Lei Xing was now feeling even more apprehensive? thanks to the bracelet's words. She glanced up at the Emperor and his gentle expression made her heart jump and she felt even more panicked. She immediately looked down and her eyes darted all over the place, looking for an escape route, yet she did not remove her hands from his or protest.

The Emperor smiled, knowing that she was nervous. As he was about to open his mouth to speak, Lei Xing spotted a few lit lotus lanterns floating in the water and exclaimed, "Ohh, nice...Are those for prayers or wishes?" She wondered out loud as she slipped her hands out of his and then walked over to the water's edge and squeezed her eyes shut.

{...I can't deal with this guy...He's going to cause me heart failure one day T_T)...}

The Emperor frowned down as his empty hands and then looked at her back and then frowned.

{...It seems I am rushing again...I'm usually not this impatient...}

The Emperor sighed again then walked up to her and said, "Let's go buy it."

Lei Xing opened her eyes and turned to see him smiling at her and felt relieved. She covertly let out a breath and smiled back then they walked over to the vendor. The vendor explained that they were "magical" lanterns that will float to the heavens and your wishes will be granted. Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at the vendor.

{...So they will float down the canal and somehow reach heaven?...I didn't know this connected to the sky now. I might as well just jump in myself -_-)...}

Lei Xing pulled the Emperor and continued walking. She did not actually want the lantern nor was she interested in the fueling a trickster's hoax, she really just needed a distraction and that presented itself. As they walked away, the Emperor raised an eyebrow and asked, "I thought you would wish to leave the palace."

Lei Xing scoffed, "It's much easier to just ask you instead of waiting for that lantern to float to heaven."

The Emperor narrowed his eyes at her, and Lei Xing saw his expression and quickly added, "I'm not asking though...They should at least try to make it believable, say it's a river god or something granting the wishes or sending the message to Heaven. People are really too gullible..." Lei Xing finished and sighed.

The Emperor looked at Lei Xing for a while and then said, "I would have wished for you to be happy being with me...Ah, but it's also easier to just ask you that as well." He finished with a smirk.

Lei Xing glanced at him and then knit her brows and looked off to the side.

{...Was that a joke? -_-)...}

She did not think it was funny, but for some reason, she felt the urge to laugh. Her shoulders shook as she tried to restrain herself from laughing. In the end, she failed and ended up snorting and then chuckling.? She covered her mouth and glanced at the Emperor to find him also chuckling. They looked at each other for a bit and then both broke out in laughter.

{...There's nothing freaking funny here!...I feel like an idiot! >_

With that, he two happily wandered around leisurely for a while. They bought a few more things and then finally made their way back to the palace. Lei Xing's grievances about Tung Mei and the bracelet, palace life and every other worry were thrown to the back of her mind, she truly just had a good time. She was a bit saddened when they had to return to the palace, but all good times come to an end. She knew they could not stay there forever.

After they arrived, the Emperor went off to handle some things while Lei Xing returned to her palace, very tired and in a great mood. She quickly had a bath and then jumped into the bed. She closed her eyes and sighed, then opened them at blankly stared at the bed for a while. Then she raised her hand and looked at the bracelet.

{...So you're really not leaving...}

{...*...}

Lei Xing received no response. But she was not bothered and was too tired to care. She wondered what the Emperor was going to ask then when she interrupted him. She was curious, but she definitely could not ask him, even if she knew he would probably answer her if she did. She was not sure she wanted to hear it. Lei Xing let out a breath and then yawned. She threw the incident to the back of her mind then closed her eyes to drift off to sleep.

{...It has been quite a day...An interesting one...}

The Emperor returned a while later after reviewing the things that happened in his absence and also giving out orders for someone to dig into Tung Mei. While he knew her father was a good man and a great general in his time, he still wanted to look into her just in the unlikely event that she was up to no good. He knew his Xing er' was not the kind of person to get angry for no reason, not to mention they were very secretive about their conversation too.

He was not necessarily being nosy, he was just making sure there will be no unwanted surprises, especially if she is to be with Lei Yong. He was simply looking out for his friend and his wife. He got in the bed, also really tired. It had been a long day, but he was quite happy despite not being able to ask her to finally ask her to officially be his Empress. The mood was perfect and she said those words and he could not help wanting to ask her to be at his side to build the great she foresaw.

The Emperor sighed, he knew he was rushing things as well, but for some reason, she made him impatient. He also could not understand it himself, but he always seemed to have this nagging sense that he needed to act quickly otherwise he would lose her. But she clearly does not seem to be going anywhere.?Lei Xing then rolled over to him and snuggled against him, interrupting his thoughts.

The Emperor looked at her sleeping face and sighed. It was things like this that made him confused. While awake she seemed to be keeping him at arm's length but when asleep she gravitated towards him like this.

Of course, he was the one who started the habit of holding her. But it seemed she quickly got used to it and recently started rolling over on her own to hug him when he got in the bed. He was very happy about it before and it gave him the confidence to finally take the steps he took the night before...but now he realized that she probably just thought of him as a heat source. Although, he preferred the explanation that she liked being near him and so came over to him much better.

He picked up her hand on his chest and looked at it for a bit. He noted the ring on her finger and made a mental note to ask her why she always wore it. He could not remember ever seeing her without it. He reasoned that it must be something dear to her. e was curious and wanted to know more about her. He kissed her hand and then snuggled her closer and closed his eyes to sleep.

The next day, Lei Xing woke up to find that the Emperor had diligently ordered the servants to send over the souvenirs he had gathered over the years and informed that she could keep them all. Lei Xing did not have anything to do so she sorted through the things for fun. She rummaged through everything but could not find the wolf's tooth he promised her. When she later asked him about it, he simply showed a mysterious smile and told her to wait. Lei Xing raised an eyebrow and was slightly amused but she did not pry and let him be.

As for the jewelry from the Emperor's splurging session, Lei Xing gave a few pieces to Xiao Ruo, Ah Jin, and Li Ru and then decided to gift the rest to Xiao Ting for her coming of age ceremony.

They had completely forgotten to get anything for Xiao Ting during their time at the Merchant's festival. As for the items the Emperor purchased on her behalf, Lei Xing was happy to have them but she still chastised the Emperor a bit about spending so much money. She did not want him starting any bad habits.

She was also a bit touched because they were all items she particularly liked, even ones she did not verbally say she did. It was clear he was really paying attention and his choices reflected it. The Emperor bought quite a bit on her behalf but she was very reluctant to part with them and so kept them all.

She also kept all the jewelry selection he chose during his first splurge session before the old woman conned more out of him.??While she still felt they were too much, he did put a lot of thought into especially choosing them for her and remembering how serious he was about the task. She felt it would be unfair to him to give them away to anyone and so she kept them for herself.