The two quietly stayed in their own areas of the room with their own thoughts. Dinner arrived and Lei Xing could immediately tell what it was. As they sat down, Eunuch Li smiled at her and informed, "The Emperor specially ordered this ginseng chicken soup to be prepared for you with a 200-year-old ginseng."

Lei Xing stared at the piping hot pot of chicken soup then glanced up at the Emperor, who was looking off to the side with a smug expression. Lei Xing knit her brows and then stared at the bowl of soup placed in front of her, when she made no moves?to start eating, the Emperor frowned, "Is something wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Lei Xingknit her brows, then shook her head then picked up the spoon and started eating. The soup was perfect, even better than last time with notes of ginger which Lei Xing greatly appreciated. After a few spoons, she let out a sigh of satisfaction.

{...I really need to find these cooks...}

The Emperor looked at her enjoying her soup and smiled, then went on to eat himself. After dinner, the Emperor went back to his makeshift workspace on the side and focused on his memorials, pretending not to notice Lei Xing, who was sitting on the bed staring at him with an increasingly pouting expression. After a while, she knit her brows and said, "You don't need to stay here."

The Emperor finally paid her attention and looked up at her pouting expression and snorted, but quickly cleared his throat to mask it. That pouting expression along with her dotted face looked really funny and adorable to him.

The Emperor then smiled and asked, "Do you dislike me being here?"

Lei Xing blinked and then looked away, knitting her brows.

{...What sort of question is that? -_-)...}

"I'm just saying you don't need to stay." Lei Xing mumbled, still looking away with a frown.

The Emperor stared at her for a while. He got the message that she wanted to be left alone, but her demeanor seemed to send a different message to him...She seemed lonely.

{...She is really difficult to understand...}

The Emperor sighed and said, "It's easier to concentrate here." Then looked back down at his work.

Lei Xing peeked at him, when she saw he wasn't looking. She went back to pouting in his direction. The Emperor smirked and continued to pretend to be unaware.

After a while of sitting there stewing for no reason, Lei Xing yawned and then decided to go to sleep.

{...Sleep is a much better use of my time...}

Once she laid down, it didn't take long for her to fall asleep. But it seems her stewing followed her into her dreams because when the Emperor finally got in the bed later, he saw her eyes open and glare at him and he froze thinking that he woke her, until she closed her eyes, pulled the blanket back up and smiled as she snuggled into it.

Apparently she was displeased with the cold air that floated in when he opened the blanket to enter and subconsciously glared at the cause of the discomfort. The Emperor quietly chuckled and then moved closer to her so he could properly be covered without bothering her. He smiled at her dotted face for a while, then lightly touched her face.

{...She really is very amusing...and adorable...different...}

The next day, when Lei Xing woke up the Emperor was gone and she leisurely went about her day. The head physician came to check on her, and before he left he cleared his throat, smiled and bowed, "Your highness, it is a great relief to see you better...I was wondering if this lowly one could make a request?"

Lei Xing raised an eyebrow, "Go ahead."

His smile broadened, "I was informed that you got the idea of a medicinal bath from a book...Ah, so I was wondering if you could borrow it to me,...or maybe let me know the name...?" He paused and then added, "It's so that we can all learn from it...to avoid mistakes like before in the future..." He glanced up at Lei Xing, then quickly added on, "...It will be very much appreciated by all..."

Lei Xing was quiet for a while, then she sighed, "Unfortunately, it was lost a long time ago...I read it as a child and that part happened to stick in my head...I don't even remember the name...I'm sorry." She then smiled, "But you are free to study my condition if it helps."

The head physician shook his head, "I wouldn't dare..."

Lei Xing shrugged, "Up to you...How is Prince Yi's condition?"

The head physician knit his brows, then informed, "Hm, his condition is slowly improving."

The doors then opened and Lei Xing saw Ah Jin come in followed by her mother. Lei Xing blinked in surprise as her mother quickly came up to her, gasping in shock and then bursting into tears as she stared at her face.?Other than the Imperial doctors and the servants in her palace and the Emperor's personal servants. No one else was aware of what her actual condition was, so it was a great shock to see her beautiful daughter's face covered in spots.

The head physician quickly excused himself to give them privacy.

Lei Xing sighed and comforted the crying woman, assuring her that she was alright. Her mother touched her face all over while crying, "Your beautiful face...what's going to happe-...how will you surviv-..."

