Chapter 126 - Those Loyal Followers

Qiu Ling examined him and nodded slightly. Ah, it had really been a brilliant idea to call her over. If that boy couldn't make that mortal stay away from his beloved then nobody could. As soon as he came to that conclusion, Qiu Ling paused. Wait. Wasn't this exactly what his mother-in-law had warned him about? Damn. What if his beloved had seen this boy and actually fallen in love with him?!

Fu Min observed the changing expression of his king and grabbed another cookie, furiously munching on. Ah, he's at it again. Let's see how it turns out this time. He had seen often enough just how crazy his king was for crown prince Jing He. And his gaze right now was screaming 'You dared to mess with my beloved!' It was a gaze spelling trouble.

Ai Hua, too, noticed that gaze. She nudged her son. "Xiao Dong, my darling, Fu Min and I have some things to discuss with His Majesty. Why don't you go and work on His Majesty's assignment for a bit? You haven't seen that Shao Hai for some hours already, have you?"

Xiao Dong's reaction so far had been the complete opposite of his mother and Fu Min's. Under that continuously darkening stare, Xiao Dong actually blushed. Oh heavens! That was it! The kind of stare only a true ruler would have! You could practically feel him oozing his might even though he was standing some meters away. No wonder his father and uncle were looking up to him! Ah, he also wanted to serve this man with his life! He wanted to kneel down right now!

While imagining how somebody wanted to steal his lover Qiu Ling actually managed to gain a new loyal follower. One really had to wonder how exactly he had established his reign in the dragon realm in the first place. Had all of that really been due to his fight with the demon king? Or had there been some … controversial coincidences, too?

Now that his mother wanted him to leave, Xiao Dong's face fell. That was his idol! He looked at Qiu Ling smoothing out the non-existent wrinkles in his clothes before he sat down with a regal air. He wanted to stay and witness his king's might for a while longer!

Xiao Dong looked up at Ai Hua with watery eyes. Unfortunately, that was a skill Ai Hua had taught him herself so of course, it wouldn't work on her. She waved him away, not caring for his feelings. Well, one could say she cared about his physical well-being more than the emotional one. Who knew what the king would do if he got into a bad mood?

Yi Zan had once told her how His Majesty had challenged An Bai because he had talked to the crown prince for a minute while His Majesty stood next to them. His Majesty had been ignored and the conclusion he had drawn? An Bai was too handsome for his own good! It was time to disfigure that damned face! Well, thanks to the crown prince An Bai still had that pretty face of his but he hadn't talked to the crown prince for a long, long time. And whenever he did he took extra care to make sure His Majesty was not around.

Ai Hua didn't relent and pointed to the entrance until her son gave up. Xiao Dong's shoulders drooped but he finally went on his way to search for Shao Hai.

Thus, a certain young dragon stumbled upon a worrisome scene at the house of the Shaos:

"I'm going to marry Xiao Yi!" That was Shao Hai throwing a tantrum.

Xiao Dong's face fell. Why was that boy not even slightly wavering? Had he not been direct enough in his approach for the last few days?

Mister Shao sighed. "Xiao Yi is going to become a cultivator. Don't you understand what that means? He'll become an immortal and might even ascend to heaven someday. How do you expect him to marry you?" It wasn't that Mister Shao didn't want his son to marry Zhong Jing Yi. Quite the contrary. He had been in favor of that idea. But now that boy had joined a deity sect. It was completely impossible to make him his daughter-in-law now. Erm, his son-in-law, of course.

"Then I'll become a cultivator, too! I'll go to that Yun Zou sect right now and ask them to take me in as a disciple!"

Mister Shao and Xiao Dong were both floored. Hah? What? Becoming a cultivator just like that?

Mister Shao slapped the table. "I dare you to try that! Who's going to inherit my business if you become a cultivator?"

"Don't know! And I don't care anyway! I'm going to marry Xiao Yi, you'll see!"

After that, a certain boy ran out of his father's study and went to pack up his things. Nobody but Xiao Dong noticed. His father wouldn't even have thought something like this could happen. He only sighed and murmured: "Well, he'll see someday that there are many fishes in the pond."

Unfortunately, by then, his son had already left the capital in the direction of the Yun Zou sect to catch a special fish in a special pond.

And of course, to appeal to his king, a certain dragon had followed.

He didn't know, though, that his king had already calmed down anyway. With uncharacteristic focus, he had actually managed to shake his head and throw those thoughts of Xiao Dong and his Jing He out of his head. Well, it might have had something to do with the fact that Ai Hua had made her son leave so he didn't have to see him any longer.

By now, Qiu Ling looked at Fu Min with expectations in his eyes. It couldn't be that this guy just waited here for the fun of it, could it?

Fu Min laughed with embarrassment, clearly perceiving what Qiu Ling was thinking. "Hehe, Your Majesty!" He lowered his voice so the humans around them wouldn't hear. "Ai Hua brought her child over as you wished. He's well underway to trap that mortal boy who dared to set his sight on your beloved. Ai Hua and I waited here to support him while Qiang Wei followed your beloved to that mortal Yun Zou sect to protect him. I was so free as to collect some information on these so-called 'deity sects' of the mortals in general and of course, everything that could be helpful concerning your beloved's time in this Yun Zou sect. Do you want me to report it now? There are some things I feel we should take note of to ensure your beloved's safety."

Seeing that Fu Min had actually prepared all that, Qiu Ling's mood lifted a bit. Mn, he should at least listen to it. His subjects were all so hardworking and loyal … Actually, he didn't care about that. The thing that really cheered him up was the fact that Fu Min had said 'your beloved' in nearly all of his sentences.

Qiu Ling smiled a brilliant smile that threatened to blind the female guests around them. "Make it short. I can't make my beloved wait for too long. In fact, it'll be alright if you just tell me what I have to do to make sure nobody's going to seduce him. Or hurt him." In case, anyone would actually want to try the latter. He couldn't really imagine it, though. With someone as perfect as Jing He, who wouldn't want to have him as a partner and instead hurt him?

Ah, my beloved … Don't you worry! Your future husband will soon follow you to that 'Yun Zou sect'. I'll hold off all those annoying men and we can finally rekindle our love!

The advice his mother-in-law gave him? The things he had promised to do? Oh? Had there been such a thing?