While Lei Xing got dressed, the Imperial wives were led into her reception hall and served tea and snacks while they waited.

Xiao Ruo was very adamant about lei Xing making a perfect first appearance as the new Empress so her hair and makeup could definitely not be rushed today and Lei Xing was not in a hurry either so she allowed Xiao Ruo do as she liked.

Lei Xing's mind was still boggled down with thoughts of the things Doctor Lou had divulged and more importantly, she was feeling a sense of loss with the bracelet's exit.

She had thought she would feel a sense of relief but now, but her wrist felt very uncomfortable and she felt nothing, she was feeling numb.

After finding out that Doctor Lou was the voice, she had wanted to dump the bracelet then, but with his coaxing and fearmongering on her issues with the Empress dowager, she had kept it. And now, well, the Empress dowager was stuck in her gilded cage and kept far from Lei Xing so the woman could honestly no longer a threat.

And even if the Empress dowager were later released, Lei Xing no longer had to fear the woman coming for her head. After all, the Empress dowager could not order the Empress around. The only way she would have had power over Lei Xing was if the Emperor were an indulging son, which he clearly is not...but he was obviously an indulging husband to Lei Xing .

The only potential problem Lei Xing now had was the beautiful and wonderful Imperial wife collection. Chen You should have been lesson enough for normal people, but then again you never know with these people.

More importantly and honestly, even though she would never outrightly admit it, Lei Xing often worried about the day one of his wives would come to catch his eye and there will be nothing she could do about it. She would leave, but then where would she go...She had no clue and most importantly, she did not want to leave either. This was the main reason she had been avoiding interacting with the other Imperial wives, save Li Ru, the last month but now she had no choice but to interact with them.

Lei Xing inwardly sighed.

{...First, I'm getting rid of this daily morning greetings thing...I need to wake up to peace of mind, maybe I'll make it evening - no, the Emperor is here then...Noon then. Also only three times a week...I really don't need to see them every day, we would have absolutely nothing to talk about anyway -_-)'...}

As she sat there, Lei Xing also remembered another thing she had been thinking about with regards to the other wives.?She could understand that some, if not all of them had no choice in the matter and probably had their own stories just like Li Ru.

Therefore, while she could not intend to become "friends" with all of them, she at least planned to be fair - and that started by not enforcing rules she had no interest in complying with.

So when the Emperor returned later, she would talk to him about getting gate passes for all of them. Obviously, under the same rules he had given her, with the inclusion of accompanying guards for better safety.

She would also think about something to better occupy their time as well. They were all too free here and the saying, 'idle hands are the devil's workshop' is not unfounded. But getting them to participate in "work" without earning their ire was another tricky thing, can't have her good intentions backfire. Lei Xing let out a weary sigh.

{...So tiresome...}

Xiao Ruo was finally done with her work and so Lei Xing got up and made her way to her reception hall. But halfway there and eunuch suddenly came running, he quickly bowed to Lei Xing and then informed, "Your majesty, the Emperor has requested your presence in the Main hall..."

"Main hall?" Lei Xing asked, slightly knitting her brows.

"Yes, Your majesty...The Emperor said that he will commence the meeting with the ministers after your?arrival..." The eunuch curtly explained.

Lei Xing blinked, a bit confused. She remembered the Emperor talking about meeting the ministers today while they were in bed, but she did not recall him saying anything about wanting her attending. But then again, she was not really paying attention so perhaps he did.

When Lei Xing did not respond, the eunuch bowed lower and implored, "Please come with me, Your Majesty...."

Lei Xing lightly let out a breath and turned to Xiao Ruo, "Tell them I have accepted their greeting and shall see them tomorrow...at noon." Lei Xing added, she did not want them coming to disturb her sleep in the morning.

Xiao Ruo quickly bowed, "I will inform them..."

And with that done, Lei Xing and the rest of her entourage left with the eunuch. Lei Xing stepped out of the doors of her palace to find the phoenix palanquin parked there waiting for her.

"The Emperor said for you to ride in this..." The eunuch informed, bowing with a smile.

Lei Xing glanced at him and simply nodded and then got in and then the solo ride began. This time, she did not have Doctor Lou rambling in her mind to distract her and some of the anxiety from yesterday's ride came flooding back. Lei Xing sighed and leaned back in her seat

{...That quack sure had his uses (??ω??)...}

***

Meanwhile, in the main hall.

The ministers looked from the seers, who were demurely standing at the front with their heads bowed, to each other, and then glanced up at the Emperor who was looking way past their heads.

One thought reverberated in all their minds: What are we waiting for now? -_-)'

The ministers had all stayed home, anxiously waiting for the Emperor to summon them. He finally summoned them and but after the Emperor arrived, he said nothing. So they all awkwardly stood in silence.

Prime minister Zhao was looking down the entire time with a perpetual frown. Based on the "explanations" spreading around the city at an alarming rate, he could tell where this meeting was headed and he did not care to facilitate other people's gloating sessions.

Since Prime minister Zhao was too busy sulking to do his job, Defense minister Lei finally broke the awkward silence by suggesting to call for the seers, earning Prime minister Zhao's glare - which Defense minister Lei magnanimously ignored.

