Jing He and the Heavenly Emperor both looked up, the latter with a grim expression. Could it be someone wanted to assassinate his beloved son?!

It turned out to be something way worse. A god might dare to make some careless remark but the person striding over to them was someone who didn’t care about customs at all. As he was once again about to demonstrate.

Qiu Ling finally hadn’t been able to take it anymore. Under the panicked gaze of Xiang Yong and to the tune of An Bai’s resigned sighs, he stood up and made his way over to his beloved. The gods stared at him but he didn’t care about that either.

He only thought of the beauty opposite him. His beauty, his future spouse, the love of his life! Ah! He had to make sure he would get him right now! Especially since that offensive guy over there dared to covet him!

The Heavenly Emperor’s lips tightened when he saw who was coming over. That was the last thing he needed. Honestly, he had never thought highly of that new king of the dragon race. Such a rude and unreasonable guy. He had probably waited for five minutes and was now of the impression that it was best to deliver his present at once and then leave under the excuse of having some important matters to attend to. Tch.

He still forced himself to smile, after all, this was the king of the dragon race and they were their allies. "Longjun, how nice of you to swing by and you’re even so eager to congratulate us. We’re really touched by your since—" He stopped and his eyes widened.

Qiu Ling had no idea what the Heavenly Emperor had just said. He shoved that other god out of the way, stepped past the Heavenly Emperor, reached down and grabbed the beauty’s hands. He lifted them up to his own chest and gifted him a beautiful smile.

Honestly, he was so grateful to An Bai and Xiang Yong right now! It really was his luck that they had insisted that he wore this robe. Ah, he definitely couldn’t have worn just anything when he stepped in front of the love of his life!

Qiu Ling looked deep into those dark eyes and a deep satisfaction emerged in his features. "Marry me."

Jing He’s breath caught in his throat. Had he … Had he just been proposed to? In front of his father? On … his father’s birthday?

His lips moved but no sound came out. What was he supposed to say in this situation?

Qiu Ling smiled even broader and took a small step forward, looming over Jing He. For the first time, Jing He felt completely overwhelmed by the presence of another person. Nobody had ever gotten this close to him. Especially not a man.

"Longjun!" His father’s angry roar pulled Jing He out of his thoughts.

He couldn’t let this continue! He looked up a bit but didn’t dare to look into the other man’s eyes. Their gaze still seemed to burn his skin. Instead, he gave the perfunctory smile he had perfected over the years. "Longjun, I’m honored by your regard but … this is my father’s birthday banquet. Shouldn’t you rather show your appreciation for him?"

He felt like he had done well. He hadn’t embarrassed him with a clear rejection but still made his stance clear.

Qiu Ling didn’t get the rejection, though. He just felt it was a pity that today was the Heavenly Emperor’s birthday. If this was a normal day, his beloved certainly would have accepted and they could have gotten married right now!

"Then how about I come back tomorrow so we can get married?"

Jing He took a trembling breath. What was he supposed to say? This man … How could he … "I …"

"Longjun!" The Heavenly Emperor finally couldn’t take it any longer. This was his precious son that he was hitting on there! And he even did it in front of him! Did he think he was blind?! "If you’re not here to extend your congratulations and offer a present, then you better get back!"

"Mn. Present …" Qiu Ling let go of one of Jing He’s hands and took the flask of wine out of his spatial ring.

Jing He used the opportunity to take his hand back and hid it behind his back in wise foresight. It was definitely just in time because Qiu Ling didn’t turn to the Heavenly Emperor with his gift but instead pushed it toward Jing He.

"It’s a specialty from my kingdom. How about we make some nice memories with this?"

"Oh. Is that your gift for my father? It really is so thoughtful."

Mn. So how about gifting yourself to me now? Qiu Ling thought so but he still had enough of his mind there to know it would be inappropriate to actually say that. "So how about sharing a cup right now?" he asked instead.

"I’m afraid I can’t handle wine that well."

Qiu Ling felt like running over to An Bai and hugging him. "You don’t have to worry about that. It’s a wine made of blossoms some of which are only found in my kingdom. It’s especially light, definitely suited to be drunk by someone as delicate as you."

The Heavenly Emperor finally couldn’t take it any longer. He clenched his hands and barely managed to calm his anger. With a forced smile, he reached over and took the flask of wine from Qiu Ling’s hands. "You have our sincere thanks, Longjun. We’ll definitely enjoy a cup with our son later on. Now, how about you take a seat again? You must be tired from the long journey."

Qiu Ling blinked. He wanted to retort and spent a bit more time with his beloved but … "Very well. I wouldn’t dare refute my future father-in-law." Then he turned back to Jing He. "Don’t worry, I’m not far away. Just say the word and I’ll hurry back to your side."

"I’m … honored." Jing He gave a strained smile and hurriedly hid his other hand when Qiu Ling let go of it. He watched him strut back to his seat and sit down. Qiu Ling’s gaze immediately returned to him and stayed at his face for the rest of the night. It needn’t be said that the dragon king who had disdained even coming to the Nine Heavens stayed until the end of the banquet.