Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 32: Continuous Efforts Are Bound to Yield Results (2)

Xiang Yong worked until late at night but at last, he managed to adjust everything as his king had wanted. He heaved a sigh of relief when everything was done, and instructed somebody to go to the Nine Heavens to inform the God of War the next morning before he went to sleep.

A few hours later, it was already time for the celebration to start.

Qiu Ling actually wasn't too enthusiastic about the whole thing. If he could, he would've liked to just go back to his beloved and take care of him. Especially with how Jing He was currently doing, he didn't want to waste too much time. But then, he had promised that he would bring him something nice and this was also a prime opportunity to advance his musical skill so he was willing to at least stay around for a while.

He picked out a nice robe, not wanting to have people talk about how badly dressed the dragon king was after this matter, and then made his way over to the throne room where An Bai and Xiang Yong were waiting.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

"I take it Your Majesty managed to finish writing a speech?"

Qiu Ling gave Xiang Yong an unenthusiastic hum and flopped down on the throne. "How long until everything starts?"

"Merely a few more minutes. We have made sure that everyone in charge is aware of the changes we made yesterday. Fu Heng will lead you over to the arena after your speech is done and you have received the first two gifts while An Bai and I will stay here to take care of matters."

Qiu Ling nodded, feeling that this had gone rather well. Anyway, he wanted to get the first part of it over as soon as possible so that he could focus on the actually important part.

Xiang Yong's words just now had reminded him that the God of War was coming over though and that he was supposed to bring him a gift from his beloved. Naturally, he was looking forward to that part of the tedious part of the anniversary. With that thought, he rose to his feet, and even put on a smile, looking a lot more interested in this matter than he had originally been.

Xiang Yong and An Bai exchanged a glance, not quite sure what to think of this but presenting the king like this was definitely something they were happy about it.

They fell into step behind him and walked over to the gate that was opened as soon as they approached, stepping outside onto the square in front.

Cheers erupted and Qiu Ling froze in his tracks when he saw the crowd outside. Usually, he didn't care about the anniversary of his coronation and either found an excuse for why he couldn't come or had Xiang Yong arrange things in a way that would mean he didn't have to directly interact with anyone. But this time, that wasn't possible. Since he had promised that he would hold the speech and had already stepped outside, he had to go ahead with it.

His gaze brushed over the people and he spotted a group from the spirit beast tribe, as well as the gods from the Nine Heavens, among them. Qiang Yan was already there, giving him a faint smile.

Qiu Ling nodded at him, wanting to go over to inquire about his beloved's condition but he knew that he first had to hold the speech.

Thinking of that, he stepped to the front, waiting for the gates to close behind him and the crowd to quiet down before he addressed his people. "Back when I ascended the throne, we had just won the war against demon king Huo Yan. Back then, many gruesome battles were fought, many lost their lives, and even those who survived found themselves in constant danger.

"Now, too many millennia have passed as that I would want to count them. I would like to assume that things have gotten better. Life isn't fraught with danger anymore. Even though there still are some skirmishes every now and then, most regions have been safe for a long time.