"The Empress dowager seems to be resting in peace -"

"Resting in peace?" Lei Xing exclaimed as her eyes widened in pleasant surprise. The Emperor glanced at her with a raised eyebrow and Lei Xing realized that she had sounded a bit too excited just then. She lightly cleared her throat and awkwardly said, "Are you sure?... Well, just be sure. Check her again."

{...She's dead? Finally! - I mean, not that she's done anything to me recently but - Screw it! She's DEAD!!! Who knew it would be this easy? Hahahahahaha - Oh wait! My poor Emperor. Awwn, well, don't worry, I'll comfort you...a lot~..}

Lei Xing turned to the Emperor with shining eyes filled with mixed emotion. If people were not around, she would hug him tightly. As much as he liked to pretend not to care, she knew he was a big softie on the inside. He would need much consoling despite his cold and strained relationship with Empress dowager. After all, she was still his mother and she knew he had once yearned for a good relationship with her.

The Emperor slightly narrowed his eyes at Lei Xing's odd expression, not quite sure what was going through her head but he would deal with Lei Xing later. So the Emperor turned his attention back to the head physician, who was kneeling by the Empress dowager's bed, and asked, "So what exactly is her condition?"

{...What condition? Resting in peace is resting in peace. There's no condition to evaluate, my poor baby *sniff* (づ?﹏?)づ...}

Lei Xing went over to the Emperor and held one of his arms, gently rubbing it as she softly said, "It'll be alright. These things happen. It's nature's natural course.. It was her time." She said, closing her eyes with a solemn nod.

The Emperor was even more confused with Lei Xing's behavior. But he ignored her for now and turned back to the head physician, who had also been looking at Lei Xing in confusion. When the physician saw the Emperor looking at him, he promptly reported, "Your majesty, there is nothing wrong with the Empress dowager. She's simply asleep -"

"Asleep?!" Lei Xing exclaimed, eyes opening wide as her mouth hung open. The head physician nodded and Lei Xing's face twitched, "Wait. You - You meant resting in peace as in asleep?!"

The head physician nodded again, "...Is there some other kind of resting in peace?" He tentatively inquired, glancing at the other faces in the room for an answer.

Lei Xing scoffed as she dropped the Emperor's arm, and scratched her forehead as she stepped towards the head physician and asked, "Not even unconscious, but asleep?"

The head physician was confused but nodded,?and tentatively responded, "She is really just asleep..." As if to drive home his point, the Empress dowager suddenly stirred with a frown and rolled over to her side, facing away from them.

With that, the people in the room heaved a collective sigh of relief - well, mostly. Lei Xing just stared at the woman in bewilderment.

"And her head injury?" The Emperor inquired. The head physician furrowed his brow before asking, "Is it certain that she was hit with the teapot?"

"What? Do we look jobless enough to make a joke out of that too?" Lei Xing irritatedly mumbled under her breath, now pouting, glancing off to the side.

"Why are you asking that?" The Emperor asked.

The head physician looked at the Empress dowager's back and responded, "...If she was hit as was described, then there should be an injury or some sign of the effect. But there is nothing. She did not react to any of my proddings and does not seem to be in any discomfort... Although, I will be more certain after she wakes up. But for now, she seems healthy."

{...Healthy? *scoff* Well, of course, I didn't actually expect that she was going to die from a knock to the head but seriously?! Is this woman's head made from uranium or something?! No injury? Ridiculous! Quack, you're a quack - No, no, it's this woman. She's a quack! Tch, giving false hope -_-)'...}

Lei Xing inwardly scoffed, while an invisible Ah Jin who had been hanging in the corner of the room sighed in relief. It was good that she arrived just in time. She had been waiting for Lei Xing to return to her palace so that she could give her farewell. But Lei Xing seemed to be taking much longer than anticipated, so Ah Jin decided to go check up on things at the Empress dowager's palace. And she just so happened to arrive as Ling mama was bringing the teapot down on the Empress dowager's head.

Ah Jin had quickly frozen the scene, which was a bit difficult with Lei Xing and the Emperor there. But she managed to hold it for a few seconds, which was enough for her to put the Empress dowager to sleep. As for Ling mama's teapot, it had hit Ah Jin's hand which had been hovering above the Empress dowager's head.

