The Heavenly Emperor Rong Su frowned at the transmission stone for a while before getting up and hurrying over to his brother-in-law's palace. Never mind how aggravating he found that dandy, the bastard was still right about the demon king.
It wouldn't be wrong to say that he didn't trust Qiu Ling with his son but he definitely didn't trust Jin Ling with anything. That guy was even worse than his father. Just take a look at those eyes and you knew that he wasn't anything good.
"Thinking about that I can probably be happy that the one to fall in love with Jing He was the dragon king and not the demon king. Just imagining it …" Rong Su shuddered. He might be able to accept that dandy but … No, that demon king was completely out of question. He wouldn't allow his pure son to be defiled by the filthy hands of a demon!
The Heavenly Emperor arrived at the God of War's palace and hurried inside. He barged into the study without knocking only to stop dead in his tracks. It seemed he had walked in on Qiang Yan scolding some guards. And it was a scolding he definitely didn't want to hear.
"If the two of you can't keep your hands off each other, then —" Qiang Yan stopped as soon as he saw his brother-in-law. Damn. Why was he always interrupted when he wanted to scold those two? Was this some kind of heavenly luck only lovers were awarded?
He sighed and waved at them. "You already know what I want to say. Go back to your posts. If I ever hear that you were doing those things again while you were supposed to work, I swear I'm going to split you up and have you work in different groups!"
"Of course, of course!" The two hurriedly nodded, stood up and then froze when they saw the Heavenly Emperor behind them. Oh shit! It couldn't be that he had heard all of that just now, right?!
One of them elbowed the other before clasping his hands and bowing. "Your Majesty!"
The other hurriedly followed suit, his face heating up until even his ears were red. "Your Majesty!"
Rong Su tried very hard to retain his dignified expression and gave a noncommittal grunt before stepping further into the room and waving at the two guards. "You may go now."
The two bowed once more and hurried outside, their backs drenched in cold sweat. It was one thing to be chewed out by the God of War, after all, they had already experienced that many times, but it was something different altogether if the one to hear about their misconduct was the Heavenly Emperor. It really made one ashamed.
Rong Su sat down when the door closed behind the two guards but he didn't know what to say anymore. Should he ask what this was about? Or should he just start with his own problem?
Qiang Yan gave a cough. He really was embarrassed to have this witnessed by his brother-in-law. Those two only knew how to make trouble for him. "Please don't mind those two. They're something like the bad apples of my palace. The things they do …" He shook his head. There really wasn't anything he could say in their defense. Especially after those two had already made such a huge blunder the last time they had left their posts without permission. He really would have expected them to learn from their mistake. It seemed he wasn't hard enough on them. This time he should probably punish them harder. And separately.
Rong Su nodded and just tried to forget about it. He really didn't want to know about that kind of thing. Furthermore, there were more pressing issues right now. "That hateful Longjun just contacted me."
Qiang Yan lifted his brows. Why would his nephew-in-law do something like that? Had he forgotten that his father-in-law didn't like him? Or was he tired of living?
"It seems the demon king somehow found out about Jing He's trial. Longjun called some of his people over but asked for our help. Hmph. It's my son. Why is he asking for help? If anything, then I should be the one asking for his help. Why does it seem as if he was paying more attention to Jing He than I am? I can't let my precious son misunderstand!"
Qiang Yan went to fetch his brother-in-law a cup of tea and wordlessly put it down in front of him. He really didn't want to get embroiled in another of those tirades about how bad Longjun was.
Thankfully, the situation this time was too dire. The Heavenly Emperor only grumbled a bit before he came back to the topic at hand. "Anyway, I also think we shouldn't take this lightly. Send some of your best guards down to make sure nothing happens to Jing He and have someone investigate what the demons are doing. We can't take any chances. This is about Jing He's life."
Qiang Yan nodded and stood up, bowing to his brother-in-law. "I'll go and arrange it immediately."
"Do that." Rong Su continued to sit in the study even after Qiang Yan left.
He gazed out of the window at the separate building in the courtyard where the soul-devouring dagger was being kept. Jing He had nearly been grazed by that thing the last time. He could have died. And if they left even a bit of a chance for that demon king, then it was likely that something equally horrendous would happen this time.
He couldn't let that happen.
And not just because he didn't want to lose his son. But because if what he surmised was true, then the day of Jing He's death would be the day the three races disappeared forever. That person certainly wouldn't condone somebody hurting his family ever again.