...*You Can't Kill Her!...

The Emperor left the reception hall feeling irritated and made his way to his study, ignoring the shouting in his head.

...*You are not allowed to kill her!...

The Emperor then frowned.

...I don't remember you being in a place to dictate what I can and cannot do...

...*It's not her fault, you even confirmed that she does not remember...It's not fair for her to carry blame...

...Then who should? Me? Her victim? Her suffering does not absolve her of blame, revenge is one thing, this is another...

...*You will regret it! She's your mother!...

...So? You seem to be unaware of the family I come from...

The voice then stopped responding and the Emperor peacefully arrived at his study, sat down and asked Eunuch Li, "Have they found him yet?"

Eunuch Li furrowed his brow, "No, they have searched all over the city and still have not been able to find a trace, he should not have been able to leave either..."

The Emperor knit his brows. Shortly after the Empress dowager's condition was reported he had sent people to go bring Doctor Lou back to be interrogated, as there was some suspicion of poison. There was not enough time in between the search starting and him leaving the Palace for him to have made it to the city gates on foot. The guards at the city gates also confirmed that no one matching his description had passed through that day, and were put on alert. His disappearance made it seem all the more likely that he had something to do with her illness.

Song mama had informed the Emperor of what led to Doctor Lou being summoned to the palace, Lei Xing's explanation had aligned with what Ah Jin's had said to him the day before, which made him set aside some of his misgivings about that situation....but then the Doctor had said they were friends. So, the Emperor still felt it was suspicious and had planned to speak to Lei Xing after court today to see if she knew the location of her "friend", but then the Prime minister and Defense minister made their appearance and delayed the conversation.

"Your majesty, do you really think the Doctor had something to do with the Empress dowager's illness? Even if he is skilled, he did not go anywhere near enough to have dealt poison..."

"If he is not guilty, why run?"

...and why lie? It's very suspicious...

...*Stop wasting time on irrelevant things and focus on what is important?!!...

The Emperor knit his brows in annoyance and then sighed.

...I never said I was going to kill her...

...*Leave the old man alone too, his powers are not enough to cause that!...

The Emperor raised an eyebrow.

...Powers?...

...*Stop wasting time on irrelevant things!!...

The Emperor frowned again, in the past he had wanted to talk more with this...entity, but now that it is doing exactly that, it seemed more irritating than pleasant. It seemed to be changing and was becoming more and more nosy, confusing and persistent in its efforts.

The change really began when he got the news that his father was dying and for him to return to the capital a few months ago. While planning his return, it had advised of traps waiting on certain routes that would have been the obvious and quickest routes back. So the Emperor opted for the scenic route, despite the protests of others. He was personally in no rush and was not at all interested in seeing his father's last days and this gave him reason not to bother at all.

After the meeting ended and the others left to prepare for his departure, Lei Yong had stayed back to further advise him of the urgency of the situation, saying that while he was taking his time, his brother was by his father's side showing him care that could change the tides. Then the Emperor had laughed and said, "My father does not want compassion. If he wanted to make my brother Crown prince, he would have done that a long time ago...and even then there's still the Empress. All I have to do get there alive."

Lei Yong frowned, "The Empress is not your birth mother, even if he gets the throne she would still retain her power and be the Empress dowager, so how can you trust her not to turn on you?"

"I am her only option." Eventually, Lei Yong got exasperated and left, leaving behind the Emperor who was in a good mood and was thinking about how things were finally about to get interesting. He had thought that the voice had left as usual after advising on the route, but it seemed to have quietly stayed there all along, listening. So while he was anticipating and planning the events of the future in his mind, it had went on to caution him with the words, 'Don't be so quick to kill; Be patient with your mother, she is not to blame and be patient with your brother, he can learn.'

At that time, he had not calculated his mother into the situation. While he knew he would have to help her for the sake of the Xia people, thinking of her dampened his mood so he often didn't. After thinking about it, he had taken the caution to mean that the fault lied with his father and his mother was just a victim of the chaos he started, so he had made allowances for her in his life. But now it was even supporting her in this too...How is his father the cause of her actions today? Thinking up to here, made the Emperor more irritated.

...Irrelevant? You asked that I be patient with her and I have been endlessly so...You asked that I be patient with my brother, and so I have been going through convoluted schemes to clip his wings so he moves on...I never intended to kill him, at least I never wanted to but he still-...Haah, you ask me to be patient with people that would probably kill me without much thought if ever given the opportunity...She's still alive, he's still alive, so what are you dissatisfied with?... Then you threw the girl into the mix, and I am investigating the matter as I should, so tell me, what am I missing?!...

...*Who asked you to INVESTIGATE?!!..

...Well, you don't normally give a set of instructions so...

...*Tch, here I thought you were becoming more adorable, but you're just becoming more and more like your little tyrant self...

The Emperor's frown deepened in annoyance. Eunuch Li looked at his face and called out to him a few times before the Emperor finally looked up and said, "Keep searching for that old man, I want him brought before me as soon as possible."