Luckily, she chose the right time to appear. Otherwise, she would have been in trouble if they had really killed the Empress dowager before Doctor Lou got what he wanted out of her existence.

"The Empress dowager has the divine protection of the heavens so naturally she is protected..." Monk Du said, drawing attention to his position in the back. Most people were surprised, especially Ah Jin who panicked and disappeared - worried he might have caught on to her presence. Ah Jin had no idea when he had arrived in the room, but then again, she had been preoccupied with trying to figure out what exactly she had felt when she touched the Empress dowager. She felt a familiar, yet sinister energy just then. It was very odd, but it confirmed her suspicion that the woman was definitely not ordinary. She had to be different for Doctor Lou to be so interested and worried about her case.

The woman was definitely not ordinary.

Meanwhile, back in the Empress dowager's room. Monk Du's words had earned quizzical frowns from both Lei Xing and the Emperor, albeit for different reasons. Lei Xing was still stewing over the Empress dowager's seemingly impervious nature and Monk Du's statement had only further irritated her sensibilities.

{... Hmph, divine protection my a.s.s. If the Heavens are that jobless then I need to talk to their manager about a couple of things (?_? )...}

"I thought your potion was supposed to prevent an incident like this? Yet, her outburst seems even more violent now..." The Emperor queried with a frown.

Monk Du bowed his head and promptly explained, "As I explained to her, it only offers temporary relief and not true liberation. For it to work, it still requires her to keep her emotions in check which..." He trailed off, not needing to explain that she obviously had not heeded his instructions. He then sighed and said, "The sooner we leave, the better. Otherwise, I fear it will only get worse..."

The Emperor's frown deepened. He turned back to the bed and looked at his "sleeping" mother for a bit, in thought. Then he turned to Eunuch Li who was sitting on the side, being bandaged up, and sighed before saying, "You should rest while you can. I will have someone else see to the arrangements."

Eunuch Li furrowed his brows but then quickly stopped, wincing in pain due to the bump on his head. Still, he quickly recovered and began to protest, "Your majesty, I can d-"

"If you insist on not resting, then I will remove you from the mission." The Emperor sternly interjected, this was not up for debate. Eunuch Li pursed his lips and begrudgingly nodded in acceptance.

The Emperor cast Monk Du another scrutinizing look before he turned to leave. This time, making sure to grab Lei Xing's hand, not making the mistake of leaving her behind again. His heart almost dropped earlier when he heard his mother's deranged scream and realized Lei Xing was not with him.

He had expected that Lei Xing would have happily trotted along behind him when he stormed off. It was only after he had gotten to outside the Empress dowager's palace and turned around to hand Lei Xing into her palanquin - they had both come in palanquins because the Emperor did not believe Lei Xing's claims of being perfectly fine, and Lei Xing thought it was awkward if only she rode one while he walked. Hence, this was their middle ground.

Anyway, when he noticed Lei Xing had not followed him, he turned back, worried that she was bent over somewhere feeling ill. He was not particularly panicked until he heard the Empress dowager's shrill screaming. He raced back to the back garden, only to arrive as Ling mama clunked the Empress dowager on the head.

It was a scene that brought forth a confusing mix of relief and shock within him.

As they exited the Empress dowager's palace, they came across Ling mama who was fretting in the corner of the front garden, talking to a wall, pondering over her life choices, "What was I thinking? How - how could I -?" She could not even speak her deeds with her own mouth and simply broke into loud crying. Her life was over.

On seeing the poor woman's state, Lei Xing grabbed the Emperor's arm, stopping him, "Can we take her? Your mother will kill her when she wakes up..." Lei Xing said, turning to the Emperor, somewhat worried.

The Emperor cast an uninterested glance at Ling mama, clearly not bothered with the prospect. Lei Xing quickly added, "It was really in self-defense, your mother would have killed someone and - you're not really angry, are you?" Lei Xing tentatively asked.

Crazy or not, she was still his mother. It was one thing for him to "mistreat" her and a whole different story for others to do so. Even though the Emperor had not said anything, he still looked visibly upset at the scene - or at least, bothered by the whole affair.

