Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 27: Don't Let Any Doubts Occur! (6)

After he had seen his nephew's condition, Qiang Yan did indeed not lose any time and immediately rushed to the dragon realm as soon as the sun went up the next morning. Reaching the capital city, he didn't waste any time either, and went to the dragon king's palace, intending to catch one of his advisers.

Considering their past encounters, he decided that the best one to ask about this would be An Bai. But when he came to his study, he actually found that An Bai wasn't alone. Raising his brows, Qiang Yan looked from one person to the other, not quite sure if his objective could still be reached as easily. "Adviser An Bai, adviser Xiang Yong, what a surprise!"

While An Bai just greeted him normally, Xiang Yong gave a faint smile. "Since the God of War he dropped by, the ones who should be surprised are us I believe. What may I do for the God of War?"

Qiang Yan smiled wryly, feeling that his chances of inquiring for the truth had drastically diminished. An Bai was clearly a very honest person but this Xiang Yong was a shrewd man. If he felt that it would be beneficial to his king to lie, then probably not even a single word of his could be trusted. Unfortunately, he also couldn't pull back now or he would have trouble inquiring in the future since he would make Qiu Ling's advisers suspicious. Thus, he could only persevere and speak up.

"Ah, actually, it's not much. I heard that the anniversary of Longjun's coronation was coming up soon." He cleared his throat, still looking a little uncomfortable. "In the past, we usually had somebody from the Court of Justice handle this kind of matter but considering the relationship between Longjun and my nephew right now, we figured that it might be better to change things a bit."

An Bai's brows raised imperceptibly and he motioned toward the other chair in front of the desk. "We're honored that the gods would think so much on our king's behalf. Why does the God of War not take a seat? I'm sure that whatever it is that you want to inquire about, we can certainly find a satisfying answer."

Qiang Yan nodded and went over, taking a seat together with the two of them. So far, things weren't going that badly. He just didn't quite know how to casually inquire about what the king was doing right now. "Well, to be honest, there isn't much. We thought that's sending a gift would be the appropriate way to show appreciation for Longjun and the alliance between our races. Longjun has managed to make a long period of peace possible. Naturally, us gods are also thankful for that."

Xiang Yong gave a hum, clearly agreeing with him. "Well, I can't say that there's anything wrong with that. What exactly is the God of War's question though?"

"Well, my nephew picked something out but there's the question of how appropriate certain gifts might be. I wonder if adviser Xiang Yong and adviser An Bai would have any recommendations?"

The two of them exchanged a glance, a hint of surprise flashing in their eyes. Finally, it was An Bai who spoke up. "There aren't really any customs that would need to be observed there. In any case, this is a present that comes from somebody who isn't of our race. I think that in this case, the God of War should just trust in His Highness' choice."

Qiang Yan slightly raised his brows, feeling that the two were too easy-going. But then again, Longjun would definitely be ecstatic as well if he heard that Jing He had picked out the gift for him himself. Naturally, his advisers would be in favor of that. "Do you not even want to take a look?"

"His Majesty's gift, how could we presume to lay eyes upon it first?" Xiang Yong gave a noncommittal smile and looked at him as if he was just waiting for him to ask more.

Now, Qiang Yan really felt the pressure. There weren't really any other questions. The only important one would be what exactly the dragon king was doing right now. But he felt that it was still too early. "Then, might I inquire about the timeline a bit? I'm sure that right now, the preparations will already have started, right?" He looked from Xiang Yong to An Bai and back again as if looking for confirmation.