Tortuous Dreams
The Emperor rushed back to the palace to find that the Imperial guards had rightly swarmed the palace, some were standing guard, while others were searching through the grounds. They had rounded up all the servants in the palace in the front and had them on their knees waiting to be questioned.
The Emperor breezed past, heading straight to the bedroom. As soon as he walked in, his eyes locked on the bed as he rushed in, ignoring the commotion in the room. With imperial guards in the room, the bed curtains had been drawn to cover Lei Xing. The Emperor flung them open and sat next to her and urgently called, "Xing er'...?"
But as per the new norm, she neither responded nor opened her eyes. He touched her neck to feel for a pulse before his panic could consume him. To his relief, she was breathing and warm. He gathered her into his arms, held her tightly, closed his eyes, and took solace in her warmth while taking deep breaths to calm himself.