Even though Su Qing was young, he was a few years older than Fang Zhengzhi. They may both be rank four officials, but Su Qing was in a more powerful position.

No matter what...

It was weird for Fang Zhengzhi to say something like that.

However, Fang Zhengzhi did. Furthermore, he said it in such a calm and flat manner. If not for his youth, the officials would have thought that a senior was educating his junior.

Su Qing did not say anything else.

He knew that if he did, he would be cursing and swearing.

He could have superhuman tolerance, but even then, he had a limit. Su Qing's limit may be high, but he was about to hit it.

Fang Zhengzhi still wanted to say more. He wanted Su Qing to roll on the floor in anger, cursing and swearing all the way.

However, Su Qing did not reply, so he could not continue.

He had to show that he was a man of cla.s.s.

Nangong Hao did not say anything else either. He placed his script in the hand of the imperial messenger, turned and left.

The maple leaf print on his clothes was blown up by the wind, staining his clothes red.

All of the candidates were shocked. They could see that the stains on Nangong Hao's s.h.i.+rt were not maple leaves. They were blood in the shape of maple leaves.

Where did Nangong Hao come from?

Why would his clothes be stained with blood. Why was the blood in the shape of maple leaves?

None of them knew.

However, Emperor Lin Mubai did not find it surprising. He watched Nangong Hao leave, deep in contemplation.

The theory examination was finally over.

The results were set to be released five days later. The location was the "Imperial Decree Hall". This was where the inaugurations and funerals were held.

This was also where the Emperor paid his respects to his ancestors.

However, after Emperor Lin Mubai took the throne, he ordered that the hall be used for the release of the court examination results. Many did not understand why, thinking that only the Emperor should access that hall.

The reason why he was the Emperor was because he was the one true dragon. He was the son of heaven and commoners could not be able to access the same ancestral hall he did.

One of these people was the previous Minister of Rites.

He had already expressed his concerns to the Emperor. He backed it up with examples from history, claiming that it was against the rules of rites.

However...

It was no use.

Emperor Lin Mubai insisted that he did not see anything wrong with it even after examining the twelve rules.

There was no discussion after that.

The Imperial Decree Hall became the location for the court examination results release. For decades, it had not been changed.

This was the hall that most of the candidates wanted to go to, and it was also the most heavily guarded location in the palace.

Today, the light in the Imperial Decree Hall was lit.

This was unusual.

The light was only lit during inauguration, the annual memorial service, or the biannual announcement of court examination results.

However, the light was lit this night.

There was only one possibility, the Emperor himself was in the hall.

The set up of the Imperial Decree Hall was different from that of the other halls. The other halls were filled with gold and jewels, the Imperial Decree Hall was filled with incense.

The incense in the hall was particularly invigorating.

Each of the scripts were placed neatly on the antique tables.

As the Emperor, Lin Mubai should be concerned with the running of the country. He need not look through each script individually. In the past, he did not look through each one either.

The method was simple.

He would usually gather eight officials and have them judge the scripts first. Then, they would pa.s.s the top 20 scripts to him for him to rank.

However, Emperor Lin Mubai did not do so this time.

To judge 200 scripts was a tedious task, but Emperor Lin Mubai did it anyways. He began from the end of the court examinations and continued deep into the night.

He did not move at any point within the past 10 hours.

This did not seem very normal.

More importantly, Emperor Lin Mubai did not choose to mark the scripts in his library. Instead, he chose to do so in the Imperial Decree Hall.

The night was cold.

The light in the Imperial Decree Hall continued to be lit. The lights in the city were bright as well.

King Duan's residence was also brightly lit, a figure strolling back and forth within it.

The Crown Prince's residence was also lit. Many carriages pa.s.sed by, dropping officials off.

However, Ping Yang's residence was not lit. Furthermore, there was no movement inside. Ping Yang had left her residence in the middle of the night.

What did she leave to do?

No one knew.

