Forestall

"You want to run away? Coward!!! Who is the weak one now?!" The Empress dowager excitedly said as she strangled Lei Xing.

Lei Xing was panicking and was clawing at the hands on her neck, trying to pry them away while attempting to roll over, but she couldn't. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't get her voice out either.

Lei Xing's eyes then caught the metal water basin that had fallen earlier and stretched her hand, trying to grasp it, while her other one was still busy trying to free her neck.

"Your majesty, is everything alright?" Song mama worriedly shouted from outside the doors, they heard the noise of the crash from outside.

"Stay out of it!" The Empress dowager angrily barked out and then continued through gritted teeth, "You are always so perfect, aren't you? The most beautiful, the strongest, the most talented, the greatest, now tell me how great are you?! Huh?!"

Her eyes were wide and filled with rage, and her hair was falling all over her face, completing the horrific picture as she put all her energy into strangling the life out of her captive.

 Lei Xing was completely horrified and in a state of panic, she managed to grab onto the basin and started using it to hit the ground to get the attention of the people outside, glancing at the door, hoping someone would burst through.

"You can't even save your ownself. Tell me, how does it feel to be useless? I've always been curious about how it feels for you "talented" ones falling to the bottom. Tell me, does it feel the same?" The Empress dowager sneered.

"Your majesty, are you okay?!" Song mama shouted again, getting more anxious with the abnormal situation.

"I said stay out of it!!" The Empress dowager barked out again. Lei Xing glared at the Empress dowager and then started bashing her head with the basin with all her might and yanking on her hair.

{...GET THE F**CK OFF ME, YOU B**CH!!!!...}

Lei Xing was bashing the Empress dowager's head so hard that the Empress dowager's nose started bleeding, and a nasty bruise formed where Lei Xing was repeatedly hitting.

Despite all that, the Empress dowager didn't seem phased at all and was intently focused on strangling her.

The Empress dowager then stated matter of factly as she tightened her grip, "Your existence is a problem, so you need to die. You all need to die. I will have you all bow down at my feet and then destroy you, as it should be."

Lei Xing lost her grip on the basin, and so started using both her hands to claw at the Empress dowager's arms, and hair. Her vision was getting blurrier, and she knew once she lost consciousness that would be the end.

She started attacking blindly, clawing and grabbing at whatever she could.

{...YOU DIE, B**CH!!!!!....}

***

In the royal study, the Emperor was currently in a meeting with Defense minister Lei and Prime minister Zhao.

The issue is that the Defense minister has refused to approve Zou Kingdom's tribute list that the Prime minister drafted. Prime minister Zhao had already revised the list twice now, but Defense minister Lei still refused to approve it, calling it unfeasible.

After receiving his third refusal, Prime minister Zhao became enraged and confronted Defense minister Lei.

One refused to amend to suit the other's requirements and the other refused to agree without amendment, and so they ended up bringing the matter to the Emperor for him to decide on it.

"Your majesty, the list is too extreme. There is no way they will be able to meet the demands." Defense minister Lei calmly explained.

"That's nonsense!" Prime minister Zhao protested, "Your majesty, the list is a fair price for the protection they will be receiving by having us as an ally. I have looked into their economy extensively, they can definitely meet the demands."

"Right now, as they are they can definitely meet the demands, but amongst the three cities you listed is their biggest gold mine. If they lose that, how do you expect them to pay that amount of yearly tributes after that?"

"There are other ways they can compensate for that." Prime minister Zhao indignantly replied.

"This is a peace treaty, for it to work, it has to, first of all, be feasible."

"Hmph! Since when did you become an advocate for peace?"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Defense minister Lei asked with a frown.

Prime Minister Zhao cast him a sideways glance and then scoffed, "You should know your own history better than I do."

"The tides have changed and one should adapt to the way of the times. I am more skeptical of you who seems to all of sudden be war hungry. I wonder what your motives are..."

Prime minister Zhao frowned, "It is not about being war hungry, it is about the principle of things. Since there is no natural benefit in becoming their ally, there should at least be some practical benefit, they should make up for their shortcomings. This is why I was against calling off the war, a useless ally is nothing but a burden!"

"The natural benefit is not losing our people in war. It's easier for you to scream war, having never been in one yourself..." Defense minister Lei offhandedly replied.

 "You-!" Prime minister Zhao took a deep breath, "My job is to ensure a thriving economy, have you thought about the amount of resources we would expend should our "ally" need protection?"

