Jinde had heard exactly right: Qiu Ling’s advisers weren’t far behind. In fact, they would have long since caught up to them if not for them slowing down deliberately. They were all aware that the generals and scholars might have questions and they didn’t want any of that to dampen the mood later on so they gave them the chance to approach them before they would even reach the capital city.

Who could have known that everyone would be so shell-shocked that the only ones who actually managed to catch up in a reasonable time were the ones who wholeheartedly accepted their king as he was like Shou Quan and her wife, as well as the half-bloods.

Of course, seeing that at least these people were on their king’s side made Qiu Ling’s advisers already heave a sigh of relief. No matter what, every single person who was able to overlook his heritage from his mother’s side was great news to them. This way, they could better estimate how all of this would play out and would also have more people who’d speak out when it mattered.

The half-bloods were still excited when they saw the advisers in front. They weren’t familiar with the other five but they felt rather close to An Bai after the weeks of working together. They really wanted to rush up and question him to make sure that they hadn’t gotten this wrong but … they also weren’t sure if it was good to do so. After all, with the other advisers around and everyone else following from behind who might catch up soon, it didn’t seem like the situation was suitable.

An Bai glanced at Xiang Yong and nodded faintly before falling back. They all knew that this matter had to be addressed now that Qiu Ling had shown such a big clue in public. Originally, they had thought that maybe they would simply help him hide this forever.

As a scholar, he could think of an explanation for those markings that didn’t boil down to their king being of mixed blood. But … they had talked about it quickly just now and none of them felt that Qiu Ling would appreciate it. No, it seemed that their king was ready to live his life with the truth out in the open.

Since this was the case, as his advisers, they ought to support him in that which mostly meant helping him to explain and ease everyone into accepting this newly discovered fact. Thankfully, the half-bloods were at least one group who would be easy to talk to. Their feelings on this were certainly special but not as complicated as everyone else’s. That made this a lot easier.

Seeing An Bai fall back from the group of advisers, the half-bloods only got more excited and soon swarmed around. Nobody really knew what to say first or who should even lead this conversation. There was so much they wanted to know …

An Bai smiled faintly, having a rough idea of how they were currently feeling. He might not get this in the same way Qiu Ling did but he had spent enough time with them and seen their efforts to understand their personalities and he had talked to them outside of the research as well, hearing a little about how their lives in the dragon realm had been so far.

Looking at them now and thinking of what they must have felt when they started to understand the truth, he felt happy for them. He inclined his head, not wanting to make them wait too long. “I know what you are thinking and I want to let you know that it is the truth.”

The half-bloods exchanged glances, some of them excitedly whispering amongst each other.

An Bai gave them a moment to truly come to terms with this before he spoke up again. “I know you must have a lot of questions about this. I might not be able to answer all of them myself but I will try my best to tell you what I do know. Later, His Majesty will likely tell you the rest. After all, there is a very special connection all of you share with him that others can’t understand.”

Wei Jun who had spoken to Qiu Ling the day he came to thank everyone for their work, couldn’t help but speak up. “Why didn’t he tell us before?”

This was a question many of the others also thought about. If they had known before, wouldn’t it have made things easier? Of course, they had already looked up to him and were grateful for this chance he gave them but … if they had known that he was the same as them, it might have changed things.

An Bai gave a faint hum. “As I said, I don’t know everything and this might be something you’ll have to ask him. If you want to hear my guess though: It should be a mixture of concerns about his own heritage and not wanting to influence you too much.”

The others exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat confused. They didn’t know about the king’s heritage and they didn’t quite dare to ask about it but the latter part didn’t seem to be too taboo. “Why would he worry about that?”

An Bai sighed. “Look at how excited you are that he is the same as you. If you had known before, wouldn’t you have immediately rallied around him for this reason alone? But many of you also have other considerations and it is only right to let you think this through slowly with all that there is to it. As His Majesty said before: This is your life and nobody can tell you what to do with it. It’s all in your hands and even he himself doesn’t want to make you choose something you wouldn’t be happy with, just as he had to find his own way even if it meant having to deny his own origin for a long time.”