There were only so many hours in a day and they had already spent half of them in the Nine Heavens. Because of that, Qiu Ling didn’t want to waste any more time and immediately waved at the people around to step forward after they were seated.

The dragons exchanged a few glances and then, the first one rushed to the front, with a few others huffing and silently cursing him before stepping back. In short, it was far from the orderly scene they had witnessed in the Nine Heavens earlier.

Jing He stared at everything with his eyes slightly widened but he forced himself to keep his usual smile up so nobody would notice how shocked he truly was. This was a solemn occasion or so he had thought. Seeing the dragons act like this made him unsure of how to behave.

Qiu Ling could imagine that the current image the dragons were showing must come as a surprise to Jing He but … well, he had hardly ever experienced them being different. While there were certainly more reserved people like An Bai or Xiang Yong around, most of them were very direct, maybe even a bit brash. This was one of the reasons nobody had ever found much of an issue with his odd behavior and just chalked it up as him being slightly odder than others due to having grown up during different times.

The current scene was the perfect embodiment of what the dragons were like on a regular basis: They were extremely happy about this wedding because they knew that their king loved this person and love was incredibly important to them. As their king was also important to them, they wanted to show their feelings about the whole matter. Doing so was a matter of course but also a matter of pride so everyone had prepared well as soon as the news spread last week and now, they couldn’t wait to step forward and show off what they had thought of.

If others got ahead of them, of course, they were disgruntled even though everyone was likely to get their turn. Well, to be fair, if the whole population of the capital city were to step forward one by one, they’d still be sitting here a week from now. So, most likely, they might indeed not be able to receive everyone today and might have to cut things short. But then, they’d invite the rest to visit the palace in the next few days and wouldn’t just let their efforts go to waste.

Still, most weren’t willing to wait that long so the next few hours might be turned into a race by them. In fact, Qiu Ling wouldn’t have been surprised if people started fighting out who could go up next. It would absolutely be in style for the dragon race. If they did … well, he might have to tell them to fight in one of the other squares where his beloved couldn’t see. He didn’t want to scare Jing He.

The dragon who had managed to snatch the first spot pulled out a wooden box with a sheepish smile and stepped forward. “Congratulations, Your Majesty! To both of you, I mean. I brought along a box of tea leaves as a gift. I hope you’ll like it!” He turned to Jing He and held out the box, looking at him expectantly.

Jing He hadn’t expected to be the one the other person would address and froze for a moment before inclining his head and reaching out. “Thank you. This is very touching.”

“Mn. They’re from my teahouse. It’s down the main street in the eastern direction. If you ever want a cup of tea, you can always drop by!”

“Shoo! Is this the time for you to advertise?” Qiu Ling motioned for him to step back but his expression actually didn’t change at all. He was still showing the same happy smile as before.

The other dragon didn’t take it seriously either but he was afraid that his king’s husband would misunderstand so he hurried to defend himself. “I swear, I wasn’t, Your Majesty! It’d just be an honor for you to come by. Can’t I even extend an invitation?”

Jing He looked at the person in a daze. He had no idea how to deal with this situation. In the first place, he wouldn’t have expected the man to be the owner of a teahouse. He probably shouldn’t judge by appearances but … the person in question was very tall, with broad shoulders, and arm muscles that strained the fabric of the robe. He would have thought he was a soldier or was at least doing some kind of physical work. He never would have expected he was brewing tea …

Reconciling his expectations with reality was tough enough but it sure didn’t help to hear Qiu Ling speak to his people like this and then basically watch as that huge man pouted and tried to explain himself. He … he simply didn’t know what to do!

Qiu Ling glanced at Jing He who seemed to have frozen solid and finally clicked his tongue. “Alright, alright, you weren’t advertising. We’ll come in for a cup whenever we’re free. Now go and let the others come up or they’ll ambush you on the way back.”

“Oh.” The man nodded, glanced at Jing He again, and finally waddled off.

Jing He still looked ahead in a daze, suddenly a bit afraid of what was to come next. He definitely shouldn’t make any assumptions from now on. Who knew who would come next and what they would do?

Meanwhile, Qiu Ling reached over and took the box of tea leaves from his hands. “Do you want me to put these away? We could also brew some tea with them and drink it while we’re here. This might take a while, after all.”

“Definitely do that, Your Majesty!” The dragon who had just retreated into the crowd hurriedly turned back. “My tea is the best you’ll find in the whole realm!”

Qiu Ling only glared at him and waved for the next person to step forward. He definitely couldn’t let Jing He end this day thinking that the dragons were a bunch of lunatics.