Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 35: Expose the Deeply Hidden Truths (1)

No matter how he looked at it, Jing He couldn't help but feel pleased that Qiu Ling had gone to such effort to make him happy. Of course, he wouldn't reject his good intentions. "This really is too thoughtful of Longjun.

"I would very much enjoy listening to some music for a while. I am just afraid that I might not be in that great of a condition to receive guests. Especially not somebody from the dragon race. I would ..." He trailed off, not quite sure where to go with this.

He had thought that he did not want to make Qiu Ling look bad but then how would he do that? In any case, there was no official relationship between the two of them. Thinking of it that way, the only ones he could make look bad were the gods, not the dragon king.

Qiu Ling either didn't catch his drift or maybe he simply didn't care as usual. He just gently squeezed his hand and shook his head. "You're beautiful as always but there is no problem with closing the curtain in the meantime. I might have mentioned that part of the reason why I invited them over was that you haven't been doing too well recently and can't leave your palace. I'm sure that they would understand if you did not meet them face-to-face."

Jing He hastily nodded, still a little hung up over his mistake just now. Really, with everything that had happened these years and especially after the last few days of spending so much time with Longjun and crossing way too many boundaries, he had trouble behaving the way he should.

In the future, he would need to pay more attention to that. Otherwise, what if somebody realized? The dragon king knowing was the least of his problems since he encouraged this behavior but if anyone outside of the two of them was made aware of this ... that would indeed reflect badly on both of them.

Jing He might not be saying much in response to his suggestion but Qiu Ling still figured that this should count as silent acquiescence. As such, he got up and carefully pulled the curtains closed before reaching through the small gap and accurately grasping onto Jing He's hand. "The two of them had some time to look around the festival so they aren't in a hurry to return. They can play for as long as you want them to.

"If it is getting too much, you can say so. If you want to listen for a while longer, that would also be alright. You don't need to limit yourself either way. Just say what you want. In any case, this is my gift to you and I'd like to spoil you. So it won't be too much no matter what you ask for. Just allow yourself to be pampered this once."

Jing He could still vaguely see Qiu Ling's figure through the curtain and hearing his voice that was especially soft at this moment made his heart thump faster. "I will keep it in mind."

Qiu Ling nodded and then let go of his hand, rising to his feet again. "In that case, I'll go and get the two of them."

He left, feeling as if for sure, his beloved's gaze had to be on his back, and then stepped around the screen and through the door, looking over to where he had left Yu Gan and her wife. To surprise, while Yu Gan was still standing at the same spot, nothing could be seen of Shou Quan.

Qiu Ling raised his brows and then walked over, looking around in case he had missed something obvious. "Where's your wife?"

Yu Gan gave an embarrassed smile. "She ... ran off with the God of War."

Qiu Ling's eyes widened and he looked around to see if he could still spot the two of them. Unfortunately, he couldn't. Now, this was a problem. "You ... You're still going to play for my beloved, right? You won't hold this against me?"

Yu Gan give him a puzzled look. "Why would I hold this against you, Your Majesty?"

Qiu Ling stared at her and then couldn't help but narrow his eyes. "Uh ... when you said 'run off' you meant that she went somewhere with him to do ... something, right? Not that she just left you for the God of War, right?"