Jing He might have been rid of the curse but he was still taken aback when he heard this. He and Qiu Ling had only just gotten married. The end of the ceremony hadn’t even been an hour ago. How come people were already talking about their having children and giving gifts with that in mind?

He turned to look at Qiu Ling, not sure what to do or say. He knew the dragons were more open compared to the gods but … wasn’t this too open? Discussing this in front of everyone just like this …

Qiu Ling generally didn’t think that it was an issue to discuss this topic in front of an audience but he felt it to be inappropriate at this moment. Children simply wouldn’t be a part of their future for a long time.

For one, his beloved was really too young. Jing He had only come of age seven years before they met. Add to that the ten years of wooing him, the three years during his trial he hadn’t even experienced himself, and finally the few months after that, and … well, he’d rather not think about it too closely or he’d just get stuck on how big their age gap really was. That wasn’t something he wanted to be reminded of on their wedding day. Either way, Jing He was young and too young to have children if you asked him.

Two, his beloved had barely recovered from being a fallen god and pulled away from his father’s grasp. That didn’t mean that all the trauma he had suffered during the first two millennia of his life was suddenly gone though. No, Jing He still bore the consequences of everything he had gone through and it wouldn’t be easy to make up for that. He needed time — maybe lots of it — to slowly work through everything and find his own position. Otherwise, this would end in disaster.

He knew Jing He and while he had had a certain understanding of him just based on his observations and his own feelings on being in the position of dragon king for a long time, after asking his mother and uncle about his past, he understood a lot more about his behavior. It was obvious that Jing He had gotten used to following whatever rules he was given, whether it was the customs of his people or his father’s words. If left alone, chances were he’d go on to do the exact same thing in the dragon realm and simply base all of his decisions and behaviors on what the dragons would do or what he as his husband said. How could he let that happen?

No, since he had figured out what issue Jing He had, he’d help him overcome it. That was his first priority before anything else. Plus … how could they successfully raise a child before this had been dealt with? They as people and also as a couple should be a good example for their child. If Jing He blindly followed him and never expressed an opinion of his own, wouldn’t their child believe that this was normal? He wasn’t completely sure but he’d rather not risk it. So working on themselves first was the way to go.

Last but not least … he admittedly also just wanted some time as a couple. He had pursued Jing He for a long time but this stage of romancing him had usually happened in a very familiar environment, doing the same things they usually did, and sometimes worrying that they could be caught. He couldn’t stay the night and he couldn’t really take him out of the city for more than a short trip to the vicinity and had to tiptoe around the feelings of propriety and whatever Jing He’s father might think. He was ready to spend time with his beloved that wasn’t dictated by such rules.

Oh, all the things they’d be able to do! He wanted to show him the capital city of the dragon realm all over again. He wanted to take him to the big cities of the realm and even bring him to the territory of the spirit beasts. He wanted to stay up late with him, hugging each other, and simply talking about whatever went through their minds. He wanted to sit somewhere in the countryside and watch the sunrise with him while quietly snuggling up. He wanted to see all the sights the immortal realms had to offer, try the local delicacies, and bring a souvenir back from each place. He wanted to spend days simply lazing around at home, shutting out everyone else, and just talking about mundane affairs regarding their daily life.

There were so many things he wanted to do now that they were married and having a child would naturally make some of these more difficult so … it was better to wait because of this as well. So really, Chang Bo and his wife were getting miles ahead of themselves there but it was hard to say that out loud.

Qiu Ling took a deep breath, quietly reached over to his beloved, and grasped his hand while looking at Chang Bo. “Thank you very much for your consideration.” He didn’t bother to say anything else and hoped that he’d get the hint. Otherwise, he was afraid things might turn out similarly in the upcoming years.

He didn’t want Jing He to start feeling pressured to have children early. With his beloved, this was very likely. Especially since Jing He knew that he wanted a family. He might already subconsciously think that he ought to be ready as soon as possible and if someone implied the same, this thought would only take root more deeply. He had to nip that in the bud before it could become an additional problem to work through.

Chang Bo didn’t get his king’s hint and wanted to speak up but then saw his wife waving at him from the corner of his eye. He did a double-take to make sure he hadn’t seen wrong and then hastily bid his goodbye, hurrying back to his seat. Why did he suddenly feel like he had done something wrong?