Qiu Ling stayed until late in the evening that day. Only after he left did Jing He return to his study. He was in a subtle mood. On the one hand, there was still the lingering happiness of having spent several hours with Qiu Ling, a sweet taste of what was to come tomorrow. On the other hand, he already felt apprehension because it was only in these late-night hours that he could plan for his last endeavor before the trial started. Would he have enough time to do so? Would everything go off without a hitch? He couldn’t tell and this scared him. At the same time, he naturally couldn’t take more time tomorrow. To spend time with Qiu Ling, that wasn’t any less important.

Jing He sat down at the desk, took out a scroll of paper, as well as brush and ink, and then slowly pondered. The idea was to prepare a disturbance big enough to alert the God of Justice himself and lure away the guards on duty. This couldn’t be done easily. He only had one chance and nothing was allowed to go wrong.

If he didn’t manage to make both the God of Justice and the guards leave, he wouldn’t even get into the repository of the Court of Justice, and trying once again would only make it more risky. If the matter was solved easily and they returned before he was done, then he would be trapped in there with no way to get out without alarming others and being caught. By then, he’d have a lot to explain, and not just in front of the God of Justice but even in front of his father. He definitely couldn’t let that happen.

Something big enough … There were probably a few factors that would allow something to have enough impact. For one, it should be loud to attract enough attention in the first place. It also needed several components to keep the guards busy after they found the source. To really make sure, it might require a second task. Naturally, if he wanted to keep them away from the repository, then it should happen in the opposite direction.

Jing He leaned back, pondering silently. The repository was in the heart of the Cort of Justice which made getting in and out difficult. Considering this placement, anything on the outer edge of the compound should work. The further away, the better.

He thought about the different parts of the court and finally couldn’t help but think of one place: the prison. It was the furthest from the repository and also further from where people lived. There were criminals kept locked up inside although he didn’t know who exactly. This … could probably be used though.

If he really created some kind of disturbance around the prison, suspicion would first fall on the criminals inside or somebody related to them. On the other hand, he himself would be an unlikely suspect unless somebody discovered that he had been to the repository but he was sure that this wouldn’t happen. His knowledge of formations was strong, after all, even if he seldom needed to make practical use of it.

Jing He heaved a sigh of relief. Yes, this seemed to be the best way to go about it. Thankfully, he had managed to come up with a workable plan. Now, all that was left to figure out were the details.

A disturbance could be many things but he needed something that would take as much time as possible to solve. Since this was the case, it couldn’t be too small. It would be best if there were to be some damage.

His brows furrowed when he thought of it. Of course, he felt guilty. He was the crown prince of the Nine Heavens. He should be leading by example, only ever doing what was best for the realm and its people. But here he was, intending to damage the prison in the capital city and disturbing the work of the people in the Court of Justice, only for his selfish wish of keeping himself pure for his fiance even during the trial everybody had to go through. That … was truly shameless.

Nobody had a choice when it came to their trial. The fate of their reincarnations was decided by somebody else or simply unfolded according to Heaven’s will. Everybody had to live with that. But here he was, giving suggestions to the Fate’s Scribe, asking the God of Love for a favor, and stealing an ancient relic, all to ensure that the mortal body containing his immortal soul during the trial would not be touched by another man. There was no other way to say it: He was abusing the position he had been born into.

Jing He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before slowly exhaling. This was wrong at all levels and yet, he would absolutely go ahead with it.

Opening his eyes again, he ground the ink, and then slowly started to draw a few formations on the scroll in front of him. Their core could be imbued with spiritual energy ahead of time which would slowly spread through every line. By the time the whole array was filled with it, they would explode with a force equal to the energy originally injected. Surely, that should create enough of a disturbance.

Jing He wasn’t sure how many he would need. He knew in general where the prison was located but he had never actually gone there so he didn’t even know how the building looked. Anyway, it would be best to have a few more of these. In the worst case, he could leave them in other spots as well. While investigating in all directions, nobody would have time to care about him.

He was busy until late at night. Looking over the two dozen arrays he had created, Jing He felt his stomach drop. The reality of what he was doing hit him once again and yet, he still had no intention to stop. He never would. He loved Qiu Ling way too much to let anything happen.

Carefully putting the arrays away into a spatial bracelet that could be hidden under his long sleeves, Jing He finally went to bed for the night. Tomorrow, he would see Qiu Ling again and spend the day with him. At night, he would have a few more hours to prepare by deciding on a route to take and figuring out how to evade the guards. Then, when morning came, he should go and take care of this.

Well, come to think of it, maybe it would be best to go in the afternoon. He could still see Qiu Ling in the morning and afterward, he would leave and definitely not come back before the next day. That way, he wouldn’t accidentally hear about what had happened in the capital and wouldn’t need to worry. He also wouldn’t see him in a weakened state. No, by the time they saw each other again, he would have had a night to recover.

Jing He heaved a sigh of relief that he had thought of this early enough. Now, he could tell Qiu Ling so tomorrow. Surely, his lover would also be happy to gain half a day with him. This was truly the best of all options.

Thinking like this, he finally fell asleep with a smile, his good mood not diminishing at all throughout the next day. Even when he had to sit down the next evening to continue planning his ‘visit’ to the Court of Justice, he felt much calmer.

At the end of the day, all of this was for Qiu Ling. It wasn’t just being selfish. No, it was also because … Qiu Ling was so excellent, he deserved to only be given the best. How could he ever be with him if the mortal body containing his soul had been defiled? Even if it might not be his true body, the experience would still be there. It just wasn’t right. So for Qiu Ling’s sake, he had to do this, no matter how many laws he broke in the process.