"Yes, thank you!" Hua Lin Yu kissed Xin Lan on the lips, his expression obviously overjoyed. There really were quite a lot of questions he had. In fact, he didn't even know where to start. "Then … about the dragon king's advisers, what do you know? From what I understood, there are six of them, right? Is that normal?"
Xin Lan gave a hum. "It's not unusual. There is no definitive number that they have to reach or should have though. It's just a matter of whom they trust and who has the skills to help them.
"An adviser's job is not necessarily just giving advice but helping the dragon king with accomplishing tasks. Normally, he would have at least one person that is good at getting information, one that will be able to devise strategies for battle if the demons attack, people that are knowledgeable in other fields, some skilled fighters, somebody who is able to take care of the treasury, someone who is well-versed in history, all such things.
"Basically, he should have advisers that know all the things that will be needed to run a kingdom. The dragon king should never be just left alone with all of that. In case he gets sick or is injured, his advisers would temporarily take over." Well, in Qiu Ling's case, it was pretty much the case that his advisers were running the realm all of the time while he swooped in every now and then to show his face.
Hua Lin Yu had no idea what Xin Lan was thinking. He was just awed at what this new information entailed. "Then the current king's advisers must be very good if he only needs six to accomplish all that."
Xin Lan nodded. "Actually, they aren't bad. Most of them have their own specialties. But I can't deny that he has some real talents there. That An Bai is a renowned scholar of this generation. That is something that is invaluable to a king. Then there's one called Fu Min who is quite apt at gathering information. This is also necessary to make all the other parts easier since you need information before you can make decisions. That Fu Heng is one of the best fighters of our dragon race after the current king. And the one called Xiang Yong is quite well-rounded in regard to any governmental tasks. I think he takes care of most of the day-to-day problems that crop up in the palace. The only two that don't have that much of a specialty are Qiang Wei and Yi Zan. It isn't that they aren't valuable members of his team but I think that compared to the others, they might be slightly lacking."
"These are the two that I didn't get to see. Do you think he should have somebody else on his team then?"
Xin Lan shook his head. "No, it's not that serious. Naturally, if there was somebody coming along and he wanted to switch someone out, they would likely be the ones who would have to go first. But more than just having your area of expertise, the most important thing is that the dragon king can trust them unconditionally. And I think that these two have managed to gain his trust. So compared to anyone else, they are still the most suited to do this task."
"I see." It actually made a lot of sense when Xin Lan explained it like that.
"What else do you want to know?"
Hua Lin Yu pondered what he wanted to know the most. Thinking back now, the first question he had had was probably … "What about the hair? I've seen that the dragons have quite the unusual hair colors. What's the matter with that?"
Xin Lan wrapped a strand of his own hair around his finger, looking at the white strands that shimmered with a silver light. "It is normal for the dragon race. What exactly is the question?"
Hua Lin Yu also picked up a few strands of Xin Lan's hair, running his fingertips over it. "Yes, I can see that it's normal. But I wonder why it is like this. I mean what is the reason for somebody to have a certain color?"
Xin Lan looked at him, not quite sure what to say to that. "Why do humans have dark hair? And why do they have a certain shade of black or brown?"
Hua Lin Yu looked at him uncomprehendingly. "Well, that's just like they are. And I think they have a certain shade because their parents have the same or something similar, is it not like that?"
Xin Lan shrugged his shoulders. "There you have your answer. My father had snow-white hair. My mother had something of a light blue. This is what finally came out of it. Originally, I had a younger sister. She also had a similar shade of hair color but it looked a little bluer. A little lighter than my mother's probably."
"You had a sister? Then she …"
"Is dead. As my parents are. As I said, I'm probably the oldest person of the dragon race alive. The people I grew up with, my family … none of them have survived until now."
Hua Lin Yu's expression turned a little gloomy and he hugged Xin Lan more tightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to bring something like that up."
"It's alright. Anyway, we weren't very close. And it's not like I'm that young anymore. I hardly remember them." Yes, if he was honest, then the only person he had really missed was Jinde. And even he … Well, he was still alive so that wasn't something he needed to think about.
Hua Lin Yu wasn't quite sure what to make of that but he just took Xin Lan's answer for it. Anyway, he really couldn't imagine that amount of time. Maybe it really wouldn't hurt anymore if you had so much time to get over it. Anyway, he trusted him. Xin Lan wouldn't just lie to him.