Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume 12, Part 1)

155 No Man Would Keep Him From Helping His People

Zheng Yin didn't know how to deal with this for a moment. He hadn't spent much time with Xiang Yong and they hadn't actually talked much. It seemed odd that he would have such concerns. After a moment, the reason why Xiang Yong thought that he wasn't up for the task finally hit him as well and he gulped faintly. "Are you saying this because ... of my feelings for Senior Xin Lan?"

Xiang Yong didn't know how to react either. He had thought that this was obvious but had also thought that Zheng Yin wouldn't want to talk about it. Now that he directly put it out in the open, it seemed that he'd have to talk about it after all. "I was considering this angle, yes.

"His Majesty didn't give any specific directions as to how this cooperation was supposed to look like. From what I understood, the idea would be to learn more about each other's side and then come up with something based on this. Basically, he wants to further the understanding between us dragons and your spirit beast tribe before doing anything else.

"Right now, His Majesty is in the Nine Heavens but I suppose that wouldn't be the most suitable place to work together. So this would either have to wait until he returns which ... we currently can't predict when that will be or ..." He hesitated and finally vaguely motioned around his study. "This cooperation would not be directly between you and the king but with one of us as his advisers."

"Most likely you." Zheng Yin was somewhat aware of the overall situation after staying here for a while.

Adviser An Bai who would be the most suitable person for this task wasn't here and was unlikely to return soon either. The advisers Fu Heng and Fu Min had their own specific tasks that didn't allow for something that could be considered major so that only left three other advisers to deal with this.

He didn't know Adviser Qiang Wei and Adviser Yi Zan very well. Maybe they were suitable but since he wasn't familiar with them, they weren't a good choice either. Adviser Xiang Yong was different. While they couldn't be considered close, they had a certain understanding from the few times their paths had crossed before. He had also been there when the matter with the demon-hunting sects had been solved which would make the acceptance among the spirit beasts higher right from the beginning.

Xiang Yong nodded. "Yes, I presume I would take over this task. This would mean staying here in the palace and ... maybe running into him every now and then. I could imagine that that would hurt." He had never been in love himself so he had no first-hand experience but he had seen how some dragons would torture themselves over the one they had fallen for. It might be easier for a spirit beast who could theoretically fall in love with somebody else in the future but at the time when it happened, the feeling probably didn't differ much from the lovelorn state of those dragons.

Zheng Yin sighed. His unrequited feelings for Xin Lan were really too obvious, it seemed. "It's alright. I ... I do like him, I will admit that. I understand that the feeling isn't mutual though. So I won't bother him and I ... I don't think he would make things difficult for me. As for seeing him, I can deal with that."

Yes, there was no risk that Xin Lan would come to him again. At least not in the way he had in the past. The last time, while he had thought for a moment that there might be something more when Xin Lan looked at him, in the end, nothing had happened. He had only asked him to check his body over and then left directly after. Clearly, to Xin Lan, their previous relationship meant nothing.

Zheng Yin lowered his gaze and finally forced a wry smile. "Actually, maybe it will be good to have a task. Right now, while I am staying here, I only randomly study a little. It really can't keep the mind occupied as well as a real task could. If there was something else to do, I'd probably have a better chance to get over this matter with Senior Xin Lan."

Xiang Yong nodded. "Alright, you know best what will work for you so I won't say anything else. As long as you're willing to do this, I am happy to work together."

Zheng Yin nodded, his smile turning a little lighter. "I am willing. In fact, I like the idea. Things haven't been easy for my people and if I can help to change that, then I would be more than happy." Yes, this was for the betterment of everyone and he certainly wouldn't let his feelings for some man get in the way of that. Especially not a man who had made it crystal clear that he had no interest in him at all.

"Then I suppose we should decide how to go about this. I will inform His Majesty this evening or tomorrow morning at the very latest that you have agreed. I will also regularly keep him updated so he knows how we are progressing."

Zheng Yin nodded. He knew the dragon king was currently preoccupied with his lover's disappearance and likely injury. It was already incredible that he was able to think about them at all. "Then what shall we do? You mentioned wanting to further the understanding between our people. Do you have something specific in mind?"

Xiang Yong hadn't had much time to think about this so he couldn't give a detailed answer at this moment. Roughly though ... "I believe that the important part would be to find the similarities and differences between both sides. I have seen how that his bettered His Majesty's personal relationship with the Son of Heaven and I believe that this should work the same on a greater scale. As for how exactly to go about that, I would happily defer to you in that regard. I know you are a refiner and as such, a bit of a scholar as well, I presume. You will likely have better ideas than I would."