The screams came from the nobles behind him. However, that streak of light...
"It's Ping Yang!"
Fang Zhengzhi looked at the 300-meter distance to the finish line, then looked at the beam of light that was less than 200-meters behind him. He shuddered.
Could it be that the first place that was already in his hands was going to fly away like a butterfly?
No way!
He raised the whip in his hand and whipped the Mud Striped Horse's butt.
"Hiss!" A neigh rang out. The Mud Striped Horse seemed to have sensed the presence of the king of horses, Snow Jade. Fang Zhengzhi's whip seemed to have worked. Perhaps it was because the Mud Striped Horse wanted to retaliate, or because Fang Zhengzhi's whip was effective.
The Mud Striped Horse went berserk.
His four hooves danced in the air, and there was a faint feeling of wind under his hooves. His speed was more than twice as fast as before, and he looked like a horse that was going all out.
"Fang Zhengzhi, don't you dare run!" Ping Yang shouted when she saw Fang Zhengzhi speed up. She whipped Snow Jade again.
Master, you lied to me!
Snow Jade felt wronged. We agreed to only whip it once, why are you whipping it again?
It did not slow down. After all, it was at its maximum speed. However, it was still the king of horses. Even though its speed did not increase, its body began to exude a powerful aura.
Dragons had the power of a dragon, and so did horses.
The Mud Striped King, who was sprinting towards the finish line, was clearly shaken by this aura. Its eyes flashed with pain.
However, after pausing for a moment, it began to gallop once more.
...
At the finish line, everyone looked at the scene in front of them in shock.
A Mud Striped Horse and a King of Horses, Snow Jade, galloped one after the other. Their speeds were about the same, and it was hard to tell who would cross the finish line in the end.
"Princess Ping Yang has caught up!"
"Let's overtake this guy and send his Mud Striped Horse back to Dong Lin City!"
"A mere Mud Striped Horse dares to compete with the king of horses, Snow Jade? How arrogant!"
Cheers rang out. However, other than Wen Dabao, no one else wanted Fang Zhengzhi to win.
After all, if Fang Zhengzhi really won the competition with a Mud Striped Horse...
Where would they, the scions of the aristocratic families, put their faces?
Even if Fang Zhengzhi was disqualified. However, it would be best if such a thing didn't happen.
The ministers were also nervous at this moment.
Events like horse racing and hunting had always been a battlefield for the children of aristocratic families. Ordinary commoners didn't even have the qualifications to participate.
Ping Yang won first place in the horse race and hunt. Although it was a little unexpected, it could be said that it represented the prestige of the Sovereign Family, so it could be said that it was reasonable.
So what if Fang Zhengzhi came in first in the horse race and hunt?
Emperor Lin Mubai smiled faintly. Regardless of whether Fang Zhengzhi or Ping Yang won in the end, he already knew the outcome of this match.
In that case, he could boldly announce the prize that he had promised.
The children of the aristocratic families participated in the horse race and hunt in order to win the favor of the Emperor. Emperor Lin Mubai personally opened the Eastern Suburbs Hunting Ground to host such a competition. The purpose was obviously to display the Emperor's magnanimity.
As an emperor, the most important thing was to be broad-minded.
There were a few important aspects to being an emperor. First, it was to maintain the balance of power between the powers. Second, it was to be fair and just.
As such, if the prize was set by the emperor, it would naturally be more valuable. It would be able to show that the emperor was as magnanimous as the ocean.
However, even though that was the case, to really treat all of the citizens as his own sons and daughters. That was almost impossible.
There was no emperor who could do it.
As such, for this horse race and hunt, Emperor Lin Mubai had a little thought. The reason why he did not announce the prize before the competition began was because he had prepared two different prizes for first place.
Even though they were both very valuable.
But the meaning behind them was completely different.
One could be measured in gold and silver, while the other could not be measured in gold and silver. That was the difference between these two prizes, which could not be measured by gold or silver.
