Qiu Ling was in high spirits and it showed on his face. Jing He’s expression was always more subdued but he did like the jade carving. It was masterfully done and each of its elements represented something positive, some wish for their future life together. Naturally, he appreciated that. Especially after everything they had gone through.

Yu Lin could tell that they were happy and smiled to herself before bidding her farewell and returning to her family’s table. Both her husband and their son were here with her. After all, it was a big occasion.

Yu Lin had originally even wanted to drag Duan Ming along to hand over the gift but he had thought that his presence might not be welcome to the dragon king due to the Heavenly Emperor’s previous machinations. Even though he had helped the couple out in the end, that didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be some hard feelings. It didn’t seem right to remind them of that on their wedding day of all times.

Even though Yu Lin didn’t think that the dragon king was that narrow-minded, she still caved in the end and presented the carving on her own. Anyway, it was only for a few minutes and they could enjoy the rest of the festivities together.

As she walked back to her seat, Li Yin made his way over. Just like Yu Lin, he was aware of everything so he had also prepared a gift specifically for the wedding, making some of the other guests in attendance start to sweat what they should do. While most had prepared some type of gift, many didn’t qualify as a wedding gift, leaving them scrambling to come up with something.

Thankfully, there were others taking the initiative to go up first so the people who were in that position all had a little more time to think about it. Some couldn’t help but quietly blame the Heavenly Emperor though. What kind of ploy was this, to invite them here to celebrate his son’s safe return and then spring a wedding on them? The invitations had been sent out only a week ago. Surely, he had been aware of it by then! Most of them were trueborn gods, after all, they knew about the rites preceding the actual wedding day!

As things were now, they could only anxiously watch as others presented their gifts, hoping to gain some inspiration for what they could pull out and what auspicious words could be said. So far, things weren’t looking good for them. Who had a painting or jade carving on their person when going out for this kind of occasion? And their relationship with the crown prince was a lot less close than that of those people as well, not to mention the dragon king who some of them had only seen from the distance before but never actually spoken to. It really was a conundrum!

Li Yin didn’t care for the plight of the other guests. He quietly took out a jade box from his spatial bracelet and silently handed it to Jing He. Since he was good friends with Qiang Yan, he was naturally somewhat more familiar with his nephew than others, and … well, thanks to his relationship with Leng Lu, he probably understood a little more of what he had gone through compared to others.

He thought of his own lover for a moment and lowered his gaze, his expression not looking festive at all. But then, most people had the impression that he was a very serious person so nobody thought it odd.

He took a moment to drag his thoughts back and forced a faint smile. “Congratulations to you two. I know that things have been difficult before so you should cherish the opportunity to be together now more than ever. I’ve … brought along a box filled with several things as my wedding gift to you. Maybe it’s not quite appropriate coming from me as I am not a family member. I still hope that you will find use in it.”

He paused, his brows furrowing slightly. He didn’t know how much to say but, most likely, his gift required a little explanation at least. “Every relationship will have its issues. Even though it is clear that you love each other very much, yours won’t be any different. Love alone can’t sustain two people when other matters aren’t being taken into consideration.”

He himself had experienced this so it was a fair word of advice. When he was young, he hadn’t thought of love. A family hadn’t been part of a dream for him. At most, it could be considered a faint possibility in his future but it was still one he hardly wasted a thought on. After all, it certainly wouldn’t happen before he had achieved all his other goals.

Well, in a way, he had been right: Only after he became the God of Justice did he meet Leng Lu on his trial and fall in love. When he woke up and finally remembered, he told himself that between a god and a human, there was no future to be had so he intended to bury the feelings he had developed, no matter how hard it would be.

He couldn’t tell whether it was good or bad that Leng Lu had come back into his life as a fallen god. In a way, it might be both. Of course, he was happy to have the one he loved back. But then, he wasn’t exactly the same person any longer. While they shared many traits, it wasn’t all of them, and … well, Leng Lu was what he was. His identity and his paranoia both hadn’t made it easy and many times, he almost regretted being in this situation.

The love he had felt at the beginning and the love that still remained to this day … it couldn’t give him happiness all on its own. He knew that and he knew that, most likely, their relationship might have run its course already. He was just too scared to give up, both because he didn’t want to lose whatever chance there might still be and also because he genuinely couldn’t guess how Leng Lu would react if he tried to break things off.

Well, things in his life really weren’t going well. He knew the crown prince and the dragon king wouldn’t be in the same situation but … it couldn’t hurt to be careful. At the very least, he felt that he should give what little advice he could, even if they might not believe what he said.