My family has been wielding knives for generations, but now it's my turn to wield a pen!

Inside the imperial court.

At first glance, the vermilion pillars stand tall, and the main hall is spacious.

On the left and right sides, a group of court officials stood in order, some dressed in civil official robes and others in military officer robes.

Of course, there were also two young men dressed as scholars, standing among them, who were the second and third place winners of this year's competition.

At the very top, a middle-aged man sat regally on the throne.

The man was dressed in a bright yellow imperial robe, with a golden dragon coiled on it. The dragon pattern appeared and disappeared as the robe fell, making him look extremely majestic.

This person is none other than the current emperor, Xiao Jinxuan.

Right now, Xiao Jinxuan just sat there, calmly watching the argument below, neither too heated nor too cold.

But that's precisely why it's so hard to figure out what he's thinking right now.

And among the court officials below.

Li Bingzhang stood there with his eyes slightly closed, seemingly resting.

He acted as if the argument in front of him had nothing to do with him.

As for Tang Kui on the other side, he frowned from time to time, clearly dissatisfied with what the other party had just said, but in the end, he did not rush to speak.

After all, the Emperor has not yet made a statement, and no one wants to break the rules at this time.

There is another person among them whom Jiang Xiaobai might be familiar with; this person is none other than Master Song.

At this moment, Master Song frowned deeply.

Yes, although Jiang Xiaobai is indeed famous, he doesn't see it that way.

The mathematical methods that Jiang Xiaobai taught him at the Imperial Academy alone are enough to prove Jiang Xiaobai's abilities.

But he didn't understand why Jiang Xiaobai asked him to keep it a secret.

As Master Song sighed softly, a figure strode quickly into the hall from outside.

It was indeed Eunuch Gao.

As soon as Eunuch Gao entered the hall, he immediately bowed respectfully to those above, his tone extremely courteous.

"Your Majesty, Prince Jiang is waiting outside the palace to be summoned."

As soon as Eunuch Gao finished speaking...

The court, which had been arguing, suddenly quieted down a little.

The expressions of the civil and military officials around him also visibly fluctuated.

Some looked towards the direction of the palace gate.

Some people's gazes narrowed slightly, their expressions unreadable.

Of course, there were others... whose lips even curled into a faint sneer.

The results of the imperial examinations have been released, and the Jiang family's heir has taken first place!

The reputation of this Jiang family's heir is already well-known, which is quite amusing.

They could imagine Jiang Jingcheng's anger; after all, a family that had produced generals for generations had produced a civil official.

No wonder Jiang Jingcheng took sick leave and stopped attending court; he must have fallen ill from anger!

Moreover, they all wanted to see what kind of joke this newly appointed top scholar, who was currently the subject of much controversy, would make in the imperial court.

Emperor Xiao Jinxuan remained calm, nodded slightly, and uttered a single word: "Summon."

That single word seemed to make the atmosphere in the entire hall seem to sink a little.

The next moment, a figure slowly walked in from outside the hall.

This person is Jiang Xiaobai.

Even though Jiang Xiaobai had prepared himself before coming, he was still slightly shaken when he actually stepped into the court and saw the civil and military officials with different auras on his left and right sides.

Yes, this feels completely different from how it feels when facing other people in public.

The invisible pressure made him tense, even with his modern mindset.

However, he also understood that the person standing here was no ordinary person.

Rather, it refers to a group of people who hold truly high positions and wield significant power within the entire Dahua Group.

Some have held high positions for many years, while others have been in charge of a region's political affairs.

Some people fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and even if they tried to conceal their murderous aura, it was still faintly visible.

That sense of oppression was unlike anything found in ordinary places.

However, it was only for a short moment before Jiang Xiaobai calmed down.

As he looked around, he also spotted the two men dressed in scholar's robes.

But the two men were looking in his direction, and their expressions were clearly not friendly.

Jiang Xiaobai could roughly guess their identities from their eyes.

These must be the newly crowned second and third place winners.

However, he didn't pay attention to it and instead slowly lowered his gaze to the top.

When Jiang Xiaobai finally saw Xiao Jinxuan sitting on the throne, his expression changed slightly.

Without a doubt, he knew that this must be the Emperor of the Great Hua.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Xiaobai immediately suppressed his distracting thoughts and respectfully bowed upwards.

"Student Jiang Xiaobai greets Your Majesty!"

As soon as these words were spoken, many eyes in the court turned to Jiang Xiaobai.

Xiao Jinxuan glanced at Jiang Xiaobai and said calmly, "Jiang Xiaobai, you are the son of the Marquis of Zhenbei of my Great Hua, and also the top scholar in this imperial examination, so there is no need for such formalities."

The voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After Jiang Xiaobai stood up, the court was quiet for a moment.

Indeed, the generals were all acting strangely; some of them, lacking composure, had their faces flushed red.

He was clearly trying not to laugh.

He really is Jiang Hou's son!

But after a brief silence, the official who had spoken earlier when Jiang Xiaobai was outside the hall stepped forward again.

That was also a middle-aged man, with a mustache, who glanced at Jiang Xiaobai indifferently.

"His Majesty!"

As the middle-aged man withdrew his gaze, he looked at the person in the first seat and cupped his hands, saying, "What I said just now was not intended to target the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence. However, the imperial examination is a matter of great importance to the nation, concerning the hearts of scholars throughout the land, and must be approached with utmost care!"

"Who in the capital doesn't know of Young Master Jiang's reputation?"

"To say that he could top the list is simply unbelievable!"

As soon as these words were spoken, several other voices in the court echoed them.

"Your Majesty, Lord Chen is right!"

"The imperial examinations are for selecting pillars of the nation. If anything goes wrong, it won't just chill the hearts of a few students, but the hearts of all scholars in the land!"

"Your Majesty, I also request that you thoroughly investigate this matter!"

"If the selection of the top scholar is truly unfair, then it should be rectified to prevent the truly talented from being tarnished!"

One voice after another rang out.

As the last sentence, "Truly talented people are being overlooked," was uttered, many people's eyes unconsciously glanced at a young man in the queue.

The young man stood ramrod straight with his head down.

Although she tried her best to keep her face calm, there was still a hint of barely suppressed emotion in the depths of her eyes.

This person was none other than Guo Zhan, the second-place finisher they had mentioned.

Beside him was Zhong Yu, who came in third place.

Jiang Xiaobai stood still, taking in everything, and his heart became even calmer.

Yes, earlier outside the palace, he heard someone wanting to strip him of his title of top scholar and instead appoint Guo Zhan, which stirred some emotions within him.

But now that he was actually standing in the court, watching these people jump out one by one, he suddenly felt that... things were more interesting than he had thought.

Moreover, he also believed one thing: this Lord Chen was probably just a figurehead.

Those who echoed this sentiment were simply being used as pawns.

The real person behind it all... is probably still hiding in the shadows.

Despite his thoughts, Xiao Jinxuan remained calm, neither rebuking him nor expressing his opinion.

He simply watched the crowd below silently until the sounds gradually subsided before finally speaking slowly: "Are you finished?"

The three simple words instantly quieted the previously restless court.

The official surnamed Chen, who had spoken earlier, dared not interrupt any further and immediately bowed his head and clasped his hands, saying, "We are only concerned about the fairness of the imperial examinations."

"Um."

Xiao Jinxuan responded softly, then turned his gaze and slowly landed on Jiang Xiaobai: "Jiang Xiaobai, did you hear what the others said?"

"Your Majesty, I heard you." Jiang Xiaobai nodded.