Chapter 66 - Dawn (1/2)

The Emperor sat down in deep thought after Lei Xing left.

Last night he had concluded that there was nothing to be dissatisfied with her as his choice, regardless of what the voice said. But on waking up this morning, he had felt that perhaps there was some merit to those ramblings.

He did not know exactly how he ended up sleeping on the bed with her, but it was the best sleep he had ever had in his life...He had felt a peace he'd never known or even thought was possible. He felt completely at ease at her side.

Thinking back on it now, even when he thought that she had some nefarious purpose or connections, he was curious but was never actually bothered or guarded when with her.

After he woke up and came to this realization, he wanted to say something but could not think of what to say. She was also pretending to be asleep, therefore he concluded that she must also be at a loss for words and some space would serve them well. So he went to court first and used that time to think things over before talking about it with her.

After court, he returned to find her asleep and so went to the royal study leaving orders to be notified as soon as she woke up. When the notification arrived, he made his way back to his palace.

On the way, he even instructed that they prepare a meal for her since she had not eaten and then realized he had not either. Then thought they could have a meal together and talk afterwards.

When he finally arrived back at his palace, his mood took a deep dive when he found his mother in his bedroom. He quickly sent his mother off and then got Lei Xing to sit down with him.

But his mother's presence must have messed with his state of mind because after they sat down, looking at her, he could not think of anything to say.

After thinking for a long time, he managed to come out with, 'Have you eaten?', and after saying it he felt it was a stupid question because he knew she had not, and so ordered lunch. Her answer also did not help much, but he moved on from that folly and kept thinking hard.

This sudden difficulty with words was very perplexing to him, he had never been at a loss for words before. After thinking hard again, he eventually came up with the Imperial doctor visit topic.

He never expected that they would have such communication difficulty. She also did not seem willing to engage at all, which he understood given what she experienced. He could also tell from her demeanor that she was uncomfortable and wanted to leave, which also made him more uncomfortable.

But, he was reluctant to let her leave without having the conversation he intended them to have, despite his current trouble finding the words.

When she said she wanted to ask something, he perked up thinking she was finally willing to engage and that the conversation could naturally flow from there.

But to his disappointment and irritation, what she wanted to talk about was leaving the palace again, and this significantly dampened his mood. In his irritation, he had ended up asking some obliviously stupid questions. In the end, he just asked her to leave before he made more of a fool of himself.

The Emperor sighed heavily as he thought over the conversation that went amiss.

{...I can understand why she wouldn't like it here after coming in...but still, I can't j-...}

”Your majesty, lunch is served.” A servant informed with a smile. The Emperor glared at the servant, who saw his expression and quickly bowed and withdrew.

The Emperor sat there frowning in thought for another long while.

{...So she does not like the palace...but we can't leave the palace behind...I can gather that my mother is the main problem and I can understand if she hates her too, I also don't ex- But I cannot just get rid of her...}

The Emperor sighed heavily again.

{...Am I thinking too much about this? She's already my wife so...but I can't force it...I can but what if she ends up hating me? The last thing I want is to be in a situation like that of my parents...}

”Your majesty, is there something troubling you?” Eunuch Li asked interrupting his thoughts. The Emperor glanced up at him, he was not even aware when he had come in.

”Well....” The Emperor started and then stopped, and his frown deepened.

”Your majesty, perhaps I may be of assistance...” Eunuch Li persuaded with a smile.

The Emperor looked at Eunuch Li for a bit and then spoke up, ”How would one go about deal-...” The Emperor paused, looked down and knit his brows in contemplation.

{...No, that's the wrong word...handling? No th-...}