The screech was from all of the spectators. However, that light...

"It's Ping Yang!"

Fang Zhengzhi saw that he was still about 300m from the finish line. Ping Yang was a mere 200m behind him.

Was he really going to lose his first position?

No way!

He waved his whip and whipped the Mud Striped Horse.

"Hiss!" The Mud Striped Horse whinnied. It seemed to feel that the Snow Jade was right behind it. Perhaps it was because Fang Zhengzhi just whipped it.

Either way, the Mud Striped Horse went crazy.

It dug its hooves into the ground and galloped away. Its speed was more than twice of what it was before. It looked like a completely different horse.

"Fang Zhengzhi, you can forget about running away!" Ping Yang shouted when she saw Fang Zhengzhi exclaim. She whipped Snow Jade once again.

Liar!

Snow Jade felt extremely wronged. Ping Yang had promised to whip it only once. Yet, it had just been whipped again.

It did not slow down. After all, it was already doing all that it could. Even though its speed did not increase, a powerful aura exploded from its body.

The Mud Striped Horse was stunned momentarily by this aura. Its eyes flashed with pain.

However, after a brief hesitation, it began to gallop away once again.

Everyone at the finish line was waiting anxiously for the result.

A Mud Striped Horse and a Snow Jade were racing. Unbelievably, their speed was about the same. It was impossible to tell who would cross the finish line first.

"Princess Ping Yang is catching up!"

"Overtake him and send his Mud Striped Horse back to Dong Lin City!"

"How can the Mud Striped Horse ever match up to the Snow Jade?! How preposterous."

Voices began to ring out by the side. Other than Wen Dabao, no one wanted Fang Zhengzhi to win.

After all, if Fang Zhengzhi really won the compet.i.tion using a Mud Striped Horse...

Where would they hide their faces?

Even if Fang Zhengzhi was to be disqualified at the end, they didn't want such a thing to happen in the first place.

All of the officials were equally anxious.

Compet.i.tions like this had always been a gathering place for the influential and powerful. Commoners did not qualify to be here.

Even though a Ping Yang victory would be unexpected, she was still of royal blood. That would still be an acceptable result.

However, if Fang Zhengzhi took home first place, what kind of story would there be?

Emperor Lin Mubai smiled. No matter what the result, he already knew the result in his heart.

As such, he could openly announce the prize for this compet.i.tion.

The talents and scions of influential families partic.i.p.ated in an attempt to curry favor with the Emperor. The Emperor hosted this compet.i.tion to showcase his generosity.

That was an important quality for the ruler of the empire.

There were a few points to consider as the Emperor. Firstly, he had to maintain the balance of power in the empire. Secondly, he had to care for his people and his country.

As such, the prize that he would set would naturally be precious and generous.

However, he would not treat everyone under him equally.

It was impossible for anyone to do that.

As such, for this compet.i.tion, Emperor Lin Mubai had not announced the prize beforehand. He had two different prizes in mind.

Even though both were valuable and precious...

They had completely different meanings.

One of them had value that could be measured by gold and silver. On the other hand, the other could not.

If he was giving it to Ping Yang, it would be a right pocket to left pocket transfer. Not only would he be complimented for being generous and fair, he would be able to keep the treasure within the royal family.

This was the best outcome.

However, if he had to give it to Fang Zhengzhi...

He would never do it. Emperor Lin Mubai would not even give it to Xiang Tianying or Tang Zhongming. Even someone like Zhang Feiyu, who was a distant relative of the royal family, was out of the question.

However, the result was now clear.

As such, he could rest a.s.sured and showcase his generosity. "I had already decided to give this away. However, you did not have the ability to win it. You can't blame me can you?"

Emperor Lin Mubai smirked.

"Charge, charge!" The sound of hooves grew louder and louder.

Fang Zhengzhi was increasingly anxious. He was closing in on the finish line, but Ping Yang was also catching up quickly. She was right behind him.

"Hahaha... Fang Zhengzhi, you are about to lose!" Ping Yang smiled as she looked at Fang Zhengzhi. Victory was within her reach.

"Is that right? If you dare overtake me, I will use my secret weapon!" Fang Zhengzhi threatened as he saw Ping Yang pull up next to him.

"Shameless fella. Don't you dare! With so many eyes on you, you can try it!" Ping Yang snorted disdainfully.

Fairness was valued in these compet.i.tions.

Friends.h.i.+p always came before compet.i.tion.

Under normal circ.u.mstances, using a few tricks and secret weapons during a compet.i.tion were normal. However, it would be impossible to hurt someone with so many people watching.

"Naive, secret weapon!" Fang Zhengzhi flung his hand backwards when he heard Ping Yang.

"Shameless fella, how audacious of you!" Ping Yang was stunned to see Fang Zhengzhi's hand action. She never expected him to be this brave.

However...

She was stunned to see nothing come out from Fang Zhengzhi's hand.

"Could it be..." Ping Yang suddenly realized that Fang Zhengzhi was just scaring her.

Just as she was about to chide him, her gaze froze.

She saw a pair of menacing eyes. It was filled with the glow of lightswords and the icy aura of death.

