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Emperor Lin Mubai frowned deeply. Fang Zhengzhi may be a villager, but he was a talent. What was his decision going to be?

Emperor Lin Mubai thought deeper and broader than everyone else.

His decisions would impact the future of the Great Xia Dynasty. He had to ensure that the empire would continue to flourish after his reign.

Just at this moment, a fiery red figure appeared in front of him. A pair of crystal clear eyes scanned the infuriated crowd of officials.

"Sixth brother has already said that he lost the Sun Shooting Bow to me. As such, whether it was snatched away or not shouldn’t have any relation to him?" Ping Yang’s voice was not loud, however, her tone sent chills down all the officials’ spines.

King Duan frowned when he heard this.

"Sister, what do you mean?"

"Would you all believe me if I said I sent someone to snatch the bow away? Fang Zhengzhi happened to run across my servant and bought the bow off him." Ping Yang smirked. She was clearly protecting Fang Zhengzhi.

All of the officials felt like they had just swallowed a fly.

Should they believe it?

This was a problem.

King Duan felt his eyelids twitched.

He did not believe it. After all, he had sent someone to sell the Sun Shooting Bow to Fang Zhengzhi. However, could he reveal that fact?

Definitely not.

As such, all he could do was believe.

"Haha..." King Duan chuckled and did not object. He could see that Ping Yang was openly protecting Fang Zhengzhi. That was obvious for all to see.

However, now that things were at this stage...

The Emperor still had the final decision.

Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping had questioned Fang Zhengzhi’s moral and values after the incident at the Northern Mountain Village.

He was questioning Fang Zhengzhi’s loyalty and trustworthiness.

This was the real killing blow.

Whether that killing blow had attained its effectiveness was not dependent on whether Fang Zhengzhi was found guilty. Its effectiveness would be based on Emperor Lin Mubai’s decision on this matter.

Emperor Lin Mubai glanced at Ping Yang’s determined expression. He remembered that figure that he could not bring himself to forget.

His eyes were filled with pampering and love in an instant.

"Today is the horse race and hunting competition. As such, we shall only discuss matters pertaining to this. Everything else shall be delayed until the next imperial court meeting!" Emperor Lin Mubai felt a load off his shoulders.

All of the officials were stunned by Emperor Lin Mubai’s words.

Even though the Emperor had not given his opinion on this...

Their experience told them that the Emperor was taking Fang Zhengzhi’s side as well!

Furthermore...

His protection of Fang Zhengzhi was more blatant that Ping Yang’s!

Why? Why would the Emperor protect Fang Zhengzhi. What is the meaning of this?

Could the Emperor be thinking of...

In that instant, all of the officials thought of one thing. This did not bode well for them, so much so that none of them wanted to think about it.

King Duan was also stunned.

He had never expected that his ploy would be destroyed in this manner. More importantly, the Emperor had not returned the Sun Shooting Bow to him!

The important thing here was not convicting Fang Zhengzhi of a crime.

It was the Sun Shooting Bow.

That was his bottom line.

As long as the Emperor retrieved the Sun Shooting Bow, Fang Zhengzhi would have no chance at returning to the courts.

Whether Fang Zhengzhi topped the imperial examinations or not would be negligible.

It would be meaningless.

All the honors that he would get would just be honors. It would not allow him to change the dynamics of the courts. King Duan would have one less person to think about.

That was the reason behind King Duan’s actions this time.

He wanted to make Fang Zhengzhi the top of both the examinations. However, he could not do so whilst Fang Zhengzhi was still a threat. He had to neutralize the threat before the results were announced.

But now?

Not only had Emperor Lin Mubai protected him, the Emperor did not ask for the bow.

Making Fang Zhengzhi the number one rank for the imperial examinations meant something completely different now.

"What is the Emperor thinking?" King Duan felt for the first time that he could not understand what the Emperor was thinking.

All of the other spectators looked at Fang Zhengzhi in confusion and awe.

All of them could not wrap their heads around what had just happened.

Fang Zhengzhi was slightly shocked to see things unfold this way. All he wanted to do was find a reason to prevent himself from being convicted of a crime.

As for the Sun Shooting Bow.

He had never expected to be able to keep it.

"No mention of it? Is it mine then?" Fang Zhengzhi thought to himself naively. Then, he quickly dismissed that thought. I doubt it will be that easy.

Ping Yang jumped out.

Her feet landed squarely on the ground.

She wanted to get Fang Zhengzhi off the hook, however, she had no intention of giving Fang Zhengzhi the Sun Shooting Bow.

"Father!" Ping Yang said coquettishly.

"Haha... my Golden Eagle Bow has been sitting in the palace collecting dust. Why don’t you take it out for a spin?" Emperor Lin Mubai interrupted.

"Golden Eagle Bow? Sure, sure!" Ping Yang beamed when she heard that.

"Minister of Rites, announce the results!" Emperor Lin Mubai tapped Ping Yang’s nose when he saw her radiant smile.

Ping Yang immediately bounded to a place beside Fang Zhengzhi.

"What are you looking at, humph!"

"The Golden Eagle Bow is even better than the Sun Shooting Bow?" Fang Zhengzhi could not help but ask.

