Chapter 69 - Your Majesty … Why Do You Insist On Being Handsome? (1/2)
Normally, Qiu Ling didn't leave Jing Yi's side for even half a step. So the question was: Where had he gone?
The answer to that question … Haish. It's hard to say, but Qiu Ling was currently standing in an alley, staring intensely at his water mirror and grooming himself. Not only that, had an immortal walked by, that wasn't affected by the spell hiding Qiu Ling from mortal eyes and ears, he might have heard him muttering to himself.
”This isn't right, this isn't right. I definitely have to be my most handsome self! What's with these wrinkles? Does one need to have those ugly things as a human? Damn this!”
How come, the supposedly mighty and awe inspiring dragon king was fussing so much about his appearance? Well, the short answer to that question was: His future father-in-law was right. Qiu Ling was incredibly vain.
It wasn't that strange if one knew that the dragon race in general paid more attention to their appearances. But Qiu Ling was still a rather extreme case. As for the reason to that … He had been asked once.
Quite a few men had wondered about it and finally made a bet to decide which of them would go and ask. Their king didn't have a bad temper like the heavenly emperor. Well … he normally didn't have a bad temper. It was another case if it had something to do with crown prince Jing He.
But asking such a question still seemed a problem, because who knew what their king would answer? What if they didn't know how to react? They'd lose face in front of their king! Nobody dared to imagine that. Even though Qiu Ling might have his quirks, the people of the dragon race still worshiped him. Losing this bet … it would be a devastating blow to that person.
But the men still made the bet knowing the possible outcome. They were just too eager to know the answer. And who knew? The unlucky one might not even be them! That was, what all of them thought.
At that time, there were five men surrounding a table in a dimly lit room. The bet hadn't taken place yet. No, right now, those men were still negotiating the terms of their bet.
”I say, we draw straws. Simple and easy.” This proposal came from Fu Heng, the strongest warrior of the dragon folk. Well, disregarding their king, that was.
”Ts. That would just be leaving it to luck!” Fu Min, who shared part of his name with Fu Heng though they weren't actually related, crossed his arms. ”I say, we decide this with our abilities.”
”Heh. I like how that sounds, Min Min! How about a fight?”
”How shameless can you get, Fu Heng! Wouldn't the winner be clear already if we did it like that?”
”Oh?” Fu Heng lifted his brows. ”So you do know that I'm stronger than you.”
”Damn, you —”
”Heh, heh, heh!” Qiang Wei grabbed both of them by the shoulders before Fu Min could lounge himself at Fu Heng. ”Calm down. I agree with Fu Min that drawing straws isn't acceptable. This is an important issue, after all. But we also can't use something to bet that makes the winner or loser obvious. We have to decide on something, every one of us has the same chances.”
”Wouldn't that be drawing straws? Really, this is not right, that is not right, let's just decide on something! Anything is fine.”
Qiang Wei looked at the man next to him, who had kept mum until now. ”What do you say, Xiang Yong?”
”I wouldn't mind drawing straws. But Fu Min's idea also isn't bad. Whatever we decide on, we need someone to judge. Maybe we should rather discuss who we are going to ask for help. That person might have an idea what to do for the bet.”
”As expected of the smartest one of us!” Fu Min threw himself at Xiang Yong, his arms accurately circling his neck. ”Xiang Yong just always knows what to do. Unlike a certain someone!” Fu Min stuck his tongue out at Fu Heng.
”Hmph.” Fu Heng pressed his lips together and turned away, but he didn't forget to direct a vicious glare at Xiang Yong before doing so.
Qiang Wei rolled his eyes. ”Come on. Let's talk about whom we trust enough for this.”
Fu Heng snorted. ”The only one all of us trust enough to consider him impartial would be His Majesty.”
”What are you even talking about? How can we ask the king if this is about him?”, Fu Min snapped.
”I didn't say to ask him!”
Xiang Yong patted Fu Min's back. ”It's alright. Let us ask more than one person then. If they judge together, we should all be able to trust their decision.”
”Hmph.” Fu Heng was clearly not happy, but he didn't know how to retort. In comparison to Xiang Yong he really wasn't that smart. He couldn't win him in a battle of words.
”Alright. Then who do you propose?” Qiang Wei took the matter into his own hands.
The result was a major headache. Fu Heng and Fu Min tried drowning out the other's voice through crying out names louder and louder.
Qiang Wei put a hand to his forehead. He didn't know what to do anymore. He must have been nuts agreeing to betting with these guys!
”Mh.” The one person, who hadn't said a word until now finally cleared his throat.
The fight between Fu Heng and Fu Min instantly stopped and both turned around. That was just the kind of effect An Bai had. He didn't say much normally, but people tended to listen, whenever he did. That was even true for their king. Because of that, the other four were listening with rapt attention.
”How about asking the women?”
”Women?”, asked Fu Heng and Fu Min together. The two exchanged a glance and looked away just as fast.
An Bai nodded. ”Yi Zan's sister, Fu Heng's niece, Fu Min's two cousins and Xiang Yong's sister.”