Chapter 158 - A Trial Of Love

"Ah, Senior Yue Xia, you are already here. I just came back from reporting to his Majesty."

The white-haired god nodded unhurriedly. "It's nice to see you again, Shun Tao. The matter you wanted to talk about has to be quite important if you're in such a hurry to see me."

"Mn. It is indeed of great importance. Please, come in." He motioned inside and led the god of love into his study. "Please, have a seat." He sat down opposite him and poured him a cup of tea while thinking about how to approach the topic. "I hope you don't mind if I get to the point immediately. The matter I am worrying about pertains to his Highness, the crown prince."

Yue Xia nodded and took up the cup of tea. "Just go ahead."

Shun Tao took a deep breath and tried to sort his thoughts out. "You might know that his Highness is currently attempting his trial in the mortal world. The fate I wrote for him originally contained a trial of love."

"But it didn't come to be?"

Shun Tao nodded. "Indeed. There were some … unforeseen incidents that led to a slightly different fate. The thing I am wondering about is if you tied a red threat for his mortal life?"

Yue Xia smiled. "Didn't you send the notice that he shouldn't be connected?"

"Indeed. It is just … I am a little worried about it, so I wanted to make sure. I apologize if I've made you come over for nothing."

"Don't worry about that. It's natural to expend a little more effort if our crown prince's life depends on it. Regarding his love trial, I indeed didn't tie a red thread. Even if you hadn't reported the general direction of his mortal life, I wouldn't have tied it. Actually, his Highness himself came to see me before he descended. He asked me not to tie the red thread for him."

"Hah?" Shun Tao was stunned. "What do you mean? Why would his Highness do something like that?"

Yue Xia smiled. "The fate of an immortal's love can't be determined by anyone but heaven itself. But looking at his Highness and the current Longjun, I do feel like those two have a special connection between them. They might be meant for each other."

"I see. His Highness wanted to avoid bringing trouble to that relationship."

Yue Xia nodded. "We can't forget that he's a dragon. As far as I know, they are quite particular about their relationships. If his Highness encountered a love trial in the mortal world and things developed between him and some other man that might ruin his relationship with Longjun forever. That wouldn't be wise in my humble opinion. Neither for the relationship between our two races nor for his Highness himself. He seems to love this man very much."

Shun Tao nodded. "Longjun is deeply in love with him, too." The only problem was that he was too crazy in his attempts to show that love. But actually, if one looked at how the Heavenly emperor treated his son, then that wasn't too unexpected. Those two were extremely similar to each other. Haish, he should probably pity the crown prince to be surrounded by two such men. How was he able to cope with that every day?

Yue Xia put down his cup of tea and patted the table. "Shun Tao, boy, I know you want to help him pass his trials as soon as possible. And most likely you also want to show off in front of the Heavenly emperor a bit."

Shun Tao smiled wryly. Well, he had wanted to do that. But it was more than too late for that. In fact, he had even managed to look incompetent in front of him.

Yue Xia ignored his expression and just continued: "You should think things through again. This isn't a task to achieve this. The Heavenly emperor cares deeply about his son and attaches a lot of importance to this trial but you can't forget that he isn't the one attempting it. The one who has to go through all this is his Highness himself. So, rather than looking at how he can achieve as many trials as possible and how you can impress the Heavenly emperor, you should rather look at which trials his Highness needs to pass."

"Well, it's his first trial but he has attempted it quite late. He needs to pass a few."

"Yes, he needs to pass a few to gain Heaven's acceptance but the question is: What does he as a person need? Would he really need a trial of love when his love is already being tested here in the nine heavens?"

Shun Tao raised his brows. "How is his love being tested here? If you want to look at his relationship with Longjun, then wouldn't it rather be the dragon king's trial? He was the one chasing him if I remember correctly."

Yue Xia nodded. "Indeed but that doesn't mean that his Highness doesn't have his own problems. Maybe, rather than calling it a trial of love we should maybe call it a trial of decision. He stands between the man he loves and the one who raised him up. That can't be easy. Especially with the Heavenly emperor's temper."

"Mn. They're both quite temperamental."

"So, you see, his Highness' trial is something that might need to be observed from another perspective. Don't think about that love trial. He has his own that was already issued by Heaven itself. You should be thinking about the rest."

Shun Tao cupped his fists and bowed his head. "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Yue Xia. I feel like I'm seeing clearer now."

The white-haired old god smiled. "As long as his Highness is alright I'm content. That boy needs a partner like Longjun at his side or life will become a strain on him someday." He stood up and nodded at Shun Tao. "I'll return to my own palace then. No need to see me out."

Shun Tao hurried to stand up and bow again. He really felt like he had seen the light. Indeed, he had approached that trial like any other just with the addition that he himself wanted to make an especially good trial. He hadn't thought about the fact that someone like the crown prince might need something different.

He sat down again and took out the scroll of fate, reading everything that had happened in Zhong Jing Yi's life until now once again. It was a pity he didn't know much about the crown prince. Now, he'd have to piece together some clues to adjust this trial. But, well, it didn't matter. He would find some way to make his Highness pass a meaningful trial.