Dawn

The Emperor sat down in deep thought after Lei Xing left. 

Last night he had made up his mind that she would be his Empress, even though he was not fully convinced of the voice's ramblings. She was the obvious choice for him, she was pleasing to his eyes and from the Lei family. But on waking up this morning, he had felt that perhaps there was some merit to those ramblings.

He just had the best sleep of his life...He had felt a peace he'd never known or thought possible. He was unexpectedly completely at ease at her side, no dreams, no plaguing thoughts, just a quiet peaceful night for the first time.

After he woke up and came to this realization, he wanted to talk to her but could not think of what to say. She was also pretending to be asleep. So he concluded that she must also be at a loss for words, and some space to recoup their senses would serve them well. So he went to court first and used that time to think over what to say to her...how to persuade her. 

 After court, he returned to find her asleep and so went to the royal study, leaving orders to be notified as soon as she woke up. As soon as the notification arrived, he made his way back to his palace.

On the way, he even instructed that they prepare a meal for her since she had not eaten and then realized he had not either. Then he thought they could have a meal together and talk afterward.

 When he finally arrived back at his palace, his mood took a nosedive when he found his mother in his bedroom harassing her again. He quickly sent his mother off, and then got Lei Xing to sit down with him.

But his mother's presence must have messed with his state of mind because after they sat down, looking at her, he could not think of anything to say. 

 After thinking for a long time, he managed to come out with, 'Have you eaten?' and after saying it, he felt it was a stupid question. He already knew she had not, this was why he ordered lunch. Her answer did not help much either, but he moved on from that folly and kept thinking hard.

This sudden difficulty with words was very perplexing to him, he had never been at a loss for words before. After thinking hard again, he eventually came up with the Imperial doctor visit topic. 

 He never expected that they would have such communication difficulty. She also did not seem willing to engage at all, which was understandable given what she experienced. He could also tell from her demeanor that she was uncomfortable and wanted to leave, which also made him more awkward.

But, he was reluctant to let her leave without having the conversation he intended them to have, despite his current trouble finding the words.

 When she said she wanted to ask something, he perked up thinking she was finally willing to engage and that the conversation could naturally flow from there.

But to his disappointment and irritation, what she wanted to talk about was leaving the palace again, and this significantly dampened his mood. In his irritation, he had ended up asking some obliviously stupid questions. In the end, he just asked her to leave before he made more of a fool of himself. 

 The Emperor sighed heavily as he thought over the conversation that went amiss.

{...I can understand why she wouldn't like it here after coming in...but still, I can't j-...}

"Your majesty, lunch is served." A servant informed with a smile. The Emperor glared at the servant, who saw his expression and quickly bowed and withdrew. 

The Emperor sat there frowning in thought for another long while.

{...So she does not like the palace...but we can't leave the palace behind...I can gather that my mother is the main problem and I can understand if she hates her too, but I cannot just get rid of her...}

The Emperor sighed heavily again.

{...Am I thinking too much about this? She's already my wife -but I can't force it, what if she ends up hating me? The last thing I want is to be in a situation like that of my parents...}

"Your majesty, is there something troubling you?" Eunuch Li asked interrupting his thoughts. The Emperor glanced up at him, he was not even aware when he had come in.

"Well...." The Emperor started and then stopped, and his frown deepened.

"Your majesty, perhaps I may be of assistance..." Eunuch Li persuaded with a smile.

The Emperor looked at Eunuch Li for a bit and then spoke up, "How would one go about deal-..." The Emperor paused, looked down and knit his brows in contemplation.

{...No, that's the wrong word...handling? No th-...}

"Wooing?" Eunuch Li interjected with an understanding smile. 

The Emperor looked up at him with raised eyebrows and repeated, "Wooing?"

Eunuch Li closed his eyes and sighed, "Your majesty, the cause of your mood swings today is quite obvious once one reviews the events of the day."

The Emperor knit his eyebrows in confusion.

Eunuch Li smiled and explained, "Well let's start with the morning, first of all, you woke up late...Correction, you had to be woken up. That has never happened, you have always been incredibly punctual. Also, you seemed to be very relaxed this morning and in quite a good mood, which is uncommon for you. From all that..."

He then cast the Emperor a knowing look, "...It is obvious you had a very good night. Immediately after court was over, you excitedly rushed back here as opposed to going to the royal study as per your usual routine. While in the royal study, you kept glancing at the doors, and every time someone opened it, you perked up and then deflated afterwards. I was quite confused at your behavior then, but when the maid came to inform you that Noble consort Lei had woken up, I finally understood as I saw you excitedly jump up to rush back here...and now she has left and you're in a terrible mood. Would you not say it is incredibly obvious?."

"You're exaggerating." The Emperor flatly said, slightly embarrassed.

Eunuch Li lightly chuckled and sighed, "Ah, it is good to be young...but your majesty I must say there is a time and situation for certain things...and yesterday was not the time. So it is understandable that she may be upset with you." 

The Emperor raised an eyebrow, "Upset? Why so?"

Eunuch Li cleared his throat and furrowed his brow, "I must say...Even if you wanted to console her, to have done THAT may not have been welcome given the situation...You should have exercised self-control." He finished shaking his head in disappointment.

The Emperor knit his brows and stared at Eunuch Li for a bit and then his meaning dawned on him, and he frowned and firmly said, "I didn't."

"You didn't?" Eunuch Li asked, wide-eyed.

"En."

"So you just slept...all night?" Eunuch Li asked in disbelief.

"Yes." The Emperor replied with a frown.

Eunuch Li then sighed.

{...How disappointing...}

"Your majesty, you are not getting any younger. You said you like her, so at some point that like should lead into -...you just slept..." Eunuch Li sighed again, looking down as he mumbled, "It couldn't be there is some other issue..."

The Emperor cleared his throat in annoyance and Eunuch Li looked at the Emperor, then smiled and advised, "Don't worry, women are simple..."

The Emperor knit his brows.

{...Why do I feel like she's the opposite of that?...}

"...and wooing is easy, just treat her nicely. For example, you can give her some gifts. Dote on her and give her whatever she wants..." Eunuch Li continued 

"Whatever she wants?" The Emperor repeated with a deep frown.

{...The only thing she seems to want is to leave the palace...}

Eunuch Li stroked his chin, "Or something she likes, showing initiative by yourself has a better impact...Women seem to love jewelry. Ah, but she already has access to so much in the palace...it will be hard to impress her with that...You will need to get something exceptional..."

While Eunuch Li continued with his advice, the Emperor sighed heavily again and closed his eyes in thought.