Chapter 67: The Grand Competition Begins
Chen Bai thought for a moment and said, “How about we borrow a few retainers from Duke Lü’s residence?”
Qi Zheng glanced at Chen Bai. “I have not had time to mention the second rule of the competition yet. During the competition, retainers from each residence may not be privately borrowed.”
In other words, one could recruit new retainers, but could not borrow someone else’s.
Chen Bai: “…”
There were only three days. Where was he supposed to recruit new people?
Chen Bai sighed. Back then, he had only made that arrogant remark as a joke, but Qi Zheng had actually taken it seriously.
Fortunately, at least they had won Qi Zheng a fair chance to compete.
“For now, come, come, come. Let’s drink and celebrate.”
The corner of Qi Zheng’s mouth twitched. “You are not afraid?”
Chen Bai raised the corner of his eye. “What is there to be afraid of? Being afraid will not change the current situation, will it? Better to keep a good mood and deal with the troubles coming next.”
Qi Zheng: “…”
At this moment, Chen Zixu actually had a bit of Mountain Lord’s carefree air.
Was he really not afraid? Of course he was. If they lost, he would be dragging himself and the entire Court Commandant’s Residence down with him.
He was merely finding joy amid bitterness. This time, no matter what, even if they had to use every possible trick, they could only win and absolutely could not lose.
Chen Bai looked at the cup of wine Qi Zheng poured for him and was a little surprised. Did this guy not look at him as if he had lost his closest friend whenever he saw him?
Qi Zheng handed him the wine. “What I promised you, I will definitely do.”
How could Qi Zheng not know that Chen Bai was already gambling with his life, placing all his family’s fortunes on him?
Perhaps before, because of Chen Bai and Mountain Lord’s identities, he had found things rather awkward. But now that they were in the same boat, those matters could be temporarily set aside.
Chen Bai froze. He was referring to the promise from back then: no matter what, he would not make things difficult for him, and no matter what, he would preserve the Court Commandant’s Residence’s lifelong wealth and honor.
“I’ll remember those words.” Chen Bai tilted his head back and drank the wine he had been handed.
It was best if Qi Zheng could keep his promise. Each of them would get what they needed.
This drinking session lasted rather long, because right now they had no retainers to use, so they had to discuss a solution.
“In a prince’s grand competition for the heir’s position, aside from literary and martial contests, most of the tests will probably involve practical policies and internal governance. Ordinary retainers may not be of much use. In fact, having more retainers may not necessarily give an advantage.”
But no matter how one put it, it was still better than having no retainers available.
Chen Bai’s eyes flashed. “The competition rules may not be without loopholes.”
Qi Zheng raised his head.
Chen Bai continued, “One retainer can only compete once. On the surface, it restricts me from going on stage repeatedly, but can it really restrict me?”
Chen Bai did not keep him in suspense. He looked at Qi Zheng and said, “Student watches.”
Qi Zheng froze, then opened his mouth. He knew about student watches. Their functions were actually very similar to his phone. Although they did not have as many features as his phone, they did have real-time calling. In other words, even if Chen Bai did not go on stage, it did not mean he could not influence the competition.
Chen Bai was Mountain Lord. Although Qi Zheng sometimes still resisted that fact, he had no choice but to admit it. Who did not know Mountain Lord’s ability to defeat a hundred with one?
Chen Bai continued, “There are now two problems. First, student watches are new things. The only ones who can accept them and learn how to use them in a short time are probably the students of Cloudtop Academy.”
Qi Zheng nodded. Just like when he had first received his phone, he had needed a long time to adapt to its miraculous functions. With the competition imminent, if the students could not adapt quickly, something might go wrong once they went on stage.
The ones who could accept and learn to use student watches within three days might truly only be Cloudtop Academy’s students, because the computers they used every day shared certain similarities with student watches. It would not feel too abrupt.
“The problem now is that the students of Cloudtop Academy are all juniors of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers. At such a tense and crucial time, it will probably be very difficult to persuade the families behind them to let them fight as your retainers.”
Qi Zheng frowned. That was indeed a problem, because it was basically equivalent to making those families stand on his side. If so many people could really stand on his side, they would not be in such a difficult position now.
Chen Bai continued, “Second, during the competition, everyone will be watching. There will definitely be many spectators. How do we conceal the students using student watches to communicate with the outside?”
Both points were problems they had to face right now.
Qi Zheng suddenly said, “I have my own way to persuade those students.”
Chen Bai was stunned.
The corner of Qi Zheng’s mouth curved upward. “No one would ever think that we would let academy students fight as retainers, so we can catch them off guard. We do not actually need to convince the families behind them.”
Chen Bai’s eyes moved. Although it was a little sinister, and felt somewhat like acting first and reporting later, it was not a bad idea. Moreover, once those students appeared on the field, it might make the others feel as though most of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers were leaning toward Qi Zheng’s side, giving them psychological pressure.
