"Your maje-" Xiao Ruo started, jumping forward but froze when the Emperor raised a hand up. Xiao Ruo looked at his raised hand and was too scared to move, her eyes continuously darted from the tub to his hand in panic. 

The Emperor knit his brows and waited, watching the calm surface of the water in the tub. One of two things was going to happen: Lei Xing would either wake up and surface on her own, or the old man would show up to save her... one of them had to happen. 

Ten seconds, twenty, thirty, one minute... "Your majesty! You c-" Xiao Ruo began again, but the Emperor closed his fist and she kept quiet. The seconds continued and she and the other servants exchanged increasingly worried glances. Someone should stop him, right?

Two minutes! 

"Your majesty!" Xiao Ruo exclaimed, kowtowing in plea and the other servants quickly followed, "Your majesty!" They echoed. 

"Just a little longer...a little longer." The Emperor mumbled, paying them no mind, eyes and mind fixed on the water. 

Xiao Ruo, the closest to him heard this and raised her head. A little longer... what was he talking about? There wasn't a single ripple in the water. Worried that the Emperor had finally lost his mind and was really going to kill Lei Xing, Xiao Ruo jumped to her feet and rushed to fish Lei Xing's head out on her own, against her better judgment. Just as her fingers found Lei Xing, she felt herself yanked back by her collar, off her feet as the Emperor threw her back.

Thankfully, the kowtowing servants cushioned her fall to their detriment. Xiao Ruo turned back to find the Emperor glaring at her, "Do not interfere." He warned in a low voice. 

"Your majesty, it's been two minutes already, you're killing her!" Xiao Ruo cried. The Emperor simply turned his attention back to the tub and mumbled, "He won't let her die..."

Xiao Ruo scoffed in disbelief, but she did not have the nerve to go for the tub again, so she picked herself up and kowtowed again, "Your majesty, please reconsider!" She pleaded and the other servants echoed, "Your majesty, ple-"

"What is going on here?" A voice interrupted and Xiao Ruo and the others turned to find a confused Commander An standing in the doorway, scanning the scene. 

"Commander! Please speak with the Emperor, he's drowning the Empress, he's trying to kill her!" Xiao Ruo said, speedily crawling to his side, happy that a savior had come. Commander An's eyes widened, he had come here to report an urgent matter, but now it seemed like he had stumbled upon an even more urgent matter.

Commander An knit his brows and walked over to the Emperor's side, "Your majesty...what are you doing?" He quietly asked.

"Just a little more." The Emperor mumbled in response, casting him a quick side glance before fixing his eyes back on the water's surface, ignoring him. Commander An studied him for a bit before turning to the kowtowing servants, "All of you leave." He ordered

"Huh?" They looked up at him in confusion. 

"Now. Get them out of here." Commander An ordered, snapping at his accompanying guards who had stayed at the doors. They quickly jumped into action and went to drag out the servants. 

Xiao Ruo was flabbergasted and tried to resist as she pulled out, "How could you do this? H-"

"It is not your place to question the Emperor." Commander An cut in and that shut her up, "Take her outside." He added and she was quickly picked up and hauled out as she helplessly watched the Emperor hold the edge of the tub, but do nothing further. Xiao Ruo bit the edge of her lip and sniffed back tears, she could not believe that the Emperor was doing this to Lei Xing. It did not make sense. 

With the room empty, Commander An glanced back at the Emperor and then turned walked out, closed the door behind him, and stood guard in front of it. The surrounding guards and servants glanced at him with conflicted expressions, but they kept their heads down and sealed their lips. 

As for Commander An, he did not think the Emperor was truly trying to kill Lei Xing. He was not sure what the Emperor was trying to do, but he was certain that if he really wanted her dead, this would not be how he would get it done. It was not in his character to kick up a fuss like this. Moreover, even if he did want to kill Lei Xing, it was his prerogative. 

