CHAPTER 585: CHAPTER 489: GAME 2, THE WILL OF HEAVEN_2

Prince Ming clicked his tongue and said, "Thankfully it ended early. If we had to finish all the examinations, wouldn’t it take an entire day?"

King Qi, the Fourth Prince, walked over and said, "Sixth Brother, may I borrow it for a look?"

Prince Ming closed the scroll and carelessly tossed it over.

King Qi was nearly hit in the face by the scroll, quickly stepped back, caught it in reverse, glared at Prince Ming, and walked away with a frosty expression.

Prince Fu asked, "Can’t you at least be more polite to Fourth Brother?"

Prince Ming snorted, "Even if I’m polite to him, he won’t remember my kindness."

Prince Fu glanced at the dragon throne and said, "At the very least, you might get smacked less often."

Prince Ming suddenly felt his forehead turn cold. Looking up, he met his father’s deadly glare.

His body trembled.

His swollen pig-headed face had just returned to normal!

-

Two intervals later, the ministers who had stepped out returned to Jinluan Palace.

Emperor Liang said, "Just now, I discussed with the two elder statesmen. It has been decided that each of you will draw your own question for the next competition. Who will go first?"

Lu Yuan smiled faintly and asked Lu Qi, "Second Brother, shall you go first?"

Lu Qi replied solemnly, "You’re the elder brother; you should go first."

"Then I won’t hold back."

Lu Yuan ceased pretending to give way politely.

Xiao Dazi and another eunuch brought over a table piled high with scrolls. Lu Yuan casually picked one: "This one will do."

Xiao Dazi received the question scroll with both hands, walked up the steps, and handed it to Eunuch Yu.

Eunuch Yu opened the scroll, read the content, and hesitated for a moment.

Emperor Liang asked, "What is the matter?"

The ministers’ ears all perked up, curious about what the examination question might be.

Eunuch Yu hesitated and replied, "Animal husbandry."

The face of Prince Jin changed once again: "Animal... husbandry?"

His eyes darted to the pile of scrolls. What kind of absurd questions were written on these scrolls?

Farming was already ridiculous enough—who thought it was a good idea to add animal husbandry into the mix?

They were selecting a Qilin, not a pig!

The officials exchanged puzzled looks, trying to figure out which of them had dared suggest making the imperial grandson study animal husbandry.

All eyes turned to the Minister of Agriculture.

The Minister of Agriculture hastily declared, "It wasn’t me."

Prince Fu scanned the room with his gaze: "Uncle, was it you who wrote this?"

Duke Jiang retorted, "It wasn’t me! Don’t go slandering people!"

Prince Fu added teasingly, "My uncle used to serve as the Great Shepherd Supervisor."

Duke Jiang erupted, "Didn’t I tell you not to bring that up?!"

In his youth, Duke Jiang had defended his sister and drunkenly assaulted the young Emperor Liang, which led to the Jiang Family being "exiled" for three years. Duke Jiang himself served three years as the Great Shepherd Supervisor.

For over a thousand nights, he raised horses—who could possibly understand his pain?

His suffering deserved to be returned to Emperor Liang’s grandsons!

A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even decades down the line!

Emperor Liang ordered, "Continue!"

Eunuch Yu carefully reexamined the question scroll to ensure there were no mistakes, and read aloud, word for word: "Herding one thousand sheep."

Emperor Liang: "..."

Moments later, Duke Jiang was escorted out of the palace!

There would be no herding animals—there weren’t even one thousand sheep in the Imperial Palace anyway!

Looking back, Emperor Liang regretted ever allowing Duke Jiang to become a shepherd. If only he had sent him straight to the border to perish, it would have saved years of this endless meddling.

Inside the palace was Consort Jiang; outside the palace was Duke Jiang. Neither sibling ever proved to be a source of peace.

"This question is dismissed."

Emperor Liang declared.

At that moment, Minister Zhang stepped forward with his memorial tablet and said, "Your Majesty, since the question has been dismissed, it suggests that Heaven does not favor granting the imperial grandson this opportunity. This round should be declared a victory for the Commandery Prince."

Prince Ming shouted angrily, "Hey! Zhang! Have you no shame? If the drawn question can’t be tested, then another should be drawn. You’re trying to profit from this? Has losing scared you so much? Are you so afraid of losing that you immediately resort to dirty tricks to keep the imperial grandson out of the competition?"

Zhang Qufeng brushed off his wide sleeve and retorted confidently, "Out of all the questions, why was it only Prince Changsun who drew an untestable one? If this isn’t Heaven’s will, what is?"

Prince Ming planted his hands on his hips: "Heaven be damned!"

The two began arguing furiously in court, their faces growing red with rage.

Prince Jin, meanwhile, kept observing Prince Fu. He didn’t believe Duke Jiang had proposed animal husbandry as an act of indiscriminate revenge against Emperor Liang. Instead, he suspected that this was yet another area in which Lu Yuan excelled.

He whispered to the State Preceptor, "Prince Fu and Duke Jiang seem to have aligned themselves with the Crown Prince Mansion. When did they start colluding? Was it all because of Liuying?"

His insinuation clearly placed blame for the tension between Consort Hu and Consort Jiang on Gongsun Liuying.

The day Consort Hu’s white cat scratched Nie’er, if Gongsun Liuying had healed Nie’er, it all would have ended there.

But escalating the matter to the point of irreconcilable hostility was Gongsun Liuying’s doing.

Gongsun Yanming said, "The Commandery Prince has yet to draw his question. It’s premature to conclude anything."

"Commandery Prince, please proceed."

Eunuch Yu announced.

Compared to Lu Yuan’s carefree attitude, Lu Qi appeared deeply contemplative.

After closely examining the options for a long time, he chose one from the center: "Eunuch De."