There was a saying that went, "If it doesn't concern you, don't care."
Nangong Hao was clearly treating himself as an outsider. He did not participate, he did not argue, he did not speak, and he did not worry.
However, all of the candidates knew that Nangong Hao had a lot to do with this. Of course, other than Nangong Hao, there was another person who did not speak.
That was Fang Zhengzhi.
From the moment the messenger spoke to the moment he was taken away by Xing Qingsui, Fang Zhengzhi had become an outsider. He was calm and collected.
All of the candidates had a strange feeling about this.
What right did he have?
If Fang Zhengzhi was disqualified, Fang Zhengzhi would be at a disadvantage. If he was not disqualified, Nangong Hao would be at a disadvantage.
However, why did the two of them look like they were watching from the sidelines?
"Why are they so calm?" All of the candidates could not understand.
In reality, the reason why Fang Zhengzhi didn't speak was because he felt that it wasn't too important to disqualify him from the examination. However, none of the candidates would think of this reason.
As for Nangong Hao...
He knew that...
He knew that the Great Xia Dynasty's plan was focused on the Icy Monkey Settlement. He also knew that the Crown Prince would not allow Fang Zhengzhi to take over the Icy Monkey Settlement. At the very least, he would not allow that to happen.
As such, what else did he have to worry about?
The so-called Crown Prince's order was, of course, a verbal order personally passed down by the Crown Prince. There was almost no doubt about this, because no messenger would dare to do this.
However, Xing Qingsui was right. Did the Crown Prince personally pass down the orders?
No!
That was the crux of the matter.
The Crown Prince was in charge of the combat examinations on behalf of the Emperor. In other words, he was in charge of the examinations on behalf of the Emperor.
As such, did he have the right to disqualify a candidate?
Of course not. The Crown Prince was not the chief examiner. The real chief examiner was the Emperor, the Emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty.
The Crown Prince had the right to report the truth to the Emperor. As for whether or not Fang Zhengzhi would be disqualified, that was up to the Emperor.
The Crown Prince, Nangong Hao, Xing Qingsui, and all of the other candidates knew about this. However, all of them were happy that Fang Zhengzhi was disqualified.
In that case, why did they point it out when the messenger took out the Silver Dragon Token?
This was a kind of deliberate belief in the mind.
Nangong Hao knew what the candidates were thinking. He also knew how the candidates would react to the Crown Prince's orders. The Crown Prince's intentions were clear.
Abandon the rook to save the king!
As the "main culprit", Fang Zhengzhi would naturally be abandoned. However, how could the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace not leave a way out for himself?
The messenger had the password, but he didn't have the words. This was the Crown Prince's escape route.
As the saying goes, to catch a thief, catch the dirt; to catch an adulterer, catch both. If the Crown Prince did not admit it, who would dare to bite him? All the blame would eventually fall on the messenger.
Saying that he was bribed by the Southern Region was enough!
Xing Qingsui's actions were merely pushing the blame of the night onto the messenger a few days in advance.
As for offending the Crown Prince?
As the heir to the Stabilization Constabulary, would Xing Qingsui care about this? Would the Crown Prince hold a grudge against the Stabilization Constabulary over such a small matter?
If he really did, then he could forget about his position as the Crown Prince.
Nangong Hao had predicted everything. As such, he could predict what Xing Qingsui would do after taking down the messenger.
...
Fang Zhengzhi did not expect Xing Qingsui to appear in the Southern Region. However, he had thought that Xing Yuanguo might come to the Southern Region. As such, Xing Qingsui's appearance here was a surprise. However, he was not completely clueless.
At the gates of the Icy Monkey Settlement.
After Xing Qingsui took down the messenger, he glanced at Nangong Hao. Then, he turned to Fang Zhengzhi and walked towards him.
Fang Zhengzhi did not ask immediately.
He did not know what the Great Xia Dynasty's plans were. Of course, he did not want to know either. In fact, he did not even want to be a part of it.
All this while, his goal had been to find Yan Xiu.
From taking over the Thunder Light Settlement with the 500 Silver Horned Wolves, to attacking Chen Feiyu and Wu Feng in the Thunderous Lion Settlement.
