Qiu Ling inwardly congratulated himself and then went ahead. "Well, this person …" He motioned at the other guests that had turned to look quite satisfied when the Heavenly Emperor refused to budge on his first ruling. "If I’m not wrong, then he is from the capital city, isn’t he?"

The Heavenly Emperor looked over and the man hurriedly nodded even though he had a bad feeling about this. Just what kind of thing did this person want to bring up?

Qiu Ling’s lips curved up in a calculating smile and he turned back to the Heavenly Emperor. "Well, of course, if he is living not far from this establishment, he is able to come here five months before the Jiyi Festival and ask to reserve a room.

"On the other hand, my fiance and I do not have that opportunity." He turned to Jing He, gently brushing back his hair and marveling at the foresight of the Heavenly Empress. Not only had she made him look exceedingly beautiful, this kind of getup and hairstyle also meant that he looked absolutely not like himself. As long as he didn’t speak, the Heavenly Emperor would probably have a hard time recognizing his own child. If he did provide a detailed backstory, then that would be even less likely.

"You see, we’re from the Eastern Heaven. And while we are indeed decently well off, traveling to the capital city also isn’t something that we are able to do arbitrarily. Even if I had long planned to take my fiance here to finally see the splendor of the capital, I also wouldn’t have been able to come here before to reserve a room.

"I find this incredibly partial to the locals while it disadvantages all people of the other eight heavens." Qiu Ling’s eyes narrowed slightly. Thankfully, he had spent quite a bit of time learning some general things about the Nine Heavens. Otherwise, he really wouldn’t be able to get out of this. To make sure the Heavenly Emperor didn’t brush him off just because he didn’t like his attitude, he continued though. "Naturally, this other guest isn’t at fault for that but I do blame the owner a bit."

The owner who hadn’t really been a part of the conflict all the time but was suddenly pushed right into the middle, tensed up. Why was he suddenly the bad person? He should have refused the dragon king from the very beginning! And worst of all …

He glanced at the Heavenly Emperor who was deeply frowning now that this was brought up. Was it that he was pondering this person’s point or had he figured out that this guy was blatantly lying to him? If it was the latter … Wouldn’t he also be blamed? After all, he had already found out the truth but hadn’t spoken up yet.

Maybe he should contradict him right now? But then again, he didn’t want to have to deal with the wrath of the dragon king. That just … didn’t sound like a good idea. As long as there was any chance that the Heavenly Emperor wouldn’t find out, it would probably be best to keep his eyes and mouth shut for as long as he could.

The Heavenly Emperor continued to ponder. "You do have a point. But nonetheless, this other guest did reserve the room. That is very inconvenient for you but still a fact."

Qiu Ling pursed his lips. This person really wanted to pretend to be righteous right at this moment? Well, then it seemed like he could only hit him where it hurt! "I do understand, Your Majesty. This really is just such a pity." He sighed deeply and then turned to Jing He, looking at him as sadly as he could. "My dear, I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep my promise to you. If you feel that this is shattering your trust in me as your future husband, then I would understand if you wanted to cancel our engagement."

Jing He’s eyes widened and he flicked a glance at his father. If he somehow found out who he was, then just these lines alone would get either of them into deep trouble. Couldn’t the dragon king just let go of this matter?

Qiu Ling wasn’t finished though. Looking at his expression, he seemed to get even more agitated and pulled him up against his chest, wrapping his arms around him and holding him in a way so his face couldn’t be seen by the people outside the room. "I really am sorry. This should have been a special day for you but now, I ruined it. It is all my fault."

Jing He couldn’t help but shrink into his arms and grab onto his robe, feeling the need to hide. His heart beat heavily being in this kind of situation. Never mind that the proximity to the dragon king did this to him quite regularly, it was also the fact that his father was watching them. One wrong step, one wrong word, and it all might come crashing down. He really didn’t know how to take it.

The Heavenly Emperor watched the two of them at a loss as for what to do. Actually, he had just wanted to vent his feelings but now it seemed he had somehow broken up a couple about to marry? Who could explain this to him?!

Since he also didn’t know what to do he just turned to the person standing behind him. He raised his brows, silently requesting him to give his opinion on the matter.

Qiang Yan just wanted to get over with everything. On the other hand, since they were already involved in this, it also wouldn’t do not to try and help out. After all, he knew very well that these two people were, in fact, Longjun and his nephew. Since he was of the opinion that the two of them would make a nice couple, he should try to help them out.

He cleared his throat and turned back to Rong Su after trying to ignore the dragon king winking at him meaningfully. "Your Majesty, I do think that what this man says is quite reasonable. He has really been put at a disadvantage simply because of the fact that he is not from the capital city. But the Nine Heavens are one realm. It shouldn’t be that depending on where one lives, the chances of enjoying entertainment will be influenced. That would be a kind of discrimination against the people outside of the capital city. If this spread out …" He shook his head and didn’t say anything else. Instead, he turned to look at the room. "Other than that … This room seems quite spacious. Giving it to just one person … I do feel that that is a little odd. It might indeed be more appropriate to be used for a couple."

The other guest furrowed his brows, not at all happy with what the God of War was saying there. He didn’t dare to contradict him though.

Qiang Yan wasn’t finished either. "Naturally, this isn’t something an outsider can decide on. Since this person reserved a room, that is his good right. It’s just that I feel that in this situation where there’s a young couple that was disadvantaged beforehand and is now supposed to relocate, it would be much simpler to give the other person another room. But maybe a compromise could be found." He turned to the owner at that. "Are there any other free rooms in your house today?"

The owner shook his head. "I’m afraid not. We had a few rooms left last week but I gave them all away. The only places still available would be on the first floor among the crowd."

Qiang Yan nodded and then turned to his brother-in-law again. "There probably aren’t many places left there. Having two people go there seems a bit excessive. Furthermore …" He glanced at Jing He who was still lying in the dragon king’s arms, completely tense. "It seems that this young man’s fiance is a little shy. I feel that having him go there would be making him feel unwell. Just imagine if this were Bai Fen or if maybe you had taken Jing He here. You probably also wouldn’t want that for him."

Looking over and being reminded of his precious son, the Heavenly Emperor nodded with some more fervor. "That’s true, that’s true. We really shouldn’t make this youth suffer through something like that." He gave a bright smile at that. "You just stay here with your fiance and enjoy the act. I’ve heard that this teahouse is very good. I’m sure you’ll have a great time." With that, he turned to the owner. "Now, I’m sure you’ll be able to find a compromise for that other guest."

Before the other person could speak up, Qiang Yan already injected. "Yes, considering the size of the rooms, maybe you would be able to partition one or two of them with screens. If not on this floor, then maybe on one of the lower ones. Just tell them that some very important people came and you had to relocate them. Maybe compensate them for this experience. I’m sure that you will be able to figure something out."

The Heavenly Emperor nodded and then turned around to the servant that had brought them here in the first place. "By the way, what about our room?"

The servant’s lips twitched and he turned to the owner, giving him a look.

The owner rubbed his forehead but still nodded. Anyway, he couldn’t turn away the dragon king and he definitely couldn’t turn away the Heavenly Emperor. Offending one was just as bad as offending the other. Regardless of who else he had to offend, it was still the better option. Thus, despite the fact that he was unhappy with the situation, the owner went to explain to the other people and relocated quite a few of them so the Heavenly Emperor and the God of War would be able to have a good room as well. What else could he do?