Jing He really couldn’t deal with it when Qiu Ling was like this. Reading him a love poem … it wasn’t too outrageous if he was being honest, but the way Qiu Ling brought it up again and again and was now even asking him to write one for him … it made him only feel more flustered.

“I …” He hesitated, not sure what to do. It didn’t seem right to refuse. There was nothing bad about either reading or writing a poem, although the latter would be a lot more difficult for him. He just felt a little awkward about it all. If he waited any longer, he was afraid Qiu Ling might only become more insistent and might even go further than this.

How to say this? His husband-to-be was obviously more open. While he would certainly enjoy hearing him read an elegant love poem to him, he wouldn’t be above asking him to read him a dramatic love story like they could be heard in the teahouses in the mortal realm. On the contrary, he was afraid Qiu Ling might enjoy that even more. Of course, that wasn’t an issue in and of itself. It was just … he really couldn’t bring himself to read something like that with a straight face.

Thinking of the mortifying feeling he’d experience in that situation, Jing He slowly slipped out of Qiu Ling’s arms and got to his feet. “I will go and get the book.”

Qiu Ling hummed and stayed where he was, watching quietly as his beloved went to the study. Looking at his back as he slowly took out the book from the shelf and then stood there, holding it in his hands, he lightly tapped the tabletop with his fingertips. “Why do I feel like I missed out?” Ah, he should have accompanied him! They could have made it a point to look through Jing He’s books together. Maybe there would have been other ones worth a look. After all, while hearing one love poem was good, hearing two or three wouldn’t be bad either. He was willing to listen for a long time!

While Qiu Ling was fantasizing about all the love confessions he might get out of this activity, Jing He calmed down himself as he held the book, taking a few deep breaths. It was just one poem. There was nothing nefarious about this. Anyway, they were set to get married in three days. What was he anxious about?

He turned around and looked at his husband-to-be who was sitting at the table. He seemed to be looking in his direction but didn’t react to his movement as if his thoughts were elsewhere.

He seldom caught Qiu Ling unawares so he rarely had the chance to look at him like this. It was a special moment and he couldn’t help but glance down at the book in his hands and slowly put it back.

Maybe this was why he felt so odd about this: Back then, Qiu Ling had read to him from this book and he had felt it was special. And truly, it had been. At that time, they hadn’t been as familiar as they were now and certainly not as open. Everything they did and said was hidden behind a veil of secrecy and politeness, their true feelings unable to be fully shown. Using the words of another for his lover to convey what they thought … it was a way of expressing themselves without having to admit the situation.

Now though, that couple didn’t simply consist of the Supreme Sovereign and a revered ancestor. No, these two people had gained a very different meaning to them so it seemed odd to use their words to confess to each other, almost wrong. On the other hand, their own relationship had gotten much closer and progressed so much further. How could they still do the same thing they had done so long ago? Shouldn’t their actions now rather reflect the new stage of their relationship as well?

Thinking of this, Jing He took another glance at Qiu Ling before he sat down at the table in his study, quietly pulling a scroll of paper over, grinding the ink, and picking up the brush.

His husband-to-be … he ought to write words about him or to him all by himself, not simply borrow those of someone else. Only that would be right and only that could he be satisfied with. As for what to write … that was a question much more difficult to answer.

Jing He lightly pursed his lips, somewhat stunned. He had always dreamed of falling in love, of being swept off his feet by a man who would stand by him at all times and give him the sense of security he craved. Those dreams of love and romance, he’d be lying if he said they hadn’t come with many books of poetry so he knew very well how a love poem should look. In fact, in a way, hadn’t he written some himself when he added a few couplets to the paintings he did as he always thought of Qiu Ling at those times and simply expressed his feelings?

But suddenly, he didn’t know how to do it. His previous couplets had always expressed his longing, his wish to be with this person who he could never be with, his heartache about his father’s refusal to accept the man he himself wanted to choose. He was familiar with writing about such things but he wasn’t familiar with this new situation he was in now: Their relationship being secure, nobody else’s opinion mattering, their fate being set in stone. It was … too new. Too new to put his feelings into words or even truly know how he felt. Everything seemed … almost too good to be true.

Jing He sat with the brush in hand, unable to form any coherent thoughts about how this poem should look like, much less writing any actual lines. The scroll of paper stayed empty, although if not for the dry brush, it might have been adorned with a black drop of ink instead.

While Jing He was frozen in place, Qiu Ling had pulled himself out of his reverie. Seeing that the book he had been looking forward to being read to had disappeared, he felt a pang of regret, especially since he had let his beloved out of his arms to go and get it. But then, thinking of why Jing He was now sitting at the table … oh, all of the regret was suddenly gone. He’d much rather go and see what his beloved had written about him!

Well, of course, he could try to be patient and wait to be read those words but … no, he really couldn’t do it! Thus, after making sure that Jing He wasn’t looking, a certain someone silently left the table, jumped up into the rafters, and sneaked his way over only to land behind his beloved.

Oh, this could only be considered a regular day in the life of dragon king Qiu Ling. At the start of their relationship, hadn’t he often done such things? He certainly didn’t feel unfamiliar with it and definitely didn’t see an issue. After taking a peek, he’d immediately go back to his seat. His beloved might not even notice!