Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 2: Holding a Council of Love (6)

Qiang Wei cleared his throat. "Uhm ... Your Majesty, could it be that ... you showed us the wrong scroll?" Don't kid him. He had gotten a glimpse of the Son of Heaven one time when he played the messenger together with Yi Zan. It had only been a short moment but such beauty wasn't easily forgotten.

Qiu Ling frowned and took a look at the scroll himself. The wrong scroll? So this guy thought that this one wasn't done well enough? Mn, that could actually be. His painting skills definitely weren't up to par to display his beloved's beauty.

He put the scroll aside but made sure not to roll it up. After all, it was still better to look at a not so great portrait of him instead of not being able to see him at all. Ah, that damned old man from the Nine Heavens! Why couldn't he let him and his beloved be?!

The six dragons watched with rapt attention as their king picked up another scroll. The painting inside ... was even more shocking than the one from before.

The first painting had just been one that depicted the crown prince how he had appeared on the day of the banquet: His slender body wrapped in a blue robe, his hair shimmering in the lights around and his lips adorned with a slight smile.

It was ... well, a beauty was a beauty and even if Qiu Ling's skills with a brush had been worse that probably still would have shown. Considering how much effort Qiu Ling had put into this painting it wasn't a surprise that it captured Jing He's beauty really well.

The second picture was of a whole other caliber though. Honestly, what was with that gentle smile and that loving gaze in his eyes? And what in Heaven's name was he holding in his hands? A white lotus? How had their dragon king managed to turn this gentle beauty into this kind of demure and loving maiden? Ah, no, maiden was still wrong ... Not that it looked to be wrong ...

Qiang Wei's lips twitched. Alright. He should have guessed that his question would have some terrible result. It was probably better he just shut up. Who knew what kind of painting he'd get to see otherwise?

While Qiang Wei had already learned his lesson another one piped up. "So, let me get this right. You want us to help you woo the crown prince of the gods, Your Majesty?" Fu Min was probably the person who worried the least right now and thus still sounded quite joyful. Actually, this was quite welcome to him. Gathering gossip was what he excelled at. Wouldn't this be really helpful to what His Majesty wanted? He didn't think further than that.

Seeing that Fu Min was happy about getting this task Fu Heng touched his sword that he had placed down beside him. Mn, maybe this wasn't so bad. In the worst case, he would get to fight with some gods. Wouldn't the one he liked finally see his worth then?

Ah, he really hoped the others would find a way to get the Son of Heaven to fall in love with their king. He himself didn't have any hope that he might be of help in that regard. He couldn't even get the person he liked to like him back. How was he supposed to help their king with the one he liked?

Xiang Yong and An Bai exchanged a look. They had been present at the Heavenly Emperor's birthday banquet so they had seen the way their king approached and then proposed to the Son of Heaven. After having done that he couldn't really expect this person to fall in love with him, could he?

Unfortunately, just one look at Qiu Ling's face was enough to know that he indeed was serious about this. His next words further proved this point.

He turned to Fu Min and frowned slightly. "Didn't I say that just now? So speak! What should I do to make him fall in love with me?" He stared at his six subjects with an especially earnest expression but mostly got blank stares in return.