Back in the Nine Heavens, the Fate’s Scribe Shun Tao had informed the Heavenly Emperor that he needed an audience and would bring the God of War and the God of Justice with him. And finally, a servant brought the response that all of them were to come over.

Shun Tao took a deep breath and then got up from his seat, nodding at the other two gods. "Very well. I guess it is time then."

The three of them made their way over, greeting the Heavenly Emperor solemnly.

As for Rong Su … He didn’t bother with any niceties. His gaze bore into Shun Tao and his expression was as dark as the bottom of a pot. "Fate’s Scribe, your punishment was to stay in your palace to reflect and make sure that nothing will happen to my son. How come you’re running over here almost every other day to inform me that something bad has happened again? Just what kind of reflection are you doing?!"

Shun Tao gave a wry smile. He hadn’t expected that the Heavenly Emperor would react any differently. He didn’t feel that it was his fault though. The last time, he really hadn’t reacted in the right way since he had kept it to himself. But this time around, things were different. He had first informed the people of the dragon race since it was their problem and the most important was certainly to save Longjun. It had been them who asked him not to do anything else for the time being.

In the end, he had still informed the God of War and the God of Justice and was now even standing in front of the Heavenly Emperor despite the dragons’ wishes. It could hardly be said that he hadn’t learned from his previous mistake at all. Well, that kind of thing couldn’t be told to the Heavenly Emperor’s face directly. He could only hope that he would at least get out on explanation.

"Tianjun, please let me explain."

Rong Su stared him down but still waved for him to go on. Anyway, when something had happened already, there was nothing he could do about it. He could only scold Shun Tao for the matter and then make sure that he did a better job in the future. Or maybe it was time to get another Fate’s Scribe. He really had enough of this guy’s incompetence.

While the Heavenly Emperor was already thinking about firing him from his position for good this time, Shun Tao went on to explain. He kept it a short as possible, focusing on the main points: The dragon king was hurt, the dragons weren’t sure if they would be able to do anything short-term and it might be that having His Highness at his side might help. Thus, the possibility of ending His Highness’ trial prematurely had come up.

"I have checked his scroll of fate just to make sure if it would even be a possibility and from the looks of it, it is. For now, they haven’t actually outright demanded it. It was just an idea that they were playing with so it isn’t sure whether it would come to this."

Hearing what he had to say, Rong Su gave a huff. "They want my precious son to stop doing his trial just for that dandy? As if! Even if Jing He wouldn’t be in danger if he ended his trial right now, he should pass as many trials as possible. Then, he wouldn’t have to return to the mortal realm as often in the future." In fact, if it was possible somehow, he would’ve liked it very much if his son was able to finish all of his trials in one go. He really couldn’t take this uncertainty of not having his son close by to make sure that he was alright. That just wasn’t the way to go. Jing He should be in the Nine Heavens, obediently staying in his palace. That was the place where he should be. Everything else was just an unnecessary danger.

Shun Tao didn’t know how to react to that. Anyway, it was not his decision to make. He didn’t agree with what the Heavenly Emperor said but that was all. He couldn’t make him change his opinion. Thus, he could only nod and agree. "I have informed Your Majesty of what has happened. What decision to make, is naturally Your Majesty’s privilege. I wouldn’t dare to have any opinion on this."

Once again, the Heavenly Emperor harrumphed. "Of course not! This has nothing to do with you anyway. That’s my son after all."

Qiang Yan cleared his throat at that moment. "Well, he also happens to be my nephew."

Rong Su glanced over at him and furrowed his brows. "Of course he is. I don’t quite understand why you’re bringing that up now though." Anyway, a father was still much closer than an uncle. If anybody had the right to brag about his son, then he should be the first one!

Qiang Yan looked at the ground and wondered just how he should say this. He didn’t want to anger his brother-in-law too much but he was afraid that however gently he phrased it, it wouldn’t go over well.

Well, in that case, he might as well be direct. Maybe that would actually make his brother-in-law come to the right conclusion sooner. He looked back up and cut straight to the point. "Well, since you feel like only Jing HeYs family should have the right to speak on this, I’d like to comment on it as well? I think that you should consider this some more. Even if you dislike Longjun, his relationship with Jing He —"

The Heavenly Emperor slapped the armrest of his throne and straightened up. "What relationship! They don’t have any relationship. If anything, that guy has been bothering my son for way too long. I wouldn’t mind if he died!"

Qiang Yan rubbed his neck. Well, that really hadn’t gone over well. Maybe a gentle approach would have been better after all.