Everything was for the sake of creating momentum.
He knew Yan Xiu's personality very well.
If he only participated in the combat examinations, Yan Xiu might not meet up with him immediately. Because, Yan Xiu would treat him as an "opponent".
However, if Fang Zhengzhi attacked Nangong Hao, then things would be different.
Yan Xiu would definitely meet up with him.
This had always been Fang Zhengzhi's plan. Right now, this plan was almost complete. As for taking down the Icy Monkey Settlement and fighting Nangong Hao...
That was another plan.
In other words, it was a promise he made to Nangong Mu.
40,000 soldiers were already at the gates. If he did not give them a few slaps and punches, how could he do that? He could not possibly make a wasted trip.
Most importantly, if Fang Zhengzhi shouted for the entire army to turn around and return to the settlement the moment he saw Yan Xiu, what would Yan Xiu think?
Defeating Nangong Hao was something Fang Zhengzhi had to do.
However, he did not expect that there would be so many twists and turns. Even though everything seemed to be back to square one...
But...
Was it really the same as before?
Xing Qingsui had infiltrated his army a long time ago. Now that he had revealed his identity, he could not possibly be trying to stop this "fake" Crown Prince Decree.
"Fang Zhengzhi, if I ask you to retreat, will you retreat?" Xing Qingsui did not take long to reach Fang Zhengzhi. Finally, he stood five steps in front of him.
"Retreat?"
"Xing Qingsui wants Fang Zhengzhi to retreat?!"
"What is going on? Is the Stabilisation Constabulary interfering with the court examinations?"
All of the candidates were stunned when they heard Xing Qingsui's words. They were all trying to guess Xing Qingsui's motive in coming to the Southern Mountain Range. However, they did not expect Xing Qingsui to ask Fang Zhengzhi to retreat.
"No." Fang Zhengzhi shook his head and replied bluntly.
He knew that Xing Qingsui would not say something like this for no reason. However, it was impossible for Fang Zhengzhi to retreat now.
"Mm... I guessed it. Then, what if I use the Emperor's Token to ask you to retreat?" Xing Qingsui nodded. He was not surprised by Fang Zhengzhi's response.
"Request for the Emperor's Token?"
"The Stabilisation Constabulary is interfering with the court examinations?!"
"What is going on?"
All of the candidates were shocked to hear Xing Qingsui's words. This meant that Xing Qingsui was using the Emperor's Token to stop the combat examinations from proceeding as planned.
Was he not afraid of the Emperor's wrath?
Or...
Was this the Emperor's idea?
But why would the Emperor have such an idea?
When Yan Xiu heard this, he frowned as well. He seemed to be deep in thought as he stared at the golden token in Xing Qingsui's hands.
Fang Zhengzhi did not answer Xing Qingsui's question immediately. All this while, he knew that the Great Xia's motive for the combat examinations was to deploy their troops to the Southern Mountain Range. However, he did not know the exact plan.
However, when he heard Xing Qingsui ask for a retreat, he had a rough idea of what was going on.
The Great Xia had deployed 100,000 soldiers to the Southern Mountain Range for the combat examinations. 60,000 of them were in the hands of the candidates and 40,000 were in the hands of the Crown Prince.
However, if they were to fight, these 100,000 soldiers would not be able to fight on their own. The best way...
Was to stab the "heart" of the Southern Mountain Range!
Where was the heart of the Southern Mountain Range?
The Sagely Mountain City!
Based on the geography of the Southern Mountain Range, the Icy Monkey Settlement was the closest settlement to the Sagely Mountain City. Nangong Hao had headed straight for the Icy Monkey Settlement the moment the combat examinations began. He had the best terrain to watch from the sidelines.
There was only one possibility. The Icy Monkey Settlement was the true "frontline" of the Great Xia's invasion of the Southern Mountain Range.
If Fang Zhengzhi's guess was correct, based on the normal progression of the combat examinations, when the time was right, Wu Feng or Chen Feiyu would lead 60,000 soldiers to the Icy Monkey Settlement.
Mm...
Of course, to use a phrase from his previous life, it was akin to sending one's head a thousand miles away.