"Considering you will be taking all they have, they definitely will need protection. Your majesty, please review this matter. The Prime minister's plan is really not sustainable. If we're asking them for this much, we might as conquer them." Defense minister Lei implored with a bow.

"Your majesty, please review this matter. We have to gain something from this venture to pacify the people." Prime minister Zhao also implored bowing as well.

After that, they both remained in their bowing position waiting for the Emperor's response.

After a while of no response, they cast a side glance at each other and then looked up at the Emperor, who was busy scrutinizing his left wrist with a frown.

"Your majesty?"

"Your majesty...Your majesty, Emperor?"

The Emperor blinked and looked up, "Ah, it does seem like it would be hard to fulfill the demands..." Then he twitched and looked down at the wrist again.

{...What is this?... There doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it...}

 Prime minister Zhao knit his brows and said, "With all due respect, Your majesty, we are already making a huge concession on calling off the war. We really cannot make ourselves seem weak by catering to the enemy's needs - "

"We also cannot make ourselves seem unreasonable either." Defense minister Lei interjected.

The two began bickering again, but the Emperor did not notice their words. He was too busy scrutinizing his wrist. For a while now, he has been getting a burning pain there like someone had put hot coal on him, and it was getting increasingly hotter.

Initially, he had thought he got bitten by something, but looking over his wrist, there was no sign of a bite or even any redness to explain his burning pain. He even touched it and didn't feel worsening pain.

{...Strange...}

 While the Emperor was staring fixedly at his wrist, he suddenly felt himself being yanked forward with extreme force.

Then all of a sudden, he found himself in the Empress dowager's bedroom, faced with the shocking scene of the Empress dowager strangling Lei Xing and Lei Xing bashing the Empress dowager's head with a basin.

The Emperor's eyes went wide in shock, but before he could say or do anything, he was yanked back and found himself looking at Defense minister Lei and Prime minister Zhao. He frowned in confusion, trying to make sense of what just happened.

"Your majesty, is everything alright?" Defense Minister Lei asked. Both he and Prime minister Zhao were looking at the Emperor with knit eyebrows of worry, they had been calling out to him, and he was just staring off into space.

They were quite perplexed at his odd behavior today, it was really out of character for him to be spacing out.

The Emperor blinked several times and then felt a shooting pain on his wrist, this time his hand started shaking and he was feeling increasingly anxious.

The other two in the room looked at each other in confusion and were about to inquire again when the Emperor suddenly stood up with one hand holding over the other and just stood there.

Then he sat back down and sighed, "Continue."

{...What is going on with me today? I must be really tired to be dreaming while awake now, or would this be seeing visions?... According to someone, hearing a voice in one's head already makes one crazy, I wonder what this would equate to?... I should really reconsider those sleeping decoctions...}

"Your majesty, if you are not feeling well...perhaps we can come back later on." Defense minister Lei suggested.

"I'm fine. You have both made valid points. But regardless of our high prospects of winning in war, there will inevitably still be losses on- " Then he stopped and looked at his wrist again.

Then got up, "Either way, go revise it again, work on some reasonable reductions." He finished and then quickly walked out.

When he got outside the doors, he looked at Eunuch Li, "Has my mother woken up?"

Eunuch Li shook his head. The Emperor then frowned.

{...What exactly am I doing right now? This is foolish... But there's no harm in going to check on her at least once since she's sick and possibly on her deathbed. It is the filial thing to do...}

Defense minister Lei and Prime minister Zhao also followed the Emperor out. When they saw him standing there, they bowed, but he still was not paying them any attention. They cast worried glances at him and then left.

Eunuch Li seeing their faces and the Emperor, who was just standing there with a frown, asked, "Your majesty are you okay?"

" I'm going to see my mother." He flatly said and started strutting off.

{...I am going to see if she's still breathing...}

 Eunuch Li followed behind him with a relieved smile. He had tried to persuade the Emperor to go see the Empress dowager since she fell ill, but could not succeed. 

The Emperor had investigated the matter of her illness and ensured she was getting the best care but remained silent whenever he brought up the issue of visiting her. To see him choosing to go on his own and even asking after her welfare, made him very happy.

Eunuch Li was aware the Empress dowager was not a good mother to the Emperor, but in the end, she is still his mother...she was not always like this, the circumstances made her become this way.

{...To see his heart move in her direction even a little bit is a relief...}

***

Meanwhile, in the Empress dowager's room.