The Heaven Dao Pavilion reached through the clouds. Anyone looking at the stars from the peak was bound to be able to feel the light of the stars.

A lady in a pink dress with bright eyes stood quietly at the peak of the Heaven Dao Pavilion.

She stood on a rock, barefoot, as she looked up into the stars.

There was a young girl standing behind her. She wore a thick coat and had a white scarf

white scarf around her neck. Even so, she still hugged herself, s.h.i.+vering from the cold.

It was late autumn.

However, in places like the Heaven Dao Pavilion, autumn was a bone chillingly cold time.

However, the young girl did not say anything. If Chi Guyan did not say anything, she would not say anything as a servant.

Finally, Chi Guyan lowered her head, her eyes s.h.i.+ning brightly. It looked like there was a constellations in her eyes.

Yue Er looked at the constellations in Chi Guyan's eyes enviously. She was filled with pride that she was able to be by Chi Guyan's side at this time.

"Today is the court examination?"

"Yes ma'am. You haven't been concerning yourself with the affairs outside recently. As such, I did not mention it to you." Yue Er replied.

"Mm... did Nangong Hao partic.i.p.ate?" Chi Guyan nodded lightly.

"He did."

"He really partic.i.p.ated..." Chi Guyan's lips quivered, almost as if she was muttering to herself.

"Missus, do we need to do anything?"

"There's no use. If it is Nangong Hao, then the results of the court examinations are final."

"Do you really think that Fang Zhengzhi will lose?"

"I don't think he will lose, but I can't think of how he will win. As such, I can't do anything, and I don't know what I can do."

"There are things in this world that you can't think of?" Yue Er was shocked.

"Yes, this is an example." Chi Guyan nodded as she looked into the east. That was where the capital was.

Yue Er was stunned when she saw Chi Guyan's expression.

Ever since Chi Guyan returned to the Heaven Dao Pavilion, she was like a completely changed person.

She did not ask about politics, neither was she as cold as before. She would even talk to Yue Er about cultivation and sword techniques.

Her statement just now was the perfect example.

Chi Guyan of old would never say something like that. No matter how difficult the situation, she would find a solution.

"Congratulations Guyan!" An elderly voice could be heard from afar. Then, a figure approached Chi Guyan from the back.

He was silver haired and wore a white robe. However, his skin was smooth and he looked like a twenty year old youth.

"Greetings Pavilion Leader!" Yue Er kowtowed when she saw the figure.

The leader of the Heaven Dao Pavilion was Mu Qingfeng, someone who stood at the very top.

"Mm, you accompany Guyan here everyday. You can't just keep adding layers. This is a warming jade that you can hold onto." A piece of jade appeared in Yue Er's hand.

"Thank you Pavilion Leader!" Yue Er kowtowed in thanks.

"Rise." Mu Qingfeng motioned for Yue Er to recover.

"Master." The constellations in Chi Guyan's eyes disappeared as she turned to bow to Mu Qingfeng respectfully.

"Mm, you have already understood it. You can breakthrough now." Mu Qingfeng nodded.

"Breakthrough? Didn't master ask me to get a better foundation and breakthrough only two years later?" Chi Guyan did not quite understand Mu Qingfeng.

"Your foundation is solid. Suppressing your breakthrough is meaningless." Mu Qingfeng shook his head.

"I understand." Chi Guyan nodded.

"If I am correct, Nangong Hao should also have broken through." Mu Qingfeng said as he looked at the direction Chi Guyan's toes were pointing towards.

"Master, you mean that Nangong Hao is in the Supernatural State?"

"Yes, however, I don't think that anyone knows about this, including the Nangong Family." Mu Qingfeng nodded as he looked in the direction of the capital. His eyes glowed.

Those were flames.

They were just like the lights in the capital.

Chi Guyan did not speak. She stood quietly in position as she looked at the stars in the sky. The constellations appeared in her eyes once again...