As soon as the carriage stopped, Lei Xing immediately got up and jumped down. The Emperor opened his eyes, sighed and then slowly followed. He came out to find Lei Xing surrounded by some Imperial guards. The Imperial guards immediately noticed his presence and bowed towards as he came down beside Lei Xing.

The squad leader then stepped forward and explained, "Your majesty, I apologize. We were not aware you were together...The Empress dowager ordered that Noble consort Lei be arrested as soon as she returned."

"For what crime?" The Emperor calmly asked.

The squad leader knit his brows and said, "...The Empress dowager did not say..."

The Emperor then sighed and then turned to Lei Xing and smiled, "Ah, it seems my mother is overreacting due to your absence...I did not intend for us to stay out all night and so neglected to inform her. We should go see her..." The Emperor finished as he held Lei Xing's hand.

Lei Xing blinked at him, a bit lost. The Emperor slightly narrowed his eyes at her, still with the smile on his face. She blinked again and then caught on. Lei Xing put on a strained smile and went, "Oh, I see...She must be so worried. We should go..."

{...Oh, so we're pretending she's a sane individual I would actually want to see? Great -_-)...And of course, she's bloody worried. Worried about how many possible ways she could chop off my head to satisfy her crazy! >_

The Emperor nodded and then turned to leave pulling Lei Xing along, with the guards following behind. Lei Xing covertly glanced behind them and then closed her eyes as she sighed in lamentation. Then she felt a gentle squeeze on her hand and opened her eyes and glanced at the Emperor, who was looking straight ahead, unperturbed.

Lei Xing faced forward and then took a deep breath.

{...It'll be fine...He's the Emperor and he seems to be fine with everything so...what's the plan? I don't freaking know!... Should I ask? Now is not the time or place...So we're going in blind? Apparently... He has a plan, I think...I hope. I don't know. I'm going to die O_O)...}

Lei Xing internally screamed as she walked along with a calm expression on her face.

{...It'll be okay, we can explain I was drugged and if she asks for proof, I can show the spots...And if she doesn't believe that - which she won't because she's a crazy f***king b**ch, then what?... O_O)...I'm going to die...I am finally going to die in the hands of that witch and who the hell even told her about it?! Oh, I forgot it's probably her bloody idea because she freaking hates me!... I'm going to die! T_T)...}

{...*Is he really that unreliable to you? -_-)'...}

Lei Xing knit her brows.

{...What? Who?...}

{...*-_-)...The person right next to you, the one holding your hand, the one who has been looking out for you this entire time...The one who just recently promised to protect you while you were both Frolicking Together! >_

Lei Xing cast a quick glance at the Emperor.

{...Oh him...Well...You never know...I'm just...contingency planning - coming to terms with the seemingly very likely event that this might up end up very badly for me...}

The bracelet then gave a long sigh.

{...*Since you're ready to die anyway, why not just trust in someone else for a change. It won't hurt any more than you're already prepared for...}

{...Bu-...}

{...It's not that difficult! You're Complicating everything I've worked so hard for! -_-)'...}

{...You worked hard for? ?_? )...}

{...*What?...}

{...You just said th-...}

{...*I know what I said! Of course, I worked hard! Do you know how hard it was to get you to this stage?...You finally made progress but you just had to ruin it with your complications! Instead of focusing on what I say, you should be focusing on how to live a happy life! You still haven't even given me an explanation about the contraception yet! Anyway, just shut up, trust him and Leave me alone! >_

Lei Xing frowned as a thought crossed her mind.

{...O_O)...Did you drug me? No, wrong. Did you have something to do with this?...}

{...*What? Of course not! If I wanted you drugged, you would have been drugged ages ago! I wanted it to happen NATURALLY, so you wouldn't be behaving exactly like this!... I want good progress, happy progress! So just trust him and leave me alone!...}

After that, the bracelet went silent and left Lei Xing alone with her thoughts. She glanced at the Emperor's face again, then looked away and knit her brows. She did not know what to think.

Of course, he looked to be the reliable sort but at the same time, she just could not bring herself to blindly "trust" someone else with her life like this. But when faced with such a partial judge like the Empress dowager, there did not seem to be anything else she could do other than rely on his help.

It was obvious that if it was not for him, she would currently be in prison or be getting dragged off to the Empress dowager, entirely at her unforgiving mercy. Instead, here she was taking a leisurely stroll with the Emperor like all was right in her world.

Lei Xing sighed in lamentation.

{...It's okay, we've said it before that he's a golden ticket, the one that counts here so she can't execute me...probably, hopefully...It should be fine...I hope...It will...}

They finally arrived at the Empress dowager's palace and Lei Xing gulped as they walked through the gates. She felt the Emperor gently squeeze her hand again and glanced at him to see him reassuringly smiling at her. She weakly returned a half-smile and then looked forward. Her heart was pounding rapidly but she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

{...Okay, no point panicking...Whatever happens, happens. We'll deal with it...If I die...Well, then I die...Screw it, screw her, screw this place and screw them all! T_T)...}

The two walked into the Empress dowager's reception hall to find Chen You seated with three maids behind her. While the Empress dowager was sat on the main seat with Song mama at her side.

As the two walked in, both the Empress dowager and Chen You frowned in their direction. Neither of them expected Lei Xing to walk in with the Emperor, especially not like that. Before the Empress dowager began her rampage, she had naturally sent for the Emperor and had even gone to his palace herself but even she was not allowed in.

Chen You then informed her that it had been like this since the night before and then hinted that it must be because of Lei Xing's absence at the banquet. This information further enraged the Empress dowager, not only was she carrying on with another man in public, she had even sidelined her own husband to do so.

Since the Emperor refused to surface, the Empress dowager figured that he must be slinking back behind the scenes so as not to upset the Lei family. Instead, she assumed he wanted her to handle the issue. So she sent someone to inquire at the Lei manor and men to search Prince Yi's house but that turned up completely empty, even Prince Yi was not there. And from the report from his staff, he had returned by himself on horseback around sunrise.

The Empress dowager figured that Prince Yi must be hiding her and so had ordered for Lei Xing to be arrested on sight. As for Prince Yi, she ordered him to the palace as soon as he was located. But now, here her foolish son came hand-in-hand with the woman who had placed a green hat on his head.

The Emperor stopped, released Lei Xing's hand and then cupped his hands in greeting to the Empress dowager. Lei Xing quickly did the same without thinking. The Empress dowager frowned, "What do you think you're doing walking around like that with useless sl- ?!"

"Shouldn't you be on your way to the mountain by now?" The Emperor calmly asked. Chen You knit her brows, a bit confused as she heard the word "mountain".

{...Mountain? I thought she was just going to the temple outside the city for the day. There is no mountain around the city ...More importantly, why is this stupid Lei Xing with the Emperor?! Holding hands too!.... He must not know yet...Ah, then this will be a good show...}