Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume 12, Part 3)

405 Don't Overthink It

The group made their way to the room next to the throne room that was usually used for discussions between the king and his advisers or generals. Jinde had considered staying in the throne room but he didn't want anyone to make more out of it than it was so he walked straight through and into the next one. He also consciously ignored the seat that the king usually took when leading discussions and instead sat down at the side before turning to look at the generals following him.

Anyway, he may have been king once upon a time but that time had been ten millennia ago. The dragon race had a new king and he didn't intend to have anything change about that. On the contrary, he felt more than happy that he would be able to watch Qiu Ling rule from up close going forward. It felt like being able to make up for at least some of the things he had missed out on previously even if he couldn't get back those years he hadn't been able to be there for him.

The generals followed him in a subtle mood. Before their king's revelation, at least some of them had actually worried about what the previous king's return would mean for the realm. After all, while their current king was indeed very much beloved by the people, the same could be said about his predecessor. Who could say what the people would decide when given the choice between them?

Of course, with the king's actions later on, that question had suddenly seemed a lot less urgent to consider. No, right now, they had something else to deal with. Despite that, they felt relieved that Jinde seemed conscious of the special situation his return had created and was avoiding everything that could give the wrong impression. This would mean one less worry after the current issue was solved.

Looking at Jinde sitting on that chair, the generals suddenly weren't sure where to sit down themselves. Leng Jin Yu had naturally taken the seat next to his husband but the rest of the table was empty. Under ordinary circumstances, sitting closer or farther away might mean nothing but now, they couldn't help but overthink.

Xiang Yong glanced at them and then went to take the seat opposite Jinde, signaling Fu Heng with his eyes to take the chair next to him. This way, both sides would be even and the generals might no longer be frozen stiff, trying to figure out where to sit.

Fu Heng followed suit but not without another look at the generals. Organizing these people was usually his job so he knew them better than the other advisers did. At the same time, he also felt somewhat responsible for their behavior. Seeing today's actions ... he felt somewhat dissatisfied. He also understood that there was one shock after the other but he would have thought that they were more resilient. It seemed he'd have to have a private word with them after this was over.

Either way, with the advisers both seated as well, the generals finally snapped out of their confused state and hurriedly took whatever chair was closest to them. Anyway, there were only so many to choose from.

Jinde nodded when everyone was finally seated. For this, he wanted all of their attention so whatever else they had been thinking about, it was time to push those thoughts away and focus on what truly mattered. "Alright, here we are. Where do you want me to begin?" He glanced at all the generals but his gaze finally lingered on Min Jun.

He himself had reigned for a long time and in the beginning, his acceptance among those important in the realm had been low. The generals had for sure preferred Chun Yin, the son of General Lin Cai, and even those who could have been his advisers had looked up to Chun Yin more so than to him, making it almost impossible to keep the throne right after acceding to it. But as a result of those experiences, he could see clearly who was having doubts and how deep those were.

Among these generals, while some were unsettled because they were uncertain what all of this meant, this Min Jun was the one who could cope with this change the least. Jinde didn't know anything about his past so he could only guess that just like many others, he felt a deep hatred of the demons and thus felt it impossible to accept someone with demon blood as his king. The only way to gain his acceptance was to weaken his stance on what the half-bloods represented: To have him understand that they might share some blood with the demons but that they weren't necessarily demons themselves.

He lowered his gaze and sighed. "I suppose I should start with myself: I am indeed who you think I am and yes, I'm not dead." Even though clarifying his own matter wouldn't directly help with this issue, it would make his personal stance clear which was a good way to start in his opinion.

"For the longest time, it wasn't certain whether I would live or die though. Because of that, I abdicated, only leaving behind a few instructions for the time after my death. I don't regret that decision and my opinion from that time still stands: The successor I wished for was Qiu Ling and I still believe that he was the right choice, even if some of you might have doubts about this in light of his heritage."

He raised his gaze to Min Jun again but then also looked at the other generals. "Those of you who do ... you think of his demon blood alone and believe it will bring misery but you seem to forget that the majority of his blood is still that of a dragon and he has never acted as anything but that. I believe that if you take a step back and truly think about the past millennia under his rule, you will be able to see that yourself. Probably better than I myself can."