Chapter 74

Once again standing in front of the familiar carriage, Zining did not let Lanling get in this time. With the precedent of the previous incident, she was truly afraid that Lanling might act unpredictably again, biting her or even doing something even more outrageous.

"Your strategy paper was impressive. You were just pretending to be a pig eating a tiger before," Zining asked.

Lanling shook his head and said, "No, I just went to the Heavenly Demon Mountains, where my soul was purified, and my realm improved, giving me a whole new insight."

"Oh, what kind of insight?" Zining asked.

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" Lanling asked.

"What am I afraid to hear?" Zining replied.

"For example, Zining is a despicable person," Lanling repeated what he had said to Yiman.

As soon as these words were spoken, the eunuch Li Zhu's face changed. His hand trembled slightly, almost unable to resist striking Lanling down.

Zining's beautiful face instantly turned red. No one had ever insulted her like this before. She panted heavily, her chest heaving, making the curves of her breasts more prominent.

"Sulun, are you really not afraid that I will kill you?" Zining said viciously, her words filled with real killing intent.

"It was you who insisted on hearing it. I can only speak the truth," Lanling replied.

Zining closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. She had come to see Sulun on a serious mission, entrusted by Zili, and could not afford to lose her temper over such trivial matters, even though she found that her composure was completely useless in front of Sulun.

"His Highness Zili greatly admires your strategy paper. He believes you are a person of great wisdom," Zining said. "So, he hopes you will give up your Tian Shui City territory and join his ranks. With your talent, you can at least enter the cabinet. Even become his future prime minister."

Lanling was indeed surprised by this. He had not expected that Zili, who originally intended to kill him, would now try to recruit him after reading his strategy paper.

Zining continued, "You see far ahead. Once the commoner elite fully rise, they will become difficult to control. You, representing the noble class, will balance them. I believe you can see the significance of this. Your stage will be the entire Ang Lang Kingdom, not just the small Tian Shui City."

Zining stared at Lanling and said slowly, "I believe with your wisdom, you understand the relationship between giving and taking. There must be giving to have taking."

Lanling remained silent.

Zining continued, "And you know, Tian Shui City is part of His Highness Zili's grand strategy, so you can't possibly keep it. A smart person would never stand in the way of a chariot. Once you lose your title and territory, to completely prevent the resurgence of the Suo family, you will surely die. The power disparity between you and us is too great."

Lanling still did not respond.

Zining said, "So, the choice is simple. Do you choose to live and join His Highness Zili's ranks, reaching the pinnacle of human subjects, or do you choose to perish with your Tian Shui City territory? You must answer."

Lanling looked at Zining's beautiful face and said, "Princess, would you also make a choice?"

"Speak," Zining's eyebrows twitched, sensing that Sulun was about to insult her again.

Lanling asked, "For example, if I were very strong in martial arts and you were weak, and one day you fell into my hands, and I wanted to rape you. Would you choose to die to preserve your purity, or would you choose to be raped and then endure the humiliation of becoming my woman?"

For a long moment, there was no sound in the carriage.

Then, Zining suddenly rushed out of the carriage, her hand slapping Lanling's face directly.

She could not help it. She knew it was very unbecoming, but she could not control herself.

Lanling instinctively tried to catch her hand but found himself suddenly unable to move. He then felt someone behind him, and the eunuch Li Zhu's fingers pressed against his neck, locking his entire body.

"Slap!" Zining's slap landed on Lanling's face.

Then, she re-entered the carriage and coldly ordered, "Go."

"Sulun, in the third exam, you can forget about getting a high score," Zining said coldly. "We will openly suppress you."

Lanling said, "Don't you care about the face of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple's cultivators?"

Zining replied, "The cultivators of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple are also human. Would they really go against the royal family for a mere minor noble unless you composed a once-in-a-century masterpiece that conquered their souls and made them bow in reverence? Do you think that's possible?"

Indeed, it was almost impossible.

The great cultivators of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple who came this time were at the pinnacle of the world's art, like gods. They were so proud that no piece had conquered their souls in a hundred years.

Zining said, "So, they will definitely stand by and watch us suppress you without concern. You must be very eager to see your score in the third exam. I'll tell you in advance, it won't exceed thirty points."

Then, she stormed off in a rage.