If the prize was given to Ping Yang, it would be the same as passing it from the left hand to the right hand. Not only would he be praised, but he would also be able to maintain the control of the treasure within the royal family.
This was killing three birds with one stone.
However, if it was given to Fang Zhengzhi...
Not just Fang Zhengzhi, even if it was Xiang Tianying, Tang Zhongming, or even Zhang Feiyu, Emperor Lin Mubai would not give it away.
However, the result was out.
He could now boldly show off his generosity. "I gave you the treasure openly, but you did not have the ability to get it? You can't blame me for that, right? "
Emperor Lin Mubai was overjoyed when he thought of this.
...
"Hyah, hyah!" The sound of galloping horses grew closer and closer.
Fang Zhengzhi was getting more and more nervous. He was getting closer and closer to the finish line, but Ping Yang was getting closer and closer. She was already right behind him.
"Hahaha... Fang Zhengzhi, you are going to lose!" Ping Yang smirked as she looked at Fang Zhengzhi. She was clearly confident in her victory.
"Is that so? If you dare to overtake me, I will throw a hidden weapon! "Fang Zhengzhi looked at Ping Yang who was about to overtake him, and immediately threatened her.
"Shameless fella, how dare you! There are so many pairs of eyes watching, do you dare to throw one? "Ping Yang chuckled coldly.
The rules of the competition had always been fair and just.
There was a saying, "Friendship comes first, competition comes second."
Under normal circumstances, it was normal to throw some hidden weapons or play some tricks during the competition. However, it was absolutely impossible to injure someone in broad daylight under the watchful eyes of so many people.
"Naive, watch out for my hidden weapon!" Fang Zhengzhi waved his hand without hesitation when he heard Ping Yang's words.
"Shameless fella, how dare you!" Ping Yang was shocked when she saw what Fang Zhengzhi did. She did not expect Fang Zhengzhi to have the guts to do so.
However...
Strangely, she waited for a long time, but nothing flew out from Fang Zhengzhi's hand.
"Could it be..." Ping Yang's heart skipped a beat. Fang Zhengzhi was just trying to scare him. How despicable.
Just as she was about to scold him, Ping Yang's gaze froze.
She saw a pair of ferocious eyes. It was almost as if there were rays of sword light flashing in them, exuding a murderous aura.
Could a gaze kill?
Of course not.
Could it kill a horse?
Of course not, but it could scare a horse!
"Roar!" Snow Jade, who had been sprinting with all its might, reared when it saw Fang Zhengzhi's eyes. It stopped in its tracks.
This sudden turn of events caused Ping Yang's body to tremble. If it weren't for her superb riding skills, she would have fallen off the horse.
"Ah... Fang Zhengzhi, you shameless fella!" Ping Yang knew why Snow Jade would react this way.
In fact, when she tried to frame Fang Zhengzhi in Ping Yang's residence, she had guessed that Snow Jade might have been traumatized by Fang Zhengzhi.
As such, she had dragged Snow Jade along with her in the morning.
She wanted Snow Jade to get used to Fang Zhengzhi and overcome its fear of Fang Zhengzhi. Initially, she had thought that Snow Jade would be fine since it had behaved normally.
However, Fang Zhengzhi's threatening gaze had caused the shadow in Snow Jade's heart to surface.
"Run." Fang Zhengzhi did not have the time to care about her. He retracted his gaze and whipped the Mud Striped Horse's butt.
Now, this kind of opportunity was simply a trap thrown to him by the heavens. Of course, he would not miss it.
"Clatter clatter..." The Mud Striped Horse's butt was slapped. Immediately, its four hooves flew in the air as it charged towards the finishing line with all its might …
...
The spectating aristocratic family disciples couldn't react to the scene before them at all.
Ping Yang was already very close to Fang Zhengzhi just now. Just by maintaining her previous speed, Ping Yang was destined to take first place in this match.
However, why did Snow Jade suddenly break down?
Did it dare to run any further?!
The spectators could not understand what Snow Jade was feeling. However, they were feeling extremely cold, almost as if a bucket of ice had been poured over their heads.