Lei Xing grabbed her hand, "I'm fine...It'll be gone in a few days."

Her mother looked at her face and sighed, "How did it become like this?"

Lei Xing smiled, "It was an accident...Anyway, why are you here?"

Her mother calmed down and then informed her that the Emperor sent her an invite to the palace yesterday evening. Lei Xing frowned and wondered why he would do that. Then her expression fell when a memory of herself hugging a certain someone while crying for home flashed through her mind. Her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open.

{...What was I -?...You know, being sick is like being drunk, it's not me, it's nothing...}

"Xing er', is something wrong?" Her mother asked on the verge of restarting her waterworks when she saw Lei Xing's weird expressions.

Lei Xing put on a smile, "No, I'm perfectly fine."

Her mother sighed and stroked Lei Xing's hair, "The Emperor seems to care a lot for you, that's at least reassuring...It must make you happy." Her mother finished with a sad, warm smile.

Lei Xing's lips twitched but she gave a half-hearted laugh and nodded to reassure the woman, so she did not start worrying and resume crying.

Lei Xing inwardly sighed.

{...This was thoughtful...Although a tad annoying but still...}

***

Meanwhile, Prince Yi was in the throes of a high fever. Alone in his room, save for the Imperial doctor on the side watching his condition. He was sweating profusely and frowned in discomfort and quietly whispered, "Mother." and his frown deepened.

"Your highness, please forgive him, it was an accident." His mother fervently begged on her knees.

Jun Shan frowned at his mother and tried to pull her up, "Why are you begging? She was the one who walked into me!"

"Be quiet!" His mother bit out, then turned to the two women in front of her and smiled, "I'm sorry, children only know a child's way. He didn't mea-"

"Are you insulting me for not having children?" The older of the two women coldly cut her off with a deep scowl on her face.

His mother took a deep breath and immediately kowtowed, "Not at all! Never! I didn't mean it that way, I ju -" She fell silent, not knowing what else to say. The two sisters in front of her were currently very powerful in the harem. The eldest, Zhong Hua was a Noble consort and the newly appointed Empress's right hand. While the younger one, Zhong Ji was the Emperor's current favorite. And the one who just spoke was Zhong Hua, who was known for her extremely bad temper.

"Even if you didn't mean it, that's what I heard. Servants, of course, need to be taught how to behave..." Zhong Hua then ordered her maid to flog her. The maid quickly obediently went to break off a branch from a nearby tree.

Zhong Ji knit her brows, "Jie, why don't you just let it go? In any case, he is still a Prin-"

"Shut up!" Zhong Hua barked, then sneered, "In any case, useless will always useless..." Zhong Ji sighed and remained silent.

The maid began the flogging, while another servant held the struggling Jun Shan so he did not get in the way, he eventually broke free and ran to his mother. The maid stopped feeling a bit apprehensive of flogging a Prince, when Zhong Hua barked to continue, the maid quickly obeyed.

"Stop!"? They turned to see the little Fourth Prince, Jun Kai trotting to the scene with a deep frown.?Jun Kai stopped next to Jun Shan and his mother and flatly asked, "What's the meaning of this?"

Zhong Hua frowned but then quickly corrected her expression to a smile, "It's nothing for you to worry about, Fourth prince...You should hurry along. If you are late for your lessons, the Empress will be upset with you."? She dismissively said and then turned to the maid and said, "Continue."

The maid complied but as she brought down the stick, Jun Kai caught it and snapped it into two, which caused his hand to bleed when one of the ends dug into his skin. He was unfazed and calmly said, "I said to stop."

Zhong Hua panicked and shoved the maid to the ground then bent down to check on his hand, "You're bleeding!" The fourth prince was now considered the second Empress's son, not to mention the Emperor apparently cared about him a lot. He was really not someone to offend.

Jun Kai withdrew his hand from hers, "Don't touch me."

Zhong Hua frowned and then turned her anger towards the maid who was kowtowing, pleading that she did not mean to harm the Prince.

Jun Kai ignored them and turned to Jun Shan and his mother, managed a small smile and said, "You should leave."

Jun Shan worriedly looked at his bleeding hand and wanted to say something, but his mother bowed and quickly dragged him off.?Jun Shan glanced back to see Zhong Hua and the others too busy fawning over Jun Kai's injury to even notice the mother and son pair, covered with marks, leaving the scene.