Jing He and his father weren’t the only ones getting ready for the festival. Well, maybe they were. In a small house in the mortal realm, Jinde turned around on the bed, his golden hair flowing over the edge. "Husband …" He bent his legs and smoothed out his robe. "Husband!"

From the corridor, a sigh could be heard. "What happened?" Leng Jin Yu walked in with one bucket of water in each hand. He glanced at Jinde before going over to the tub behind the folding screen and pouring the water in. Mn, that should be enough. He put the buckets down at the side of the room and went to the bed. "I’ve finished."

One slender leg stretched over and the big toe brushed his leg. "You were saying …?"

Leng Jin Yu motioned over. "The tub. Didn’t you say you wanted to bath before heading out?"

"Ah, but it’s so late already … Will my hair dry?" Jinde brushed through the golden strands and smiled. "I guess the water’s not warm yet so how about …" He patted the place next to him.

"We already accepted the invitation. Qiu Ling will also be there."

Jinde pursed his lips and turned away. "That bear child won’t notice us anyway. He’ll cling to his husband’s side the whole day. Let’s forget about it."

Leng Jin Yu smiled and crawled to the middle of the bed. He gently gathered Jinde’s hair and put it to the side. Then he grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back around. "What do I have to do for you to get up and take that bath you wanted?"

"Mn …" Jinde watched his husband’s expression. "How about … taking that bath with me?"

"Alright."

"And … picking out a robe for me."

"Naturally."

"And helping me into that robe."

"It’s my pleasure."

"You also have to comb my hair."

"There’s nothing I’d rather do."

"And braid it."

Leng Jin Yu shook his head. "I won’t."

"And —" Jinde sat up. "What? Why not? What do you have against braiding it?"

Leng Jin Yu motioned at the golden waves gathered behind Jinde’s back. "Look at how long it is and then think back to the way you like me to braid it. I’ll need at least an hour until I finished. And then … you’d complain I didn’t do well and I’d have to untangle all the strands and comb it again and start over. By the time we’ve finished, the festival will also be finished. So how about this? I’ll pick the prettiest robe I can find for you, take that bath with you, help you into that robe and do your hair and then we’ll head over."

"And if I don’t want to?"

"Then I’ll have to go alone and come up with some excuse."

Jinde sighed. "I guess my husband has gotten craftier. Or maybe you always were crafty but now you’re immune to my charm so you won’t do everything for me anymore."

Leng Jin Yu got up and opened the chest with Jinde’s robes, slowly sifting through them. "That’s not it."

"Oh? Then what is it? Enlighten me, my dear."

"It’s because …" He finally found the robe he had been looking for and showed it to Jinde. "My husband is so beautiful that I want to show off in the Nine Heavens."

Jinde laughed. "The green one? Really? Are you sure you only want to show me off?"

Leng Jin Yu’s cheeks flushed. "That … What else could I want?"

"Well, it looks like you’re trying to upset Xin Lan."

"Ah, didn’t he say he’d bring somebody? Since you’re already coming with me I don’t think I have anything to worry about."

"You never had anything to worry about in the first place."

"Alright, alright. Let’s not talk about that any longer. Didn’t you want to take a bath?"

"Didn’t we want to take a bath?" Jinde got up with a smile and the inner robe he had worn until now slid from his shoulders.

Leng Jin Yu sighed indulgently and pulled him over. "I promised so, naturally, that’s what we’ll do. But you can’t take advantage of that!"

"Oh? But that was exactly what I had in mind." Jinde reached up and hugged his husband’s neck.

"I figured." He picked Jinde up and carried him over to the tub. He held on to him with one arm and held the other into the water, imbuing some of his spiritual energy to heat it up. "It’s done. Get in."

"What about you?" Jinde got up and stepped into the tub. He held onto his husband’s neck though.

"I guess I won’t get around it." He opened his own robe and let it fall to the ground before stepping to Jinde in the tub.

"Mn. So now …"

Leng Jin Yu pulled his husband down into the water and made him away. "Now we should make sure you’re at your most beautiful today."

"That wasn’t what I had in mind."

"I feared as much." Leng Jin Yu brushed Jinde’s hair to the front and started to scrub his back. "I’m sure the festival won’t be that bad."

"Ah, you’ve never been at one of them. They’re boring."

"Don’t worry about that. Won’t I be there with you? How could you be bored?"

"That’s also true." Jinde looked out of the window and sighed. Mn, yes, this time, he wouldn’t have to attend that festival alone. There wasn’t any reason to balk at this. He turned around and smiled. "In that case … How about I help you to be at your most handsome today?"

"And here I thought I was supposed to dazzle with my strength. Most likely, nobody would pay attention to me anyway. They’ll all just look at you."

"Then I’ll have to cling to you very closely. Maybe they’ll see both of us then." Jinde leaned forward and pursed his lips.

Leng Jin Yu met him halfway. "Let’s hurry then. Otherwise, they won’t have enough time to watch."