Jing He turned onto the narrow path that led around the building. A tall wall stood opposite with more guards on the other side. In the pathway, there was only one guard stationed halfway down the building though. This should give him an opportunity. At the very least, he hoped that this would be the case.
Jing He took a faint breath, once again reminding himself to keep calm. He moved his fingers slightly, taking the arrays he had prepared out of the spatial bracelet around his wrist. He didn’t dare to glance over his shoulder to see if the guard behind him was looking in his direction. Instead, he carefully tried to sense his surroundings with his spiritual sense.
His magical ability had always been high, likely thanks to the ancient bloodline that had been carefully protected. While he had hardly any ability to attack, he was good at defending himself and his most used skill was actually this use of his spiritual sense that was supposed to keep him out of dangerous situations in the first place.
Usually, he could use it without even being noticed by others. He couldn’t be sure if this would be the case today as well. His own state wasn’t perfect because he was nervous and the guards stationed around the prison were likely to be especially strong. Since this was the case, he could only hope for the best.
Jing He faintly exhaled and his spiritual sense finally picked up some fluctuations behind him: The guards had picked up a transmission stone, probably relaying the message that he was going to see the God of Justice in a moment.
This was his chance!
Jing He didn’t hesitate at all. He let go of one of the arrays, his magic plastering it against the wall as fast as he could. They were thin and the paper itself would crumble as soon as they were in place, not leaving behind any noticeable traces.
He fixed his gaze on the guard in front. The man had noticed him approach but turned back just as fast when he recognized him. While the guards tended to be overprotective whenever they saw him, this one was in charge of this position all alone. He really couldn’t spare somebody he didn’t perceive to be a threat any mind.
Jing He inclined his head toward him as he passed by, his heart racing. Nobody had stopped him yet as if he would actually manage to pull this part of his plan off perfectly. He knew he couldn’t get complacent but … he felt a little relieved already. If he didn’t make a mistake later, he could really pull this off.
He made his way past the guard, not interacting with him apart from that short greeting. He continued to use his spiritual sense to observe his surroundings but the guard was simply standing in his position. He didn’t move and also didn’t seem to pay him any heed. Could he risk adding the other half of the prepared arrays as well?
His heartbeat seemed to become even faster and he didn’t dare to act rashly. He glanced toward the corner of the building where the next guard was in position. That person hadn’t turned toward him either but … this could change at a moment’s notice and it certainly would if he did anything that seemed suspicious.
Jing He hesitated but finally thought of Qiu Ling. He couldn’t leave anything untried if he wanted to reach his goal for today. He hastily took out the remaining arrays and repeated the action from earlier, praying inwardly that nothing would go wrong.
Maybe it was that Heaven had heard his prayers and looked fondly upon a committed lover or maybe it was just that the guards of the Nine Heavens would never see him as a threat so that they were less vigilant toward him and his strength was enough to pull this off. Either way, he wasn’t stopped. Clearly, nobody had noticed a thing. His plan was still on track.
Jing He made it to the corner of the building and inclined his head toward the guard there in greeting before walking further into the complex that housed the Court of Justice.
The study of the God of Justice was located further toward the front of it so he walked for several minutes until he finally reached the door.
An official was already waiting for him when he arrived and bowed his head. “Your Highness, the God of Justice is already awaiting you. Let me show you inside.”
“Thank you very much.” Jing He also inclined his head and followed the official inside. The arrays hadn’t gone off yet and if he wasn’t wrong, then they shouldn’t for at least half an hour or so. There was enough time to speak to the God of Justice for a while and make him believe that he was here for this talk and nothing else.
Soon, they reached the door and the official knocked lightly. “The Son of Heaven has arrived.”
“Come in.” Li Yin had still been working on some documents from the Eastern Heaven that needed to be approved even though he was wondering why their crown prince might want to see him. He hadn’t heard anything from Qiang Yan and he really couldn’t see a reason the crown prince would personally want to come here.
He finally put the brush down now that Jing He’s actual arrival was announced and got to his feet. While he might dislike the Heavenly Emperor, he was still somebody who placed emphasis on decorum. Not to mention that their crown prince wasn’t at fault for his father being an unlikeable jerk.
The official opened the door and Jing He stepped inside, inclining his head toward Li Yin.
“God of Justice. I hope I am not disturbing you at work with my sudden visit.”
Li Yin inclined his head in greeting as well. “Your Highness doesn’t need to worry about that. Work tends to get finished as it comes in. I certainly have a few minutes. Please, have a seat. Would you care for a cup of tea?”
Jing He gave a hum. “Yes, thank you.” He sat down in front of the desk, glancing at the documents on the table and feeling guilty again. Today, he would majorly add to this man’s workload and he couldn’t imagine that it was light in the Court of Justice to begin with.
Li Yin brewed a pot of tea and put it down on the table, pouring two cups for them before he looked up at Jing He. “Your Highness certainly hasn’t come simply to pay me a courtesy visit. Did something happen?” He couldn’t imagine anything like that but their crown prince truly wasn’t a frivolous person. He would never disturb others just because he was in the mood to have a chat.
Jing He lowered his gaze, his heart racing. “That … I suppose that isn’t too far off, to be honest. There was something I had hoped the God of Justice would be willing to talk to me about.”
Li Yin slowly raised his brows. So … he was indeed here to have a chat? This was new. He raised the cup to his lips, the steam wafting into the air. “Well, if it is something I can do …”
Jing He nodded and hesitated for a moment before bringing up what he had decided to speak about. “This isn’t easy for me to speak of but … the God of Justice has likely heard about my relationship with the dragon king.”
Li Yin hummed. There really was no way to get around that. The dragon king wasn’t exactly subtle and neither was the Heavenly Emperor in his effort to deny any of it. Between these two, the crown prince’s name had inextricably been linked with that of the dragon king.
Jing He felt a little embarrassed when the God of Justice looked as if this was common knowledge. He paused but then reminded himself that he only had about half an hour so he forced himself to continue. “My father isn’t in favor of this relationship so I can’t talk to him about this and … I would feel embarrassed to ask my mother or uncle as well so … I could only thicken my face and come to you.”
At this, Li Yin’s brows rose. He wouldn’t consider himself close to Jing He at all. In fact, he had at most seen him a few more times compared to other titled gods who probably never saw him outside of official occasions. But apparently, he was looked upon as somebody who could be come to for advice? That was surprising.
Jing He’s cheeks flushed when he glanced up and saw his expression and he immediately lowered his head again. “I know, I might be shameless to bother you with this. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t do so either but … I will go on my first trial in just two days and haven’t been able to stop thinking about this.”
Li Yin realized that his keeping quiet would just make the other person more flustered. He cleared his throat, took a sip of tea, and finally put the cup down again. “Your Highness does not need to worry. If you feel comfortable opening up about this in front of me, then I won’t refuse to listen. I just don’t know if I will be of any help.”
Jing He raised his gaze and nodded. “As long as the God of Justice is willing to listen, I am already very relieved. Maybe this matter is nothing and I am thinking too much. It is just … the relationship between us is not official and I think he … he resents that. I can’t change this but I am afraid that the trial will make this worse. While down there, I won’t remember my life with him and I can’t say for sure what will happen. If I were to have a relationship in the mortal realm … does the God of Justice think this would cause issues between me and the dragon king?”
