Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 20: Enjoy the Act! (3)

By the time the servant arrived on the fifth floor with the two important guests in tow, the conflict between Qiu Ling and the other guest still hadn't been resolved. Thus, the people that weren't supposed to meet at all for the whole day suddenly stood face-to-face. Thankfully, neither Qiu Ling nor Jing He had taken off their masks, letting who they were stay a secret for now.

Looking at the noisy quarrel in front of them, Rong Su raised his brows and then followed the servant over to the owner. Not waiting for him to explain, he finally didn't bother about his own situation and instead motioned to the people that had suddenly gone quiet upon his arrival. "What might be the matter here?"

Anyway, since he couldn't see his son, it would be nice if he at least got the opportunity to scold somebody. And these guys looked as if they did something to deserve a scolding. He didn't know which side he would scold just yet but it would definitely be one of them. In fact, maybe he might scold all of them. That would certainly be for the best.

The owner sweat-dropped when he saw just who had arrived and nervously answered. "Your ... Your Majesty!" He tried to inconspicuously wipe his forehead but of course, that did not escape the Heavenly Emperor's eyes.

"Why are you being so nervous? I merely asked what was going on here since I came by and noticed that there seems to be a problem. Or could it be that you do not want your Emperor's help?"

The owner felt even worse. It sure was nice to have these great gods come and frequent his establishment but why did they refuse to play by the same rules as everybody else and just reserve the rooms in advance? If they just came unannounced on the day of the event, that really was putting him in a difficult position!

Unfortunately, none of them would care about his opinion. Well, since they didn't care about him, he might as well not care about them and have them take care of this on their own. "Well, these gentlemen are debating who should get the room." He didn't explain any further and just turned to look at the dragon king and the other guest.

Rong Su raised his brows, also looking from one person to the other. "What's the big fuss about then? Whose room is it?"

"Obviously, it's my room!" The other guest straightened up and puffed up his chest, trying to display an image of righteousness.

Before the Heavenly Emperor had the time to make his ruling, Qiu Ling spoke up though. "How is this your room? Obviously, I paid for it!" He didn't bother about the other guest anymore and instead turned to the Heavenly Emperor, nodding his head to show his respect. "Your Majesty, you can verify with the owner. I've already paid for this room. I really don't see why I should give it up."

The Heavenly Emperor who had just wanted to scold this person was taken aback. Now, look at this! That other guy had actually dared to pretend this was his room even though he hadn't paid?! Audacious! He turned to the owner, making sure to get all the details this time. "Is this true?"

The owner hurriedly nodded but he was too scared to say anything.

He didn't need to either. The Heavenly Emperor was already enraged and turned back to the other person, pointing at his nose. "You! You actually dared to lie to me? What 'this is obviously your room'? You didn't even pay for it!"

The guest tensed up and pressed his lips together. This wasn't how it was at all! "But, your Majesty —"

"silence!" Rong Su was absolutely indignant. Anyway, his mood hadn't been the best before and now, he wasn't even taken seriously by some common person. How could he take it? "Not only do you dare to try and snatch somebody else's room, you even lied to me! I really wonder where you're taking that kind of bravery from."

The guest glared at Qiu Ling but still wasn't willing to give up. "Your Majesty, I really didn't lie. Five months ago, I came to this establishment and made a reservation, even paying a deposit for this very room. It was only now that when I arrived, the servant suddenly told me that I couldn't have it after all and would need to downgrade. But it is true that I originally did reserve it. I don't see how it could happen that suddenly, there's somebody else that has already paid in full. Anyway, I have the money here to pay the rest for the room. It is not like I was trying to make the establishment lose out or steal the room from this other guest. It was originally intended to be mine."

This time, the Heavenly Emperor was confused. "So ..." He turned to Qiu Ling, furrowing his brows. "You paid for the room." Turning back to the other guest, his expression was still just as confused. "And you reserved the same room and paid a deposit."

Both of them nodded.

Rong Su turned to the owner and raised his brows. "So, what do you have to say to that?"

"That ..." The owner really didn't know how to answer this.

The Heavenly Emperor's brows furrowed even further. "What? You can't say if it's true or not? Then get somebody here who can!"

Behind him, Qiang Yan was massaging his forehead, wondering just how they had gotten into this situation. Thankfully, his brother-in-law still hadn't managed to recognize the dragon king's voice. He was afraid that that would happen though. He couldn't let some talk much longer.

The owner flinched but then hurriedly nodded. "It is true, Your Majesty. It is exactly as the two of them said."

Now, the Heavenly Emperor was at a loss. One person had reserved the room and paid for it while the other person had also paid for the room. What was to be done there? Normally ... "Well, the person that reserved the room should've come before the other one, right?"

Before anybody had the time to agree with them, Qiu Ling already cried out. "But your Majesty!"

Rong Su furrowed his brows. He felt that he had been pretty straightforward with that. While he could imagine that this person wouldn't be happy with this ruling, his opinion still stood. "I think that this is fair."

Qiu Ling pursed his lips but he was definitely not willing to give up. It seemed that it was time to bring out his acting skills. "Your Majesty, I can understand that at first glance, this might seem like something that can be solved this easily. But I still think that there's more to take into consideration here."

Next to him, Jing He lowered his head. He knew his father well enough to expect him to lose his temper. If he hadn't been afraid that his father would realize who he was, and that he had actually gone out he with the dragon king, he would've told him that they had better leave now.

Rong Su was indeed not happy. "Are you trying to say that I've made the wrong decision?"

Qiu Ling hurriedly shook his head, pulling Jing He close up to his chest while he did so and then lowered his head as well. "I would never dare to do so, Your Majesty. With the information that has been provided to you, this is definitely the right decision. I just feel the need to point out some things to you that I haven't had the chance to say before. Would you mind listening for a minute longer?"

The God of War continued to rub his forehead, hoping that the dragon king would finally shut up. Couldn't he just take another room? Why did it have to be this one out of all the ones available?

The Heavenly Emperor scoffed but still motioned for him to go ahead. "I'm really interested to hear just what you think could change my ruling." Even though he said so, he really couldn't imagine that there was any way to change his mind.