Lei Xing returned to the reception hall, where the other Imperial wives were already seated and waiting for the empress dowager to arrive. Lei Xing went straight to her seat and sat down, still preoccupied with pondering over her awkward meeting with her predator.
...So was that good or bad?... Well, at least she didn't try to force-feed me poison, that's a positive, I guess...also she didn't seem angry either...so that's good...probably?...
After a while, an announcement came from outside that the emperor had arrived. Lei Xing inwardly sighed and stood up along with the others and bowed in greeting as he walked in.
As he walked in, he suddenly stopped and then turned towards Lei Xing, who frowned in response, lowered her head, facing away.
...Go away!... Shoo, shoo, I really don't need this annoyance on top of everything right now T_T)...
Unfortunately, the emperor could not hear her inner pleas and ended up stopping in front of her.
After a while of silence, Lei Xing felt even more awkward in this situation and felt the urge to glance up.
...Why is he not saying anything?... Can you and your crazy mother just go jump into a volcano or something?...Seriously, I would really appreciate it -_-)'...
Eventually, Lei Xing couldn't continue with this awkward stand-offish scenario with everyone standing there watching, so she looked up to see the emperor's smiling face, and her eyes reflexively glanced off to the side.
...Ah, this is even weirder...stupid paintings...his face looks like a stupid painting!...
"Are you feeling better?" The emperor asked still with that smile that made Lei Xing's skin crawl.
Lei Xing gave a half-smile, "I'm fine, thank your majesty for your concern." She said with her eyes still looking off to the side.
...Go away! Leave me alone!...
The emperor looked at her with raised a raised eyebrow, and then moved his head a bit into her line of sight and her pupils immediately shifted to the opposite direction. Lei Xing groaned on the inside, irritated with this disturbance.
The emperor frowned.
...Is she avoiding me?... Why?... Here I thought we'd come to an understanding...how strange...she's strange...
Before the emperor could delve into uncovering the obscurities of Lei Xing's current behavior, the empress dowager entered the hall.
They all bowed to her in greeting, she walked up to the emperor and then glanced at Lei Xing, who seeing her looking her way bowed towards her again, it seemed she was now trying to put in some effort into currying favor with the empress dowager.
The empress dowager looked at her for a bit and then trailed her eyes from Lei Xing to the emperor. She then smiled at the emperor, "We should be on our way." and so they all made their way to the main hall, were the festive mood was already in swing.
The festivities in the main hall had already begun and ministers and their families had already arrived and were engaging in merry discussions, toasts and enjoying the music.
When the arrival of the emperor and the empress dowager was announced, they all stopped, got up and bowed as the royal entourage walked in.
After they all took their seats. The emperor then said some celebratory words and then the festivities resumed, with performers filing into the center to perform. The food was served and the ministers would occasionally raise toasts to the emperor, in which case, everyone had to drink.
The atmosphere was jovial and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, save for a couple of people who didn't seem to be in a celebratory mood.
The first of them was Lei Xing, who for the most part had on a blank expression, and was picking at her food, occasionally glancing up at the emperor and the empress dowager.
...We should be okay now, right?... I mean, there's no way to know that, it's not like I can go ask her, "Hey, no more poisoning right? Bygones are gone, right?"...Of course, I can't ask that -_-)'...There's also that a***ole, okay to be fair, the paintings aren't his fault...forget about the bloody PAINTINGS!...
Lei Xing glanced up again and met the emperor's eyes, slightly flinched and immediately looked down. The emperor narrowed his eyes and looked at her lowered head with a smirk.
...It seems she's really avoiding me...or could she be...shy?...No, doesn't look like it...She's behaving like someone who has committed some crime and is scared of being found out...
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
On the side, the empress dowager observed this exchange, and was also looking at Lei Xing with a blank expression.
...It seems this girl might have her use, for now...
The other person who seemed to be in a disgruntled mood was Prince Yi, who like Lei Xing was also casting glances to the top platform while drinking, particularly focusing on the emperor. Therefore he also caught on to this little exchange, which further declined his mood.
Prince Yi sighed in annoyance and took another sip of the wine, looking off towards the exit wanting this to be over so he could leave.
After a while more of festivities, the banquet aspect of the celebration was over and it was time for them to go out for the highlight of the evening. The empress dowager announced that she is old and tired and so will not be participating.
It was obvious this was just an excuse as there were many ministers who were older than her. As she left, they got up and bowed. After her exit, they all also proceeded to move the celebration outside.
As was custom, they all made their way to the space below the main hall, where pots of flowers and refreshments had been arranged around the area for comfort.
After everyone arrived at the bottom, they all split off and went their own way, the Imperial wives who had their family here went to greet them, and those who didn't were either approached by the guests or went around socializing themselves or followed the emperor around. The emperor and Prince Yi were also engaged in separate conversations with the ministers.
