Romancing the Son of Heaven (Part 2)

Stratagem 55: Well Prepared Is Halfway Finished (2)

Jing He nodded but inside, he still felt tangled. In the past, he wouldn't have doubted his mother's words but after the long separation he had just experienced, always worrying whether he would ever see Qiu Ling again or not ... he just couldn't help but feel that it wouldn't be that easy.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his mood, and finally nodded again as if he had gained some conviction. "Yes, I suppose you are right. Then I should go back and prepare. He will probably come by tomorrow morning to ask how my talk with father went."

Bai Fen hummed. "Do that. Anyway, in the worst case, just send him here. I don't mind telling him more about it so he'll understand. As a dragon, his knowledge of the trials should be limited."

Jing He nodded but he didn't think it would be necessary. In fact, Qiu Ling didn't need to know much. It was alright as long as he understood that this wasn't his choice but something he had to do even if he didn't want to.

Even though Jing He had just arrived, he already bid goodbye to his mother soon after and returned to his own palace. In fact, he didn't know how to prepare for this talk. What to say or do ... he couldn't imagine it. He could only hope that he would find the right words when the time came.

At this moment, it was already in the late afternoon so there wasn't much more time to pass. Jing He went to the study and sat down to paint for a while, his mind naturally staying on Qiu Ling. Soon, the image of a pair of star-crossed lovers appeared on the paper scroll, separated by a winding river so wide that even though they both reached out with all their might, not even the tips of their fingers could touch.

When the last stroke of the brush had been finished, Jing He absent-mindedly cleaned up. Only by the time he picked up the finished painting did he pull out of his thoughts. Seeing what he had painted, he could only sigh.

To be honest, the notion that a trueborn god and a dragon could be separated by something like a river was ridiculous and yet, that was how he felt at the moment. For his trial, he would have to leave his immortal body behind and become mortal, living a full life in the realm of humans. In that realm, time moved differently and a year would pass by while only a day had gone by in the Nine Heavens. So what was this if not being separated by the river of time?

He would experience a whole new life from birth to death while Qiu Ling would be left alone in the immortal realms, continuing as he usually would. This might not be a problem at ordinary times but right now ... it sure seemed as if it could cause issues between them. After all, didn't the timing seem too coincidental? He had promised to marry him today and tomorrow, he would tell him that he would leave for the trial.

Qiu Ling had already had doubts about their relationship. How could he give him even more reasons to think now? Not to mention ... even if only a few weeks or months went by in the immortal realms, that was more than enough time to let go of the old and welcome the new if there had already been cracks in the previous connection.

Jing He reached up, faintly touching his chest. His heart squeezed painfully just thinking of the possibility that he might return from his trial only to find out that Qiu Ling had moved on. He really didn't want to see that happen.

Jing He got to his feet and took a deep breath, trying to calm down again. Yes, the situation was not ideal but it couldn't be changed. The trial had to be done or the consequences would be disastrous. This was Tian's curse on the race of the gods, his penalty for what they had done to his lover. Those who defied his orders ... naturally, only death awaited them. So even if he didn't want to, he had to go on this trial.

He quietly put away the painting, afraid that Qiu Ling would see such an unlucky thing. Making sure that everything was in order, he looked through the rest of the palace, trying to see if there was anything left to tidy up.

Preparing a trial usually didn't take much time. As long as you applied for some of the water from the River of Forgetfulness, you only needed to get the vial, drink it, and then you could be on your way. Ah, of course, an array had to be prepared in advance to preserve your body while you were gone. But these things were commonplace in the Nine Heavens so it really was just going to the palaces in charge and then you could leave.

The most time-consuming part was preparing a fate for that trial if you intended to do so. After all, while it might be called one trial, there were actually several you needed to pass. So after you descended and lived that life without knowledge of your past self as a trueborn god, you would encounter all kinds of unlucky matters.

Which matters those were ... it depended entirely on fate. It was just that this fate, since it concerned a mortal, could be influenced by the gods down to the last detail. The ones in charge of that were the scribes in the Palace of Fate.

Knowing his father, he would insist that a fate was written for his trial and he would also insist to review it to ensure that there was nothing wrong in there. The one he would task to write his trial ... it should be the person heading the Palace of Fate, the Fate's Scribe Shun Tao. Of course, it was also likely that his father would look at that fate and have it revised again and again until he was satisfied and had basically decided everything by himself. It truly wouldn't surprise him.

Jing He sighed and finally gave up straightening out his palace. Anyway, it had never been in disarray and it would take at least a few days — if not longer — before he could leave. He shouldn't bother about such things now. No, he should spend more time calming down and finding ways to explain to Qiu Ling without upsetting him and making their relationship crumble before his eyes.

Thinking of this, Jing He left things around him as they were and instead went to change his clothes for the night. Meanwhile, his thoughts stayed on Qiu Ling. He wasn't an unreasonable person. As long as he explained well, he presumably wouldn't make this into a big issue. The important part was making him understand that he had no choice and that this separation also wouldn't be for long.

Yes, as long as he could stress this point, Qiu Ling might not mind as much. After all, just as his mother had said, there were still things left to do before the wedding could be held. He just had to promise that the wedding would happen as soon as possible after he returned and then truly go through with it when the time came. Anyway, he was also looking forward to it.

Jing He felt that this idea wasn't too bad so he finally calmed down for real. He still worried about what would happen tomorrow when Qiu Ling returned and if he would manage to explain this clearly but ... he had at least made up his mind already. And the rest ... he would decide on that when he stood in front of Qiu Ling. Anyway, his exact words should also depend on his lover's reaction. So until then, there really was nothing left to do.