Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 24: Better Yourself for Your Beloved's Sake! (1)

Jing He stared at the other person, unbelieving. He had thought that for sure, the dragon king would once again leave his palace secretly to avoid running into his father. After all, he knew how his father thought about this ... whatever it was between them. But now, the dragon king had actually sat down there as if it was the most natural thing in the world and had even taken over the instrument, making it seem as if he had been there for a long time. Well, not that he hadn't been there for a long time but it hadn't been him who played.

Jing He didn't know what to do about all this so, in the end, he merely stayed quiet and lowered his head, peaking at the folding screen every now and then to see if his father was already there.

He didn't need to wait for long. The Heavenly Emperor stepped into his son's palace, looking around the folding screen to make sure that he wasn't disturbing his son's rest. His wife had reminded him several times that if he found that his son was still asleep, he should not go in past the folding screen. Otherwise, he might actually disturb him which wouldn't be helpful at all. Even though it pained him, Rong Su had finally acquiesced. Thus, he made sure that he took a look especially quietly.

When he did though ... What he saw was his son sitting at the table demurely while that bastard from the dragon race was right opposite him, even leaning toward him. The Heavenly Emperor stood on the spot as if struck by lightning. His poor son had just tried to rest and now this guy was here, actually disturbing him! How could he do something like this?!

His brows furrowed and he stomped over, stopping right next to the table. "Longjun, what do you think you are doing here?"

Qiu Ling looked up and blinked his eyes, finally giving the Heavenly Emperor a bright smile. He didn't like this guy but this was still his beloved's father. Thus, it would be much better to treat him nicely. This would also show his beloved how earnest he was. "Father-in-law, how nice of you to drop by."

Needless to say, the Heavenly Emperor wasn't happy with that greeting at all. "Who are you calling your father-in-law?! You're at least two times older than me!"

Jing He on the other side of the table flushed red, being reminded of this fact. Was this really something that could be told to the dragon king's face just like this? It seemed a little ... impolite. But what was he supposed to do? Between his father and the dragon king, he really didn't have any business stating his opinion.

Qiu Ling just continued to give the Heavenly Emperor a breezy smile, not being bothered at all. In any case, he was sure that he was quite a bit older than just two times his father-in-law's age but he definitely wouldn't correct him on that. "Well, I came to spend some time with my beloved, of course. I heard that he wasn't doing well. To be honest, I'm a little hurt that you wouldn't send a message to me informing me of this."

The Heavenly Emperor pointed at his nose. "Who are you calling your beloved? Shameless!"

Qiu Ling just gave him a puzzled look. "Why though? Isn't it your son? There isn't anybody else." He turned back to Jing He, giving him a look as if he really couldn't understand his father but was willing to endure him for the sake of their relationship. "My love, how do you feel? Did the music help you relax?"

Jing He stared at the dragon king in a daze, not sure how he was supposed to react to that. Clearly, he had been the one who just played the instrument. How was it supposed to help him relax?

Thinking for a moment, he felt that actually, it wasn't wrong though. If not for the fact that the dragon king had stared at him so intently, he really would've felt relaxed while playing. It was a way to guide his thoughts in a certain direction, and the second song had actually managed to lighten his mood a little. Thus, he gave a faint smile. "Now that Longjun mentions it, it did indeed help."