Lei Xing, of course, had left the group the moment she could. She went to meet her family along with Li Ru tagging along with her personal maid and Ah Jin following behind them.
She found her parents and Xiao Ting and greeted them and introduced Li Ru to them as well. Then her mother teary-eyed clasped her hand, "Xing'er, how is life in the palace?"
Lei Xing smiled, "It is fine."
...Yeah, perfectly fine...Other than some woman out for my neck...Other than that, it can be counted as good, I guess...
Defense minister Lei scrutinized his daughter with raised eyebrows and quietly asked, "Is anyone bothering you? Is everything going well with the emperor?...and the empress dowager? Are there any problems?"
Lei Xing's smile froze for a bit and she looked at her his expresion that seemed to contain hidden meaning, "No, everything is well."
...Well, you seem to know who's trouble...but it's not like you can do anything about her anyway...plus I don't even have proof...can't exactly say my magic ring told me so -_-)'...
Her mother then asked, "Are you sure everything is fine?"
"Yes, it is. Really well." Lei Xing reassured.
Defense minister Lei nodded, "If everything is well, then that is good but you must know to remain vigilant at all times." He finished knitting his eyebrows
Defense minister Lei nodded to himself trying to persuade himself that the situation was really alright with the empress dowager, after all, he had been at the forefront advocating for her release, despite the pushback from Prime minister Zhao and his party who were pushing for maintaining the late emperor's will in having her confined for life.
Her mother then quietly asked, "That's right, Xing'er are you feeling better now? Have you recovered your missing memories?"
Lei Xing blinked and then directed her eyes at Xiao Ting, who immediately lowered her head.
Defense minister Lei then came back from his thoughts and added, "Yes, Xiao Ting mentioned that you forgot some things and your performance in the competition confirmed it. How is it? Have you had a doctor check on you? Or have you remembered them?"
Before Lei Xing could respond, a few ministers and their wives approached them and greeted and then started a conversation with Lei Xing being the topic of choice, flattering her with praises talking about how they had no idea that the defense minister had a beautiful daughter like this, and asking questions about why she never came out before and other things related to the matter.
Lei Xing didn't respond to the questions, because, well she didn't know the answers and her parents were swift in responding.
They explained that she has always had a weak body and so was frequently ill, and so did not go out much growing up. Lei Xing's ears perked up at this part, it was a topic of some interest.
As for the conversation, she wasn't particularly interested in the prospects of socializing and so gave curt replies when asked something, and for the most part, she didn't have to answer much because her parents kept stepping in to answer on her behalf.
While most of the conversation was focused on Lei Xing, they did make a few passes at Li Ru, but since she was bad at conversing with strangers, she did not say much and gave awkward short replies as well.
After a while, it seems they got a clue that the noble consorts were not interested in conversation and so focused their attention on Lei Xing's parents.
Therefore, Lei Xing and Li Ru faded to the back. Xiao Ting then clung onto Lei Xing's arm and pulled her to the corner and then whispered in her ear, "Jiejie, so how are things between you and the emperor?" Which instantly made Lei Xing frown in annoyance.
Lei Xing looked at Xiao Ting, who was blushing and looking at her with a silly smile on her face, and felt the urge to knock her on the head but restrained herself given the environment.
...What is really in this silly girl's head? Huh? Flowers and rainbows don't exist - well, actually they both exist - but that's not the point! Point is, she needs a reality check! -_-)'...
Lei Xing turned to look at Li Ru who was standing behind them, she had also followed their lead and left the conversing group. Lei Xing put on an exaggerated aggrieved expression, "I told you she was annoying."
Li Ru snorted seeing her expression and walked up beside Lei Xing and smiled at Xiao Ting, "I think you're being too harsh on her."
Xiao Ting smiled back at Li Ru and nodded in agreement, then her smile froze and she knit her brows, and then went to whisper in Lei Xing's ear again, "Jiejie, it isn't good to be frolicking with the enemy."
Lei Xing snorted and then turned to Li Ru, "She says it isn't good to be frolicking with the enemy, you should keep a distance."
Xiao Ting was shocked by what Lei Xing just did and went wide-eyed with shock and opened her mouth but couldn't think of what to say. Looking at her face, Lei Xing laughed and Li Ru also quietly joined her.
Lei Xing then rubbed Xiao Ting's head while still laughing, "I've missed you."
...I really have missed you...I missed when all I had to worry about was you disturbing my sleep T_T)...
Xiao Ting pouted and whispered, "I'm being serious though..."
"Xing jie!" An excited female voice, the three of them turned towards the direction of the voice, where one of the noble daughters was speedily making her way towards them through the crowd with a smile on her face. Lei Xing squinted at her thinking that she looked familiar.
Xiao Ting seeing the incoming party, immediately frowned and subconsciously tightened her hold on Lei Xing's arm.