As for how Qi Zheng planned to persuade a group of little fools to fight, that was Qi Zheng’s business.
In extraordinary times, extraordinary methods had to be used. Qi Zheng’s personality was not exactly that of a great benevolent man. He even gave people the feeling of using every available resource to its fullest. Fortunately, they were now comrades on the same boat.
Chen Bai pondered for a while, then said, “Leave the matter of concealing the students’ use of student watches to me.”
“In that case, our current situation is still fairly good.”
At the very least, the problems they had encountered all had directions for solutions. “Now we just wait for the day of the competition and see what questions the King will set.”
Barring any accidents, with his skill at searching with his phone, even ancient unsolved problems could be found.
Chen Bai secretly glanced at Qi Zheng and said calmly, “We can be considered companions in hardship now, right?”
What he did not say was: when you become rich and powerful, do not forget this old comrade who once shed blood and risked his head for you.
Chen Bai licked his lips. As a minister who helped the new ruler ascend, even if he had no great merit, he had at least worked hard, right? In the future, could he become a lawless treacherous favorite minister? Bring disaster to the country and the people, bully the common folk, reverse black and white, do whatever he wanted.
He would not need to work hard. He would only need to amuse the ruler every now and then. Thinking of such blissful days in the future, he almost drooled.
Qi Zheng gave a soft scoff. “Vulgar.”
Chen Bai’s eyes turned faintly resentful. Had Qi Zheng understood his hint or not?
Qi Zheng’s personality was not exactly good, but he probably was not someone who would slaughter the donkey after it had finished grinding the grain, right?
Chen Bai thought, No, he had to flatter him a little more.
He picked up the wine pot on the table and began pouring wine for Qi Zheng.
Qi Zheng looked at Chen Bai’s expression and could not help shivering. He pressed his legs together. To be honest, Chen Zixu actually looked rather charming when drinking.
It seemed not bad to let this guy pour wine for him. He could take it as the price for deceiving him under Mountain Lord’s identity. From now on, he would make him pour wine every day.
Qi Zheng did not refuse and sipped cup after cup.
Chen Bai felt that he did have some potential to become a favored minister. Tsk, tsk.
When Chen Bai left Prince Zheng’s residence, it was already rather late.
The whole of Shangjing was already abuzz with talk about the princes’ grand competition. Wherever he passed, people were discussing it.
After all, this princes’ grand competition was no ordinary matter. It was to decide the heir.
Chen Bai found it somewhat strange. Why had the details already spread so thoroughly through the streets?
But not long afterward, he more or less understood the reason, because he saw a familiar face. Though he could not call the man by name, he vaguely remembered seeing him several times at Prince Zheng’s residence. The man was dressed like a commoner and was speaking with spittle flying, recounting the inside story of the princes’ competition.
Chen Bai could not help smiling. It seemed Qi Zheng had not been doing nothing. He wanted to make this “fair” heir-selection competition a fact in everyone’s minds, lest the King go back on his word later.
There were only three days until the competition, and Chen Bai actually had many things to do.
For example, teaching the students how to use student watches.
Student watches were not cheap, especially those with automatic charging functions.
But there was no way around it. No matter how expensive they were, he had to buy them. He muttered, “I need to keep the account properly. I’ll get Qi Zheng to reimburse me later.”
However, student watches could not be given to the students so casually.
Chen Bai prepared a confidentiality contract for the students to sign.
“Student watches are unique products of Cloudtop Academy and are only known to people within the academy.”
“Once information leaks, the academy has the right to take back the watch. So no matter what, you must keep this secret.”
“From now on, student watches will become a symbol of your status as Cloudtop Academy students. That is to say, once you lose one, you may lose your qualification as a Cloudtop Academy student.”
The words were somewhat severe, but there was no choice. This matter was extremely important. If it leaked, no one knew what kind of trouble it might cause.
The students were a little dumbfounded. They could lose their qualification as Cloudtop Academy students?
Did they know how good the academy was? If they could not stay in the academy and had to go back to their old lives, they would feel as if life had lost all meaning.
But what was a student watch? Why was it so important?
Probably only Gan Xin’s little face flushed with excitement. He had used a student watch before. It could transmit voices across a thousand miles, and it could send cute reaction images. It was especially magical and fun.
Unfortunately, every time he had used it, it had been taken back afterward.
Chen Bai had each student come up to sign and receive a contract. “The confidentiality contract has two copies. You keep one, and the academy keeps one. Remember to store it properly.”
It was full of ceremony, also so that the students would take it seriously.
He was now being extremely cautious. Actually, once Qi Zheng took the throne, things could loosen up a little. At the very least, with Qi Zheng supporting them, they would not be branded as ghosts, monsters, demons, or heretics. Perhaps when the time was right, they would even be able to openly use these things.
