Chapter 172 - Contradiction

The Emperor sat down in his study waiting for Lei Yong to arrive. 

He had arrived at his palace a while ago, feeling irritated and worn out. Then a servant from the royal study came to inform him that apparently Lei Yong was still waiting there and refused to leave despite the servants urging him to leave. He insisted until waiting there until the Emperor was able to see him. And so, the Emperor made a concession and asked for him to be brought to his palace.

The Emperor sighed, he was very tired. Lei Xing made him...tired, his heart was heavy and her pale face and red eyes were stuck in his mind, which only made him feel even worse.

{...Is she crying now?... If it hurt her, then why did she-...}

The Emperor sighed again and massaged his head.

{...She's the most confusing, most difficult person I've ever met...I don't understand her...}

Lei Yong finally walked through the doors and immediately launched into his questioning, "What's going on with m- What happened to your face?" He exclaimed as his eyes settled on the Emperor's face.

The Emperor blankly stared at Lei Xing for a bit and frowned.

{...Why can't she be more like him?... Simple and easy to understand...}

The Emperor sighed and then said, "It's nothing." 

"It doesn't look like nothing..." Lei Yong said but before he could continue, the Emperor asked, "Why are you here?" He was not in the mood to discuss his brother with anyone right now. 

"Oh, yes... My mother sent someone to inform me that a messenger from the palace came to inquire whether Xing er' was in our manor? Did something happen to her?" Lei Yong asked with a concerned frown, then he added, "Also, is it because of your face you didn't attend court this morning? Why was the Empress dowager searching Prince Yi's manor?"

The Emperor sighed again, feeling annoyance toward his mother and all the people behind these troublesome events. Then he casually explained, "Your sister and I stayed out all night and your cousin went to fill my mother's head with stupid conjectures. So my mother got angry and started an unnecessary fuss..." He frowned and then sarcastically added, "I was not aware I had to report to anyone if I planned on staying out with my wife...That's the situation." 

"Chen You did?" Lei Yong asked blinking in surprise, "Why would she start trouble? She seemed like a sweet girl." Lei Yong said more to himself, and the Emperor gave a humorless snort, "Well, the palace changes people..." 

{...I wish it would change Xing er - What nonsense am I thinking? She's fine the way she is...But a bit more forthcoming will be nice...Will it be so bad if she liked me for my power? No, I would hate that...But like this it's...tiring...}

The Emperor frowned and let out a long weary sigh. Lei Yong looked at him and knit his brows, "What's wrong with you?" The Emperor's usual relaxed, pleasant demeanor was gone, leaving a tired, possibly stressed-out man in its wake.

"Nothing." The Emperor responded, averting his gaze. 

Lei Yong narrowed his eyes at him, "Was it Prince Yi who did this to you? I heard he was in the palace..." He saw the Emperor's frown deepen and then said, "He's getting more and more brazen, you need to do something about him."

The Emperor leaned back in his chair and lightly rest his head on a hand and closed his eyes, and then asked, "Since we've returned has any attempt been made on my life?"

Lei Yong swiftly responded, "That's because he hasn't found an opportunity yet"

The Emperor opened his eyes and looked at him for a bit, and then in a bid to divert the conversation, asked, "Have you found Governor Tung's daughter?" 

Lei Yong's knit his brows and then let out his own weary sigh, "No...I believe she will turn up when she's ready but...It's worrying." Lei Yong said folding his arms, worry etched into his face.  He had not seen Tung Mei since that night she ran off after their dinner with the Emperor and the others. No one has. 

She did not return to the Lei manor, she also did not go to her relatives. Considering this was not the first time, he was not sure what to do. He wanted to believe she was fine like the last time and just needed some space, but then what if she was not and needed help. So he had men searching around just in case, but still, they yielded no results. 

He considered that she might have decided to return home and actually sent people to go through all the routes that would lead back to Xia Zhou province, but still, nothing. He was beginning to contemplate writing her father about this, this was unusual and dangerous behavior. But he was hesitating because he did not want to alarm her father and get Tung Mei in trouble, so he was feeling really conflicted on the issue. Lei Yong frowned.

{...When I find her this time, I am not going to give her a good scolding...The world is a dangerous place, she can't just keep disappearing like this...What if something happens? What would I tell her father?...}

"It seems you really care about her..." The Emperor said as he observed Lei Yong's brooding expression.

"I worry about her..." Lei Yong said with a sigh.

"So when are you going to marry her?" The Emperor asked. He was being nosy but he did not want to think about his own complicated life at the moment and so this was a welcome distraction.

"Marry? I'm not marrying her." Lei Yong said looking at the Emperor with a completely taken aback expression as if what he just said was completely ridiculous.

"Why not?" The Emperor asked narrowing his eyes, suddenly feeling defensive for Tung Mei.

