After this brief interlude, there were still only three people left. Although Dong Kou was a rising star, his strength was only at the early stage of the Spirit Severing stage. Speaking of which, he didn't pose any threat to Duan Xiaolou, which was why Xun Wang allowed him to remain in the arena.
As for Hao Ren, he was considered an old rival of Xun Xiaolou, and the two of them knew each other well.
Even with Luo Ruijia's personal recommendation, it didn't shake Xun Wang's advantage. Everyone in Yun Lin's faction remembered this, but there was nothing they could do.
As the leader of the generals, Luo Yao silently transmitted his voice to Luo Ruijia, as if he was anxiously looking for a solution. Since there was no way to choose a candidate, they could only think of a solution from the upcoming competition.
His Lordship saw their actions, but his face only smiled faintly. He then turned to Luo Ziyan, who was sitting on the main seat, and said, "Your Majesty, I think all the suitable candidates in the imperial court are here. How should we choose next?"
Luo Ziyan smiled faintly and said, "Today is a great day, how can we casually use force? Why don't we fight with words? All the civil and military officials present can be the judges. This way, we can show that there's nothing fishy about this matter. "
"Your Majesty is right," Luo Ruijia said without waiting for Xun Wang's reply, "Justice is in the hearts of the people. Why don't we let all the civil and military officials participate in the judgment?"
He had discussed this privately with Luo Yao and the others. Luo Ziyan also expressed her opinion, which happened to be biased towards Yun Lin's faction. Although Xun Wang was powerful in the imperial court, he couldn't cover the sky with one hand. At most, 30% of the people would be forced to submit to his tyrannical power.
Yun Lin's faction and Prince Wei's faction made up more than 40% of the people. The rest were fence-sitters who liked to take advantage of the situation. As long as the two factions could rope in half of the remaining people, they would be able to win with an overwhelming advantage.
However, Xun Wang seemed to have taken this into consideration, which was why he let Dong Kou stay. In this way, it seemed that Prince Wei's faction was left behind, but in fact, it was driving a wedge between the two factions. If Prince Wei and his people directly supported Hao Ren, they would inevitably disappoint their own people. But if everyone went their own way, they might not even reach one-third of the support.
Those with discerning eyes who saw the situation couldn't help but secretly praise Laura. Even the leader of the Weaver Royal Lineage, Qiao Yongjun, had a headache and didn't know how to deal with it.
Eat less, only to hear Xun Wang stand up and say, "Since His Majesty has spoken of a battle of wits today, then naturally we will have to see the strength of the three of you. Why don't the three of us each come up with a question, and each time, we'll split the points into first, second, and third ranks. After the three questions, whoever had more than six points would be the winner. If the scores are the same, then the last person will be eliminated first according to the ranking of each round. How about it? "
Luo Ruijia nodded. Such a proposal was considered fair, at least it would not give Xun Wang the opportunity to secretly operate a monopoly. After some thought, he said, "How about this old man go first?"
Xun Wang glanced over and nodded. "I have no problem with that, Your Majesty."
"Approved," Luo Ziyan replied simply, as if the matter was under her control.
"Since it's a battle of wits, then I propose that the first round be decided according to the ranking of the ten floors of the 'Heavenly Path'. This way, everyone will have no doubts," Luo Ruijia said.
The people of Yun Lin's faction were naturally overjoyed. When it came to ranking, Hao Ren and Duan Xiaolou were at the same level. After entering the ninth floor for the second time, they entered. The name of the person with the odd number was ranked before Duan Xiaolou, not because he was stronger, but because he had grasped the opportunity well.
Xun Wang's face couldn't help but stiffen when he heard this. This first round was clearly a hidden loss. Fortunately, his ability to maintain his composure wasn't bad. Even though he knew that he was being targeted, it could be considered an open scheme that couldn't be refuted.
Luo Ziyan said, "This first round is very fair. All the civil and military officials present can testify. Men, copy down the names of the three people on the stone tablet and present them."
Although everyone was well aware of this matter, they still needed to go through the formalities and have evidence to make a conclusion. After waiting for 15 minutes, a palace maid, escorted by a team of palace guards, hurriedly entered the hall and presented the names in her hands. Luo Ziyan took the jade booklet and opened it. She directly placed it in front of everyone and said, "For the first round, Hao Ren gets 3 points, Duan Xiaolou gets 2 points, and Dong Kou gets 1 point. Everyone should have no objections, right?"
"Your Majesty is wise. We have no objections," the people below replied in unison.
"Alright, Xun Wang will host the second round," Luo Ziyan replied calmly.
Xun Wang stood up when he heard this. He then looked at the three people below and said, "Everyone knows that the people of the Asura Tribe are brave and good at fighting. Although this world is ruled by my tribe, there are still some unsettling factors in the recent hundreds of years. I believe that everyone present has experienced the chaos of the barbarians 100 years ago. Although it was quelled in the end, the dynasty also paid a high price for it. I want to determine the winner of the second round based on military merits. What do you think? "
This was the key point. Suddenly, those who were sitting on the fence seemed to have realized something. Although the war of pacifying the barbarians 100 years ago did not shake the foundation of the Asura Dynasty's rule, it was deeply ingrained in the hearts of these nobles. The signs of the barbarian cultivators causing chaos in the Asura World must be nipped in the bud. It was understandable that the winner would be determined based on military merits.
However, Hao Ren's face suddenly became unusually interesting. The war of pacifying the barbarians had been going on for decades. During this period, he had always been a civil official in charge of the overall situation in the dynasty and had never had the opportunity to lead troops out to battle.
In terms of military merits, he was definitely at the bottom. Not to mention Duan Xiaolou leading an army to battle, even Dong Kou was active on the battlefield with the Black Flag Army's auxiliary division.
Although Dong Kou did not defeat the barbarian army head-on like Duan Xiaolou, he led troops to harass the barbarian army, cut off their provisions, and captured a few small tribes.
Everyone understood and turned to look at the empress to see how she would respond. Luo Ziyan said softly, "The Minister of War has taken the merit book of the war of pacifying the barbarians. The merits of the three ministers are recorded in the book. Naturally, it is clear at a glance."
After a while, someone presented several jade scrolls, listing the merits of the three people one by one. Naturally, Hao Ren was in charge of logistics and transportation in the imperial city, so he had suffered a lot.
"In the second round of the literary battle, Duan Xiaolou is first, Dong Kou is second, and Hao Ren is third." Luo Ziyan's words were final.
After two rounds, Duan Xiaolou already had five points. No matter what, he would definitely have six points. Hao Ren was now one point behind. If he wanted to turn the tables in the next round, he had to get first place. Even so, if Duan Xiaolou got second place, double points would be the same, and they would have to compare the rankings of each round.
However, Hao Ren was last in the second round. Even if he tied with Duan Xiaolou, he would be eliminated under the premise of eliminating the last place. At this time, everyone present showed a look of understanding. Everyone's eyes were filled with awe as they glanced at the Xun Wang. He had a calm look on his face, as if he had already considered this point.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