But then the Emperor informed that the seers had already been sent for and were on their way.

And the ministers all went: Ahhh, so that's what we're waiting for...

But then the seers arrived and before they or anyone could speak, the Emperor simply said, "Wait..."

And now, here they all were, waiting for what they did not know. And the longer the silence stretched, the more tense the atmosphere grew and no one dared to question the Emperor's current motives.

They all thought he would be happy with the current rumors spreading around, but given his current behavior now, they could not be sure of anymore.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity on pins and needles, an announcement suddenly rang out from outside, "The Empress has arrived!"

The Emperor immediately smiled and jumped to his feet and calmly walked down the steps, while the ministers knit their brows and glanced at each other, wondering why she was here.

Lei Xing walked in to find all eyes trained on her, she nervously gulped and felt somewhat panicked, but her face remained calm and unaffected.

{...Stop looking at me like that...I don't even know why I'm here -_-)'...}

Lei Xing's eyes settled on the Emperor who was standing at the bottom of the steps with a welcoming smile and a hand outstretched towards her, beckoning her over. Lei Xing plastered on a small smile and walked over to him and bowed.

The Emperor promptly took her hand and walked her over to his side and then glanced over the ministers and seers and announced, "Since the ceremony could not be fully completed yesterday... Today is the perfect opportunity to finalize it." And without waiting for even so much as a confirming nod from his impromptu guests, the Emperor turned to Lei Xing and went, "Shall we...?"

Lei Xing gave a half-smile nodded, after all, what else could she do. The Emperor happily took her along up the steps to their throne chair. Lei Xing was a bit disgruntled that he did not tell her about this, but perhaps he wanted to make it pleasant surprise gesture, so she was quite happy that he bothered to "complete" ceremony, not that the grand finale of the ceremony was lacking.

The Emperor sat Lei Xing down first and then sat next to her, sending her a happy smile, which Lei Xing could not help but mirror.

Prime minister Zhao almost rolled his eyes as he watched the affectionate pair, but luckily he held it together because the Emperor promptly turned back to the crowd with a frown. And they all quickly jumped and bowed as they said, "Congratulations to the Emperor and Empress! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress!"

The Emperor smiled and then seriously said, "Now that is settled...I am sure you all saw or at least have heard about the divine signs we witnessed during yesterday's ceremony...I have my own ideas but Head seer..."

The head seer immediately jumped and bowed, "At your service, Your majesty..."

The Emperor smiled and cordially said, "...I believe it would be wise to hear your divinations first before sharing my own thoughts..."

The head seer glanced up at Lei Xing, who was calmly looking down at him, and then at the Emperor,?who was looking at him with narrowed eyes and a what seemed to be a sinister smile.

The old man gulped and quickly bowed his head and let out a shaky breath, "Your majesty...ahh..." It was quite different now with Lei Xing sitting right there. Not to mention, with what ended up happening yesterday, he and his group of seers look and feel really foolish right now for daring to call this royal union an ill omen.

"You don't know?" The Emperor asked with a frown when the head seer was still hesitating, "Were these heavenly signs unclear to your seer's eyes as well?"

Lei Xing almost snorted as she watched the Emperor's dealings with the head seer. She had never met these seers before, but she had obviously not forgotten what they had said about her ill-fated match, and obviously neither had the Emperor.

His statement just now was clearly a warning signal to the seers which said 'If you want to stay relevant here, then be smart. Otherwise, watch me drag you into the mud.'

The old man clearly got the message and smartly played along, "Ah, responding to the Emperor... The dragon and phoenix gracing the skies on such an auspicious occasion truly speak to the magnificence of the Emperor and Empress. A blessing upon the Empire and a harbinger of good fortune...a blessing for the union of one of their own."

"is that so?" The Emperor calmly asked, knitting his brows in "thought".

"Yes, Your majesty..." The head seer promptly responded, bowing lower. The other seers promptly followed and bowed as well.

The real truth was that they had really not seen anything, in all honesty, they had no idea what happened yesterday. But the head seer could not come here with nothing again, they would look too foolish and so he made the decision to along with what everyone believed to be true and what the Emperor wanted.

No matter what, there was no way those signs yesterday would be anything bad, calling it a bad omen would be blasphemous and would only earn their department mockery and may even get them thrown out of the palace altogether. The head seer was not so stupid as to let the department die during his time, this was time to bow and submit to the throne and so he would.

"Ahh, I see..." The Emperor calmly said, nodding.

"Congratulations Your Majesty for this fortuitous blessing for the Empire..." All the seers echoed. The ministers also promptly followed, bowing and echoing the same tune, although some of them quite begrudgingly so.

"Good, very good..." The Emperor said with a smile, "A grand auspicious omen to welcome in a new age of progress and prosperity..." The Emperor paused and then glanced at Lei Xing with a little smirk and she returned his glance with a somewhat apprehensive glance of her own.

{...What? What now? Do you want me to say something?... I don't think you brought you me here to say something... Next time you have something like this planned, better tell me or else (?_? )...}

The Emperor smiled and gently squeezed her hand as if he heard her scolding and was apologizing. He then turned his attention back to the crowd and continued, "In the light of all this, I have come to some important realizations which will herald us into this new age of prosperity..."