Chapter 264 - Lackl.u.s.ters (2/2)

Lei Xing blinked at him and honestly went, ”Well, no...It's just that I thought you were going to pardon her because of her mother...”

The Emperor knit his brows and lightly let out a breath and explained, ”Her mother's death and punishment are two separate issues. Chen You has committed her wrongs and has to pay for them...I only let her be so she could properly pay her last respects to her mother. Now that she has returned to the palace, it seems she is now ready to serve out her punishment...”

”Oh...” Lei Xing responded, leaning back in her chair as she sipped her tea.

{...Harsh...but It's not like I want to keep her here so whatever, it sounds perfectly reasonable -_-)'...}

***

The next morning, the Emperor woke up as usual for court, kissed his sleeping Lei Xing goodbye, and then left to get ready.

Lei Xing never woke up when he did these days, she seemed to be draining herself completely every day. He honestly missed their morning play, but it was not too bad. He was still very happy, after all, she was going to be his Empress in the next few days. So nothing could ruin his good mood, not even his mother.

Although, the Empress dowager has been behaving herself the last few days... much better than recent times anyway.

After the Emperor's visit, the Empress dowager kept nagging those around her and throwing fits wanting to know the status of the search for Monk Du.

Eunuch Li suggested going to give her daily reports and even volunteered to take up the task himself. The Emperor agreed but then the Empress dowager ended up just throwing fits about the slow progress of things.

But she was eating, receiving treatment and looking after herself, most of the time.

The Emperor was also informed about her constantly attempting to kill herself in her sleep and the head physician explained that it was not a medical issue as she seemed fine.

On more discussion, the idea that she might need an exorcism popped up and Eunuch Li even reasoned that this was the reason she had been calling for monks in the first place. The Empress dowager never did tell anyone what she wanted the monks for so it was a reasonable assumption.

Anyway, after extensive discussions and Eunuch Li getting the Empress dowager's approval. Eunuch Li had become the liaison between the Emperor and the Empress dowager now since neither cared to see the other.

And given their history, the Empress dowager was a bit more receptive to him than to random servants or guards. These days, the Empress dowager never called for the Emperor and only asked to see Eunuch Li, who she felt was obviously a lot more understanding and better company than her son.

After all, most of her discussions were complaints about said son, and Eunuch Li apparently was an understanding ear for her. It seemed they were somehow rekindling their old friendship amidst the chaos of her life.

The monks were brought in and with each visit Eunuch Li accompanied them for their own safety. The Empress dowager initially wanted private meetings but the Emperor refused. He would not add the possibility of monks dying in his palace to his issues. So after throwing a fit and the Emperor not budging, the Empress dowager eventually agreed to have Eunuch Li in the room.

But rather than talking about herself and her issues, the Empress dowager always asked them if they knew Monk Du and Taohua temple. And depending on her mood and their answer, she raged and ran them out of her palace.

While on some other occasions, she quietly listened to what they had to say before kicking them out. And on some rare occasions, she even allowed a few to go about cleansing her palace and placing all sorts of talismans all over the place.

Following the advice of one of the monks, the Empress dowager had even taken up meditation and her angry outbursts seemed to have subsided. Most importantly, she had stopped trying to strangle herself in her sleep recently.

So all in all, it seemed like there was a great improvement in the Empress dowager's condition. Which was great as it meant that she might be stable enough to attend the ceremony in a few days.

All this traffic in the Empress dowager's palace had resulted in some hushed nasty rumors about the Emperor locking up his crazy mother and all sorts of other nonsense about his ill-treatment towards her. All painting his mother to be this pitiful character with an ungrateful son who had forsaken her in her time of need.

They even brought Lei Xing into the mix saying she was the cause of the Empress dowager's madness and that this was simply the prelude to the chaos this ”ill-fated” marriage would bring. The nicer ones simply said that the Emperor imprisoned his mother simply to please Lei Xing, lamenting the fate of the pitiful mother who was forsaken by her husband in the past, and now her son had done the same.

While those in the palace were coming to like Lei Xing greatly, the people outside already did not have a positive view on her character thanks to Chen You's nonsensical rumors from the past. This made it easier for the people to believe any nonsense that came their way regarding Lei Xing.

So this incompatibility issue was enough of a spark to reignite the dying embers of the past rumors. And now everything was lumped together to make Lei Xing out to be this demoness of a character.

The Emperor was busy with damage control working hard to overturn those rumors by giving out money and relief to the people in Lei Xing's name. His people also spread some favorable tales about Lei Xing in the process to try to mitigate the damages.

This was why the Emperor had no interest in sparing Chen You. Her good work from earlier put Lei Xing's name on shaky ground. With the effect of her crimes still lingering and causing issues, she could definitely not go unpunished.

With all this going on, the Empress dowager's absence in the ascension ceremony will definitely give more weight to these rumors. Therefore, the Empress dowager's public appearance in the ceremony was vital in stomping out some of the negativity around the royal household right now.