Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume 7)

123 The One to Take His Side

Qiu Ling's expression softened when he thought back to that time. Yes, at first, he had really liked Jinde. While his mother ... He sighed. "My mother always cared most about my father's opinion. I guess it's no wonder. After all, it was her mission to seduce him away from the old geezer. Naturally, she would pay most attention to him. Why would she disagree with him just for the sake of a child and risk offending him, maybe even failing her mission because of that?
"Jinde was different. He cared about my old man — even more than she did — but he wouldn't blindly echo him. When he didn't like what he saw he would always speak out about it. And I think he did have a soft spot for me.
"I remember one time ... I had beat up the son of one of his advisers. Nobody had bothered him with it but that guy's father had run to complain to my old man. Naturally, my father was furious. He chased me through the palace and threatened that he would teach me a lesson that I wouldn't forget this time."
Leng Jin Yu raised his brows. "This time?" So that hadn't been the only one. Well, it figured. This trouble-making personality of his probably wasn't anything new. He should have been the same when he was a child. Maybe it had just gotten worse with time.
Qiu Ling pursed his lips. "That's about the same as what he said when the old geezer stopped him." Qiu Ling sighed. "Whenever my old man was trying to get me for something I had done, I ran away and hid somewhere in the palace. I don't know if you remember that place but it's huge. And there are so many spots where a child can hide that my old man always had trouble finding me. Then again he didn't have that much else to do so he had the patience to search for several hours while I didn't necessarily have the patience to hide for that long.
"That day I ventured out of my hiding place after five hours. I was sure that he would have given up by then. After all, it wasn't like I had seriously injured that boy. He had just taken a little beating and maybe his ego was slightly bruised after being beaten up by someone who was younger than him. But I mean, he could still walk and his magic also worked, so it wasn't really like I deserved to be scolded that much, was it?" He blinked at Leng Jin Yu as if he wanted to hear his opinion on the matter.
Leng Jin Yu smiled wryly. What was he supposed to say now? It wasn't as if he really knew the situation from back then. But if Qiu Ling was saying the truth and the other child hadn't been hurt too much, then maybe it really hadn't been that serious? "Well, I guess your father overreacted a bit."
Qiu Ling raised his brows. Was the reincarnation of his father really this easy-going? It was hard to believe! He shook his head and didn't dwell on the issue any longer. This wasn't important at all! The important thing was that his father hadn't been like that. "Anyway, that bastard was laying in wait for me. He actually caught me just a few minutes after I crawled out of my hiding place. Naturally, I wouldn't let things go just like that. I very seriously informed him that I was not alright with this kind of treatment. He didn't want to listen but thankfully, our voices had already managed to draw the old geezer over."
Leng Jin Yu's lips twitched. What were the chances that this 'very seriously discussing' had been them yelling at each other? It certainly sounded that way if Jinde had appeared even though the palace was big.
Qiu Ling didn't notice Leng Jin Yu's queer expression and just continued with his story. "He managed to save me from my old man's clutches and scolded him severely. Naturally, there was nothing my father could do against him. He had always been powerless against him. He could only stand there and try to argue." Qiu Ling couldn't help but grin at the thought. His father had always been bad at arguing. Especially so if the person he had to argue with was the old geezer. "He told him how the child's father had come to complain at his door and that I deserved to be taught a lesson. But Jinde only glared at him.
"My father was anxious. Even though he had married my mother and pretended not to care about Jinde's opinion on it, that still wasn't the truth. Nothing was more important to him. Seeing Jinde not agree with him and even fiercely protect me in his arms, he couldn't help but grow flustered. He begged him to see his side, that he couldn't always be lenient ... Jinde didn't buy it though. He only hugged me tighter and scolded my father for trusting an outsider more than his own child.
"I have to say he knew him really well. My father had never even asked me what had happened. He just accepted what the other side said and accepted that it was my fault. Being faced with Jinde's accusations, my father had nothing to say in his defense. In the end, he even had to apologize to me before Jinde was willing to hand me back over." Qiu Ling sighed. That hadn't been the only time the old geezer stood up for him. No, more often than not, it had been him who helped him out, while his parents didn't seem to care or were just of another opinion. Naturally, he had taken a liking to Jinde this way. When he found out that Jinde had almost been his father's partner, he hadn't been able to suppress the faint feeling of excitement. Unfortunately, that woman had still been his biological mother. If not for that ... Things might have turned out differently.