The light of the afternoon sun fell through the window of one of the many palaces of the Nine Heavens’ capital city. Nothing moved in the palace and only the quiet breathing of two people could be heard, proving that this palace wasn’t completely abandoned.

The two of them stood next to a bed and stared at the main entrance. There wasn’t anything to see since it was obstructed by a beautifully painted folding screen but it wasn’t like they could look at anything else there.

Ah, having to guard here for at least another five to six weeks … Qiang Wei took a look at the person lying behind them on the bed. The crown prince sure looked beautiful with that white robe and his black hair fanned out beneath his body. No wonder their king was crazy about him.

Yi Zan next to him sighed and nudged his shoulder. "Don’t look. What if His Majesty storms in and catches you red-handed?"

Qiang Wei raised his hands. "What red-handed? I’m washing my hands of it. I was just … making sure he’s alright."

"Tell that His Majesty."

"Eh, what are you talking about?" Qiang Wei grinned. "It’s not like he’s here. He wouldn’t come by either. After all, he is staying with His Highness’ reincarnation in the —"

A pale light shone through the fabric of Qiang Wei’s robe. The dragon flinched and hurried over to Yi Zan.

"What’s this?"

Yi Zan raised his brows. "That … looks like the light of a transmission stone?"

Never mind that it was pulsing white like most transmission stones, it was even coming from his chest where the pendant Qiang Wei had used to carry the transmission stone from their king was hanging. What else could it be?

He gulped and shifted back to his position, taking out the pendant. Indeed, the stone inside continued to pulse white. Qiang Wei glanced at Yi Zan uneasily. This was the second time their king contacted them through these stones since they had received them several millenniums ago. And both times had even happened on the same day!

Qiang Wei shook his head in disbelief and imbued some of his own spiritual energy, finally establishing the connection. "Your Majesty!"

"Qiang Wei …" Qiu Ling’s listless appearance and flat voice frightened Qiang Wei once again.

"Your Majesty! What happened?!" Hadn’t his king still been extremely energetic when he set his grand scheme in motion some hours ago? How had the self-proclaimed most handsome man of the three immortal realms suddenly turned into this?!

Qiu Ling waved his concerns away. "Is Yi Zan already on his way down here?"

"Yi Zan?" Qiang Wei looked over to the equally puzzled Yi Zan. "No. Why would he even go down there? His sister is going to bring her son herself. Yi Zan is still here guarding the crown prince."

"Mn." Qiu Ling stared vacantly. "Then … you come down here."

"Hah?" It couldn’t be … that his king missed him? This thought flashed through Qiang Wei’s mind but Qiang Wei pushed it away. Ridiculous! That was their king they were talking about. As long as he was at the crown prince’s side he wouldn’t even remember their names.

"I said: Come down. Bring some wine with you."

Qiang Wei looked at Yi Zan in alarm. Had he heard that right? Wine?

Yi Zan nodded. He had heard the same. This wasn’t good! No, not because the wine was more important than Qiang Wei — he had expected as much — but because their king should never come in contact with alcohol! That was the golden rule they had come up with together with the others after the last time Qiu Ling got drunk. They couldn’t let him drink. Not under any circumstances!

"Er … I’d love to, Your Majesty but … I’m still guarding the crown prince’s body. How could I just leave my post?"

Hurt flashed through Qiu Ling’s eyes. "What are you saying? Get one of the others to guard him!"

"One of the others?" Qiang Wei raised his brows. Their king was normally so fuzzy about who could get close to the crown prince. "You don’t care who?"

Qiu Ling frowned. "Not Fu Min." Fu Min getting close to the crown prince was taboo since the day he had falsely reported that His Highness was meeting with another man. That was quite the normal reaction.

"Then I’ll ask —"

"Not An Bai either!"

Qiang Wei raised his brows even higher. "What’s the problem with An Bai?"

"He’s too handsome!"

"Uh …" Well, An Bai was a beauty but probably not one that would take interest in the crown prince. Their personalities didn’t match up. They were both quiet types. Qiang Wei would rather believe the crown prince had to fear An Bai becoming his love rival than their king having to fear anything could ever happen between An Bai and the crown prince.

"Xiang Yong! Get Xiang Yong to do it!" Qiu Ling was finally satisfied with this. Even though his heart had been broken, he still wouldn’t want the wrong men near his beloved. "Now hurry and bring the booze down here!"

"But —"

"I said to hurry! So do what you’re told or you can give your position to Xia Rong!" The transmission ended.

Qiang Wei stood there, frozen to the spot. That was … quite the threat. Everyone knew how much he hated Xia Rong. And that was exactly because that guy had always eyed his position. Qiang Wei wanted to retort, to tell his king how valuable he was and how much he’d regret it if he really gave his position to Xia Rong. But how could he when His Majesty had already ended the conversation?

"Damn this!" He whirled around to Yi Zan. "What is the meaning of this?! What does he mean giving my position to Xia Rong?!"

"He wasn’t being serious."

"He sounded quite serious to me!"

"Who knows what happened. You’ll find out when you get there."

"Hmph. Maybe I should ignore him. He can get his wine alone."

Yi Zan raised his brows. They both knew how their king was when he felt like or started drinking. That could get … ugly. It was better if someone was with him to make sure it didn’t come to the worst.

Qiang Wei also understood and finally relented under Yi Zan’s steady gaze. "Fine. I’ll go."

"Take the strongest wine you can find."

Qiang Wei nodded solemnly. "Then I’ll go now."

Yi Zan also nodded. After Qiang Wei left, he looked at the bed behind him. The crown prince looked as if he was soundly asleep, undisturbed by the problems in the world outside. But the same probably couldn’t be said for his immortal soul. If their king wanted to get drunk, that could only mean something had happened with the crown prince.

What was going on down there? He couldn’t help but worry and he’d much rather go and have a look than to wait in this palace that was guarded by the gods anyway. He and Qiang Wei being here … wasn’t that just to make their king feel better about letting the crown prince’s body remain here alone?

Knowing him, he probably would have liked to stay at his side the whole time, holding his hand and staring at these closed eyes unblinking until they finally opened again. It was just that he also didn’t want to leave that soul to itself. He wanted to spend that time in the mortal world with his beloved so that the crown prince remembered when he woke up.

But now their king wanted to get drunk. So … what had happened?

"What did you do this time?" he quietly whispered to the crown prince’s motionless form. "Don’t you know how much power you have over him? Sometimes I wonder if it was a blessing or a curse to the dragons that he met you. Even if you know nothing right now, you’d better not make any foolish mistakes in the mortal world. Because our king won’t forget. He will never forget. He loves you way too much."

Unfortunately, Yi Zan’s words couldn’t reach Jing He’s soul. And even if they could: As he was right now, he wouldn’t have understood them. To him, Qiu Ling was nothing but a stranger and since he had seen him in different appearances, not even one he could say he was familiar with. The real Qiu Ling … Zhong Jing Yi had never seen him.