If Nangong Hao did not say this himself, no one would believe that he was not invited to meet with the Emperor . Even when he did . . .

No one believed he wouldn't make the list .

So what happened?

Could it be . . .

All of the candidates thought of only one possibility . That was the only plausible reason . Nangong Hao had handed in his script early .

Was that the reason?

The candidates could not be sure . If the Emperor had seemed that someone who handed in their script early was disrespectful to him . . .

That did not seem very wise or fair .

All of the candidates looked at Nangong Hao with looks of doubt and sadness . Yet, Nangong Zhao himself showed no emotion .

It was almost as if him being on the list or not made no difference to him .

The candidates did not believe that Nangong Hao did not care . Even if Nangong Hao did not care, he had to live up to the expectations of his ancestors .

Top three .

That was the minimum for any Nangong Family member .

If they were not confident of making the top three, they would withdraw . Some of them would not even partic.i.p.ate in the examinations .

The fact that Nangong Hao was here meant that he had the confidence to make the top three . Furthermore, Nangong Hao was expected to top both the theory and combat examinations .

Wu Feng was speechless as he looked at Nangong Hao .

Comfort?

He thought that it would be inappropriate to comfort Nangong Hao . Mockery and irony were out of the question as well .

As such, Wu Feng nodded and calmed himself down . Then, he returned to his original position .

He would not be able to take it if he stood next to Nangong Hao .

"Nangong Hao didn't meet the Emperor? Hahaha, I am definitely going to top the theory examinations this time . It is mine, hahaha . . . " Wu Feng was incredibly excited . His face filled with color and he felt as though he was on a cloud .

Just at this moment, they saw a figure in the distance .

An elderly man walked over . He did not sit in a carriage, but, all of the Royal guards accorded him great respect as he pa.s.sed .

No one stopped him along the way .

He cleared his throat lightly .

All of the candidates looked on solemnly . They knew who this was .

This was an aged man, but his eyes were still very cryptic . One could not make out what he was thinking .

However, the silver official robes that he wore made everyone afraid to show anything less than complete respect .

He was King Liqin .

Wu Feng's haze froze . It was unusual for King Liqin to be here . After all, he rarely concerned himself with the affairs of the court .

So why would he come to the court examinations results announcement?

What was his motive?

"Your highness!" Wu Feng could not figure it out, but he still greeted King Liqin respectfully . His respect for King Liqin was true .

The reason was simple .

His master, the Clear Water Sage had given him only one instruction before he left for the capital .

"You can disrespect anyone in the capital bar King Liqin!"

This was an instruction, but it was also a warning .

"Your highness!" All of the other candidates recovered from their shock, greeting King Liqin with utmost respect .

"Mm, h.e.l.lo to you all . " King Liqin's raspy voice rang out . Then, he smiled at all the candidates affectionately .

King Liqin's greeting was casual, almost like a grandfather greeting his grandchildren . It was difficult to link this man to the father of the Emperor .

All of the officials stood at the entrance to the Imperial Decree Hall . It was almost time for the results to be announced, but there was no movement inside the hall .

They could only wait patiently .

However, when King Liqin appeared, they could not keep their composure any longer .

Left Prime Minister Yu Yuping's eyes revealed traces of doubt . Why would King Liqin come here? He never concerned himself with the affairs of the court! This is abnormal!

The other officials had the same suspicions . However, King Liqin was heading right towards them, his steps a little haphazard .

Even though he looked like he was not very stable, one would realize upon closer inspection that he managed to maintain the same speed throughout .

"Your highness!" All of the officials bowed and greeted King Liqin respectfully .

"Mm, h.e.l.lo to all of you too . " King Liqin smiled at them but did not slow down .

Before long, King Liqin had pa.s.sed through all of them and walked to the entrance of the Imperial Decree Hall .

At this point, the door to the Imperial Decree Hall was nudged open, leaving a s.p.a.ce just enough for one person to pa.s.s through .

"King Liqin entered the hall?" All of the officials were slightly shocked . There was only one man inside the Imperial Decree Hall .

The Emperor .

They were doubtful, but they could not stop him .

Even the two rows of golden armored guards by the gates of the Imperial Decree Hall did not stop him .

King Liqin entered the Imperial Decree Hall as easily as he would enter his own house . It made people wonder if he was even here in the first place?

Inside the Imperial Decree Hall, it was much calmer than it was outside .

A light incense floated around inside the hall . There was a glowing red light in the incense pot, the light s.h.i.+ning on a young man's face .

That man was wearing a golden dragon robe . Only one man could wear such a robe .

Emperor Lin Mubai .

His eyebrows were scrunched together .

There was a golden parchment in front of him . This was the results slip for the court examinations . There were already names on it .

Once it was released, the results were set .

Wu Feng's name was on it, with some comments next to his name .

However, the parchment did not have Fang Zhengzhi's name . Neither did it have Yan Xiu or Nangong Hao's name .

"You're here!" Emperor Lin Mubai was calm when he saw King Liqin enter .

"Since the Emperor asked me to come, I came . " King Liqin stepped forward .

"It's been tough on you . " Emperor Lin Mubai stood up from the desk and placed three joss sticks in front of King Liqin .

King Liqin took it .

Then, he kowtowed three times before taking seven steps forward and placing them in the golden holder .

"What does the Emperor need from me?" King Liqin stood back at his original position after finis.h.i.+ng the ritual .

"I am thinking of sending troops to the Southern Mountain Range, what do you think?" Emperor Lin Mubai whispered .

"Do you want to invade them or pacify them?" King Liqin asked, his expression unchanging .

"What do you think of both?" Emperor Lin Mubai pressed .

"If you are invading them, the Southern Mountain Range is vast . The woods are thick and ruled by beasts . Who will lead the expedition?" King Liqin asked .

"What about Xing Hou?"

"Yuanguo is loyal . Letting him lead the army is not a problem . However, his battle has always been with the demons, so he is not familiar with the Southern Mountain Range . Furthermore, the Mountain Breaking Army is skilled in siege . They will suffer heavy losses engaging in guerilla warfare . Conquering them would take at least a decade, probably more!"

"So what if I went in peace?" Emperor Lin Mubai nodded and asked .

"The Emperor already has a good plan . I shall not comment further . " King Liqin looked towards the golden parchment .

"I have three scripts here from three different candidates . I would like you to take a look . " Emperor Lin Mubai nodded and placed the three scripts in King Liqin's hand .

King Liqin took the scripts in his hand, his gaze scanning over the one at the top . Then, his eyes glimmered .

He quickly finished looking through that one .

He began to look through the second script .

This time, after a mere glance, his eyes cleared up, a bright light s.h.i.+ning in his pupils .

After reading it twice, he picked up the third script .

The moment he picked it up, his eyes darkened significantly . However, this did not last long .

Before long, his eyes began to s.h.i.+ne . The more he read, the brighter it became . His eyes began to widen, light rays s.h.i.+ning out of them .

It was almost as if there was a rainbow coming out of his eyes .

Then, he picked up the second script once again and read the both of them over and over .

"Good!" After reading both scripts five times, King Liqin finally spoke . He only said one word, but his voice was not raspy . It was magnificent and deep, almost like a dragon which had awoken from its deep slumber .