Why do I have so many masters?

Helian Zhizhi slightly paused upon hearing the words and looked up, his gaze sweeping across Tuoba Yue's face.

Her beauty was greater than that of the Northern Region's women and yet had the impressive visage rarely seen on Qin females, calm and composed with no sign of peculiarity.

His hand slowly relaxed from the grip of the curved saber's handle before looking up again at Baili Feng, giving a small smile without using the language of the barbarians, instead, he spoke in an awkward Great Qin official tongue:

"Good, I believe you."

"I leave it to you, the noble woman of the Kingdom of Che Shi..."

"I will wait outside."

Then he sheathed his curved saber and led the prison guards as well as those around him, actively stepping out of the iron prison.

The prison guards left behind a lantern, barely bringing some light to the dim and lightless dungeon, allowing the man and woman inside to see each other clearly.

The provocative smile on Baili Feng's face gradually faded, returning to silence.

Tuoba Yue placed the bronze lantern on the ground and then sat directly opposite Baili Feng, her expression serene and silent.

Next to her, a three-tiered vermilion food box was placed; she quietly opened the food box, and a fragrance filled the air, revealing not the food of the barbarians but the cuisine of Great Qin's Fufeng.

Baili Feng lowered his head, his eyes concealed by disheveled hair, his Adam's apple moved slightly, and he spoke in a soft voice:

"Have you come to persuade me to surrender?"

"Do you think, based on our relationship, I would betray my Great Qin and surrender to your Kingdom of Che Shi?"

"How laughable."

His voice was full of disappointment and mockery.

Tuoba Yue remained calm and did not stop, simply saying:

"How can we know without trying?"

Baili Feng scoffed:

"Try? I advise you to give up such a plan sooner rather than later, a mere Kingdom of Che Shi, with city holdings no greater than a single county of Great Qin, attempting to strike at my hundred counties is nothing but a suicide mission!"

"You think allying with the Northern Hun will enable you to contend against Great Qin?!"

Tuoba Yue remained silent, looking at him and spoke softly:

"You should know better than I do."

"Great Qin, though vast, has its troubles with Jianghu; and given the distance of our nation, the risks that Great Qin would take to strike from afar are considerable."

"You..."

Baili Feng furrowed his brows, ready to continue speaking, but Tuoba Yue interrupted, her expression suddenly stern and her voice slightly raised:

"The Kingdom of Che Shi is currently allied with the Northern Hun."

"Baili Feng, if you continue to speak irreverently, do not blame me for disregarding our past affection."

The curved saber was already partly drawn from her waist.

The low whistling sound of the blade pulled, causing the Great Qin Iron Cavalry on either side of the cell to subconsciously try to stand up, their chains clashing noisily.

Baili Feng's expression turned unsightly.

Sitting and debating like this had also happened back in the days at the Fufeng Academy; back then, he found it joyful, even if he lost, which he always did. But now, looking at the girl in front of him, always composed as usual, he only felt anger.

Anger because of the betrayal of Qin by Che Shi, and because of the girl in front of him.

The feeling of betrayal infuriated him so much that his body almost trembled.

In the standoff, Tuoba Yue sheathed her saber and looked down, lifting her left hand to open the last tier of the food box.

Inside were a bowl of triple duck soup, three stacks of vegetarian dishes, and the main course was a plate of meat buns, all very familiar to Baili Feng; these were the flavors of Fufeng County City, which he had been eating for almost four to five years.

Tuoba Yue, sitting opposite him, calmly spoke:

"Times have changed; it is no longer the era when Great Qin struck across the world with one nation's power."

"Do not be reckless; you haven't eaten in nearly two days, eat something first, it might help you calm down a bit."

Her fair fingers tore a small piece from the meat bun, through which fat dripped out, the aroma becoming even more enticing.

A mocking and scornful smile surfaced on Baili Feng's face, but his gaze suddenly fixed, staring intensively at that one meat bun.

Under the dim candlelight, a metallic glint was faintly visible within it.

A key...

Baili Feng's pupils dilated, looking up at Tuoba Yue.

Her demeanor remained calm as if nothing was amiss, sitting opposite him, clad in her usual red attire, her black hair slipping from the side of her temple, revealing the grown features of the girl as she spoke evenly:

"So, even this Great Qin's cuisine doesn't suit your taste?"

Her noble and composed demeanor was almost alien to Baili Feng at this point.

Only now did he truly understand.

After all, she was a noblewoman of a nation.

Not far outside the iron prison, there was a wooden table, usually where the prison guards sat to rest, but now the guards stood there, their faces showing a mix of eagerness and fear.

The corners of the table seemed to be darkened with sweat, and despite the guards' diligent efforts to wipe it down with their sleeves, it still looked somewhat greasy.

Helian Zhizhi did not care about these things.

He just sat at the table, his fingers lightly resting on it, his eyes half-closed, listening calmly to the conversation inside the iron prison, his expression serene and composed, carrying the demeanor unique to those of a higher status.

The attendant who had always followed him hesitated for a moment but still stepped forward, bowing and speaking softly,

"Your Highness, this move seems unwise..."

The young man opened his eyes, distractedly listening to the conversation from inside the prison while casually asking:

"Unwise? What is unwise about it?"

The attending official spoke softly:

"Your intelligence far exceeds mine, Your Highness; you surely know."

"The Tuoba family, although it has been incorporated into the Kingdom of Che Shi for nearly a decade and has gradually become one of the major clans, still has a bloody history from those days. Tuoba Yue may not necessarily feel much allegiance to the Kingdom of Che Shi."