The guard that went to inform An Bai came up empty-handed. After all, An Bai had gone to the mortal realm to bring Jinde the refinement equipment and still hadn't returned since he had wanted to wait for things to be over and also wanted to speak with Xiang Yong to be filled in about the things that had happened while he had been imprisoned.
Standing in front of the door without receiving any kind of response, the guard felt a bit troubled. If the person outside really was adviser An Bai's lover, then sending him away wouldn't be a good idea. But they couldn't just let him in either. In that case …
He turned to the next door and knocked there only to once again be left outside without being acknowledged. Naturally, that was no wonder either. After all, this door was the one to Xiang Yong's study. And he had also left the dragon realm quite some time ago.
The guard raked a hand through his hair, feeling vexed. What else could he do now? Just try all the doors one by one? He also felt bad about bothering these people like that. Maybe something important was going on since the two of them weren't in the rooms.
Before he could come to a decision, one of the doors on the other side of the corridor opened. Fu Heng stepped into the doorway, leaned against the frame, and crossed his arms. "Did something happen?" Anyway, that guy had knocked on both doors, and from the way he had stood there for quite some time, it seemed that he really didn't know how to proceed now.
The guard turned around, looking at Fu Heng as if he had spotted his savior. "Adviser Fu Heng! Actually, it might be nothing but there is a man at the gates, asking to see adviser An Bai. It is just … Well, he doesn't seem to be in."
Fu Heng furrowed his red brows, not quite sure what the fuss was about. "Why don't you tell him to just come back later?"
The guard looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Well … He might have insinuated that he was adviser An Bai's lover. I didn't know him but that is clearly his private matter. So … I just wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to turn him away."
Before Fu Heng could say anything, a head popped up behind his shoulder, staring at the guard intently. "An Bai's lover? What did he look like? Was he handsome?"
The guard stared at him in a daze before finally being able to collect his thoughts. "That … adviser Fu Min, I'm afraid I'm not quite sure how to answer that. He could probably be counted as good-looking?" Anyway, he was already with somebody else if that guy had said the truth so it wasn't important what he thought, right? It would be best if he didn't think of him as beautiful.
Fu Min's eyes were glittering with a thirst for gossip. He tucked at his husband's sleeve, giving him a bright smile. "Did you hear that? How about the two of us go and take a look?"
Fu Heng nodded immediately when he was subjected to that gaze. While it couldn't be seen on his face, he at least gave a curt nod and then moved to close the door behind Fu Min.
The two of them followed the guard back to the gate, eager to see just what this supposed lover really looked like.
Stepping through the door, Fu Min's gaze zeroed in on Ye Yang and he raised his brows. That guard hadn't been wrong when he said that he could probably be counted as good-looking. In fact, Fu Min would leave out the probably. This guy definitely was good-looking. He wasn't quite his type but there was no way anybody could deny his handsomeness.
Ye Yang raised his brows and looked from one dragon to the other. "Neither of you is the person I expected. Can I take that as An Bai not being available right now?"
Fu Min was even more intrigued when he heard him call An Bai so casually. He went over and then circled the man, giving him a once over. "So … You are An Bai's lover?"
Ye Yang gave a smile at that. "I wouldn't say it like that. That might be a bit … too early. I should probably call myself his suitor."
Fu Min's curiosity didn't die down with that. Anyway, a lover would have been even more interesting but a suitor still made him quite curious. Anyway, An Bai definitely had a lot of admirers with how he looked but it definitely couldn't be said that many of them were daring enough to turn up on the doorstep of the dragon king's palace and demand to see him like this. That definitely was something that spoke in favor of this guy.
"How long have the two of you known each other?"
Ye Yang slightly raised his brows at his questions but still answered. "To be honest, it hasn't been that long yet. Which is precisely the reason I came here. I wanted to spend some time with him to deepen the feelings between us."
The two guards had gone back to guarding the door but they couldn't help but look from the two advisers to this person who so openly admitted to be going after adviser An Bai. It really made them feel a bit reluctant. Who could have known that it would be alright to be so forthright? They had always thought that adviser An Bai would prefer a more subtle approach. Now, they regretted a bit to have never tried their luck themselves.
Fu Min happily nodded and then motioned inside. "So it was like that. Why don't you come in then? You can wait with us until An Bai comes back."
Ye Yang gave a satisfied nod. "That works for me." With that, he made his way into the dragon king's palace.