Lei Xing tiredly sat in the pavilion in her palace, she had ended up staying up for most of the night. She was not even sure how she passed the time, it was all a blur. All she remembered was that she fell asleep looking at the first rays of the sun filtering in through the windows.

And she woke up this morning to a gift box of jewelry from the Emperor. She stared at the box for a while with a frown and then she got up and went outside. The room was suffocating and she could not stand it anymore.

So now here she sat in the pavilion, staring at the flowers and the "beautiful" wall. It seems she had finally come to understand the Emperor's fascination with the wall that long-ago night of the lantern festival.

Xiao Ruo returned from her information hunt session and Lei Xing absentmindedly listened as she went on about the gossip of the day.

The Empress dowager was still out of the palace and did not return the night before, apparently too busy overseeing the hunt for her monk. She had also closed off the temple he was staying at and was busy there terrorizing and threatening the inhabitants.

Xiao Ruo moved on to the Emperor and Lei Xing sighed as soon as Xiao Ruo mentioned him.

According to Xiao Ruo, the Emperor went to court that morning and chastised Lei Xing's father for the incompetence of the city's security staff, specifically mentioning the unsolved string of r.a.p.e and assault cases. He reminded him that his job was not only to focus on the military but that it also encompassed the security of all the people within the border of this country. And to have such criminals running rampant in the capital was a failure on his part. The failure of his staff was his failure as the Defense minister.

The Emperor then went on to criticize all the ministers as a whole for their disregard for the welfare of the common people and asked if it was only when their own heads were on the line that they saw it fit to work effectively? The ministers were all dead silent. And so he continued on and said this was the sort of lackl.u.s.ter attitude that stunted their country's progress and promoted chaos in society and cited Chen You as an example of one promoting chaos.

Then he announced that Chen You has proven herself to be a malicious woman who went about instigating chaos by spreading false rumors to cause trouble in the palace. And said that his palace and country have no place such chaotic disorder and that they all better shape up or they will have to answer for their incompetence. And then he stormed off, leaving the confused ministers to digest his words.

But what everyone got out of this episode was that, the Emperor was angry and that it was Chen You's fault. They were also not sure where Defense minister Lei stood at the moment and it was obvious that quite a number of people were going to be fired for said incompetence that day.

Lei Xing sighed, while she knew the Chen You had some fault in the situation. She was quite certain that she had some input in the Emperor's bad mood.

"Xing er'!" Lei Xing heard her name and her face lit up as she turned towards the entrance, but then her excitement immediately fell when she saw it was Princess Nalan and not...

{...I should have known...How could I think - Can't you tell the difference between a man and a woman's voice?! Obviously I can and it's not like I waiti- okay, maybe I was, am, was... BUT in my defense, he calls my name pretty softly so it's reasonable to - What the hell am I thinking? He's never that excitable, also doesn't shout my name -_-)'...}

Lei Xing massaged her head and closed her eyes as Princess Nalan closed the distance and sat across from her. Lei Xing looked up with a half-smile and lightly bowed her head in greeting. Princess Nalan studied her face and asked, "Are you alright?"

{...-_-)...Other than feeling like shit, I'm generally fine...}

Lei Xing lips twitched and then offhandedly responded, "I'm fine...And you?"

"I'm alright. Visiting the palace is much better with that Empress dowager gone...I heard she's hunting for a monk?" Princess Nalan asked excitedly with bright eyes.

Lei Xing raised an eyebrow and lightly snorted, "What? You want to join her hunt?"

Princess Nalan shook her head and waved her hand, "Never...I'm just glad she's gone."

Lei Xing nodded in agreement with a small smile that quickly disappeared. Princess Nalan studied Lei Xing's expression again and then narrowed her eyes, "You...You don't look okay..."

"I'm fine." Lei Xing immediately reassured with another half-smile and then she asked, "How come you're here? You could have just sen-" Lei Xing broke off, she was not actually sure if she was still allowed to go out. The Emperor did not say anything about it, but she was not sure if she could still leave and return as she liked. But then again, she was not in the mood to socialize either.

Princess Nalan sighed, "My older brother said not to send for you, that things are complicated at the moment..." Then she whispered, "I actually snuck out."

"How daring." Lei Xing offhandedly responded in a flat disinterested tone.

But Princess Nalan was oblivious to Lei Xing's sarcastic and disinterested tone and took it as Lei Xing complimenting her. She smiled and smugly responded,? "Naturally, I have just been letting him order me around to be nice...But I couldn't stand the curiosity so here I am, what's really going on?"

Lei Xing looked at her questioningly, pretending not to understand. Princess Nalan narrowed her eyes, "I heard some rumors before...Is there really something going on between you and Prince Yi? Why did the Emperor ask us to lie, my brother did not explain, but I'm not an idiot. Last we saw you, you two were together, but then the Emperor out of nowhere?... What's going on? Do you two really have something going on?"

"Of course not!" Lei Xing said with a frown, looking completely offended, then she whispered,? "Don't say things like that or you'll get in trouble. The Emperor just needed the help...That is all I can say." Lei Xing patiently said while internally glaring at her.

{...Nosy much?... Why don't you go ask him yourself OR freaking mind your own business! -_-)...Now that I think about it, all this is kind of your fault...You and crazy antics and your stupid brother, who apparently cannot control you! >_

Lei Xing's irritation was heightened again and she glanced off at the wall to avoid externally glaring at Princess Nalan, who seemed to be staring at the table, deep in thought. Lei Xing took a deep breath to calm herself and glanced at Princess Nalan again and then sighed.

{...I guess clueless does as clueless is...But since you helped, I guess I can give you a pass...Annoying children -_-)'...}