Starting with helping Zhao Kai ascend the throne in the snow

The lively scene gradually quieted down with Li Gang's arrival, and everyone watched to see how the Prince Yue's Mansion would handle the matter.

Shen Qing stared intently at Li Gang, trying to glean something from his expression, but to no avail. He couldn't tell whether Li Gang was acting under orders or simply harboring resentment.

However, Shen Qing knew that this was not the time to investigate the reasons, but rather to give the surrounding martial artists a satisfactory answer as soon as possible to avoid damaging the reputation of the Yue Prince's Mansion.

"Yang Long, step forward!" Shen Qing shouted loudly instead of answering Li Gang's question.

The next moment, Yang Long, who only had one arm, with a battle sword at his waist and wearing armor representing his rank as a captain, strode to the foot of the high platform where Shen Qing was, and knelt on one knee in front of everyone, saying, "This humble general Yang Long pays his respects to Lord Shen and His Highness Prince Yue."

Shen Qing pointed at Yang Long, then turned to the surrounding martial artists and said, "Yang Long currently serves as a military captain. That's my answer to you all. The Yue Prince's Mansion always keeps its word. Since we said that anyone under 50 years old can participate, there are no other requirements."

Yang Long's appearance was more effective than any explanation from Shen Qing. Upon seeing the one-armed Yang Long take up an official position, all the martial artists present, like Li Gang, became excited. Even the originally eccentric and violent Li Gang's expression softened, and his eyes showed a hint of eagerness.

The underworld is never a cradle of fairy tales and dreams, but rather the most realistic place. Although Li Gang is currently somewhat famous in the underworld, he already feels exhausted and breathless. Lone heroes like him wandering in the underworld may seem to have endless glory, but they are dancing on the edge of a knife, and every step must be taken with extreme caution. If they relax even a little one day, someone else will take their place.

Li Gang's experiences over the past twenty-odd years have made him see through the coldness of human relationships, and he no longer trusts anyone. Until now, the appearance of the Yue Prince's Mansion has made him feel that he has found a place where he can breathe.

"Lord Shen, since the Prince Yue's Mansion has no other requests, I, Qi Jiajie, have a favor to ask that the Prince Yue's Mansion grant?" Just as Shen Qing breathed a sigh of relief, Qi Jiajie, dressed in white, stepped forward from the crowd and appeared below the high platform where Shen Qing was. His figure was as straight as a pine tree, and his brows revealed a sharp aura.

With the appearance of Qi Jiajie, all the martial artists who knew his name were talking about it. He was the recognized number one swordsman in Tai'an City, a sword master of the Finger Profound Realm, whose reputation had already spread throughout the world.

Qi Jiajie, the number one swordsman in Tai'an City? Upon hearing the name Qi Jiajie, Shen Qing's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He secretly guessed that this person might be a troublemaker sent by the Li Yang royal family. Otherwise, why would a sword master at the Finger Profound Realm come to Yuezhou to participate in the obscure martial arts examination?

"I wonder what Mr. Qi's requirements are?" Although Shen Qing guessed that Qi Jiajie's visit was not well-intentioned, he could not immediately take action to subdue him under the watchful eyes of everyone, and could only deal with his moves as they came.

"The King of Yue is a vassal king appointed by our Li Yang Dynasty, so the Yue Prefecture martial arts examination should only be open to martial artists from Li Yang. Therefore, I hope that the King of Yue's Mansion will not allow martial artists from outside Li Yang to participate. I wonder if Your Highness the King of Yue and Lord Shen agree?" Qi Jiajie said neither humbly nor arrogantly, but the meaning behind his words was to put the King of Yue's Mansion in a very difficult position.

Shen Qing just stated in public that there were no other conditions besides the requirement of being 50 years old, but Qi Jiajie is clearly using the pretext of national righteousness to morally blackmail the Yue Prince's Mansion.

If Shen Qing agrees to Qi Jiajie's request, then the promise made by the Yue Prince's Mansion will become a joke, which will inevitably arouse the dissatisfaction of the martial artists outside of Liyang. Even if they do not really want to participate, they will use this as an excuse to ridicule the Yue Prince's Mansion for breaking its promise.

However, if they did not agree, Qi Jiajie would use the pretext of national righteousness to incite dissatisfaction among the Li Yang warriors towards the Yue Prince's Mansion. Therefore, Qi Jiajie's words put the Yue Prince's Mansion in a dilemma.

“This is something Qi Jiajie could never have imagined. It seems that before I even went to Zhao Dun to cause him any trouble, he has already made things difficult for me.” Upon hearing Qi Jiajie’s words, Shen Qing immediately realized that they were not something a swordsman like Qi Jiajie could have thought of. Only those old guys who had been in and out of power for many years could have such cunning.

"What a brilliant open scheme! It's practically an invincible move. This is clearly meant to embarrass the Yue Prince's Mansion." Shen Qing's face darkened upon hearing Qi Jiajie's words, and he quickly considered countermeasures.

Despite his extensive preparations, he still felt somewhat powerless in the face of such an open and calculated scheme.

As soon as Qi Jiajie finished speaking, the martial artists of Liyang cheered loudly, praising Qi Jiajie's proposal as very reasonable. Why should martial artists from other ethnic groups participate in the martial arts examination of the Liyang Dynasty?

Conversely, the foreign martial artists from other countries started to clamor, saying that the Li Yang Dynasty was untrustworthy. If they didn't want them to participate, why didn't they just say that martial artists from other countries were not allowed to participate? Many of them had come from hundreds or thousands of miles away, but now they were being treated unfairly.

As the two groups of martial artists argued, they began to draw their swords and confront each other, seemingly ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

Yang Long and Hama, who were in charge of maintaining order at the scene, immediately directed the local militia to separate the martial artists to prevent a large-scale brawl from breaking out at the slightest provocation.

If the martial arts examination were to end in tragedy right from the start, it would be incredibly shameful, and the Yue Prince's Mansion would be utterly disgraced.

On the high platform, Zhao Kai's face was extremely grim, but he could only place his hopes on Shen Qing. Although he was the Prince of Yue, he was helpless in the face of such a blatant scheme. If he were to forcibly suppress it, it would backfire.

Xuan Yuan Qingfeng's beautiful eyes were also fixed on Shen Qing. She didn't care whether the Yue Prince's Mansion lost face or not. She just felt a little sorry for Shen Qing because of her tightly furrowed brows. At the same time, she glanced at Qi Jiajie with a frosty expression. If it weren't for this guy's appearance, the situation wouldn't have become so passive.

Han Shengxuan stared at Qi Jiajie with a sinister expression. If he hadn't anticipated that Zhao Kai hadn't given the order, he probably would have skinned the culprit alive immediately. If the martial arts examination went wrong today, he would definitely not let Qi Jiajie get away with it.

Only Li Chungang stood quietly beside Shen Qing, ready to protect her and get her away from the scene should things get chaotic.

Just then, Shen Qing looked down at the martial artists below, dressed in various styles from different places. Some were dressed as people from the Northern Barbarians and Western Regions, while others were dressed as people from the South China Sea and Nanzhao. They were even of different races. Suddenly, a famous article flashed into his mind, which was perfect for the scene before him.

Even the open scheme proposed by Qi Jiajie would pale in comparison to this article. Shen Qing quickly devised a new sentence in his mind, and the gloom on his face vanished, replaced by a confident smile.