Following the Emperor's orders, Ling mama had been taken to Ming Shu who reassigned her to one department or the other. Lei Xing had no idea which one nor did she really care, she did her part in ensuring the woman was out of the Empress dowager's reach.
The Emperor and Monk Du "concluded" that their departure could survive another delay of an extra day or two. This way they could ensure that Eunuch Li's injuries could heal a bit more to avoid any complications. As for the Empress dowager, she had mostly been asleep and when she was awake, she spoke to no one. It seems she was now in some sort of pout mode.
Unfortunately for her, pout mode only worked when the people around the pouter actually cared about the said pouter being upset.
When the day came for the Empress dowager's departure, Lei Xing and the Emperor, like the dutiful children they were, stood waiting at the palace gates to bid her farewell.
