Back in the room that Qiu Ling was heading toward, Jinde had watched Jing He’s expression dim after his father was brought up. Having lost his own father early on and not having received much love from his mother, he understood how one’s parents could be a sore subject. He gave the child a moment before pulling the topic back.

“Anyway, I am sure you have much to teach to any future children. Even though you are a lot younger than Qiu Ling, you probably got the kind of education he missed out on a lot.” Plus, even though Jing He was younger overall, the gods matured slower which gave them a lot more time to learn compared to the dragons. After all, many things didn’t require a deep understanding but simply practice. Those things, you could teach the children of the gods much about before they came even close to adulthood. The dragons were different in this regard.

“But let’s not talk about children the whole time. With potentially eternal life, those five hundred or maybe two thousand years are just a short moment in the end. What’s a lot more interesting is the time after the coming-of-age ceremony.”

Jing He nodded. Even though he was very interested in knowing about the children of the dragon race and how they were raised, it would indeed be quite some time until he had to consider this more deeply. Until then, what mattered much more to him was the daily life of the adults. If he didn’t learn about this, he’d stand out too much.

“To be honest, I doubt there is too much of a difference between the realms in this regard. Everyone can decide for themselves what kind of position to aim for. Even if you don’t want to have any, it’s also possible.” Jinde shrugged, not thinking too much about that possibility. Most people wanted something to do so even if there was no official position for them to take, they’d also find something to do. That was why there were many skills being cultivated in the realm.

“Many people just follow their own aspirations. You might have noticed it earlier: If you casually pick someone out of a crowd of dragons, chances are you’ll either grab some kind of warrior or someone with their own business, whatever that might be.”

Jing He nodded once again. “I indeed noticed. I wasn’t surprised about the former. After all, I’ve heard a lot about how much the dragons value physical strength. As for the latter …” He hesitated, not sure how to describe his thoughts on this. “I guess I figured it was simply due to being in the capital city. Is it the same in other places?”

“Mn, it is.” Jinde cupped his cheek and hummed. “You should tell Qiu Ling to take you out more after you’ve seen the capital and gotten familiar with everything here. Seeing the other cities and the few towns we have will give you a much better impression of what the realm is actually like. The capital alone is interesting but it is easy to believe some things to be the norm when they might not be or think they are the exception when they are the rule instead.”

Jing He nodded. He indeed knew so little that he could easily make wrong assumptions. And, well, he would love to see more of the realm together with his husband. He just wasn’t sure if it would be possible. “Qiu Ling should be very busy.”

Even today, he hadn’t been able to stay with him all the time. Certainly, he’d be even busier on ordinary days. It made him wonder how Qiu Ling had found the time in the past to come and see him in the Nine Heavens every day. Had he worked through the night more often than not just to make that possible? Imagining this, he felt a pang in his heart. He should have cautioned him to pay more attention to his own well-being instead of indulging him all the time.

Jinde might not have been there to watch but he had heard some whispers from the advisers about how their king had gotten a lot better about doing his job recently so he doubted that things had been as bad as Jing He imagined. As for going forward … “There are indeed many things to do but many can be done irrespective of where you are and with others, it is even preferable to take them on elsewhere.

“The dragon realm is as big as the Nine Heavens even though there are fewer cities. Without dedicated leaders for those regions, as your people have them, it can be difficult to ensure that everyone will be happy. Visiting the big cities and even touring the smaller ones can be helpful. Especially in Qiu Ling’s current situation.”

Jing He looked at him questioningly, not exactly sure what Jinde was referring to. His current situation … of just having gotten married?

Jinde pursed his lips. Well, he shouldn’t expect a trueborn god to understand this matter too well. “Qiu Ling has mixed blood. People didn’t know but he seems ready to show it openly going forward. He has reigned for a long time and very successfully at that so most people should accept it without much issue but there will also be others. If he brushes up his presence ahead of time and leaves a more personal impression on people, it’ll help a lot.”

“I see.” Jing He tightly clenched his hands. What his father-in-law meant to say was that he should accompany his husband on a tour through his realm, not just so that he could see and understand more of the dragon realm but so that the dragons would have a better image of what Qiu Ling was like. Considering how much the dragons valued their partners due to the curse, seeing them together would certainly help cement his image of being one of them.