Could looks kill a person?

Definitely not.

Could looks kill a horse?

Definitely not. But, it could scare a horse!

"Roar!" Snow Jade, who was preparing to charge ahead, saw Fang Zhengzhi's gaze. It stopped right in its tracks.

This sudden stop cause Ping Yang to tremble. If not for the fact that she had above average riding skills, she would have been thrown off her stallion.

"Argh... Fang Zhengzhi, you shameless b*stard!" Ping Yang knew exactly why Snow Jade would react this way.

She had already guessed that Snow Jade may be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from its last meeting with Fang Zhengzhi.

As such, she had led Snow Jade around Fang Zhengzhi this morning.

She wanted Snow Jade to get used to Fang Zhengzhi and overcome its fear towards him. Snow Jade had acted fine all this while, so Ping Yang thought that it was fine.

However, Fang Zhengzhi's menacing gaze had shown that Snow Jade was still haunted by that experience.

"Run quickly." Fang Zhengzhi ignored Ping Yang as he turned back around. He whipped the Mud Striped Horse again.

He would not give up such a great opportunity.

"Zoom..." The Mud Striped Horse dug in its hooves and sped towards the finish line...

All of the spectators were stunned by what they saw.

Ping Yang had already closed in on Fang Zhengzhi. Even if she had maintained her speed, she would have taken home first place.

However, Snow Jade suddenly stopped in its tracks.

It did not even dare to move!

All of the spectators could not understand what Snow Jade had felt. However, they felt paralyzed, almost as if a bucket of ice had been dumped over their heads.

In the moment Snow Jade stopped, Fang Zhengzhi had guided the Mud Striped Horse over the finish line.

Snow Jade was no more than 20m from the finish line.

G.o.d d.a.m.n it!

"Fang Zhengzhi!" Ping Yang was on the brink of collapse. The first place was meant to be hers. However, she had lost it to Fang Zhengzhi's menacing gaze.

Secret weapon...

Was his gaze his true secret weapon?

"What are you shouting about. Would you have gotten second without me? Learn to be happy with what you have!" Fang Zhengzhi retorted.

"..." Ping Yang's mouth opened slightly. She wanted to rebut him, but she had no good reason to refute Fang Zhengzhi.

She would not have been able to take home second place.

"Humph!" Ping Yang snorted as she looked away.

Snow Jade continued to walk cautiously over the finish line. It kept its eye on Fang Zhengzhi's whip and made sure to keep its distance.

The surrounding officials and spectators looked at the simmering Ping Yang and the beaming Fang Zhengzhi.

They were all thinking of Fang Zhengzhi's comment. "Would you have gotten second without me?"

All of them looked at each other. They thought of the same thing. Fang Zhengzhi and Ping Yang had a deal!

They quickly remembered their guesses.

Very soon, all of them thought they understood what was happening.

Fang Zhengzhi had used Ping Yang to get past the defences around the first recording tablet. Then, he had given her the fourth recording tablet as payment.

That was the only way to explain this result.

It had to be that way.

Just as they were thinking about it, more and more names began to appear on the results tablet.

Ninth Prince Lin Yun, Zhang Feiyu...

All of their names began to appear.

Before long, the entire tablet was filled with names.

This made the officials and spectators confirm their hypothesis that Fang Zhengzhi must have done something to the tablet. Else, these compet.i.tors would not have waited till now to etch their names.

Fang Zhengzhi must have placed the fourth recording tablet near the finis.h.i.+ng line after guaranteeing his own victory.

All of the officials and spectators looked at Fang Zhengzhi with mocking gazes. They could all guess what the result would be.

Very quickly, many battle stallions appeared at the finish line.

The Ninth Prince was the first one back. He was closely followed by Zhang Feiyu.

The Ninth Prince had not gone with Ping Yang to find the fourth recording tablet. He had stuck to the original agreement, waiting for everyone by the roadside to restart the race.

However, with the Purple Lightning Dragon Stallion and his superior horsemans.h.i.+p, he was able to lead the pack and finish third.

With that, the compet.i.tion was over.

Now, it was time for the results.

The Ministry of Law spokesperson prepared to step out at this moment. He prepared to discuss the results with the officials and announce the results and disqualifications.

However, just as he was about to step out, he saw Emperor Lin Mubai looking at him.

He instantly knew what the Emperor was about to do.

The Emperor wanted to showcase his generosity.

"Now that the compet.i.tion is over, let us invite the Emperor to say a few words before we announce the results." The representative bowed and moved to the side.

Emperor Lin Mubai stepped forward.

"Okay, since the results are not finalized yet, I do not have much to say. All I want to do is announce what the prize is going to be." Emperor Lin Mubai smiled at all the spectators.

"Whoa!" Everyone was excited to hear what the prize was going to be.

Emperor Lin Mubai smiled even more radiantly as he looked at all the looks of antic.i.p.ation. This was exactly what he wanted.

Only by announcing the prize before the results was he able to show everyone just how generous he was.

He would let all of the talents and influential families know that he was fair to everyone and incredibly generous.