...*Leave him alone!...

...I didn't say I was going to do anything to him, I just want to have a conversation...And why are you so against it? It makes me feel more curious about him now...

"Your majesty, considering the Empress dowager seems to have recovered on her own. Do you still think t-"

"Even though he is innocent of that, there are still some things I need him to explain." The Emperor interjected. Eunuch Li then nodded, remembering the other issue with Lei Xing and Prince Yi, Eunuch Li then left the room to expedite the search.

The voice then gave a long sigh in the Emperor's head.

...*You are wasting precious time...I didn't think I needed to spell things out to you because it should be obvious to anyone with a br-...anybody, but since you all just love complicating your lives so much, it makes it really hard to just watch so I will help you...

The Emperor snorted in annoyance, at this point he was tired of this conversation. Unfortunately, he did not have a choice but to listen, as he could not exactly order it out of the room or his head.

...*Okay, let's start with this. In what capacity did I ask you to keep her in the palace?...

...I don't know, you tell me...

...*Hmph! I didn't expect you to be this slow...Haah, but then again, your track record is quite...I will enlighten you...A wife, she is your wife...and what is a wife?...

...

...*A companion, a wife is a companion...Your companion...She is your companion! Do you understand now?...

The Emperor sat there with a confused frown on his face, and was at loss for thought and words. After a while, he responded.

...Companion? What does that have to do with regret?...

...*Arrrgggghhhhh! Forget that bit!... You'll figure it out later!...

The Emperor was at a loss again for a bit.

...Why her though?... Why?...

...*Why? You wanted someone for you and I know what you want...so I found it for you. She's a perfect fit...for you...

The Emperor was at a loss again.

...What?...

...*WHAT ARE YOU NOT UNDERSTANDING?!... It's really simple, You + her = PERFECT PAIR...What is difficult about that?...

...So you want her to be Empress?...

...*Empress? That is also irrelevant...You want her to be so...that's fine...

...I never wanted her to be...You put that thought in my head...

...*I did not!... Hmph! Don't blame me for your own transgressions, I do not behave in such a sneaky manner! I would have told you so!...

The Emperor blinked and rubbed his forehead, he was finding it hard to process this.

...So is this what is relevant?...

...*Of course! It is VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY RELEVANT! The most relevant!...

...Why?...

...*You don't like her?...

...That's not the point!...

...*Then what is the point?...

...I am wondering what yours is?...

...*THE POINT is that you will be happy, she will be happy...We will all be happy!! Happy is Good, isn't that great?!...

The Emperor's mind drew a blank again, this was all very perplexing.

...*Fine then! Since you don't want her, you can let her go!... Oh and also, give her some trunks of money on her way, she seems to like those now... Don't say I never did anything for you!... All that effort and time for nothing! It's my fault for being nosy, I'm leaving! Goodbye!...

The Emperor was then left in the room with only himself and his thoughts. He was not exactly sure how the conversation evolved from his mother to this. Also...

...A companion? That's it? That's all it was? All it is?... It feels like there is certainly more to it, there should be more...Ah, also I forgot to ask about that vision image from this morning...It must definitely have had something to do with it...

The Emperor then massaged his aching head and sat there contemplating the issue for a long while. Then he got up and took a walk around outside to clear his head and eventually found himself back at his bedroom, where the subject of his current state of confusion was already fast asleep, snuggled up nicely. He stood there by the bed looking at her for a while, then he sat down and continued looking at her while still contemplating.

...A companion? I have never thought of wanting that so I don't know what it was referring to...I mean, I am aware that I do need to be with someone to have a child, which is a necessity for my position...

He did not want to have a host of women and children fighting over power. Out of his many siblings, only four of them had been able to grow up into their teens, and even then only two remained now. While he did not want a harem, he did not want to have a disagreement with the ministers over this issue, as it was a custom that has been deeply ingrained and abolishing it would upset the order of things and cause trouble. Therefore, he made a concession, this was a small matter compared with the other matters he had to deal with, so it would not have paid him well in the future to lose support over this. He made up his mind to accept the initial few and that would be enough to keep everyone quiet, and then amongst them pick the one he found most suitable to be Empress, and that would be the only one he would be with and the mother of his children.

...On that note, my requirement is quite low or at least I thought it was, we just had to get along well enough...and that is enough...Apparently that is easier said than done, I need to be cer-...

"Stupid dowager, I'm going to kill you." Lei Xing muttered interrupting his thoughts, as she tried rolling over to the right and then subconsciously switched directions to the left mid-roll. The Emperor had frozen thinking she had woken up, only for him to see her snuggling into the blanket and settling back into calm sleep.

The Emperor then snorted and smiled at her.

...I think you need quite a lot of training before you can kill her...Well, I guess this isn't too bad, there isn't really anything to be dissatisfied with...Plus she's Yong's sister...but still...it feels complicated...