Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 5: Utilize Your Subjects' Talents Well (2)

Jing He stood up to greet his two visitors. His heart couldn't help but palpitate though. Someone of the dragon race ... Did this have to do with what Longjun had said the previous day?

Qiang Yan took one look at his nephew and knew that he was still nervous. Ah, he could only hope this An Bai would continue to be as empathic as he had seemed until now. Well, he would just stay around for a while to make sure those two got along.

"Jing He." Qiang Yan went over and took a closer look at his nephew. Normally, he always pretended to be more distant in front of others but screw it. If his nephew really married the dragon king in the future, it was better to let them know upfront that his uncle was the God of War. Hmph, they better don't try to bully his nephew! "Ah, my dear nephew, I went to the dragon realm yesterday and had the good luck to meet scholar An Bai. We talked for a while and I felt that he was a very knowledgeable person and that the two of you would get along well. So I invited him over."

"Oh, I see." Jing He turned to An Bai and nodded. "Then I'm glad to make scholar An Bai's acquaintance."

An Bai cupped his fists. "It's my pleasure. I've already heard a lot about Your Highness." Especially in the last few days. Actually, his king had talked to him surprisingly often since falling in love. Maybe they should be thankful this had finally happened?

Jing He's lips curved. "Scholar An Bai is praising me too much."

"Not at all. I —"

Qiang Yan cleared his throat before the two of them could exchange even more pleasantries. "Jing He, since Longjun has been coming over more often in the past few days, how about you let scholar An Bai tell you more about the dragon race? It should be helpful in understanding each other better, shouldn't it?"

Jing He glanced at his uncle before lowering his gaze again and nodding. "The God of War is certainly right. Scholar An Bai, why don't you have a seat first?" He motioned at the table.

An Bai nodded and sat down. He couldn't help but look at the crown prince a while longer. This person ... was a little strange. He hadn't seemed to directly look at him even once since coming in and even his own uncle had hardly gotten more than a glance from him. Was he always like this? Then their king might really have a hard time to win him over. The question was why the Son of Heaven was behaving like this though.

Jing He turned to his uncle and motioned at the table again. "Would you like to take a seat too?"

"Ah, no, no, I'll ... take a look at the garden." Qiang Yan turned away and marched over to the window, positioning himself with his back to the table and pretending to look outside. He definitely couldn't sit next to them. What if he somehow prevented these two people from talking with each other?

Jing He watched his uncle retreat and then went to pour both him and An Bai a cup of tea. "Scholar An Bai, have a cup of tea."

An Bai nodded and took the cup from him. He couldn't help but wonder a bit though. Weren't the gods following more protocols than them in the dragon realm? How come the Son of Heaven was pouring his own tea and even that for his guests? Shouldn't he have servants for something like this?

Jing He might not be directly looking at him but he still noticed that An Bai wasn't drinking the tea. "This tea is from the leaves of the Summer Sun Trees in the western parts of the Nine Heavens. I'm afraid it isn't too popular at the moment but I always felt that it has a special aroma. I hope scholar An Bai doesn't mind drinking this type of tea."

"Ah, no, that ... The tea seems indeed very special." He looked at the water that seemed to glow with a golden hue. The scent wafting up from it was only light, overall quite bitter but with a hint of sweetness mixed in. He lifted the cup and took a sip. It tasted just like it smelled. The Son of Heaven seemed to have a rather unique taste.