"Hm... I wonder if Mom is in the capital... She likes to travel to her family’s land when she’s bored... I also have no idea where Grandpa might be," Meilin whispered as she threw herself onto the huge, soft bed in her room.
It had been so long since she had lain there.
Fortunately, her maids had kept everything pristine during her absence.
"Your grandfather? Your mother? You never talked about them, I even thought that..." Qingyi suddenly fell silent.
That was not a comment worth making.
"It’s okay," Meilin giggled, covering her lips elegantly. "I’ve talked about them with the other girls, you just never bothered to ask." She turned her face away, puffing out her cheeks.
Watching this, Qingyi paused for a moment before bursting out laughing.
"Naughty girl..." He approached her, turning her over on the bed and giving her plump, juicy ass a firm slap.
"Do you really want to tease your hubby now, just before we meet your father?"
He leaned over her, planting a kiss on her lips.
"Hm~~" A soft moan escaped Meilin’s lips as she allowed herself to melt into her husband’s embrace. "Big sister Feiyan taught me that the best time to tease you is anytime."
Qingyi’s mouth opened to respond, but he was interrupted by a loud knock, followed by a familiar voice.
"Young Miss Meilin, Young Master Qingyi, your father is waiting," someone said from the other side of the bedroom door, knocking on the high-quality wood.
A dissatisfied grunt escaped Meilin’s lips, but in the end, she just got up, straightened her clothes, and opened the door, revealing the First Shadow.
"Follow me," he said, cold and calm as always.
Exchanging glances, the young couple followed the shadow through the mansion, passing countless staircases and corridors until they finally reached the top floor, in front of a tall, heavy door.
Two guards protected it: the Second and Third Shadows.
"The Master has asked that only Qingyi enter first. The young lady may wait here."
Meilin couldn’t help but be confused by this arrangement, but she didn’t insist.
If that was what her father wanted, whether it was to probe Qingyi or just have a man-to-man conversation, she didn’t care.
After all, she had complete and utter trust in her husband.
Exchanging respectful greetings with the shadow, Qingyi stepped forward, placing his hands against the door.
He tried to open it as if it were an ordinary door, applying force and pushing.
Still, the door didn’t even budge.
’Is this a test?’ Qingyi’s eyes flashed before a big smile took over his face.
That shouldn’t be a door that could be opened with brute force, but that mattered little to Qingyi.
He planted his feet firmly on the ground, braced his muscles, and then pushed.
A loud crack echoed as the door suddenly swung open, a broken steel pin falling to the floor with a metallic thud.
Qingyi stepped inside, and immediately, the double doors closed behind him with a powerful slam.
He barely paid attention to the looks of shock that took over the faces of the three shadows and even Meilin.
With a quick movement, the First Shadow crouched down, picking up the steel pin from the floor, observing the spot where it had broken through, burning with cold Qi.
That was a very special type of steel called Frost Peak Steel, found only in one of the Three Imperial Peaks, a mountain range in the far north of the empire.
It was one of the most expensive and coveted items, even by ancestral emperors.
That was not a type of lock that could be overcome by brute force, no. Only a quick and perceptive mind should be able to open it with delicacy and care, but even so, with pure force...
"Do you believe you would be able to break this seal so easily with brute force alone?" The Second Shadow approached, looking at the broken item in his companion’s hands.
The First Shadow thought for a moment before lowering his head.
No, it was impossible.
He had fought dragons before; they all possessed tremendous brute strength.
But Qingyi, an Immortal Emperor, was most certainly the strongest he had ever seen.
Sighing, he turned to Miss Meilin, who had her chest puffed out and a proud look on her face.
"My husband is amazing, isn’t he?" She flashed a big smile at First Shadow, who shook his head in defeat.
That girl barely considered what the cost of replacing that lock would be, which was considerable even for her father.
Not that the Gold King was exactly a stingy man who skimped on his children.
Quite the contrary.
***
Unaware of what was happening behind him, Qingyi immediately found himself in a strange place.
The entire area was like a huge balcony, which also served as a bedroom and even an office, with veils of mist covering everything Qingyi was not supposed to see.
Its size, perhaps a little over ten thousand square meters, even housed trees and a private lake.
Next to this lake was the only other person besides Qingyi in that room.
He was a tall man, taller than Qingyi himself and, without a doubt, much more corpulent.
He was sitting in a simple chair, dressed in modest clothes. His middle-aged face, with slight signs of aging, wore a calm expression.
That man was the Gold King, and in his hands he held a bamboo rod with a line attached to it that went into the water.
Qingyi took a step forward, immediately smelling the sweet and pleasant aroma of roasted fish coming from a barbecue grill next to the Gold King.
Another chair was right next to the grill, with another bamboo stick next to it.
Slowly, the Gold King’s eyes changed, falling on Qingyi and on the other part of the bar that was supposed to lock that door, lying on the ground.
"Ah... My shadows didn’t tell me you were a dragon..." The Gold King grunted in frustration.
"I wasn’t, at least not always," Qingyi replied, putting his hands behind his back. "Although your daughter, with such talent, is capable of turning even an insignificant ant into a dragon."