395: Royal Visitors

Royal Visitors

Outside the bathroom doors was an eerie silence as everyone waited with bated breath, unsure how the situation was inside, but much more worried about what the situation would be once those doors were opened again. Would the nation be mourning another royal in such short order, or would the Emperor hopefully regain his senses?1

After what felt like an eternity to some, one of the doors finally nudged open, and the group hesitantly turned to see the Emperor, looking calm and seemingly sane.

The Emperor slightly knit his brows when he saw Commander An, he had no idea when he got here. "Prepare a hot bath." The Emperor said as he stepped out, giving way to the servants, who bowed and quickly, but carefully, shuffled into the bathroom. Most heaved a sigh of relief as they went in and saw Lei Xing peacefully resting on a lounge chair with a blanket over her, she was wet, but otherwise seemingly alright.

The Emperor moved to the corner with Commander An before asking, "Has someone confessed?"

"No, not yet." Commander An responded with a frown, this was the first question the Emperor asked him every time he came over here, followed by, "Then why are you here?"

Right on cue.

"The Zou prime minister has arrived. He's asking to meet you." Commander An carefully informed, studying the Emperor's expression. The Emperor was not looking at him, but rather his gaze was focused on the door to the bathroom. Even though Commander An did not see Lei Xing, he could tell from the relieved faces of the servants quietly but quickly hurrying out of the doors that the Empress was still alive.

The Emperor's frown deepened, he did not want to deal with this right now. He had never had one of his plans blow up in his face like this, it was like everything that could go wrong had gone wrong. Especially with Lei Xing like this, he had not spared much thought on anything else, much less how he planned to handle this aftermath with Zou.

Even though he felt a tad bit better after "speaking" to Lei Xing earlier, he was still not in the mood to release Princess Nalan or deal with the repercussions of her holding Lei Xing hostage yet. Not to mention the fact that he was still not sure exactly what the old man wanted him to do, it would have been nice if Lei Xing stuck around long enough to tell him exactly what was happening here... He was once again tempted to throw her back in the tub, but he reluctantly pushed the thought aside. He could be patient... he will be patient.

"Set him up in a residence for now." The Emperor dismissively said.

"He is insisting on seeing you before anything else." Commander An said before the Emperor could walk away, "He has refused to leave the palace entrance until you grant him audience."

The Emperor closed his eyes with a frown, deeply frustrated. How nice would it have been if the old man had shown himself a week earlier?

As the silence stretched, Commander An sensed he was about to be dismissed again. He knit his brows, he really wished Eunuch Li was here right now. Eunuch Li would know what to say to motivate the Emperor into action, he was really not good with words. But alas, Eunuch Li was not here, and he was the only one in the position to speak to the Emperor, so he went for it, "Your majesty, I understand what you are going through, but the Empress will not be happy to see you like this, she would not want this f-"

"And what do you know of her wants?" The Emperor growled, turning to glare at him. The other servants in the vicinity hastened their steps and quickly disappeared.

Commander An stood his ground and switch to change gears, "Nothing at all, but if you will forgive my asking...do you intend to go to war with Zou?" He matter of factly asked.

The Emperor narrowed his eyes, "War?"

"Prince Yi's death aside, they've sent spies into this palace, they've even gone after the Empress on several occasions, even their princess has made an attempt on her life, you have more than enough justification. With our internal conflict now dealt with, we can easily tackle Zou and their allies."

"I do not intend for war." The Emperor said with a frown. Even if that was an option, he had not particularly considered it yet - although it had crossed his mind, he had not seriously debated it recently. 

Commander An nodded, "If that is not the case, then you should receive him. This is the Prime minister of Zou."

The Emperor's frown deepened, but he remained silent - as if in thought. Just when he thought the Emperor would ignore him again, the Emperor spoke, "Arrange it then." He said with irritation clear in his voice and manner as he stormed back into the bathroom.

Commander An sighed in relief, it worked. Although he figured it would probably take another hour or two before the Emperor would actually deem it "appropriate" to leave his palace, Commander An understood it was best not to push his luck.

