Oh. My. Fate?! (Bl, Volume 10, Part 1)

68 A Precarious State of Mind

Inside the room, Jinde cracked his eyes open. He had fully expected these two to come running over to disturb them so he wasn't all that surprised. Anyway, wasn't that why he had put down that array?

Leng Jin Yu had felt that it was a little over-the-top but he wasn't about to be disrespected in what had originally been his own palace. Thus, he had still insisted in the end. Now, it seemed that this had been a wise decision.

He smiled to himself and turned around, sidling up more closely to his husband. Ah, wasn't it beautiful to be alone with just the person you loved the most? He stretched his neck and kissed Leng Jin Yu's chin, waking his husband up.

Leng Jin Yu gave a hum and pulled him closer as well, not quite sure what he owed this display of affection to. "Did you have a nice dream?"

"Not a nice dream but when I woke up, I saw something nice."

Leng Jin Yu smiled as well and kissed him back but then just pulled the blanket up a little higher, not doing anything further.

Jinde pursed his lips, feeling that since they were already awake, maybe there was no need to go back to sleep immediately.

Unfortunately, even though he had some intentions that he was pretty sure he could convince his husband to follow through with, he wasn't about to get private time with him.

Fu Min might have been thwarted from barging in, but the barrier didn't keep sound out. Thus, when he suddenly started banging on the door, yelling for them to open up, Leng Jin Yu realized what was going on.

"They really came over in the middle of the night?"

"Didn't I say it was good to have a barrier up? You never know with other people."

Leng Jin Yu frowned and finally sat up.

Jinde raised his brows, not sure what to make of that. "You aren't seriously considering going over there and opening, are you? Do you have any idea how late it is? If they want something, they can come over in the morning!"

Leng Jin Yu climbed out of bed and shook his head while he put over his outer robe. "That's precisely what's worrying me. They could wait until morning unless this is a dire situation."

"Would they really come to us with that though?" Jinde propped himself up on an elbow, not quite believing it. Anyway, they were new. And while Xiang Yong had told them that their reason for coming here was real, that didn't mean that they would immediately be treated as a pair of new advisers. After all, Qiu Ling hadn't given any orders.

Leng Jin Yu looked over his shoulder, also feeling a little skeptical. "Well, Xiang Yong and An Bai are both busy with their own tasks. Qiang Wei and Yi Zan are in the Nine Heavens as well. That only leaves these two here. I could imagine that if something were to happen and they needed help, we would be the first to ask. Actually, we might be the only choice."

Jinde sighed but then just waved for his husband to go ahead. Anyway, they'd feel better if they knew. It couldn't hurt to make sure of it. "If it's something unnecessary, throw them out. And I'll push the barrier further to the middle of the courtyard tomorrow."

Leng Jin Yu smiled and nodded, giving him the go-ahead for that. Then, he opened the door. "Adviser Fu Min, adviser Fu Heng, what might be the matter in the middle of the night?"

Fu Min pushed past him, immediately turning to the bed, looking a lot as if he wanted to rush over.

Fu Heng hurriedly stepped inside as well and grabbed his husband by the shoulder to make sure that they wouldn't be thrown out.

Even though he was held back from running over, Fu Min was still able to run his mouth at least. "How good of a scholar are you?"

Jinde raised his brows and glanced at his husband, really not sure what to make of this. He sat up though and pulled out a robe from his spatial ring, unsure of where the one he had originally worn yesterday had gone, and putting it over. "That probably depends on what exactly you want to know. I'm not as widely studied as your adviser An Bai. In any case, my specialty is refinement. If your question is about that, I will be able to give you a better answer than he could. But other than that, I'm not that deeply learned. I guess I would be able to get into it with some time though. Why?"

Fu Min answered with a curse, and then clasped a hand over his mouth again, looking very much like he wanted to start pacing in this room as well.

Fu Heng gave his husband a sideways look and then turned back to Jinde. "Something happened to the king."

At that, the smile that had been hanging around Jinde's lips immediately fell. "Something? How bad is it?" He got to his feet, getting dressed immediately, clearly not playing around anymore.

Leng Jin Yu did the same, not hesitating for a single moment.

Seeing this reaction, Fu Heng actually calmed down. Before, he hadn't been completely sure if it was a good idea to involve these two. But clearly, they didn't feel any different about the king than they as his advisers did.

At the very least, they were willing to let go of anything else and immediately start preparations to help him. With that, there wasn't a doubt about their stance anymore.

Fu Min realized the same so he finally explained what had just happened, still hoping that they might be able to come up with something.

When Jinde heard, his expression became even more concerned. Fu Heng and Fu Min might not be as aware as people of his generation who had seen cases like these play out all too often when the war against Jian Heng had been at its height. But a dragon that lost their partner, or had them even just barely make it, was in a state where life and death were much too close together.

And he was afraid that — especially with somebody like Qiu Ling who had already been in a precarious state of mind before — it would be difficult to get him out of that state. In fact, he wasn't sure if he would be able to do so.