Back then at the pavilion, after he recovered from the shock, he had simply gone over to pick up the Empress dowager while giving out orders. He had not said anything to Lei Xing, not even while they waited for the physician or while she was hanging on him, trying to offer him "comfort" over his sudden "unfortunate" loss. So perhaps he was really upset with her and had simply been holding back.

"I'm not angry, I would have done the same..." The Emperor replied and motioned for one of his eunuchs to go to Ling mama. Then he continued on his way, pulling Lei Xing along.

As Lei Xing sat in her palanquin, returning to her palace, she stared at the Emperor's silhouette through the shimmery curtains of the palanquin. She sighed and massaged her temple. She really should have just kept her mouth shut and ignored the Empress dowager's words at that time.

She knew better than to mess with crazy and even though she "won", ordering an assault on your mother-in-law was really a no-no. Even if the Emperor agrees with her choice, it does not mean that he liked it. Even she herself would have trouble with it if the roles were reversed. No matter how crazy one's family was, it always just rubbed the wrong way when others spoke ill of them or hurt them. It was one thing for me to hurt them and a whole different story for others to do the same.

Lei Xing sighed again and resolved herself to soothing the Emperor's ruffled nerves when they got "home".

{...It seems I've been doing that quite a lot recently. It's a bit - nevermind, I'm sure I was a bigger pain in the a.s.s - Was I really though? Just saying... I'm not that difficult a person to deal with (? ?)...}

As they arrived at her palace, she expected the Emperor to storm in without her again but he came over and dutifully helped her out. It was always nice how he cared for her even when they were on "off" terms. Feeling touched and a smidge - just a smidge, guilty for rejoicing at the prospect of his mother's death earlier, Lei Xing swiftly began her apology speech, "I'm sorry, I know I -" Her words caught in her throat when the Emperor turned and pulled her into a tight hug as he said, "I was so worried."

"En?" Lei Xing went, blinking in confusion. The Emperor moved back, arms still wrapped around her as he asked, "Why did you not follow me out?"

"I -"

Before she could even begin to answer, the Emperor scolded, "You should know better than to stay with my mother. You know my mother is dangerous and I have told you to stay away from her. Even though there were servants around, still, why would you linger there? With her?" He finished, letting out a frustrated breath as he frowned down at Lei Xing, who was blinking up at him looking adorably confused. Looking at her face, his annoyance with her started to dissipate, he sighed and softly confessed, "My heart almost stopped when I heard those screams and you weren't there..."

Lei Xing blinked at him and then lightly chuckled, relieved, amused, and touched all at the same time, "Well... I naturally went to follow you but then your mother started saying all sorts of nonsense, calling a traitor and whatnot, making herself out to be the unfortunate saint and victim of a crappy son - which is obviously not true, you're a gre -" She paused, he was definitely not a great son but then she was a horrifying mother. Hard to be a great child to a horrifying parent.

Still, Lei Xing could not tout falsehoods to the Emperor, she did not appreciate such and she was sure neither would he. So instead, she diplomatically said, "You're not a horrible son and definitely not a traitorous son. You've indulged more than most would. Anyway, her words don't matter, you shouldn't pay it any attention." She said with a resolute nod, patting his c.h.e.s.t.

"I see.." The Emperor said as a slow smirk tugged at his lips, "You should not pay her words any attention either." The Emperor said, lovingly patting her head. It always warmed his heart seeing her worked up on his behalf.

"Of course. It'll be a waste of brain cells." Lei Xing responded, still pouting as she hugged the Emperor.

{...Tch, offering me advice...not even a scratch, heavenly protection my a.s.s. Pretty sure if I put a sword through her throat, she will die... Just saying, the heavens really can't be that jobless?-..}

A certain flighty, troublesome old man popped into Lei Xing's mind, and she frowned. He certainly seemed that jobless. Lei Xing shook her head.

{...Nope, he wouldn't. But then again - nope, nope, why would he? He said he didn't know her... And he lies, he lies a lot... It's that old man, isn't it? Of course, it is (?_? )....}