Chen Bai took a big-head photo of each student to use as their account profile pictures. There was no helping it. Even if he labeled them with names, they would not recognize the characters. In the future, they would have to identify each other by profile pictures.
Then he pulled their accounts into the group that had originally existed.
He put the watches on the students’ wrists. They usually wore small robes, which could actually help conceal the watches.
Of course, even if someone accidentally saw them, they would probably be regarded as some rare accessory. Their identities were what they were. It was not unusual for their families to put some rare ornaments on them.
The students looked curiously at the watches on their wrists. Just then, an avatar suddenly appeared on the watch face, with a little speaker icon behind the image.
“Huh? What is this? Why does this picture look a little like Gan Xin’s head?”
“It looks a bit like our computers. There are strange pictures too.”
The computers had touchscreens, and the students were no strangers to that. By reflex, they tapped the icon.
With that tap, things became amazing.
A voice suddenly came from the “accessory” on their wrist. “I’m Gan Xin. This is thousand-mile voice transmission. Hehe, can you hear me?”
The students were all stunned. “W-what is going on?”
Why was Gan Xin’s voice coming from their wrists? It was too bizarre.
Fortunately, they had been taking video lessons for a long time. If ordinary people saw this, they might have been so frightened they would wet themselves and collapse.
This was exactly why Chen Bai said only Cloudtop Academy students could accept and learn to use student watches in the shortest amount of time.
Their eyes all turned toward Gan Xin.
Gan Xin laughed so hard his shoulders shook, his whole face scrunching together. “Besides thousand-mile voice transmission, this can also send reaction images. Let me show you something amazing.”
Qi Zheng had taught Gan Xin how to send reaction images.
Thus, all kinds of silly reaction images appeared in the group. The students’ mouths hung open.
Then another voice suddenly appeared in the group. “Gan Xin? You got the student watch again?”
The students: “…”
Was that not Prince Zheng’s voice? Was Prince Zheng not in Shangjing right now?
They were so confused.
Gan Xin was still holding up his watch and talking into it. “Yes, yes, Prince Zheng. Look at the reaction images I sent. Aren’t they nice?”
The students swallowed and… they were chatting?
Then, screaming, they rushed toward Gan Xin. “Gan Xin, Gan Xin, what is going on?”
Chen Bai smiled and said, “Gan Xin, teach them how to use it.”
Chen Bai set his own group notifications to Do Not Disturb, because he knew what the situation would become next.
As for how to solve the problem of using student watches to communicate under everyone’s watchful eyes…
Actually, after Chen Bai thought about it, it was not a big issue.
He equipped each watch with a Bluetooth earbud that had a sound-receiving function. Even very quiet voices could be captured.
When the time came, even if people noticed something odd, at most they would think the students were muttering to themselves. It might be a little strange, but no one could possibly guess that they were communicating with Chen Bai outside the field.
Of course, they still needed to practice a little. Some people, after putting on earbuds, had no awareness at all of how loudly they were speaking.
Now, everything was ready. All that remained was for the grand competition to arrive.
Three days later, the weather was fine.
Deafening drums sounded, but even they could not drown out the roar of the crowd.
Everyone in Shangjing knew why so many people had gathered here today. This could be said to be a grand event that would decide Great Qian’s fate, so countless people had come to watch.
Above, the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers were present, and all the officials sat in their arranged seats like scattered stars.
At the highest position, the King, hidden behind hanging curtains, sat upon the dragon throne. This was the first time the King had appeared in these days.
Even Empress Dowager Zhaosheng sat on the upper seat with an expressionless face.
Today’s spectacle was even grander than a great court assembly.
Below them were the princes and their retainers.
Each prince formed a small team, with a group of retainers standing behind them.
But Qi Zheng’s side looked rather strange. Qi Zheng stood alone in front. Behind him… were carriage after carriage.
The carriages were wrapped tightly, so no one could see the people inside.
“Did they not say Prince Zheng’s residence had very few retainers? Looking at this number, it does not seem small.”
“What kind of retainers are they? Why are they making it so mysterious?”
Not only the commoners, even the officials looked puzzled at Qi Zheng’s lineup. They had never heard of Prince Zheng’s residence having any other impressive retainers.
The other princes were also frowning, but the retainers beside them said, “Although we do not know what is going on, it can be confirmed that Prince Zheng did not recruit any retainers in these three days. Aside from Mountain Lord, he definitely has no one to use. Mountain Lord can only participate in one competition at most. There is no need to worry.”
Everyone discussed among themselves, all curious about what kind of retainers would walk out of those carriages.
Qi Zheng was now leaning beside Chen Bai’s carriage, chatting with him now and then.
Chen Bai was also extremely curious. “How did you persuade these students to secretly come help you?”
The corner of Qi Zheng’s mouth lifted. “Cannot say.”
Chen Bai’s face darkened. He hated people who played coy like this the most. It scratched at his heart like a cat, but the person just refused to tell him what came next.