Because... Just as Snow Jade stood up, Fang Zhengzhi had already crossed the finish line on his Mud Striped Horse.
Snow Jade was less than 20 meters away from the finish line.
What kind of trap was this?!
"Fang Zhengzhi!" Ping Yang was also devastated. She was so close to finishing first, but Fang Zhengzhi's glare had scared the hell out of Snow Jade.
Hidden weapon...
Could it be that his glare was his real hidden weapon?
"What are you shouting for? Do you think you could have finished second without me? One must learn to be content. Don't you know that? "Fang Zhengzhi retorted without holding back as he looked at the pouting Ping Yang.
"…" Ping Yang opened her mouth and wanted to retort. However, she couldn't find a better excuse. After all, if Fang Zhengzhi wasn't around …
She would not have been able to finish second.
"Hmph!" Ping Yang snorted and turned her head to the side, not saying another word.
Snow Jade, on the other hand, shuddered as it carefully crossed the finish line. When it saw the whip in Fang Zhengzhi's hand, it instinctively distanced itself from it.
All of the officials and spectators looked at the sulking Ping Yang and the beaming Fang Zhengzhi. Fang Zhengzhi's words echoed in their minds.
"Do you think you could have finished second without me?"
All of the officials and nobles looked at each other. They all understood one thing from the look in each other's eyes. There was a deal between Fang Zhengzhi and Ping Yang!
Then, they thought back to their earlier conjectures.
It didn't take long for everyone to realize what was going on.
Fang Zhengzhi had used Ping Yang to get past the first recording tablet. Then, as a reward, he had taken out the fourth recording tablet and carved his name on Ping Yang.
That was why things ended up like this.
Indeed.
Just as he was thinking about it, names began to appear on the tablet one after another.
Ninth Prince Lin Yun, Zhang Feiyu...
Names began to appear one by one.
In a short while, the entire Manifestation Tablet was densely packed with them.
All of the officials and spectators were even more certain that Fang Zhengzhi had done something. Otherwise, why would these people wait until now to carve their names on the fourth recording tablet?
Fang Zhengzhi must have thrown the fourth recording tablet near the finish line because he saw that he was about to win.
When they thought of this, the officials and nobles looked at Fang Zhengzhi mockingly. They could already predict what was going to happen next.
Very quickly, a large group of warhorses appeared at the finish line.
The leader of the group was the Ninth Prince Lin Yun, and Zhang Feiyu was behind him.
According to the agreement, the Ninth Prince did not set off with Ping Yang to find the fourth recording tablet. Instead, he waited by the side of the road for everyone to arrive.
However, with the Purple Lightning Dragon Stallion and his superb racing skills, he was able to stay ahead of the rest and clinch third place in the hunt.
At this point, the Horse Race and Hunt had come to an end.
Next was the announcement of the winners.
The minister of the Ministry of Rites, who was in charge of organizing the horse race and hunt, stood up and prepared to announce the final result of the race and those who had been eliminated according to the results of the discussion among the ministers.
However, just as he stood up, he saw Emperor Lin Mubai's gaze.
The Minister of Rites was an experienced and quick-witted person, he immediately understood.
The Emperor was showing his magnanimity.
"The horse race and hunting competition has ended. Before we officially award the prizes, we would like to seek Your Majesty's instructions." The minister of the Ministry of Rites shouted loudly before respectfully retreating to the side.
Emperor Lin Mubai stood up at this moment.
"Alright, the results of the competition have yet to be officially announced. The final result is still unknown. Before that, I have nothing much to say. I just want to talk about the prizes this time." Emperor Lin Mubai smiled as he looked at the crowd of nobles with a kind expression.
"Wow!" All of the spectators were excited when they heard Emperor Lin Mubai's words.
The smile on Emperor Lin Mubai's face grew wider. He casually glanced at all the nobles who were filled with anticipation and nodded his head in satisfaction. This was the result that he wanted.
Only by announcing the prizes before the results of the competition were officially announced would the people of the world know how magnanimous he was.
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