Min Jun furrowed his brows. This detail mattered quite a lot. He could hardly believe that the previous king had waited so long to bring it up. But then, he could also see what he was trying to do: He wanted everyone to judge him based on his merits instead of his blood. To a degree, he could follow that logic. These years, he hadn’t had any complaints about their king. But … he hadn’t known that he shared the blood of their enemies either!

He lowered his head and only felt unwilling to accept all of this. He had trusted the king because he thought they shared the same hatred. Now, what was he supposed to do? Could he really still trust him the same way going forward?

In his eyes, a demon would always be a demon, with no exceptions being made. Only sharing some of their blood didn’t mean anything. It was still there, still affecting them. Who was to say that he wouldn’t one day expose that other side of himself?

Min Jun finally shook his head and looked up. “You want to say that he killed his own mother so I shouldn’t worry about any ties. But isn’t that worse? He can turn on his own family members. Who says he can’t turn on us?”

Jinde raised a golden brow at him but didn’t speak. He had said everything there was to say. If the generals still couldn’t wake up, then nothing else he brought up would change that either. In that case, they could only let go of these people, try to convince the commoners that their king wasn’t actually a threat, and choose a new group of generals.

Anyway, the dragon race had never lacked strong warriors and while not every skilled fighter was a good commander, there certainly were more than enough. In the worst case, some new ones could be taught. Considering that the new demon king was pursuing his own plans, they might have enough time to do so.

Jinde didn’t have to say anything either. His previous revelations had already convinced the others who had been on edge that things could continue almost as they had been before. Hearing such an accusation from Min Jun now, they naturally wouldn’t keep quiet.

Chang Bo was the first to speak up. “That’s unfair, General Min Jun. If he does it, he is someone untrustworthy who would turn even on his kin, but if he doesn’t, then he is someone untrustworthy with ties to the demon realm. In your eyes, will he always be guilty just because of his blood? He didn’t choose that either!” He might not be one of the most popular generals in the dragon realm thanks to where he was located but when it came to family matters, he felt that he understood better than those eternal bachelors like Min Jun or Fang Hua.

“Nobody easily kills a close relative, much less a child their mother. He was forced by the circumstances because she was the one who made the first move. That … that is the case, right?” Chang Bo turned to Jinde, wanting him to back him up. Anyway, this was news to all of them but the previous king knew all about it. If there was any misunderstanding they were having, he’d certainly say so.

Jinde nodded but turned to look at the person next to him. “Why don’t you tell them, dear? You know better than I do.”

Leng Jin Yu glanced at him and sighed. “There isn’t much to say. In my past life … I taught him that the demons were our enemies and I raised him in the belief that one day, he would stand on the battlefield and fight them. I didn’t see coming that she had been sent by them and wanted to assassinate me. When it happened, I was caught unawares and finally couldn’t save myself. I could barely even warn him.”

He lowered his gaze, his heart squeezing painfully. Even though he fully remembered that life, he still often found himself disconnected from it simply because the memories had been acquired so late. Those moments though … he felt them with a clarity that seemed unreal. “I wanted him to run. I didn’t think there was another way. She was his mother, after all. Killing her is a burden he shouldn’t have had to bear. In the end, it seems I taught him too well though.”

He shook his head and turned to look at Min Jun. He knew he had little right to speak in front of the generals of the dragon race. He wasn’t one of them any longer, neither in regard to the position nor in regard to being the same race. Still, in a certain way, Qiu Ling was his child, even though he knew that Qiu Ling didn’t regard the him in this life as his father. And for his child, he would fight if he had to.

“I understand you well, General Min Jun. Probably better than anyone else. After all, I was killed by someone with mixed blood, someone I thought of as a dragon and as the person who loved me.” Yes, back then, he had truly believed Biao Han had feelings for him even though he didn’t have any for her. “But she didn’t kill me because she was a demon. Instead, she killed me because she was too much of a dragon, one who had fallen in love with the wrong person. That person wanted me dead so she took it upon herself to finish that task for him to prove her love and maybe gain his in return.

“In the end, her blood mattered but in a much different way than you would expect. In what way is Qiu Ling more guilty than her for sharing some of that blood and even less of it than she had? Or do you expect the crown prince of the Nine Heavens to have some hidden goal as nefarious as demon king Jian Heng had?”

Next to him, Jinde couldn’t help but laugh. “My dear, I dare you to suggest that over in the Nine Heavens while the Heavenly Emperor listens.”

Leng Jin Yu only looked at him and sighed. His husband … he really didn’t take this all that seriously, did he?