Chapter 85 - Scared A Dragon

Meanwhile, in another palace in the nine heavens, two dragons got another fright. The reason? Qiang Wei's transmission stone started glowing. This was the second message from their king ever and it had happened on the same day as the first after he hadn't contacted any of them for the last couple hundred years!

Since Qiang Wei and Yi Zan had already made sure the stones were the right ones, Qiang Wei answered the call at once. "Your Majesty!"

"Qiang Wei …" Qiu Ling's appearance and voice frightened Qiang Wei once again.

"Your Majesty! What happened?"

Qiu Ling had been extremely energetic while setting his grand scheme in motion. Now … he looked listless and his voice sounded flat. What had happened?

Qiu Ling waved his concerns away. "Is Yi Zan already on his way down here?"

"Yi Zan?" Qiang Wei looked over to the equally puzzled Yi Zan. "No. Why would he even go down there? His sister is going to bring her son herself. Yi Zan is still here guarding the crown prince."

"Mn." Qiu Ling stared vacantly. "Then … you come down here."

"Ha?" It couldn't be … that he misses me? Qiang Wei had that absurd idea but discarded it right away. That was their king they were talking about. As long as he was at the crown prince's side he wouldn't even remember them.

"I said: Come down. Bring some wine with you."

Qiang Wei threw an alarmed glance at Yi Zan. Wine? Yi Zan nodded. He had heard the same. This wasn't good! No, not because the wine was more important than Qiang Wei — he had expected as much — but because their king should never come in contact with alcohol! That was the golden rule they had come up with together with the others after the last time Qiu Ling got drunk. They couldn't let him drink. Under no circumstances!

"Er … I'd love to, Your Majesty but … I'm still guarding the crown prince's body. How could I just leave my post?"

Hurt flashed through Qiu Ling's eyes. "What are you saying? Get one of the others to guard him!"

"One of the others?" Qiang Wei was stunned. Their king was normally so fuzzy about who could get near the crown prince. "You don't care who?"

Qiu Ling frowned. "Not Fu Min." Fu Min getting near the crown prince was taboo since the day he had reported seeing Jing He with another man. That was quite the normal reaction.

"Then I'll ask —"

"Not An Bai either!"

Qiang Wei lifted his brows. "What's the problem with An Bai?"

"He's too handsome!"

"Uh …" Well, An Bai was a beauty, but probably not one that would take interest in the crown prince. Their personalities just didn't match up. They were both the quiet types. Qiang Wei would rather believe the crown prince had to fear An Bai trying to seduce their king than their king having to fear anything could ever happen between An Bai and the crown prince.

"Xiang Yong! Get Xiang Yong to do it!" Qiu Ling was finally satisfied with this. Even though his heart had been broken, he still wouldn't want the wrong men near his beloved. "Now hurry and bring the booze down here!"

"But —"

"I said to hurry! So do what you're told or you can give your position to Xia Rong!" The transmission ended.

Qiang Wei stood there, frozen to the spot. That was … quite the threat. Everyone knew how much he hated Xia Rong. And that was exactly because that guy had always eyed his position. Qiang Wei wanted to retort, to tell the king how valuable he was and how much he'd regret if he really gave his position to Xia Rong. But how could he when the king had already ended the conversation?

"Damn this!", he hollered and jerked around to Yi Zan. "What is the meaning of this? What does he mean, giving my position to Xia Rong?"

"He wasn't being serious."

"He sounded quite serious to me!"

"Who knows what happened. You'll find out when you get there."

"Hmph. Maybe I should just ignore him. He can get his wine alone."

Yi Zan lifted his brows. They both knew how Qiu Ling was when he felt like or started drinking. That could get … ugly. It was definitely better if someone was with him to make sure it didn't come to the worst.

Qiang Wei also understood and finally relented under Yi Zan's stare. "Fine. I'll go."

"Take the strongest wine you can find."

Qiang Wei nodded solemnly. "Then I'll go now."

Yi Zan also nodded. After Qiang Wei left, he looked at the bed behind him. The crown prince looked as if he was soundly asleep, undisturbed by the problems in the world outside. But the same probably couldn't be said for his immortal soul. If their king wanted to get drunk that could only mean something had happened with the crown prince.

What was going on down there? He couldn't help but worry and he'd much rather go and have a look than to wait in this palace that was guarded by the gods anyway. The people their king left here … weren't they just to make him feel better about letting this body stay here alone?

Knowing him, he probably would have liked to stay at the crown prince's side the whole time, holding his hand and staring at these closed eyes unblinking until they finally opened again. It was just that he also didn't want to leave that soul on its own. He wanted to spend that time in the mortal world with his beloved so that the crown prince remembered when he awoke. Wouldn't that deepen the feelings between them?

But now their king wanted to get drunk. So … what had happened?

"What did you do this time?", he quietly whispered at the crown prince's motionless form. "Don't you know how much power you have over him? Sometimes I wonder if it was a blessing or a curse to the dragons that he got to know you. Even if you know nothing right now, you'd better not make any foolish mistakes in the mortal world. Because our king won't forget. He will never forget. He loves you way too much."

Unfortunately, Yi Zan's words couldn't reach Jing He's soul. And even if they could: He wouldn't have understood them. To him, Qiu Ling was still only a stranger and since he had seen him in different appearances, not even one he could say he knew. The real Qiu Ling … Jing Yi had never seen him.