Lei Xing looked at the horse in front of her and then back at Princess Nalan, "Where are the steps."

Princess Nalan raised an eyebrow, "Steps? You can't carry steps with you everywhere. That's just unnecessary baggage. You need to learn how to mount the saddle on your own. It's easy. Here, watch me." She finished then vaulted onto the horse, then hopped down. "See? Now your turn."

Lei Xing raised an eyebrow at the horse and thought it made sense, "Make sure to hold it steady." She said, Princess Nalan held up the reins to reassure her.

Lei Xing took a deep breath then gripped onto the saddle, put her leg in and vaulted up but only ended up landing on the saddle on her belly. She tried to get her other leg up and across but was having trouble. She heard Princess Nalan chuckling and frowned.

"Lei Xing, your mounting technique is quite unique." Princess Nalan commented.

"I know what I'm doing." Lei Xing bit back and continued her struggle.

{...Okay, we can do this...Stupid leg! Get a grip! >_

Molin could no longer help it as he watched Lei Xing and chuckled. The Emperor immediately glared at him and he piped down, The Emperor then dismissively to them, "You don't have to follow me around. You can leave."

Prince Rui bowed his head, "Ah, I understand...I'm just here to watch my sister to ensure she does not cause trouble. She is a bit..."

The Emperor narrowed his eyes then glanced at Prince Yi, who turned to him, bowed his head and respectfully reminded, "I am keeping Prince Rui company... as his companion."

Molin quickly bowed and chimed in, "And I am Prince Rui's guard, I'm guarding."

The Emperor looked at them, unamused. He turned back to Lei Xing who finally had her leg on top of the horse but was still trying to haul over to the other side. He frowned and then walked up to the horse and gave her the boost she needed.

Lei Xing was so absorbed in her brave feat that she was oblivious to everything else and was not aware that someone had helped her. As soon as she landed she sat, smiled and turned to Princess Nalan, only to see the Emperor standing beside her lowering his hands.

She blinked at him and wanted to say something but then the Emperor looked away again. She sighed and knit her brows, feeling upset again.

Princess Nalan obliviously to the mood, then said, "Okay, now that you're up. Time to ride." Then immediately slapped the horse's back and it charged. Lei Xing's eyes immediately went wide as the horse sped off. She tightly gripped the reins then leaned forward to grab the horse's neck.

{...Crazy ass- ! What the hell did you do that for?! >_

"Relax, it's fine."

Lei Xing opened her eyes as she heard that and saw the horse had stopped. She sat up and turned around to see the Emperor sitting behind her. She immediately hugged him, grateful for his humanity as she exclaimed, "When did you get here?"

"Just now." The Emperor blinked in surprise, then frowned as he looked down at her head. It was the first time she had ever taken the initiative, but it was not the same. He had vaulted up behind her as soon as Princess Nalan hit the horse. He turned the horse around and glared at Princess Nalan.

Lei Xing let out a sigh of relief and opened her eyes, realized what she was doing and immediately let go, looked up at his face calmly looking down at her. She quickly faced forward turning a bit red. She looked forward and also glared at Princess Nalan, feeling aggrieved.

{...I've figured it out, this girl is trying to kill me, isn't she? -_-)...}

The Emperor got down then put Lei Xing on the ground then walked up to Princess Nalan. At this point, Prince Rui and the others had made their way to her, with Prince Rui already admonishing her for her stupidity for doing that.

The Emperor stopped in front of them and narrowed his eyes at her and said in a low voice, "You could have killed her."

Princess Nalan, who was already annoyed with her brother's scolding and frowned and said, "That wouldn't have killed her...She isn't that fragile. Everyone falls from a horse, it's how you learn..."

Prince Rui frowned but before he could speak, the Emperor irritatedly said, "She is an average person with no martial arts training, a fall could have seriously injured her..."

Prince Rui bowed, "I apologize for my sister's misbehavior..." He then turned to Princess Nalan and narrowed his eyes at her, "...Apologize."

Princess Nalan frowned then begrudgingly bowed, "I'm sorry...I was not aware she was that fragile." Prince Rui frowned at her, annoyed with her words and tone but she just frowned back and looked away.

Prince Rui then said to Emperor, "Your majesty..." He knit his brows and then turned to Lei Xing instead, "Noble consort Lei, please do not hold it against her. Nalan can be a bit reckless but she meant no harm...I will make sure something like this never happens again."

Lei Xing blinked, "It's nothing...I'm fine, it was a...a fun experience." Lei Xing said with a laugh, trying to diffuse the situation. She did not like being the point of contention.

The Emperor frowned and then said, "No more horse riding training is needed, I will teach her myself. As for the archery lessons..." He glanced at Lei Xing and then said, "You can continue with that as long as you don't plan to use her for target practice." The Emperor said frowning back at Princess Nalan.

The atmosphere felt tense again, with everyone except Prince Yi seeming to be in on edge.

Lei Xing awkwardly stood there for a bit and then went, "Haha...ha funny, what a great joke, Your majesty. I'm really not that fragile and of course, I would never be target practice...Hahaha." Lei Xing laughingly said in an attempt to diffuse the situation.

The Emperor narrowed his eyes and Lei Xing smiled at him while narrowing her eyes at him. Then the Emperor glanced the other way, seemingly disgruntled. Lei Xing lips twitched.

{...Look, I'm trying to do my job as a diplomat here so you behave yourself!... The last thing I need right now is to be the cause of international friction, please be reasonable -_-)...}

Lei Xing then turned her smile to the disgruntled Princess Nalan, thought quickly then said, "Why don't we go out? I think we've done enough training today...So somewhere...fun."

Princess Nalan glanced at her then let out a breath and still disgruntled asked, "Where?"

{...Great question O_O)...}

Lei Xing glanced around at the others who returned blank stares. Her eyes fell on Prince Yi, who was the only one with an unaffected expression but he just raised an eyebrow at her and made no suggestions. Lei Xing lips twitched but she maintained the smile, "How about the market?! You haven't been, right?... Regardless, let's go shopping. It'll be fun."

{...I hate it, but I'll sacrifice...}

"I guess...it could be fun."? Princess Nalan finally responded and Lei Xing nodded then grabbed her arm to head out.

After getting everything arranged, they went out to town and once again Lei Xing was stuck in the carriage with Emperor, while the others rode on horses. And again, the Emperor was keeping to himself, eyes closed and arms folded. Lei Xing glanced at him and wondered if he was meditating. Regardless of him being angry with her, he was still being considerate and helping her...Lei Xing whispered, "Thank you." and then looked down, feeling upset.

"You're welcome." The Emperor responded and Lei Xing looked up to see him looking at her, then she looked back down and knit her brows, seemingly pouting.

They silently rode along for a while, then the Emperor sighed, "Xing er', I'm not angry with you."

Lei Xing glanced at him and the Emperor continued, "...And I'm not ignoring you, it's just..." He paused and then looked down with a frown, "You don't like it, do you?... Me touching you."

Lei Xing blinked at him, feeling a major sense of guilty. He really has been kind to her, so kind it made her feel uneasy. It would be a lie to say that she was not moved by him, she was not made of stone so naturally, she was but...Lei Xing sighed and then quietly said, "I don't hate you."

The Emperor blinked and looked up at her, and she looked away turning a bit red, "I mean...You're a really nice guy and there's really nothing to hate...so...I don't hate you...it's just..." Lei Xing knit her brows and looked down.

{...Your life is complicated...and it's just...I don't know...}