Commander An waved over one of the guards and then whispered, "Go tell the Zou Prime minister that the Emperor is indisposed at the moment. If he continues to insist, bring him into the palace and find a room for him to rest until the Emperor is ready. Also, send the head physician and guard him well." The guard quickly bowed and rushed off to see to the task. 

Commander An inwardly sighed, when it rained it really poured. He had no idea what was going on anymore. It has been one thing after another since Prince Yi's death. To make things worse, at such a crucial time, the Emperor was misbehaving, making rash decisions, or outright ignoring reports. If it was not about Lei Xing or Prince Yi's death, the Emperor had little interest in engaging. 

Meanwhile, inside the bathroom, it was past the three-minute mark and the Emperor's frown deepened as his panic inflated, but he clenched his fists and refused to move.

{...Almost there, just a bit more... Where are you? Will you just let her die like this?...}

Before he had set out to do this, he had naturally concluded that he had to be willing to push the limits. After all, the old man could read his mind, if he was not serious, the old man would not bother.

Still, this was Lei Xing, his Lei Xing, his anxiety had been mounting the moment he dropped her in, but he had to clear his mind and it was taking all his willpower to remain still. 

The four-minute mark hit and he could no longer help it, he quickly fished her out and crumbled to the floor with her as he pat her face and checked for her pulse, "Xing er', Xing er'-" She frowned, then started coughing and retching, the Emperor quickly held her up and hit her back as she puked out a stream of water. 

Seemingly uncomfortable, she pushed away from the Emperor and collapsed forward, trying but barely able to hold herself up by the forearms, "Was this fun to watch?" She asked in a bitter voice, audibly enraged. 

{...It worked!...}

The Emperor's face lit up as he rushed over to her, "No, I was just - I'm sorry, does it hurt a lot?" He asked, feeling guilty as he saw how much she was shaking. He helped her sit up and was going to hug her, but Lei Xing grabbed his shirt and held him at bay, "If you won't be of use to me, then get lost, you're disrupting my concentration." She irritatedly said, not looking at him but glaring at the opposite corner.

The Emperor blinked at her, glanced at the empty corner, and then his eyes returned to her, "Xing er'-"

"And you," She suddenly whipped her head to face the Emperor, the anger in her eyes surprising him a bit, "Do not try that again." And with that said, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell limply into his arms. 

The Emperor blinked a few times, then he looked down and tapped her face, "Xing er'?...Xing er', are you asleep?" A smile crept on his face, which quickly turned into a little laugh as he hugged her to himself. It felt like he could breathe again for the first time in what felt like forever. She spoke to him, in her usual adorably pouty manner. She was still here!

{...Concentration, what was she talking about? Don't tell me she's been doing this intentionally...}

The Emperor straightened up and pouted down at her. Now upset with her, if she wanted to pursue enlightenment or whatever this was to the point that she became "inanimate", couldn't she have told him first? And what exactly was she trying to achieve by doing this? The Emperor frowned down at her, he knew she won't answer if he called out to her again. His eyes drifted over to the tub but he quickly shook his head, "No, no, can't do that."

{...And you?...}

The Emperor suddenly picked on another clue in her words, was there someone else in the room with them? It really seemed like she was referring to someone else at the start there. The Emperor glanced around and saw no one, but, "Old man, are you here?... Are you two working on something again? I don't usually care about what you two discuss, but this isn't funny... I don't appreciate being kept in the dark on important things like this..." He added, upset but with no one to receive the anger. 

The old man did not step forward, and neither did Lei Xing pipe up with an explanation. The Emperor just absentmindedly caressed Lei Xing's face, at least now he knew she was alright. Seemingly so anyway, she did not seem to want to be disturbed. If it was her doing then, Lei Xing would not do anything unfavorable to herself, much less endanger herself. It wasn't in her character, so he could be at ease...right?

The Emperor knit his brows, unconvinced. No matter how he thought about it, this was abnormal. But then again, when were things ever really normal with her?

He looked back down at her seemingly sleeping face and sighed heavily, "What exactly are you doing here?" He asked her but got no response. He sighed again and just continued sitting there, holding her...waiting. 

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