Lei glanced at the Emperor and then lightly sighed. They were both sitting at the far ends of the carriage, with a huge space between them.

Lei Xing glanced at him again and then looked down. He was behaving weird and it was making her feel very uncomfortable. The Emperor was sitting in his corner with his eyes closed and arms folded, keeping his hands to himself. Not that she wanted him to touch her or anything, but normally he tried to at least hold her hand at every opportunity.

He helped her get on the carriage and then hastily dropped her hand like it was burning him or something. Lei Xing blinked at him, but he just looked away like there was nothing was abnormal. He got in after her and then immediately assumed this sleeping Buddha pose, ignoring her again.

Lei Xing pouted in his direction, then sighed and looked out the window instead.

{...If he doesn't even want to look at me, what exactly is he coming along for?... I get he's upset but...I would rather he just got angry than to pull this passive-aggressive stunt...Is this even passive-aggressive? He's not being mean or anything...but him being so passive is so...so...upsetting...It's honestly upsetting...}

She really did not like this.

The carriage ride felt like it took forever to Lei Xing. When it finally stopped, the Emperor opened his eyes and went down, then he helped her down and immediately dropped her hand as soon her foot touched the ground. Lei Xing knit her brows at him, but he was looking away again. She looked down, feeling disgruntled and like that, the moody pair made their way to the awaiting royal guests inside.

Princess Nalan smiled and waved when she saw Lei Xing come round the corner, only for the Emperor to surface a second later and she froze along with the others around the table in the garden.

Prince Yi's expression changed from one of expectancy to a frown. He had specifically come here today because he heard Lei Xing was coming. He had been informed that she was the one who came up with the medicinal bath which saved him and had been thinking of her every time he got in the bath for the past few weeks. He thought it must be because he wanted to thank her but then thought perhaps not. Regardless of the reason, he wanted to see her.

He looked forward to this meeting...and now HE tagged along to ruin everything.

The group got up and bowed towards the Emperor, he lightly glanced at them and did not speak. Prince Rui then took it upon himself to play the gracious host, although begrudgingly so, he put on a smile and said, "Your majesty, we were not informed of you coming here today. If there is anything you could have just sent for me."

"I'm not here for you." The Emperor calmly informed. They all blinked and their eyes floated to Princess Nalan, who knit her brows. Even Lei Xing looked at her too.

{...So he came here to see her? That's -...That's good, he should have just told me to stay home then, I am not keen on playing the third wheel -_-)...}

The Emperor followed their eyes, then he frowned then added, "Xing er' has not been feeling well recently and has just recovered."

After he said that, there was a silence and they all glanced towards Lei Xing, who was looking down at the ground with a frown. While the Emperor was looking at them, slightly irritated with all their staring.

They could all tell that their relationship was weird. The Emperor said he came here to look after her, yet he said it flatly with no emotion, even his expression was blank. Then there was Lei Xing who arrived with a frown and has maintained it the whole time.

They both seemed upset.

Prince Rui quickly offered them a sit and they all sat down quietly, with Molin leaning on a pillar on the side. The atmosphere was tense and no one was saying anything. After a while, Molin looked at Princess Nalan and signaled for her to say something and she signaled back that he should say something himself. He looked at Prince Rui, who glanced at him and swiftly looked away, uninterested.

Lei Xing was sitting down, looking down at her hand holding her cup of tea. The Emperor caught Prince Yi glancing at Lei Xing and narrowed his eyes and then said, "Brother, it is good to see you looking well again. Ah, I have not yet thanked you for looking after my wife in my stead. If there is anything you need, do name it."

Lei Xing knit her brows.

{...Looking after? What looking after? Terrorizing me was what he was doing. I think he should be punished, you should have asked my opinion first -_-)...}

Prince Yi slightly knit his brows then smiled and lightly bowed, "It is naturally what I should do, there is no need for thanks."

"That's fine then." The Emperor offhandedly responded, then picked up his cup and quietly sipped on his tea. And the table returned back to the awkward silence again.

Lei Xing glanced up at the Emperor to find him staring at Prince Yi, who was looking down with his eyebrows knit, probably unnerved by the Emperor's stare. Lei Xing quietly sighed.

{...This sucks...I thought his brother was bad, but this here guy is the definition of party pooper. Must come with the job territory, can't have the subjects being too chummy...I guess -_-)...}

After a while more of the awkward silence, Princess Nalan poked Lei Xing and then quietly asked signaling to her with her eyebrows, "Are you feeling well enough for an archery lesson?"

Lei Xing immediately jumped at the opportunity, "Yes, I'm perfectly fine...That would be great." And with that, the two girls flew out of there, both letting out sighs of relief after leaving the scene. The atmosphere was suffocating. Lei Xing cast a quick glance back at the Emperor to see him frowning as they left.

{...He must be feeling uncomfortable too....right?...}

Apparently, Princess Nalan had set up a simple archery site for fun and to tutor Lei Xing. Lei Xing quite liked this, the target was a lot closer than the one she worked with in the palace, and she was feeling more confident. After getting basic posture lessons, Lei Xing got an arrow and prepared to fire while receiving corrections. Princess Nalan then suddenly said, "It seems your Emperor likes you a lot."

"It's just -" Lei Xing paused and knit her brows, not knowing what to say... or even think about this Emperor anymore.

{...Honestly, this guy is a bit, No, a lot too nice...How did he become Emperor if he's this nice? Well, I guess he's smart and talented s-...No, I'm getting confused again, he's not that nice, can't be...At most he's nice to his women, and I'm just one of them...But then he ignores - Then he's nice because he wants something...But then yesterday - Aargghh! This is so confusing, I hate this! >_

Lei Xing frowned and pushed him out of her mind then put all her energy and frustration into pulling the bow, ready to shoot.

"You don't like him?" Princess Nalan asked, Lei Xing blinked then lost her concentration, and ended up losing her grip on the drawstring and ended up snapping her finger on it, and exclaimed in pain as she frowned at Princess Nalan.

{...Why is everyone such a Freaking busy body?! Can't you all just mind your own goddamn business?! -_-)...}

The Emperor suddenly showed up beside her and held her hand and looked at her finger and worriedly asked, "Are you okay?"

Lei Xing frowned and looked down then quietly mumbled, "I thought you were ignoring me."

The Emperor knit his brows but before he could say anything, Lei Xing shook her hand free and turned to Princess Nalan and said, "Let's do some horse riding." As she grabbed her arm and started walking off.

The Emperor sighed. Prince Rui then came up to him, "Your majesty, why don't we go back and let them be?" After the girls left before on their archery mission, the four men quietly sat there for a while in increasing awkwardness until the Emperor suddenly stood up. He frowned and then asked where the archery site was and so they came here and stood out of sight watching them. As soon as he heard lightly cry out, the Emperor swiftly moved to her side.

While Prince Yi disliked the Emperor's presence here, he did enjoy?seeing Lei Xing shake the emperor off and slightly smiled.

{...It seems it was all just rumors, a facade created by my idiotic brother...He must be putting on a show to please the Lei family. It must be hard trying to keep your "friend" happy...What to do? It seems she hates you...}

The Emperor frowned and responded, "This is fine." And started walking off towards the direction Lei Xing and Princess Nalan had gone in. After a few steps, he stopped then turned back and looked at Prince Rui and Molin, who looked back at him, perplexed.

Molin got the idea and exclaimed, "Oh, the horse stable." He then walked forward to lead the way and the Emperor quietly turned and followed along with Prince Rui and Prince Yi, who were both apparently amused with the drama playing.