Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 32: Continuous Efforts Are Bound to Yield Results (1)

Qiu Ling wasn't too happy that he had to return to the dragon realm but he also understood that it was necessary to at least spend the anniversary of his coronation in the capital city.

If he didn't, that might cause some rumors that wouldn't have the best effect on the stability of the realm. And even though he usually didn't seem to care, he was still very much aware that he was the king of the dragon race. He might be willing to let them down on any normal day, but he still had a conscience when it came to things that definitely had to be done.

Thus, as soon as he returned, he went to Xiang Yong's place, barging into the room and plopping down in one of the chairs. "Alright, give me the short version of what needs to be done tomorrow."

Xiang Yong who had just been dealing with some documents looked up at his king, not quite sure what to make of this. To be honest, it was good enough for him that the king turned up at all and even seemed intent on joining the festivities tomorrow but he couldn't say that he wouldn't have wished that there was some more enthusiasm contained in his words. Well, over the years, he had already figured out that his king was different from what he had thought in the beginning.

He put the brush to the side and leaned back, looking at his king. "Well, the shortest possible version should be that in the morning, you are supposed to hold a short speech in front of the people that have gathered, then after that, there would be a moment for giving gifts and displaying talents, after that, the festivities throughout the capital city will start. At that time, you don't necessarily need to show your face around.

"Since I know that you are likely not too interested in spending any time with this, I was so free to come up with an alternative way of doing things. The gifts don't necessarily need to be given to you directly and you also don't necessarily need to do the speech yourself.

"Seeing as Your Majesty probably hasn't prepared one, I had An Bai write one that would fit the current state of the realm. An Bai or I could hold it in your stead while you just show your face.

"Then, we would first ask for the talents to be displayed, so you can stay around and watch for a while. After that, we would open up the festivities for everyone who is more interested in that while we receive the gifts in your stead at the same time. By then, you can decide whether you want to stick around or not." He fully expected Qiu Ling to nod along to the second version and not have anything to say about it. In any case, for most of his anniversaries, Qiu Ling couldn't be bothered.

This time though, Qiu Ling furrowed his brows faintly. "It's a special anniversary, isn't it? In that case, I should give the speech myself. What did An Bai write?"

Xiang Yong raised his brows in surprise but immediately leaned to the side to take out the paper with the speech that An Bai had prepared and handed it over to his king. "This is the prepared speech. If Your Majesty wants to, you can also just say this yourself. It would probably leave more of an impression."

Qiu Ling kept quiet for a moment and read over the speech, pursing his lips. "That's nothing like me." He folded it back up and handed it to Xiang Yong but didn't indicate whether he wanted to hold that speech or not.

Xiang Yong couldn't help but feel a little worried. If he knew what was up, he could organize everything. But if his king just looked at him and didn't really say anything ... he wasn't quite sure what to make of that.

He gave it a moment but finally couldn't help but speak up. "So, does Your Majesty intend to hold the speech yourself? Or do you want An Bai or me to do it?"

Qiu Ling gave a hum, still not answering. Instead, he got up and paced around the room, his brows furrowing faintly. "Say, are they sending a delegation from the Nine Heavens?"