When that time came, all Nangong Hao had to do was to defeat either Wu Feng or Chen Feiyu. Then, the 60,000 soldiers would be in Nangong Hao's hands.
However, when he appeared, something seemed to have gone wrong …
He had appeared out of nowhere and eliminated Chen Feiyu and Wu Feng with lightning speed. Then, he immediately gathered his troops and charged towards Nangong Hao.
This was similar to the original plan, but the problem was that he only had a little more than 40,000 troops, which was obviously different from the 60,000 troops in the original plan.
This meant that there were still a few candidates scattered around.
As such, this was not the best time to attack.
When he understood this, Fang Zhengzhi understood why the Crown Prince wanted to strip him of his spot and why Xing Qingsui wanted to stop him from attacking the Icy Monkey Settlement.
"I understand now." Fang Zhengzhi looked at the golden token in Xing Qingsui's hand. After understanding the Great Xia's plan for the Southern Mountain Range, he knew what he had to do next.
"You agree to retreat?" Xing Qingsui heaved a sigh of relief when he heard Fang Zhengzhi's words.
"Mm, I agree, but..." Fang Zhengzhi nodded. At the same time, he looked past Xing Qingsui and towards Nangong Hao.
"But what?"
"My soldiers can retreat, but my men can't."
"Your men can't? Fang Zhengzhi, you... you aren't thinking of... "Xing Qingsui's expression changed. He seemed to have thought of something.
However, this caused Xing Qingsui's calm expression to turn into one of shock.
"Since I'm already here, if I don't fight it out, how can I go back?" Fang Zhengzhi smirked. It was almost as if this was a natural thing to do.
Xing Qingsui's goal was to stop him from attacking the Icy Monkey Settlement. This was to prevent the Great Xia's plan from being affected.
In reality, Fang Zhengzhi's goal was not the Icy Monkey Settlement, but Nangong Hao. If that was the case, why not just attack Nangong Hao directly?
Fang Zhengzhi's idea was simple and direct.
However, to all of the candidates, it was a completely different story.
Because...
Nangong Hao's power was clear for all to see. That stunning attack was still etched in the minds of all of the candidates.
He had defeated Chen Feiyu with one attack.
But what about Fang Zhengzhi?
They had all seen Chen Feiyu block Fang Zhengzhi's Million Sword Illustration. Furthermore, he had shot it when Chen Feiyu was not paying attention.
Even though they knew that Fang Zhengzhi's target was not Chen Feiyu. It was the demons.
However, in other words, Fang Zhengzhi did not hold back. In other words, Fang Zhengzhi had not been able to take down Chen Feiyu even with his full strength and a sneak attack.
On the other hand, Nangong Hao was able to convince Chen Feiyu of his defeat with one sword in a two-on-one battle.
The difference between the two of them was clear.
If Fang Zhengzhi had used the 40,000 soldiers behind him to suppress Nangong Hao, he might have had a chance. However, Fang Zhengzhi had said that he would retreat but not retreat!
Was he going to fight one on one?!
All of the candidates looked at each other in disbelief. They could see the disbelief in each other's eyes. They could also see the scorn and mockery in their expressions.
"Is this guy stupid?"
"He is going to fight Nangong Hao alone without using the 40,000 soldiers behind him?"
"It's not that he doesn't want to use them. He can't use them!"
"It's not that he can't use them at all. Xing Qingsui may be stopping Fang Zhengzhi from using his troops now, but that doesn't mean that he will always stop Fang Zhengzhi. As long as Fang Zhengzhi returns to the Thunderous Lion Settlement, with the three main settlements he controls and the military power he has, he would naturally be number one after the combat examinations. Or, he could wait for Nangong Hao to return to the Thunderous Lion Settlement before using his full strength.
"That's true!"
All of the candidates began to discuss amongst themselves. In their eyes, Fang Zhengzhi's actions were not wise. In fact, they were a little stupid.
However, Fang Zhengzhi was very clear about something else.
That was, the Thunderous Lion Settlement, the Yan Ya Settlement and the Shi Zun Settlement were filled with soldiers from the Southern Mountain Range.
Return to the Thunderous Lion Settlement?
That was not wise at all!
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