Romancing the Son of Heaven (Part 2)

Stratagem 51: Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder (2)

Jing He continued to sit quietly for a long time. The sun already started to tilt outside when he finally pulled himself out of his stupor. He sighed, annoyed at himself for getting so lost in thought.

What use was there in doing this? He wouldn't find a solution all by himself and he needed one urgently. If Qiu Ling indeed returned once more, he had to be ready to act in whichever way was right. If he didn't ... then making a decision soon might be important so his actions — if he took any — would not be deemed perfunctory.

Jing He took a deep breath, smoothed out his robes, and then left the palace. Before he left, he turned to Mu Kun. "I am going to my mother's palace for a while. Should ... Longjun come by, please let him know where I am." His cheeks reddened slightly when he mentioned Qiu Ling. Huang Lan and Mu Kun were the two usually guarding his palace so they naturally were aware of just how often Qiu Ling came by. Making such a request after not seeing him for only a few days made him feel embarrassed.

Mu Kun inclined his head. "Naturally, Your Highness. Should one of us accompany you?"

Jing He shook his head. "No, it's not that far and I will likely be back soon."

Mu Kun nodded again and then silently watched as Jing He walked away. When he was sure that he was outside of earshot, he couldn't help but turn to the other guard. "Did you also see that just now? His Highness blushed while talking to me."

Huang Lan raised his brows. "You mean His Highness blushed while talking about the dragon king."

Mu Kun sighed deeply. "Yeah. Why couldn't Heaven bless me with good looks?"

"Oh, do you also want to have a realm as your own?"

"If it came with the heart of the Son of Heaven, I don't think anybody would say no." He sighed again and shook his head. People like them could only dream of being in the dragon king's situation. Although then again ... "Well, looking at the possible father-in-law, maybe it's not worth it anyway."

Huang Lan grimaced and nodded as well. Yeah, if he had to be part of the Heavenly Emperor's family, he'd also pass up on the chance. No beauty was worth making your life that difficult. Especially if you were from the Nine Heavens and couldn't just take the beauty away to your own realm.

While the two guards were sighing about the unfairness of Heaven, Jing He made his way over to his mother's palace. He had already bothered his uncle about this and since he had mentioned to her that he had asked, she shouldn't be surprised to see him. Maybe she would be able to give him some advice since she had talked to Qiu Ling last.

Jing He tried to calm himself down. It had been a long time since he left his uncle's palace so the magnitude of his reaction had long since died down. What was left was only that faint anxiety of an unknown future but he could live with that.

When the servant announced his arrival, Bai Fen nodded. She had already expected him. In fact, she had expected him a while ago. After all, if his uncle couldn't help him, shouldn't he come to her?

When her son finally walked in, Bai Fen gave him a smile. "Jing He, how are you doing?" Naturally, she could see that he wasn't that well and she hadn't expected anything else after the plan she had told Qiu Ling. This was a good thing though. While she didn't want to see him suffer, he at least seemed to understand that the status quo couldn't be kept. This was what she had wanted to see.

Jing He inclined his head. "I am well, mother. How are you doing? I hope uncle didn't disturb you earlier on my behalf."

Bai Fen shook her head and waved for him to sit down. "Not at all. You also know I am rather idle most days. Come on, sit down. I presume you're not just here to ask about how I am."

Jing He's expression turned troubled. When he had been younger, most of his time had been spent accompanying either of his parents or maybe both of them together. Then, after he came of age and met Qiu Ling, he was suddenly preoccupied with entertaining him, spending less and less time with his parents. This really was a mistake he had made and with his mother saying this now, he felt guilty.

Bai Fen glanced at her son's expression and sighed. It was really too easy to make Jing He feel troubled. If she had felt that it would change anything, she would have had a frank talk with him to let him know that he should cut out all those worries and just live. Unfortunately, she knew him well enough to realize that it wouldn't work and would instead make him worry more. Jing He was just like that.

She thought for a while and finally shook her head. "I'm just joking with you. I figured you might not be in such a good mood and could use a few words to lighten the atmosphere. I guess I was wrong with that."

Jing He hurriedly shook his head. "No, how could mother be wrong?"

Bai Fen rolled her eyes at her son and poured both of them a cup of tea. "Here, have some tea, let go of the thought from just now, and then just tell me. I know you must be anxious about Longjun not dropping by."

Jing He's cheeks flushed but he still nodded and gingerly picked up the teacup. His mother knew him too well. He hadn't even said anything but she already knew that his thoughts were still circling around Qiu Ling. He felt ... as if he had been caught doing something forbidden. But then, she had always encouraged this relationship so maybe he didn't need to worry.

Jing He was lost in his thoughts for a while but Bai Fen didn't rush him. In her opinion, it was already great that her son had come to see her to speak about the matter. This meant that he was open to tackling this issue. If he had simply hidden away for the next few days to mope until Qiu Ling returned, she would have worried whether her plan had any chance of succeeding.

After a minute or two, Jing He finally found the right words to move the conversation along. "Mother isn't wrong. Longjun ... has been coming by very often but now, his behavior changed abruptly. I can't help but feel that I must have done something wrong to incur his ire. If this is the case ... then what should I do?" He didn't dare to look at her and instead stared into the cup as if he could find the answer in there.

Bai Fen hummed. "It does seem odd." She didn't continue immediately but instead picked up her own teacup and took a sip. She had thought about what to tell Jing He since the moment she send Qiu Ling off. Now, she didn't have any trouble answering his question.

"As I said to your uncle earlier, it is likely that this is about his dashed hopes. I presume something happened recently?" She wasn't totally up-to-date on her son's love life but Qiu Ling had indeed seemed frustrated about his lack of progress. This might just have been about the time that had passed but it also could have been related to a newer incident. The latter seemed more likely to her.

Jing He paused but then nodded. "He gave me a gift as a way of professing his feelings. I ... I accepted it but didn't reply in kind."

"Then there you have it."

"So what should I do?" Jing He finally looked up, the worry evident in his eyes. He really couldn't imagine leaving this be but he didn't know how to go about this. Hopefully, his mother would have any ideas.