Jing He lowered his eyelids, unable to look at Qiu Ling as he spoke of a possible impending marriage to another man. He knew that even if he rejected him, he should probably fight his father so that he wouldn’t have to do that at least. No matter what, it was the respectful thing to do in regard to his relationship with Qiu Ling, and, to be honest, he would feel more comfortable that way as well. The issue was, of course, that he couldn’t imagine going against his father that way.

He had finally made up his mind and was about to return home. After such a long absence and with his father suspecting that he had been with Qiu Ling, he would certainly be even stronger in his demands. Knowing that he couldn’t be with the man he loved anyway … Jing He didn’t think he’d have the strength to argue. He had never been good at that and he had only dared to speak up at the very end of their relationship, a mere handful of weeks before he fell. With the one person who gave him courage not being part of his life any longer, resisting his father seemed impossible.

“You don’t have to do anything.”

Jing He looked up and smiled wryly. “I suppose I don’t.” And yet, he wouldn’t be able to say no just as always.

Qiu Ling requited his gaze silently as if he had nothing left to say or as if he was trying to think of how to respond.

Jing He couldn’t tell at all. He sighed and leaned his head against Qiu Ling’s shoulder, feeling tired. “I don’t understand him. In a way, I have never done so. I just … always took what he said in stride and did as I was asked to. Now, he still wants me to follow his words without issue even though I am clearly uncomfortable. I suppose … this is just the way he is.”

“I wouldn’t want to speak badly about your father in front of you but … yes, he is a bit like that. He … doesn’t seem to care much about others.”

Jing He hesitated but finally nodded. He hated speaking badly of others, even more so his own parent, but … it seemed to be true. What his father had done to his mother, what he was about to do to him … it spoke of someone who didn’t consider the feelings of others very much, didn’t it? “Nonetheless, he is my father. I ought to listen to him. Especially since I know the consequences.”

Qiu Ling hummed but his steps seemed to slow down further. “Does that only refer to our relationship or even to others as well? You know, he might hate me and refuse me being your spouse but … he might still be amenable if you were to ask not to marry anytime soon. Anyway, it’s not like he wants you to get married. He just wants to get me out of the picture. If he could, he’d keep you single forever.”

Jing He hardly knew how to respond to that. Indeed. His father had always been reluctant when it came to even thinking about his relationship. At that time, he certainly despised Qiu Ling but one of the things he loved to mention was also how he was much too young to even think about finding a prospective spouse and how he should wait a while longer until he had him consider who would make a suitable match. In that sense, it seemed to be true that his father didn’t actually want him to get married fast. Yes, on the contrary, his father might be ecstatic if he wanted to wait.

Of course, this was under the assumption that he didn’t suspect that he was doing this to give Qiu Ling the chance to execute some kind of secret plan to get married to him after all. It … likely wasn’t above his father to make up such a thing. He always assumed the worst of Qiu Ling, after all.

Even though there were some doubts, Jing He’s heart suddenly filled with hope. Qiu Ling hadn’t completely given up and still wanted to convince his father. While it was unlikely that he would succeed, until the day he married somebody else, there would always remain the smallest of chances. So maybe … maybe it was indeed not impossible as long as he managed to convince his father not to marry him off too soon.

“I don’t know how to convince him. He …” His fingers curled, scraping the fabric of Qiu Ling’s robe. “He’ll think it is related to you. If I could convince him otherwise …”

Qiu Ling looked at him and his lips curved faintly. “I think there is a simple way to do so, isn’t there?”

Jing He blinked his eyes in surprise. Was there a way? And even a simple one? He could hardly believe it but he also felt faintly excited when he heard this. Qiu Ling seemed so assured of this, so maybe there was indeed a way …

Qiu Ling continued to smile lightly. “Apart from me, isn’t there another person your father dislikes? Someone he’d believe wants to hurt you if you tell him he did?”

Jing He looked at him in a daze. Another person his father thought about like that? There shouldn’t be … There weren’t many people around him in the first place so he hadn’t heard of anyone like that. Of course, his father had always been suspicious of anyone who showed interest in him so another potential suitor might be suspicious.

Qiu Ling seemed to realize that he didn’t understand and stopped walking. “I am talking about Tian. Presumably, he hates your family due to Xing’s fate, and your guards saw an unknown man take you away. Why not … tell your father half of what happened and make it out that you were taken away by Tian … to threaten you about that child he wants? Surely, he’d believe that in a heartbeat.”