Cui Zhi did not stop walking.
"Stop!"
Cui Zhi was about to brush aside the tent flap.
The Sovereign of Qi slapped the table, her full authority bearing down on Cui Zhi as she barked, "Cui Zhishan, look at yourself! You're acting like a fool shackled by romantic entanglements! An intelligence report that hasn't even been confirmed has you completely rattled! If you had this much fire in you, why did you put your Lineage first back then, pretending to be some upright gentleman with no other choice?"
Was she afraid of dying?
Back then, had she lacked the courage to fight to the death?
If Cui Zhi had dared to stand up for her, even if Father King and the old Cui family head had refused to accept it, she would have gladly become a pair of doomed lovebirds with Cui Zhi!
But Cui Zhi had chosen to take a step back then, preserving both their lives! He had chosen his Lineage! Now, more than twenty years later, Cui Zhi had become a family head whose word was law, and here he was, indulging himself and doing as he pleased right in front of her!
Just answer me—
Did he have the right to make that choice?
Faced with the Sovereign of Qi's tearful accusations, Cui Zhi's expression remained calm. He merely turned slightly to look back at her. "I'll ask just one thing, Your Highness. Tianqing Commandery borders the fief you held before your enthronement. Do you truly know nothing about all that has happened there?"
He had used the form of address they had shared in their younger days.
Back then, he had been the Consort Captain, and she had been a Princess.
The Sovereign of Qi seemed to have heard something absurd and laughable. Her smile