The five of them were standing close together so Bai Fen naturally heard their exchange. She quietly sighed to herself, feeling that things still wouldn’t be easy going forward. Even though her son had finally made his choice, that didn’t mean that he didn’t also want his father in his life. There might be more difficulties to come due to this if Qiu Ling wasn’t careful. Sometimes, you could indulge a person too much.

Well, this wasn’t for her to worry about. Not for the time being at least. These two had only gotten married today and they would slowly figure out how married life ought to look for them to be happy. Jing He’s relationship with his father would be part of that and so would many other things. She had to give them time to do this on their own and not intervene unless she was asked for advice or felt that they truly couldn’t do without. As for now …

“There are a lot of guests who are certainly eager to congratulate you. Let’s not keep them waiting any longer. I’ll return to your father’s side and keep an eye on him for you. Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll be alright. Both in regard to whatever the Supreme Sovereign did and also in regard to your wedding.” She reached over and lightly patted Jing He’s shoulder before nodding at Qiu Ling and Jinde and then went back to her seat.

Jinde hummed and turned to look at the young couple again. “She’s right. We shouldn’t keep you. I’ll go back to Jin Yu and watch from there. I assume a few people will have a thing or two to say as well.” He laughed and didn’t give them the time to say anything before turning around again and heading back to his table.

Qiu Ling faintly raised his brows and looked at the members of the dragon race who were indeed eying Jinde. In the capital city, he more or less had an alternative identity since moving there but how many people actually believed in that one being the truth was hard to say. Plus, while Jinde had gone out, it hadn’t been a lot. Most of his time was spent at home with his husband and their growing child, after all. As a result, the actual number of people who had seen Jinde so far was small even in the capital and today’s visitors were partly from other regions of the dragon realm.

Jing He looked up at his husband, his brows slightly furrowed. “Will there be issues with this?”

Qiu Ling turned back to him, his brows climbing higher. “Jinde’s identity being exposed, you mean? No, there shouldn’t be. He doesn’t want to be king again, especially not with another child on the way. Plus, even if he did …” He wrapped his arm around Jing He’s waist again and pulled him closer, kissing his temple. “I don’t care about the throne either as long as I have you.”

Jing He’s cheeks reddened and he lowered his head. He shouldn’t be surprised by this reaction but … it still made his heart flutter. He clenched his hands, not sure how to react. “There are so many people watching …” He seemed to feel their gazes at his back, making him reluctant to be too close.

Qiu Ling simply hummed though. “And? Can’t they see how your husband kisses you?” Saying this, he leaned even closer and pecked him on the lips. Jing He had always used those pesky rules to make him hold back. Now, all rules had been observed. Why wouldn’t he be more bold now?

In any case, Jing He didn’t seem to dislike it either. He was only a little shy but that might be a question of habit. After he got used to the thought that they were now married and had gained a little more experience with what that meant for their daily life, this shouldn’t be an issue any longer. Well, at least he hoped so.

Jing He paused when Qiu Ling reminded him. Yes, indeed. They were already married now and he didn’t have to think about such things any longer. He hesitated and then glanced around, wanting to make sure that people weren’t actually looking as much as he thought they were. In fact, it seemed like there were many other things for them to pay attention to: The dragons were now focused on Jinde who had just returned to his seat while the trueborn gods were still hung up on the fact that the Supreme Sovereign had suddenly appeared and personally overseen a wedding ceremony. Meanwhile, the demons just kept to themselves and pretended as if nobody else was there.

Seeing this, Jing He finally inched closer to Qiu Ling. When his husband looked at him in confusion, he hesitated but then still leaned in and kissed him on the lips. “I … I love you.” He had wanted to do this for years but had never dared to do so. Now, what was there holding him back? Admittedly, he felt his cheeks growing hot again after doing something so daring but it didn’t feel wrong either. Just … just very new.

Qiu Ling stared at him in a daze but his arm tightened on instinct. Oh, being married sure was nice! He finally hummed, his gaze deepening. “Please say that again, my love.” If he could hear nothing but sweet love confessions from Jing He every day, he’d be ecstatic. Of course, his beloved simply spending time with him and talking about anything was also good but … well, he hadn’t heard that many love words from him in the past so he had one or two to make up for.

Jing He hastily lowered his gaze, unable to take the way Qiu Ling looked at him. Still, he was happy inside that he had mustered the courage to do this.

Meanwhile, at the table at the side, the Heavenly Emperor was seething. Look at his poor child! He had been completely led astray now and it was all that bastard’s fault! Even worse, he couldn’t even try to do anything about it so he had to quietly bear with it. Ah, well, it was already too late anyway. Unfortunately, Tian had intercepted him just when he wanted to prevent that wedding from happening and now, the ceremony had already been finished so it was official. His precious son had basically been abducted from right under his nose!