"Answer me!"
An unprecedented majesty pulled Han Qing back to reality.
"Father, both my elder brothers are excellent, but as potential heirs, my eldest brother is headstrong and opinionated, lacks strategic thinking, and is easily swayed by others. My second brother has a calculating mind, but his weakness is that he lets his emotions dictate his actions too much. He is easily influenced by others and lacks a mind of his own."
King Han said pointedly, "And what about you? Aren't you also prone to acting on emotion? Valuing love and loyalty is not necessarily a good thing, especially when you are born into a royal household."
Han Qing quickly grasped her father's meaning. He was mocking her for letting her emotions dictate how she handled the matter of her younger brother, Han Jing.
Seeing that she had no answer, King Han continued, "You are clever. You knew to win over the people of Dragonkeep and put them to use, even at the cost of your own marriage. I greatly admired that decision. To gain something, one must lose something. I thought you would continue to perform so admirably. But why did you shelter that bastard?"
By the end, King Han's eyes had reddened, and he seethed with towering rage as he spoke to Han Qing through gritted teeth.
Han Qing truly could not understand. Why was her father so certain that Han Jing was not his child?
Her mother, Consort Qu, had always known her place and behaved properly. How could she possibly have been unfaithful? Wasn't it too far-fetched to rely solely on the fact that her fourth and fifth brothers had not inherited the royal family's distinctive silver hair and violet eyes? As for whether Han Jing would pose a threat to her, Han Qing had never