Lei Yong looked at the Emperor curiously but responded, "I like her...but not like that."

"Not like that? You two seemed pretty affectionate the other day. I saw you..." The Emperor said looking at Lei Yong accusingly. He was feeling sympathetic to Tung Mei, a certain sense of camaraderie and felt the urge to punch Lei Yong.

Lei Yong held his chin and knit his brows, "Affectionate, perhaps...I do care about her but it's more like a younger sister, so it's not like that."

The Emperor blinked a few times, "Sister?" Then he gave a dry laugh.

{...To think I said you were easy...At least I'm not being treated like a "brother"...That's something....these siblings -_-)...}

"Why are you suddenly interested in Tung Mei?" Lei Yong finally asked. 

The Emperor glanced at him and Lei Yong flinched when he saw him glaring, but then the Emperor sighed again and asked, "I heard Tung Mei met your sister when she ran away from home a few years ago. Correct?" 

"Yes..." Lei Yong responded, then he blinked and knit his eyebrows, "You investigated Xing er'?"

"I investigate everyone." The Emperor offhandedly responded, and then went back to the topic, "She lied."

"Xing er' lied to you?" Lei Yong asked in surprise.

"No, Tung Mei lied." The Emperor responded, slightly irritated, "While we couldn't find out where your sister was during that period, we found out exactly where Tung Mei was. They definitely did not meet during that time and there's never been an opportunity for them to meet."

Lei Yong knit his brows and simply stared at the Emperor and so the Emperor searched through the doc.u.ments on his desk and then handed over a roll of papers to Lei Yong. Lei Yong went and toko them and then flipped through them. Most of it was things he already knew. 

She was Governor Tung's youngest child, only daughter out of six children. Pampered, well-behaved with a fairly quiet personality. He greatly disagreed with the quiet part. Tung Mei was not quiet, quite the opposite actually but she had her moments. Nothing spectacular about her life, she lived a quiet pampered life.

Her mother died a few years ago, she came over to the capital for the concubine selection, Lei Yong frowned at that part. She failed, he knew that and then was supposed to go home.

"Those few weeks your sister was gone, was right around the time her mother passed away. Tung Mei stayed at her mother's side and took care of till she passed after which she was there at home for the funeral, grieving and receiving relatives. She never left home...Your sister was only missing for two weeks, so she could not have made the journey to Xia Zhou and back within that short time...They did not meet then and frankly, their paths never had the opportunity to cross..."

"...As you know before going to Xiao Zhou, the Tung family lived at the border, and your sister never left the capital other than that one unaccounted for time. While Tung Mei never came to the capital until a few months ago for the concubine selection..."

Lei Yong looked up at the Emperor confused, "But then why would she lie...Also, Xing er' didn't deny knowing her. She easily could have exposed it..."

"It's simple enough...She knew your sister would not be able to discredit her story because she wouldn't remember due to her memory loss. How she knew about it though is the question...Your sister given her character would not have told her. They also barely talked while at the palace..."

"But she knows a lot about Xing er' and even my family...She even said Xing er' taught her how to play the qin and-...They have to know each other." Lei Yong said, completely confused, "Let's ask Xing er', send for her."

"Even if you asked her, she probably wouldn't know given her memory loss." The Emperor casually informed. It was true, but more importantly, he did not want to see Lei Xing at the moment. 

Lei Yong frowned, "It couldn't be that bad -..." 

Before he could continue to insist, the Emperor enlightened him, "She said she does not remember most things, not even things from a few months before. I verified it, she kept it to herself because she did not want to worry your parents, so keep it that way for her...She's not feeling well so she's resting." The Emperor added for good measure and then sighed.

{...I'm not sure what sort of expression I'm supposed to meet her with or even if...*sigh*...}

Meanwhile, Lei Yong was feeling very confused. He could not wrap his mind around the situation, and Tung Mei was missing and not here to clarify the situation.

{...But what if I asked and she disappeared again? But still-...She's not harming anyone and Xing er' seems fine with it...But then she was angry with her last time...}

"Do you know why Xing er' was angry with her last time?" Lei Yong asked looking up at the Emperor hoping for answers.

The Emperor shook his head, "She said it was nothing." Remembering their happy time at the merchant festival further dampened his mood, and he did not even notice Lei Yong leave.

{...Things were much simpler then...}

The Emperor sighed heavily, he had finally gotten what he had been longing for all this time, but then it seems he lost a lot more in the bargain.

The Emperor felt a renewed sense of anger towards those who had drugged her, they rushed the event and made it complicated. He could have waited until she was truly ready and then they would not have had a falling out like this...at least he wanted to believe that.

So he called Eunuch Li to discuss the situation first, so as to learn more about Dong country and the possibilities surrounding the seyu drug.