Lei Xing had finally lost consciousness holding a clump of the Empress dowager's hair in a hand.

At this point, the Empress dowager was laughing hysterically and happily strangling the life out of her.

Suddenly, the gem on Lei Xing's ring flashed a bright light, and the Empress dowager froze, and stared at it with a frown for a while.

Then her head began to be in pain again, and she released Lei Xing's throat to hold her head, closing her eyes and groaning.

 After a little while, it seemed the pain stopped, and she opened her eyes and let out a shocked gasp when she saw that she was sitting on an unconscious body.

She looked at her hands and then at the imprints on Lei Xing's neck, then she started shaking and patting Lei Xing's face multiple times, "Hey, wake up, wake up..."

Then she started crying, "What have I done? I am so sorry...I - I didn't mean to...Please wake up...What should I do?... Um, I'll go get help, you'll be fine." She tried to get up, but her head started hurting again, and she slumped down before she could even rise.

When she opened her eyes this time, she frowned and immediately returned to the strangling, "Don't get in my way! She's not dead yet. I'll make sure to finish her off this time. Then I will never have to worry again. Her first and then the others next..." And then she started chuckling maliciously.

***

As the Emperor approached the entrance of the Empress dowager's palace, he noticed the cluster of servants outside and frowned. When he noticed Xiao Ruo and Ah Jin there, his heartbeat sped up along with his footsteps toward the Empress dowager's bedroom.

As he rounded the corner to her bedroom, he could hear the hysterical laughter that had often haunted his dreams.

At this point, he was sprinting towards the bedroom doors, paying no mind to the people surrounding the area who were greeting or speaking to him.

Eunuch Li hastily followed the Emperor, he could now sense that something was wrong.

The Emperor burst through the doors and without even missing a beat ran up to the duo and threw the Empress dowager off Lei Xing and crouched down to check on Lei Xing's condition.

Thankfully, Eunuch Li was quick on his feet and caught the falling Empress dowager, who was screaming, "Let me go! I need to finish this! Why do y-" Her head started hurting again, and she slumped down with Eunuch Li holding her, groaning in pain again.

The others outside had followed behind the Emperor and caught sight of what was going on in the room before the Emperor intervened and froze in their steps, petrified and wide-eyed. Song mama was the first to snap out of the shock and rush to the Empress dowager's side.

The Imperial doctors in the room quickly snapped out of it next, and one ran to the Empress dowager while the other to Lei Xing, who the Emperor was currently holding up. She was unconscious but was thankfully still alive. The Emperor let out a breath he had been holding his breath without realizing it.

{...Thankfully, she's still breathing...}

On the other side, the Empress dowager looked up at the Emperor holding Lei Xing, let out a short self-mocking laugh, and then in a pained voice, said, "In the end, it's still her who is most important and I'm not, you prove this point over and over again to the point that it has been ingrained deep into my bones, to never forget... It's still better for you all to just drop dead for me."

Then her eyes closed, and tears trailed down her face.

It seemed she had gone back to sleep. The Emperor looked at his mother with knit eyebrows, confused at her words. He lightly shook his head and then asked the doctor next to her, "How is she?"

"The Empress dowager seems to have fallen asleep due to fatigue." The doctor responded with a bow.

The Emperor nodded, looked back down at Lei Xing, and then picked her up.

He turned to those frozen at the door and coldly said, "No one is to speak of whatever it is you have seen or heard here today. If you dare to, then regardless of your position, it will be death. Am I clear?" He finished, narrowing his eyes at them.

They all blinked, bowed, and said, "Yes, your majesty."

Then he walked out of the room with the Imperial doctor following behind, leaving Eunuch Li behind to care for his mother.

After the Emperor left, the Imperial wives stood there in a daze for a while, staring at the scene. Then one after the other, they turned and left the scene silently. Still in a daze, they returned back to their own palaces.

They were in disbelief at what they had just heard and seen. While they had all known to tread carefully when facing the Empress dowager to avoid getting in trouble and being punished, this was on a different level.

They all wondered what Lei Xing could have possibly done to warrant such an extreme response, is there even anything that should warrant such a response? To do the strangling herself is...unheard of.

The entire situation left them confused and very scared. Most of them were not at all concerned about Lei Xing's welfare; their concern was centered on the fact that the Empress dowager could do that to the Defense minister's daughter.

This meant that it could easily happen to any of them, and the Emperor seemed to be covering up the matter as well. It was the first time they had truly felt scared of being in the palace.