"That is the Emperor’s bow. What do you think?" Ping Yang did not answer Fang Zhengzhi’s question directly because she did not know either. However, she could not admit that.

"I see." Fang Zhengzhi’s lips twitched.

All of the officials could not suppress their awe at what just happened.

Emperor Lin Mubai’s protection of Fang Zhengzhi was slightly cryptic.

However, his previous sentence had cleared it all up.

He had made it clear to all the officials and the influential families present.

"Is that really going to happen?" All of the officials looked at each other. None of them spoke, but they could read each other’s’ minds.

There was going to a new dynamic in the courts!

Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping squinted. He did not look at the Crown Prince, choosing instead to look at King Duan.

The Minister of Rites stood rooted to the ground, almost as if he did not hear what the Emperor had just said.

"Your honor!" Finally, one of the officials whispered a reminder.

"Ahem..." The minister cleared his throat. "Right now, we will announce the top three places for this competition. In first place, Ping... oh, that’s wrong! It’s Fang Zhengzhi. Congratulations Sword Envoy, you have placed first!"

"Haha... I won! I, Wen Dabao, am going to be rich!" A voice rang out after the announcement.

He felt even more excited than if he had won the competition himself.

All of the spectators looked in the direction of the voice. They all looked at Wen Dabao in scorn.

However, Wen Dabao did not mind.

He could not contain his excitement upon thinking of the amount of money he had made on this bet.

However...

Wen Dabao did not notice that Fang Zhengzhi had heard his screams as well.

"Oh? You won?" Fang Zhengzhi looked at Wen Dabao dancing. He smirked. That guy placed a bet on me?

...

Fang Zhengzhi received the Wafting Cloud Shoes from the Emperor and expressed his gratitude.

Then, he took off his shoes and put on the Wafting Cloud Shoes. A ray of light surrounded it as the Wafting Cloud Shoes morphed to fit his size.

"Oh, not bad, just nice!" Fang Zhengzhi walked a couple of steps. It was extremely fitting, almost as if they were tailor made.

All of the other officials were shocked to see this.

Most people would bring the prize back to clean and display. Then, they would pick an auspicious date to wear it.

As for Fang Zhengzhi, he simply put it on immediately after getting it?!

Who is this guy?!

Fang Zhengzhi had no idea what the officials were thinking. In his opinion, it was natural to change out his old pair of shoes for a new pair.

...

The competition had come to an end.

This was an unbelievable competition. When news of the results reached the capital, it caused an uproar.

"A Mud Striped Horse won the competition?!"

"Fang Zhengzhi defeated the Rising Dragon Roll’s seventh and eighth ranks?"

"Unbelievable."

"There’s something else. I heard that Fang Zhengzhi snatched King Duan’s Sun Shooting Bow. Not only did the Emperor not investigate the incident, it looks like he will give the bow to Fang Zhengzhi!"

"Oh my god, I regret not going to watch the competition!"

Many people began to discuss the competition. In restaurants and alleys all over the city, the results and happenings of the competition were the number one trending topic.

Some people said that Fang Zhengzhi’s Mud Striped Horse was no ordinary Mud Striped Horse. The claimed that it was the king of Mud Striped Horses. As such, it could fly!

This story also gained traction quickly.

After all, during the last stretch, many people were awed by the speed of the Mud Striped Horse.

However, even whilst the entire city was heating up in conversation, King Duan’s residence was icy.

Inside the residence, there were countless valuable antiques smashed on the ground in front of King Duan. There were a few people kneeling by the side of those antiques.

Each one of them shrunk into the floor, trembling.

Outside the study, Mr Hua continued to sit in the pavilion. There was a pot of tea in front of him. He looked to be waiting for something.

Before long, a black cloaked figure appeared from afar. It looked like a shadow in the night. As it moved, it did not kick up any dust.

"You’re here?" Mr Hua said faintly, almost as if he was murmuring to himself.

"Yes, I’m here." The figure stopped and replied flatly.

"Then go in?"

"Isn’t Mr Hua going in?"

"No thanks."

"If you’re not going in, can I infer that you are going to leave?" The figure removed the hoodie from his head.

It was Su Qing.

"Since I am not going in, I will naturally leave." Mr Hua raised his teacup lightly. A ball of flame ignited within it. Within moments, the tea was steaming once again.

"Won’t reheating the tea cause it to lose its fragrance?" Su Qing glanced at the cup of tea and remarked before entering the study.

Mr Hua frowned as he heard this. He loosened his grip on the teacup and it fell to the floor, shattering as it impacted the ground.

...

The next morning.

A light breeze swept across the city as the sun continued to stain the entire city golden.

There were throngs of people on the street.

Everyone knew one thing.

The results of the racing and hunting competition was the hot topic of yesterday. Today, the announcement of the imperial examinations results consumed all the citizens.

The examination had been ongoing for months now with the interruption. Today was the day reckoning.

Who wouldn’t be excited?

A huge crowd had gathered at the entrance to the Imperial Academy even before dawn. THere were elegantly dressed youths, hawkers, and even villagers from the nearby villages...