Despite all the time that had passed, Tian’s resentment toward the Heavenly Family had not reduced by much. Back then, many people had been responsible for Xing’s fall but the majority of the fault lay with his own family. Among them, the one he blamed the most was actually the Heavenly Emperor.

Xing had been the child of a concubine. The Heavenly Empress was not related to him by blood. She had merely been another wife of his father and one with a much higher status than his mother. She had her own daughter who she was responsible for and who she had to put ahead of others. For her to interfere with Xing’s life and cause trouble was to be expected. He couldn’t even fault her for much of it.

But what about his father? Were they not both his children? Had Xing ever done something to deserve being neglected so much? But then, with so many wives and so many children, none of them seemed particularly important. Yes, it wasn’t that he cared especially for the Heavenly Empress or their daughter. It was just that having Xing or not having Xing didn’t matter much. So if one of his wives targeted him left and right, he also wouldn’t pay attention.

Of course, in the eyes of Tian who loved this person more than anything, this behavior was unforgivable. The callousness of the Heavenly Emperor was what drove him to curse the Heavenly Family on top of the curse on the gods. Yes, if they couldn’t care about their children equally, then henceforth, they should only have one so they could pour the little love and affection they could muster all into this one person. Looking at it now, it seemed as if even this hadn’t had much of an impact.

Tian looked from the water mirror showing the study of the Heavenly Emperor to the main room of Jing He’s palace. The child was still sitting there with a lost expression, clearly thinking about the troubles that lay ahead. He was calmer now but the memory of how he had wept just a few hours ago was still fresh in his mind. This was how far things had gotten and much of it had to do with his father. Just like with Xing back then, it was his own family that drove him to such dire straits.

Well, not everything was lost yet.

Tian retracted his gaze and turned to look at his own lover instead, his brows furrowing. He had tried to help but because they stayed in the capital city of the Nine Heavens, the Heavenly Empress and her daughter, as well as those other people who felt the need to get involved, all managed to bother them again and again. In short, he hadn’t protected him well enough and one day, it was finally too late.

Xing hadn’t been able to recover. Even after he found him, even after he pleaded and promised, he couldn’t change back to a trueborn god and he couldn’t find happiness as a fallen god either. Their future had been ruined because of that family and, yes, also because of his own powerlessness.

If things were left unchecked, then in this generation, the tragedy would repeat itself. Of course, there was a chance to pull through even with Jing He as a fallen god but … this really wasn’t how it should be. No, since he had his own plans, he wouldn’t just let matters unfold casually. This time, he wouldn’t leave anything up to fate. He had planned this for so long, he would ensure that every step of the way developed exactly as he wanted it to.

“Soon.” He put his hands on the lid of the coffin, right over the spot where Xing’s rested below, his expression solemn. Yes, soon, Xing would return to him. He didn’t doubt it. He didn’t dare to doubt it. As long as he followed his carefully laid-out steps, it would definitely happen.

In the Heavenly Emperor’s palace, Rong Su finally couldn’t take it any longer when Qiu Ling put down his brush, signaling that his work for the day was finished. He slammed down his own brush with a huff and got to his feet. “Well, I think we’ve all done enough for today. I’ll leave now.” With that, he rushed out of the study, grumbling to himself.

Qiu Ling glanced lightly at his back and finally sighed. He had hoped that his father-in-law would slowly warm up to him if he showed him that he could also be a serious person who would do his job well but … it somehow felt as if the opposite was the case. While working next to the Heavenly Emperor, he felt as if he was slowly receiving even more of his ire. Just look at how angry his expression had been just now!

He had no idea what exactly he was doing wrong and he currently wasn’t interested in finding out either. Who knew how long Jing He would take to wake up and finally return to him? He didn’t want to worry about such details as his father-in-law’s mood too early. It was best to try and be natural around him first. When he slowly got used to it, then he could try to think up a way how to get along with him.

Qiu Ling tidied up the desk and then left the study as well, returning to his allocated room. He was spending the whole day with the Heavenly Emperor but he wasn’t going as far as to bother him at night as well. No, there were guards all around so he felt like even that old bastard shouldn’t accuse him of anything nefarious again just because he hadn’t seen him for a few hours.

He went to sit down at the table and pulled out a transmission stone, intending to contact Jinde and Leng Jin Yu. Before he could imbue his spiritual energy though, a water mirror suddenly appeared in front of him, and what he saw immediately made him drop the transmission stone in his hand.

His Jing He … had finally woken up!