Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 195 : Suspicion (1)

Chapter 195: Chapter 195 : Suspicion (1)

"Son greets Father."

The Heavenly Emperor raised his eyes from the scroll that he had been staring at for the past hour.

"Rise."

"Thank you, Father."

The Heavenly Emperor took a deep breath and stared at his youngest son.

"So, Jianyu, I understood that you went to the Sun and Moon Temple with Zhang Fengxi."

Xie Jianyu tightened his fingers into fists.

"Yes, Father."

"You came back with blessings and... an auspicious date for your wedding," the Emperor said while making a hand gesture toward the scroll that was sprawled open before him.

"Father, I can explain," Xie Jianyu quickly said.

"Oh? Explain then."

"..."

He had a lot of things to say, but at the same time, he had nothing to say. Ideas and explanations were jumbled up in his head, offering neither begin nor end of a proper explanation.

Xie Jianyu clenched his jaw after an embarrassing pause.

"I cannot explain," he then said helplessly.

To make it even worse, the relationship between him and his father had always been similar to that between a superior and a subordinate.

Xie Jianyu did not feel safe to speak about his feelings to his father, an alpha as unfeeling as others. In this sense, his elder brother offered a much better alternative.

Not that the Emperor cared to hear about his sons’ romantic affairs. He was more interested in one thing and one thing only.

"Then, let me ask you a question."

"Yes, Father."

"Are you pregnant with his child?"

Xie Jianyu could hear his composure crumbling in his head. Heat climbed to his cheeks, and he answered with a voice louder than he intended, "No, of course not!!!"

The Emperor sighed and leaned back in his seat.

"I just had to ask," he said. "Because why else would you agree to marry him so quickly?"

To his knowledge, Xie Jianyu had been rather unimpressed with the many alphas who chased after him from the day he was known as an omega.

Then again, he was not entirely blind.

He was aware of the unsavory rumors about his son and Zhang Fengxi. The same Zhang Fengxi found out about Xie Jianyu’s gender before the entire realm did.

For whatever reason, the two young men had been entangled with each other very often. Too often.

"That... I..."

Xie Jianyu stuttered.

The Emperor held his hand up to silence his son.

"It does not matter. You went with him willingly to the Sun and Moon Temple. Now, you are to marry him in nine days."

Xie Jianyu figured as much. One did not typically go against a match that was blessed by the Granny of Love and Devotion.

"I only have one little concern. The enemy who sought to harm you went missing, and at the same time, his ex-lover sought to take you as wife. Don’t you think that this is too much of a coincidence?"

Xie Jianyu did not think about it that way.

Zhang Fengxi had appeared quite genuine with his feelings.

Or was Xie Jianyu just blinded by his love? The Crown Prince suddenly felt ashamed of himself. Since when did he start thinking like an omega and less like an alpha?

"It is, Father," he thus agreed.

The Emperor narrowed his eyes at Xie Jianyu. He put his fingers together on top of his desk and said, "Someone needs to check Liu Wenyuan’s whereabouts. Jianyu, why don’t you go?"

Xie Jianyu cupped his hands.

"Gladly, Father."

"Not alone, of course."

The Emperor rolled the scroll in front of him slowly.

"Take Zhang Fengxi with you. Use this chance to probe the depth of his love for you. If he, by chance, does anything suspicious... you know what to do."

"... Yes, Father."

"You can go."

Xie Jianyu stepped out of his father’s study with a heart as heavy as heaven itself. He looked up at the sky and sighed.

Meanwhile, the walls of Longjing Palace shook from its mistress’ blood-curdling scream.

"NINE DAYS???? Ohh..."

Lady Song’s eyeballs rolled backward and she fell into the arms of her waiting handmaids.

"Palace Mistress! Please be strong...!!!" The well-trained maids all shouted in unison.

"The matchmaker... ah, the first visitation to the bride’s family... the proposal... the gifts... ooh, ooh!!! So many things to do!"

Zhang Fengxi flashed his mother a charming smile.

"I spared you all the visit to the Sun and Moon Temple. We can just send gifts over to Fuxi Palace and then proceed with the wedding... OUCH!!!"

Lady Song smacked Zhang Fengxi’s head with her peacock fan repeatedly.

"Stupid child! You are proposing to the Crown Prince of the Heavenly Empire! Do you mistake him for the youngest son of a peasant???"

Before Lady Song’s blood pressure went over the roof, Zhang Zhiyuan quickly put his arms around his wife’s shoulders.

"Dear, calm down. Chengsu, bring the mistress a cup of tea..."

In an attempt to placate his wife, Zhang Zhiyuan quickly became a target of Lady Song’s wrath.

"And you! How could you dance according to your son’s tune??? Why did you not talk to me before you go ahead and submit the marriage proposal to the Heavenly Emperor???"

Zhang Zhiyuan gulped.

"But dear, you were at Qifeng Palace attending the Phoenix Rebirthing Festival..."

"Qifeng Palace is but a flight away! Zhang Zhiyuan, you are truly insensible!!!"

Lady Song started to fake sobs while at the same time accepting a cup of tea from Chengsu’s hands.

Zhang Zhiyuan and his son exchanged exasperated glances. They then bowed their heads in front of the lady of the palace and apologized in unison.

"Dear, I am sorry for being careless about your feelings in this matter."

"Mother, your son was unfilial and rash. I deeply apologize."

"Oh, well," Lady Song dabbed at non-existent tears at the end of her eyes.

Although she was displeased with the sudden notice, she did love weddings.

"Chengsu, Chang’er, we have so many things to do! Grab my wedding list. We need to make this wedding the grandest event of the century!!!" Lady Song shouted with enthusiasm as she swept out of the room with her maids in tow.

After his wife left, Zhang Zhiyuan gave his son a solemn look.

"Fengxi, a word in my study."

"Yes, Father."