It might seem a bit much to some people, but Commander An understood the Emperor's insistence on taking care of Lei Xing himself. He sympathized with the Emperor, he truly did - after all, he had also lost the love of his life, twice. In a regular man, this sort of devotion was truly admirable, but not in a ruler.

While Commander An was nowhere as close to the Emperor as Eunuch Li, he has known him for at least half his life, and he had never seen him look unstable. As a ruler, his weakness was too obvious, and his priorities were clearly misaligned. If he was already like this because she was ill for a few days, what would he do if she then died? Follow her?... This was deeply concerning, to say the least.

But there was nothing that could be done about it. Now was certainly not the time to talk about it, not that it would make a difference. All they could do was pray that Lei Xing recovers well and lives a long life with him. Thankfully, with the chaos of Prince Yi's death, the true reason for the Emperor's withdrawal was easily concealed and overlooked.

As expected, it was only after Lei Xing was clean, dried, and tucked back into bed that the Emperor went to get dressed to receive his esteemed guest. By the time he returned to the main room, Xiao Ruo was there, looking at him with a somewhat aggrieved expression and watching him like a hawk as he went over to the bed. The Emperor naturally was not bothered about her, he sat down and warmly caressed Lei Xing's cheek, "I'll be back soon..." He gently said, then leaned down and kissed her forehead before stroking her cheek with the back of his hand and finally, reluctantly rising to leave.

But he just stood there, staring at her. clearly, his feet did not want to move. "Your majesty..." Commander An called, he had been following him since the dressing room.

The Emperor knit his brows then sighed and turned to Xiao Rou and warned, "Watch her closely." Xiao Ruo quickly bowed in understanding, and at last, the Emperor left the room, with Commander An following closely behind.

Xiao Ruo exhaled, and walked over to the bed to check on Lei Xing, she had been too scared to go over when the Emperor was hovering around. Seeing that she was truly alright, she sat on the floor next to the bed and let out a sigh of relief, "Your majesty, you need to wake up soon, who knows when the Emperor will lose his mind again? He actually tried to-" Xiao Ruo quickly closed her mouth and jumped to her feet when she heard the doors open. 

She relaxed when she saw it was the head physician with his assistants, probably back again with another "remedy". Three eunuchs then lugged in a huge stove, while others followed carrying logs of wood and several herb baskets, "What is this about now?" Xiao Ruo asked as she walked over to the head physician who was directing the placement of the items. 

The head physician paid her no attention and continued his business, dismissively responding over his shoulder, "This just arrived from Ningtong valley temple, this remedy is said to be capable of riling up even spirits-" 

Xiao Ruo frowned, "Rile up spirits? Why are you trying to rile up spirits in here? The Empress is not dead!"

"Shhhh!" The Imperial physician jumped around in a panic and covered her mouth, "Who said anything about her being dead?!" He asked in a hushed frenzy as his eyes darted about the room.

Xiao Ruo removed his hand and informed, "The Emperor is not here."

"Oh, oh." The head physician said with a short nervous laugh, patting his chest, "I was just say-" His words were cut short as he, along with Xiao Ruo and the others in the room, froze in place, and a figure dressed in green and silver silently swept past them. 

The figure materialized as a young man at the foot of the bed, he sat on the bed and stared at the sleeping Lei Xing expectantly for quite a while, it was as if waiting for her to open her eyes and acknowledge him, "Xing er'..." 

When she did not respond, his silvery eyes moved from her face to her hand resting at her side. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before lightly touching her fingers. When he saw her lashes flutter, his eyes lit up, and he gripped her hand and excitedly asked, "Do you really recognize me?... I've missed you so much." He added with a pained expression. 

Lei Xing knit her eyebrows and closed her eyes, and weakly said, "You really never listen…"

He blinked at her, seemingly taken aback by the accusation, then he knit his brows, "I'm sorry, I was just worried and I -"

"It's good you came this time…" She said, opening her eyes and giving him a little smile, "This will hurt a bit."

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