"Your majesty, please let me come with you. You never know what might happen." Song mama pleaded with the Empress dowager.

After thinking about it long and hard, the Empress dowager finally resolved to go with Monk Du to the Tauhua temple.?She was going to go but if they proved useless, she would burn down that temple and all its inhabitants before returning. She looked at Song mama, irritated with her nagging. Song mama had been pleading with her all week to go along, but the Empress dowager refused. There were things that needed to be handled in her absence.

The Empress dowager sighed, "You have to stay here and ensure things continue to go as planned. I can't trust these idiots here to continue the plan in my absence. I will be gone for at least two months, this will be the perfect time to end that Zhao bitch...On second thought, make sure she doesn't die yet, just continue with what we're already doing...I want to be around to watch them suffer. I can already see that stupid Prime minister's face. I need to see it to be able to be at peace..." The Empress dowager calmly explained, closing her eyes.

{...Once that's done...It'll be one less grievance in my heart...}

She then took a deep breath and continued, "You also have to stay here to make sure no one oversteps their boundaries. That Chen You looks like the kind to forget her place so I need you here to remind her and the rest of them that I still exist."

Song mama knit her brows in worry, she had never been apart from the Empress dowager since they were little girls. Not to mention, she was going to go climb a mountain to meet some unknown figure. She knew she could not do much even if she went along, but still, it worried her. The journey will be long and hard.

The issue of the Empress dowager's departure was kept on a need to know basis. She was not being paranoid, it was just a fact that a lot of people did not like her, and she also did not care for them either. She had informed the Emperor of her travel plans and he had behaved like a dutiful son and arranged a small army made up of Xia men, on her insistence to escort her.

She was scheduled to leave the next day and she had written an edict declaring Chen You temporarily in charge of the harem and the palace until her return. The Empress dowager chose Chen You because she seemed to be the most reasonable out of all the Emperor's wives. Li Ru was inadequate and there was no way she was going to give power to that Zhao brat...and Lei Xing, she needed to be kept in check, so giving her power was a definite no.

And so all that was left was Chen You, there was also the fact that Chen You paid her a lot of visits and ever gained merit by finding this monk. So this choice was natural, even though the Empress dowager knew Chen You did it all in a bid to gain power not out of actual concern, but she could not fault her for knowing how to play the palace game well. Frankly, she quite liked that about the girl.

Song mama was to announce the edict after the Empress dowager had left and was also to serve as Chen You's assistant during that time. The Empress dowager knit her brows and watched as Song mama went about gathering her things and thought about her impending journey.

{...That monk better not fail me or I will take his head as my souvenir...}

Meanwhile, Lei Xing had spent the last few days relaxing in the palace, the Emperor of course still hanging around, but she had stopped trying to get rid of him. He was not budging and she honestly did not mind his presence all that much anymore.

The palace had also been very quiet with nothing happening...peaceful actually. Since Lei Xing was obviously no longer sick, the other wives stopped coming to her palace. The Empress dowager was also minding her own business. All in all, Lei Xing had a very good week. The bracelet was not talking again, it seems it got upset again, but she liked to think of it as it had realized that space was something necessary for both of them.

That afternoon, Lei Xing went out to meet Princess Nalan. She honestly liked this companion job of hers. Princess Nalan did not disturb her every day and it was honestly nice going out to have fun with normal people for a change, who were not stuck up or putting on airs. She thought of them as a laid back, cool bunch, except maybe for Prince Yi. She still thought he was stuck up.

Lei Xing also actually thought the Emperor was a laid back and honestly a really cool person to be around, but he put her on edge sometimes and she has been feeling even more nervous around him this last week.?He was still clingy as usual but he always stopped himself at kissing.

Sometimes it looked like he was having a really hard time. He would frown deeply at her and then announce that he was going to have a cold bath and leave. He was truly keeping to his words and was "patiently" waiting for her to give him the go-ahead. Unfortunately for him, she honestly could not see herself ever doing that.

Although, she did sometimes feel a little sorry for him, and at other times found his behavior funny and would break out into laughter as went on what she now thought resembled the "walk of shame" to the cold bath. She really should not be laughing at his pain considering she was the cause of it, but she could not help it. She could also tell when he heard her laughing as he would come back, glare at her and then proceed to sleep without touching her, even folding his arms and keeping to himself in protest.

But this was even funnier to her, she would turn over, trying her best to restrain or at least hide her laughter...She also thought it was a bit cute. Apparently, he could not remain angry with her, because she would always wake up in his arms anyway.

Obviously, Lei Xing was unaware of her new habit of rolling over to him once she fell asleep. And of course, the Emperor was not going to tell her about it. With how fidgety she gets, she would probably refuse to go sleep at night again. So he kept this little secret to himself and enjoyed it.

While the Emperor was enjoying be distracted by her thought. Eunuch Li entered the royal study and the Emperor quickly straightened up, knit his brows and focused on the memorial in his hand.

Eunuch Li saw the Emperor refocusing and smiled to himself., "Your majesty, the Imperial wives have arranged a special dinner banquet for you tonight." Eunuch Li informed.

The Emperor frowned and looked up, "Who asked them to?"

"It seems they got permission from the Empress dowager a few days ago and had all been making preparations for it..."

"Preparations? I didn't see Xing er' making any..."

Eunuch Li smiled and reassured the Emperor, "Your majesty, you are not always with her, so she may have been preparing in your absence to surprise you with her performance..."

The Emperor raised an eyebrow and then smirked, "That's fine then..."

{...Surprise me? Hmm, I can't imagine what she would do...}

The Emperor was well aware of Lei Xing's skillset and limitations. He thought that perhaps she would finally play the qin for him, she still seemed hesitant to. Wanting to surprise him would definitely be a good reason for her to still refuse even after he told her he would still appreciate it regardless of how it sounded.

{...Or perhaps is it a dance? Can she even dance?... I am looking forward to this now...}

The Emperor smiled to himself and could not wait for the evening banquet. He focused on his work so he could properly enjoy himself later on in the day.