Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 30: Create Lasting Memories (2)

Jing He obediently drank the cup of tea that Qiu Ling handed him, acutely aware of the dragon king's gaze on him. He felt sweet inside, to be honest, but also quite a bit self-conscious.

Right now, he probably wouldn't leave a good impression. He tried not to let it get him too much so. From what the dragon king had told him before, he had been distressed at seeing him in such a condition. So he definitely couldn't let it show anyway. While he wanted his care, it wouldn't do to burden him with this.

Qiu Ling almost heaved a sigh of relief when Jing He had finished sipping the tea and took the cup back from him, almost wanting to ask if he wanted another one. In the end, he kept quiet.

Jing He would need to be slowly nursed back to health. He couldn't expect some miraculous recuperation after just one day. He had to be patient with this. And in this case, that also meant that he couldn't force him to take more than he could take. No, he had to give Jing He time to recuperate at his pace. He could at most encourage him a little.

Thinking about that, he looked around the room, wondering if there was anything else he could do. Reminding him to drink this tea every now and then was already good but that couldn't be everything.

Well, according to what the God of Medicine had said, the most important matter was to take his mind off the things that he was worrying about. In that case, he should find something for Jing He to do. It was just that in his current condition, there probably wasn't much that he could do. But somehow, he needed to occupy him.

Jing He saw Qiu Ling's expression and couldn't help but wonder what was going on. "Longjun, is something the matter? Do you ... need to return to the dragon realm?" Qiu Ling seemed so preoccupied. He couldn't imagine another reason.

Qiu Ling turned back to him, a little startled at first, but then he smiled and shook his head. He reached out to take Jing He's hand again and took a moment to sort his thoughts. "That isn't it. I just figured that it was probably boring to lie in bed all the time. Is there anything you would like to do? There probably won't be much possible considering that you can't do any strenuous activities right now but maybe there's something that you can think of?"

Jing He was startled as well when he realized that the dragon king had been preoccupied with thinking about him. He felt like his cheeks flushed and hurriedly averted his gaze. "Something I'd like to do ... I couldn't think of anything like that."

"Ah." Well, Qiu Ling hadn't hoped for much, to be honest. Looking around, his gaze fell on the open door to his study and he narrowed his eyes. "Well, maybe you'd like me to read something to you?"

Jing He followed his gaze and finally nodded. Right now, he didn't have much to say so maybe it would be better if they had something else to do. Listening seemed much either as well. "If Longjun doesn't mind. I'm sure that you have a lot of other things to do though. You probably shouldn't bother with this kind of thing."

Qiu Ling turned to look at him, his thumb brushing over the back of his hand. "You know, there's nothing that I would like to do more than this. Spending time with you is my greatest joy."

This time, Jing He was sure that his cheeks flushed. His eyelids fluttered and he hurriedly looked down again, wondering if he should say something. He probably had to. "Longjun ... must be joking."

"Nothing of the like. I do not joke often and certainly never in regard to this kind of thing. In any case, I do enjoy spending time with you. And if anything I do can help you get better faster, then I'll do it. So just give me a moment to find something to read to you." He raised Jing He's hand and pressed his lips against his skin before he let go of his hand and then got up, walking over to the study.