Sulun, left behind, touched his cheek, his handsome face trembling slightly.

Before the third exam, Zining, representing the royal family, convened a meeting of all the examiners from the royal city college.

"I want to make it clear that everyone must obey the will of His Majesty the King, and everything must give way to the kingdom's future strategy," Zining said. "The kingdom's southern expansion strategy must not be affected in any way. Do you understand?"

Although Zining did not mention Sulun by name, everyone understood that she was representing the royal family to completely suppress Sulun.

In the first exam, Sulun received a high score, which Zining did not care about.

But in the second exam, Sulun again received a high score, and his strategy paper even shocked the entire cabinet and the royal family. Zining could no longer remain indifferent.

Everyone knew about her bet with Sulun. If Sulun really entered the top ten and received the noble warrior medal, Zining being bitten by a snake would be just a laughing matter. The Silver Casino would have to pay out 100,000 gold coins, which would bankrupt it and severely damage Zining and Zili's finances.

But the bet also included a clause: if Sulun received the noble warrior medal, he would inherit the title and the position of Lord of Tian Shui City.

And this bet was known throughout the royal city, drawing widespread attention. If Sulun really entered the top ten and received the noble warrior medal, the royal family would not dare to defy public opinion and prevent him from inheriting the title and the position of Lord of Tian Shui City. That would severely damage the royal family's reputation.

Zining and Zili could not afford such a cost.

So, she decided to openly suppress Sulun in the exam, even though it would damage her reputation. But at this point, she could not afford to care.

The dozen examiners present were all from the art department of the royal city college, including famous artists from the entire royal city.

"I disagree," Mentor Nia suddenly stood up and said. "Art is fair, just, and cannot be tainted."

Indeed, Mentor Nia was also an examiner for the art department. Although she had not met Sulun, she had been closely following his performance. She felt genuine pride and joy at his scores in the first two exams.

She was even more excited about Sulun's third exam. Everyone in the royal city college knew that Sulun had chosen music to pursue a beautiful mentor, but he was actually skilled in painting, and his music skills were poor.

Only Mentor Nia knew how astonishing Sulun's talent in music was. She was eagerly looking forward to seeing him shock everyone in the third exam.

But she did not expect that Zining would decide Sulun's fate before the exam.

Without a doubt, once these people decided, even if Sulun played a heavenly melody, he would be given the lowest score. Because the scoring was subjective.

Zining seemed to have anticipated this and smiled faintly.

At that moment, Mentor Nia suddenly saw a golden light, then felt dizzy and fell into her chair.

"Mentor Nia is unwell and cannot continue her work. She should go home," Zining said.

Then, two female warriors came forward, supporting Mentor Nia's arms, and took her away.

"Vile, despicable, filthy," Mentor Nia cried out in anger. "Gentlemen, ladies, please look at your consciences, look at your consciences."

Zining said, "Since Mentor Nia is absent, let the royal court's music official take over her examiner duties. Is there any problem with that?"

Everyone quickly shook their heads. Then, a man with snow-white skin, almost more beautiful than a woman, entered and bowed to Zining.

This man was the royal court's music official, the famous beauty Longyang.

Zining continued, "I believe that art comes from the heart. If a person's moral character is poor, then his artistic taste must also be low. A student who seduces a married woman and commits adultery with his mentor is despicable. What score do you think such a person should receive?"

"Zero," Longyang said. "Art is first and foremost the elevation of the soul and character, and only then the level of skill."

The full score for the art exam was 100, and the famous beauty Longyang gave a score of zero.

"I think if the skill is relatively good, giving 30 points is still acceptable," someone said.

"25," another said.

"35," another said.

In the end, all the scores were out. After removing the highest and lowest scores, Sulun's score was 23.

Indeed, the exam had not even started, and Sulun's score was already determined. With this score, not only would he not enter the top ten and receive the noble warrior medal, but he might even fail the graduation exam.

"Very good, the royal family will not forget your contributions," Zining said.

At this moment, Dean Jianyong suddenly said, "Your Highness, we will of course unconditionally obey the kingdom's strategy. But what about the sages from the Divine Dragon Holy Temple?"

Zining said, "Coincidentally, the great cultivator Byron, who is the chief examiner this time, is my art mentor from the Divine Dragon Temple in Yanjing."

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