"That bastard!" Rong Su shot to his feet, his brows already tightly furrowed together. "Hasn't he made enough trouble yet?!"
Bai Fen closed her eyes and held her forehead. To be honest, she couldn't say that she was that surprised. It hadn't been long since she saw Qiu Ling. At that time, he had been in a strange mood anyway. And then he had hurried off to do whatever. She wasn't quite sure what had happened but it had likely influenced him a lot.
And then, they also couldn't forget that contrary to them, Qiu Ling had spent a lot of time with Jing He's reincarnation as well. To him, that boy was likely as much of a real person as their Jing He. He didn't see him as just a means to a trial. The fact that these trials had been a completely new concept to him certainly hadn't helped with that either. Naturally, something like this had happened.
She lowered her hand and got to her feet as well, patting her husband's arm. "There's no use getting furious. Let's just head over and see what we can do. Maybe we can talk some sense into him." Although, to be honest, she really doubted it.
The Heavenly Emperor wasn't any more hopeful than she was. "Talking sense into him? Has it ever helped before? He has already made so much trouble with Jing He's trial. And now this? He'd better not try to really see it through to the end!" While he grumbled, he still rushed to the door, and the two of them hurried over to the ascension platform.
Over there, things were still at a standstill. Qiang Yan had finally managed to push away the question that Jing Yi had thrown at him and was staring down Qiu Ling, also trying to make him give up. Unfortunately, Qiu Ling was still holding onto Jing Yi tightly, obviously not intending to let go.
When the Heavenly Emperor saw this, he was enraged immediately. "Longjun! What is the meaning of this?!"
Both Qiu Ling and Jing Yi looked over, their expressions quite a sight to behold. Qiu Ling mostly had a guilty conscience. He also knew what his current actions meant for Jing He. It was something he was already grappling with. To now have to confront Jing He's parents … naturally, he rather wouldn't have done that.
On the other hand, Jing Yi also felt strange. He remembered these two from the few memories he had inherited from Jing He. As for his feelings … he was a bit torn. On the one hand, there were the feelings from Jing He that he had experienced in those memories. And those feelings had been just as torn.
Jing He's relationship with his mother was actually quite good while — when he was truthful — he felt that his father was overbearing and smothering him. But that was something he never would have admitted out loud. And even though he was much more open with his mother, it still couldn't be denied that he wouldn't dare to open up about his innermost feelings and thoughts even toward her. Could it really be said that he had had a good relationship with these two? Jing Yi didn't think so.
If he compared Jing He's relationship to his parents with the one that he had had with his own, then Jing Yi really didn't think that his previous incarnation hadn't had such a good life in that regard.
Rong Su didn't bother sparing Jing Yi a single thought. He didn't even look at that boy and instead focused on Qiu Ling. "You will stop this madness at once. After claiming to love my son for so long, you're really trying to do this now? Don't you understand what this means for Jing He?!"
Qiu Ling lowered his head and reached up, his fingers entangling in Jing Yi's hair. "I know. But I can't help it. I'm sorry, father-in-law. But … I'm afraid Jing He will have to wait a little longer before he can wake up."
"You!" The Heavenly Emperor really didn't know what else to say. He didn't even have the words anymore to scold this guy. "Do you really think I would let you do this?! This is going to stop right this instant. I'm going to get my son back."
While he was raging, Bai Fen was a lot calmer. She looked at Qiu Ling who didn't seem as if he was happy about the current circumstances either and then turned to look at Jing Yi. That boy was clinging to Qiu Ling in a manner that her son never would have dared to do. She had seen him get close to Qiu Ling a few times but never like this. He would've been mortified even if Qiu Ling was the one initiating it.
Most likely, in the years that these two had already spent together, this kind of thing had made Qiu Ling have a difficult time keeping his feelings about these two people separate. If one was the person he had spent ten years with but had still been physically distant with by the time they had actually gotten engaged, while the other one had had a millennium in the mortal realm where they could do whatever they wanted … was there really a chance for her son to still remain more important than this boy?
Bai Fen quietly sighed to herself. When Qiu Ling and Jing He met back then and the dragon king showed interest, she had been happy but had also had some reservations. She had hoped that Jing He could fall in love. She had hoped that Qiu Ling could be worthy of him. That he could be a man that stayed true to his feelings after proclaiming them. And for those ten years, she had indeed believed that he would be that person.
He had been in the Nine Heavens almost every single day. He had pursued Jing He relentlessly, not caring that he was rejected over and over again. He just continued trying. And bit by bit, little by little, Jing He's heart had melted for him until finally, even he could not pretend that he was not in love with that man.
It had been perfect. It should have been perfect. They should have gotten married and already lived together by now. In a few more years, she probably would've been able to hold her first grandchild.
But then … Jing He's trial had happened. And with that, everything had changed. Because for the first time since Qiu Ling had known Jing He, there was actually another person that his heart was beating for. These two might actually share the same soul so it wasn't like he was betraying Jing He but … she was afraid that was still how her son would see it when he finally woke up. Considering how Jing He was, she wasn't quite sure if he would be able to take that.