While her husband was still lost on how to proceed, Bai Fen managed to find the room Qiu Ling had moved into. She send the servant on his way and knocked, stepping inside after hearing a faint reply from inside.

The Heavenly Emperor’s palace actually consisted of several buildings and courtyards. This was a remnant of the time before the curse when monogamy had not been the rule but the exception for the rulers of the Nine Heavens. Back then, it was expected to have every husband, wife, or concubine live in their own palace together with the children they had had with the Heavenly Emperor. Now, those palaces all stood empty, having no purpose other than to remind everyone just how much times had changed.

Most of these palaces were located behind the main building, unable to even be seen when approaching it from the front. Even though they all counted as part of the Heavenly Emperor’s palace, it wasn’t like in the human realm where the imperial family was hidden behind a wall in what resembled a city of their own. No, in fact, you could reach these buildings by simply walking around. Only the passages connecting the buildings to the main palace made clear that these were not entirely separate but counted as a part of a whole.

When Qiu Ling decided to move in, the servant had suggested moving into one of these palaces. If important guests visited and had much to discuss with the Heavenly Emperor, this was usually where they would stay for the sake of convenience. After thinking about it though, Qiu Ling had refused.

It might be nice to have his own palace here where he would have some more privacy but then, he was here to reassure the Heavenly Emperor that he wasn’t playing any tricks below his nose. In that case, wasn’t it better to stick as close to him as possible? Thus, he finally chose the closest room to the private chambers of the Heavenly Emperor.

The suite of rooms came with a great view of the garden behind the main palace. He could also spot another three palaces that stood close by, almost framing the garden completely. The one opposite the main palace was bigger than the other two by quite a bit, suggesting that its role was a special one as well.

Qiu Ling motioned over there and raised his brows at Bai Fen. “Was that supposed to be the palace of the Heavenly Empress?”

Bai Fen looked over there and sighed. “It was.”

“Then did you ever live there?” To be honest, he knew little about Bai Fen’s life. The same went for her husband but it wasn’t like he would ever consider himself close to that grumpy bastard. The Heavenly Empress was different though. While she had had some reservations regarding him at first, she had never rejected the possibility that he might be a suitable candidate for her son’s spouse.

It was probably best to describe her original attitude toward him as neutral. It had been a wait-and-see stance where she wanted him to prove himself worthy of her son’s love but was also looking out for anything that might disqualify him.

Others might have felt offended in his stead. After all, being the king of the dragon race was a position you gained by merit, not birthright. In a sense, that spoke to his qualities a lot more than her husband’s or her son’s position did to theirs. To Qiu Ling though, being scrutinized like that actually felt nice.

His whole life — or at least from the moment when he realized the truth about his origin — he had feared being rejected for having the blood of the demon race. He had hidden himself deeply, never daring to be true to who he really was. Then, he became the dragon king and people tended to look at him with expectations that had nothing to do with how he presented himself.

For thousands of years, he had lived in this awkward stage of being looked upon highly without feeling like he deserved it and dashing those hopes whenever somebody got close so they wouldn’t continue to pry, only to feel bad about the latter as well. Most people judged him before even meeting him or couldn’t get over their first impression after actually meeting him, feeling that he was a disappointment. There had been nobody in his life who was able to look past his station and not base their expectations on them.

Bai Fen though … she hadn’t trusted that he was suitable for her son just because he was king of the dragon race. She had wanted to see what type of person he was and she had made it clear that only if she was satisfied would she give this relationship her blessing. At the same time, she had never prevented him from trying to woo Jing He even before she felt that she had a good grasp on his personality and values.

This feeling of not being judged ahead of time and being seen as a person outside of his position and even outside of his race meant a lot to him. It was one of the reasons that he valued her opinion so much and accepted her as part of his family wholeheartedly.

These years, most of his attention had been focused on Jing He so he had only gotten a glimpse of her life every now and then. But with Jing He gone for the time being and them living in the same building, maybe this was a good opportunity to get to know her better. No matter what happened with Jing He, he felt that this was the right choice to make.

Today was the start of that attempt and hopefully, until Jing He returned, the two of them would have gotten a lot closer. If he could see them getting along so well … his beloved would certainly be glad.