While the Emperor did not care about Chen You and her cohorts, there was the matter of the drug that needed to be investigated. And so far Chen You stood in the middle of it, it was clear she wanted to use this as a ploy to get rid of Lei Xing. But the main question was whether Chen You had any ties to the Dong royal family? As far as he knew, neither her nor her family had any.

Although the Emperor did not know much about Chen You herself, he knew of her background as he did of all the families of note in his country. And as far as he knew, neither her nor her family had anything that would suggest any such connections to fallen Dong country. If Chen You was the mastermind, then how could she have gotten her hands on the seyu drug?

{...Or was she just taking advantage of the scenario? Perhaps she was used?... In that case, the maids are more suspicious. It is too much of a coincidence that they just happened to arrive right on time to witness that scene... So is it one or all of them working together? There's likely more of them?....}

At the moment, other than Chen You getting rid of Lei Xing, the Emperor could not see any other aim this scheme would achieve. But he was sure there was definitely more to it.

{...It could very not be seyu and that Doctor Lou could have been mistaken or confused or jesting...But it's better to make sure...}

Regardless of whatever reservations he had about Doctor Lou, Chen You and those maids must be thoroughly interrogated and investigated.

Of course, there was also Prince Yi to consider in all this but then how could they have predicted that Lei Xing would have ended up in his arms? She very could have just grabbed a random stranger instead...And with that infuriating thought, the Emperor tightened his hold on Lei Xing's hand.

But Lei Xing herself was absorbed in her own thoughts and was oblivious to the added pressure on her hand. The screams of the girls pierced the air as they exited the Empress dowager's palace gates and it seemed the beatings had started. Lei Xing could not help but shudder a little as shriek after shriek rang behind them.

{...This woman was prepared...Probably for me...Or does she just store torture tools ready for use in her palace?... That's probably it, she's crazy -_-)...That Chen You does deserve to have sense beating into her... but why did he suddenly become lenient? Not that I particularly want her to be beaten to death...but I wouldn't mind it much. It's just curious....}

Lei Xing cast a quick glance at the Emperor and then looked off to the side.

{...He didn't seem to care while he was advocating punishment...her begging worked? I didn't think he had a soft spot f- Nevermind, thirty is still a lot and prison too. Haven't seen the place, but I'm a 100% sure it's awful, especially for a pampered "lady", I doubt her troubles are actually over...Death is often swifter and probably much easier to endure than prison here...But still, it would depend on the leng-}

The Emperor suddenly stopped and Lei Xing was pulled to a halt. And she immediately went rigid and stared wide-eyed at Prince Yi, who seemed to be intently staring back at her...Or perhaps it was the Emperor he was staring at.

Regardless of the object arresting his stare, Lei Xing felt itchy to disappear and immediately looked down with knit eyebrows, feeling incredibly rattled with embarrassment. If not for the Emperor holding onto her hand, she might just have fled the scene or dug herself into the ground.

The Emperor felt Lei Xing go rigid and glanced at her to find her looking down with her ears crimson. And although he could not see the rest of her face, he was very sure that she was just as red with what he hoped was embarrassment...Although, the thought that it might be something more flashed through his mind and just the thought of it infuriated him some more.

The Emperor frowned and released Lei Xing's hand, "Xing er', return to your palace first." Lei Xing nodded and then quickly shuffled her agitated feet forward, walking quickly and controlling the urge to run. Ah Jin who had been waiting outside the Empress dowager's palace, quickly followed behind her.

As she passed by Prince Yi, Lei Xing very quietly said, "Sorry." She was sorry. Regardless of the fact that she was drugged, she did assault him and despite the fact she believed he could have done something other than to "indulge" her, she understood that this meant trouble for him. Perhaps even more so than it did for her...And she started it, she could have picked anybody else...

{...Why did it have to be him?! >__

Prince Yi blinked and glanced at Lei Xing as she whipped by. Her apology only made his already bad mood worse and his frown deepened. He felt hurt.

{...She regrets it...}

Prince Yi glanced back up to meet the Emperor's cold stare but did not say anything. After a while of them simply looking at each other, the Emperor walked past him and Prince Yi turned and followed. They both understood that there were guards and servants around so the matter could not be discussed here.

Prince Yi had chosen to wait for the Emperor of his own volition. He refused to run off like a coward. He could barely get any sleep all night thinking of the kiss that he shared with Lei Xing. Thinking of the reason, about what motivated her to do it.

And most importantly, thinking about what he just realized where feeling he had for her.

And even when he finally fell asleep, he dreamt of her in the flower field with him again. But this time he had kissed her and it was a blissful time...until he woke up and reality hit him, she was someone else's. And not just anyone's, she was his loathsome brother's.

One more thing that if it was not for his brother's existence, he would have had.