Rising Phoenix

"Go." Feng Zhiwei pushed the prince. "Defying an Imperial Order on this small matter is not worth it.

Helian Zheng threw back his liquor before rolling up his sleeves and striding over to the drum; as he moved, he turned his head and called back: "You can't join. Ning Yi is looking for a wife; it's none of your business."

"How could I." Feng Zhiwei called back, shooing him forward, "Nobody's wife selection has anything to do with me.

She turned back to her liquor — how was this a good game? The Tian Sheng Emperor clearly wanted Hua Gongmei to win; setting such difficult rules was basically giving Hua Gongmei the win. The Hua Family was noble and high ranking but held very little power, and clearly the Tian Sheng Emperor did not want Ning Yi to marry a wife from a powerful line and give wings to the tiger.

Helian Zheng sat by the drums, gold-handled drumsticks in hand as he obediently tattooed the beat. Hua Gongmei smiled, still standing as she looked out over the crowd. None of the girls who met her eyes were confident, and most of them seemed to hunch back a little as if afraid that Hua Gongmei would challenge them, and the smile on the young lady's face only grew.

But finally a voice called out, unwilling to accept the slaughter.

"Your Majesty, this young lady has an objection!" A purpled young woman stood up and announced, her physique tiny and cute, thin and weak, but her voice ringing out melodiously. "Literary talent can be graded higher or lower, but swift thinking does not demonstrate talent. This rule is unfair!"

The Tian Sheng Emperor paused before replying and Imperial Noble Consort Chang immediately seized the opportunity, recognizing Vice Minister Hu Shengshan's granddaughter, she replied: "Young Madam Hu, if you have a better idea, speak."

Young Madam Hu Jingshui bowed ceremonially before replying in her clear voice: "Since we are cheering on the frontline soldiers, everyone should be involved. This Young Lady thinks that after the Hu Zhuo Prince beats the drum three times, everyone can write a challenging subject on a slip of paper. Your Majesty and Your Highness can then choose and rank the three most difficult subjects. At first, only the name of the person who submits the challenge is announced. If your challenge is chosen, you must provide an answer. Everyone else can choose freely from the ranking of three challenges, from most difficult to easiest. What do you think of my proposal, Your Majesty?"

Hu Jingshui clearly understood that allowed Hua Gongmei to randomly challenge anyone would definitely destroy the conviviality of the celebration — rather than allowing the other woman to steal the show, dragging everyone into this more balanced game was better, especially if someone else could steal the spot for most difficult question from Hua Gongmei. Even if this did not happen, having a top three spread would ensure that the proud young lady could not make this game all about her, at least allowing different candidates for Prince Chu's pendant.

This manner of choosing talented women was just an unwritten practice and only ever gave a casual direction — there were no rites saying that this was how a Prince's wife must be chosen, after such a marriage alliance was a major affair with many many aspects to consider.

Hu Jingshui was confident of making it into the top three, and if Hua Gongmei was too arrogant, she might even able to beat her in one of the topics.

Feng Zhiwei calmly drank her liquor, silently praising Young Lady Hu for her schemes. As long as the girl could get her topic into the top three, she would have face even if she failed to answer well, and ultimately anything was better than being completely crushed by Hua Gongmei.

Hua Gongmei was fine either way — however much they changed the rules of the game, could they change the fact that she was the most talented young lady in Dijing?

The Emperor thought for a moment. Even if he wanted Hua Gongmei to win, he could not be too obvious, so he had to agree; soon, the servants were passing out paper and brushes to all the young ladies.

Ning Yi smiled and declared: "What an interesting game. The Young Ladies will have to work hard; this small Prince toasts you all."

The beautiful prince floated down the stairs and toasted the crowd before finishing off his cup, his gorgeous eyes sweeping over the young ladies, sending a flush through the crowd as the young ladies emptied their cups as well.

Feng Zhiwei lifted her cup and noticed a wax ball floating in her liquor.

Just as everyone had been throwing back their drinks, Ning Yi had flicked a wax ball into her cup.

Feng Zhiwei quietly removed the wax ball and opened in below the table. The small piece of paper said: "How to weaken a vassal."

Cheating? Feng Zhiwei crumbled the note and thought for a moment.

The Tian Sheng Dynasty's only vassal outside the Ning Family is the Yong Ning Prince, Governor of Xi Ping Province. The Old Yong Ning Prince helped the Emperor conquer almost half of the dynasty's territory, and was even in a position to challenge for emperorship when he yielded the crown to the Tian Sheng Emperor.

As such, the old minister was rewarded greatly when the Dynasty was founded, but the Emperor would always eventually take back what he granted. The young Yong Ning Prince proudly led his own armies and covertly opposed Imperial Orders, selecting his own officials for his autonomous cities and refusing the involvement of the Imperial Court. These years, even though the Emperor still showed his grace to the Yong Ning Princes, he secretly wished their downfall.

Ning Yi wanted her to use this to enter the top three?

With this topic?

Feng Zhiwei smirked as she looked up and caught sight of the nearby Hua Gongmei; happiness was filling her eyes and her face was flushed with excitement, and her eyes seemed to be wet with tears.

What? Had she drunk too much?

At that moment, the long since bored Helian Zheng shouted: "Begin!"

All the young ladies quickly smoothed out their paper and inked their brush.

"Dong – Dong – Dong –…"

The drum was beat out slowly, but eventually it still had to come to a stop.

Feng Zhiwei never stopped drinking, only scribbling some words down after the second drumbeat tapered off.

The ink was sanded, the papers rolled and sealed, and the Tian Sheng Emperor went through each submission one by one.

The light from the red lanterns shone down on his face and silence reigned over the square as he flipped through the papers. Everyone held their breath and nervously waited on the Emperor's reactions.

Only two people had calm expressions.

One of them was Ning Yi, looking down at his erotic drawings as if this matter of wife choosing had nothing to do with him.

The other was Feng Zhiwei, who had sneakily stolen a full bottle of Mellow Ancient Moon wine from the nervous guests next door.

She was not just a glutton for liquor, honest! It was just that the poor Helian Prince had barely tasted any yet.

The bright lantern light clearly presented the Tian Sheng Emperor's face to all the onlookers. Suddenly, his calm expression changed and he let out a noise of surprise.

Some people grasped their handkerchiefs.

Others straightened their spines.

The Tian Sheng Emperor examined the paper carefully before placing it aside, letting out a long, indecipherable breath.

The Tian Sheng Emperor began to flip more quickly, and the waiting crowd felt as if their hearts were beating to the rhythm of the paper when the Emperor's hand suddenly stopped.

He took out a piece of paper and looked at it one more time before suddenly bursting out into laughter.