Fu Heng could see that Min Jun’s harsh stance was bit by bit softening. In fact, he had expected this based on the man’s previous attitude toward their king but he had also been somewhat uncertain because Min Jun was clearly drawing a hard line when it came to anyone related to the demons. Now, it seemed more and more likely that he indeed just needed time. Well, time and maybe a few very gentle pushes in the right direction.

After growing up with Fu Min, even though gathering information and influencing people’s opinions wasn’t Fu Heng’s strong suit, he had definitely learned a thing or two. The idea of striking the iron while it was hot was embedded in his mind and he also knew that appealing to a person’s emotions could be more valuable than any facts you could bring out. Especially in this case when two very different concepts were being weighed against one another, he felt that this was what Fu Min would do so he decided to follow suit as well as he could.

Fu Heng lowered his gaze, carefully collecting his words. “I know this change is hard to accept for you. I can’t fault you either. All of us have suffered at the hands of the demons and those of us who were born before His Majesty took on the role of our king did so even more. The times were bad. I never want to return to those war-torn times. Now … it is a lot easier and I believe that we owe much of that progress to our current king. Even if he has some demon blood, that weighs much more heavily for me.”

Min Jun was pulled out of the tangled mess his thoughts had turned into and looked at Fu Heng. He understood what he meant but … “Can he be trusted if he has their blood and also kept it secret for so long? He lied to all of us.”

Fu Heng nodded. This was indeed true and pretending that it was different would get them nowhere. “I was also shocked when I was finally told but after getting used to the idea, I realized it changed nothing for me so I didn’t ponder further.” This was the truth. Knowing or not knowing, it mattered little to him. He would still support his king no matter what. He knew the same might not be true for Min Jun and trying to relate to him in some way should work better so he thought of the closest experience he knew of.

“I know Fu Min took it worse. His stance toward His Majesty hasn’t changed either but only being made aware of it so late has made him question his position in our king’s eyes.” He pursed his lips, falling quiet for a moment. He knew he wasn’t as good with words as Fu Min and he wished his husband was here to explain better. Without him, he could only stay more vague. “I guess he feels a lack of trust from His Majesty.

“I get it though. He … must have been afraid to be judged. It’s odd to think of it this way when you know that he was never afraid to put his life on the line in the fight against the demons but I guess everyone is afraid of something. If not for the crown prince of the Nine Heavens, maybe he still wouldn’t have been this open about it.”

Fu Heng hummed when he spoke until here and looked up at Min Jun. “I don’t know what else to say. Take some time, think it through, speak to His Majesty himself and then make your decision. I won’t fault you no matter what it will be in the end and I am sure His Majesty sees it the same way. You need to know what you can and can’t live with. Everyone has their own beliefs, after all.” He nodded to himself and then got up, leaving the room to go and find his husband outside.

The other generals looked from one to the other and finally, Shou Quan got to her feet, walked up to Min Jun, and patted his shoulder. “Don’t be stressed about it. There’s time for everything. Just relax today since there’s a celebration. Uh … I’ll go and find Yu Gan then.” She smiled sheepishly, nodded at the others, and then rushed after Fu Heng.

Chang Bo looked at her quickly receding back and rubbed his neck. “I guess I’ll also go and look for my wife then or she’ll be unhappy that I’m taking so long. You …” He looked at Min Jun but their relationship wasn’t that close so he wasn’t sure what to say. “Well, just take your time!” He nodded at the others as well and then made his way out of the room.

The others stayed behind, looking at Min Jun. Contrary to Chang Bo who was stationed far from the border, most of them were in charge of the troubled territory over there and had had much more contact with Min Jun in the past. Seeing him this tangled, they naturally wanted to help.

Fang Hua glanced at the others and then cleared her throat. “I can’t tell you what to do. I know you have drawn a hard line wherever demon blood is concerned. I also know you want what’s best for our people and protect them so they don’t have to suffer the same way you did. I … don’t think His Majesty’s heritage has to be an issue but I get why you’re having a hard time with this. I just implore you not to rush anything now. Take your time to think this through. He won’t expect you to have made up your mind tomorrow.”

The others nodded, slowly adding a few words. They all knew that Min Jun was the one with the most issues accepting the fact that their king had some demon blood. As for them, they just wanted the dragon realm to be safe, and keeping both these people in the positions they were in would guarantee that a little more so they naturally hoped Min Jun wouldn’t be stupid and get ahead of himself by making a quick decision he might later come to regret.

Min Jun nodded but didn’t say much. “I’ll take some time. You … can go and check outside. Anyway, it’s a large crowd. We can’t let anything happen.”

The others heaved a sigh of relief. This sounded a lot more like the Min Jun they knew so it seemed they’d make this out on the other side without too much trouble. As for how exactly things would look … well, they’d see about that when the time came. Anyway, they couldn’t rush him.