Chapter 25 P2
…
Unrelenting mockery appeared on the Chaos Mirror in the form of cold, heartless words.
Feng Bu Liu’s face flushed red and white, his anger building up like a volcano about to erupt. He had prepared himself for a fight, but what kind of questions had Feng Chiyue asked? Not only had she humiliated him in the hall, but she had also uploaded the jade slips to the Chaos Mirror for public humiliation! How could anyone endure this?
“She’s deliberately making things difficult for me! She doesn’t want me to pass the assessment! What’s the point of knowing those things? They didn’t know them in the past, but they still became officials, didn’t they?” Feng Bu Liu, summoned to the hall, vented his frustrations without restraint, not noticing the change in the elders’ expressions.
“Everyone received the same questions. She didn’t single you out,” Feng Yao said fairly.
Feng Bu Liu’s face stiffened. After a moment, he said angrily, “She’s just being absurd! The Heavenly Court is actually letting a good-for-nothing like her be the Celestial Feather Minister!”
“Silence!” An elder sitting behind the bronze table slammed his cane on the ground. “In the year 1308 of the Heavenly Emperor’s reign,” he said calmly, “an attendant from the Celestial Feather Ministry went to the Man Man tribe. Because he didn’t understand their taboos, he offended them and was skinned and dismembered. Although he survived, he was left to live in endless agony.”
“They’re just savages,” Feng Bu Liu muttered. If no one could answer those questions, it meant that Feng Chiyue’s method was wrong. She was clearly making things difficult for them, wanting to see them make fools of themselves.
The elder looked at him and said, “The Five Phoenixes and Three Feathers are known as the Eight Lineages of the Feathered Race. But in reality, there are thousands of smaller lineages within the feathered race. You know this, right?”
Feng Bu Liu nodded. However, those thousands of smaller lineages only accounted for twenty percent of the feathered race. They were insignificant.
“Then do you know why Chang Li, after leading those lineages in rebellion, couldn’t become the next Phoenix Sovereign?” the elder asked slowly.
“Because she wasn’t strong enough to suppress the entire feathered race,” Feng Bu Liu mumbled.
The elder’s gaze sharpened, piercing Feng Bu Liu like a sword. “Do you think the Phoenix Sovereign relied on brute force to rule the lineages?” he asked, his voice raised. Seeing Feng Bu Liu’s pale face, he continued, “That’s not entirely wrong. But more importantly, the Phoenix Sovereign had a deep understanding of all the lineages of the feathered race and respected their customs and traditions.”
“Wasn’t it to exploit their weaknesses?” Feng Bu Liu asked.
The elder’s face stiffened. After a moment, he exploded. “Shut your mouth!” His chest heaved as he struggled to control his anger. Finally, he pointed at Feng Bu Liu and said, “You, no, all the candidates for selection from the Phoenix, Azure Dragon, Mandarin Duck, and Chongming lineages, go to the library and copy ‘The Records of the Feathered Race’ a hundred times! You’re not allowed to leave until you’re done!”
Feng Bu Liu: “…”
Feng Yao stood beside him, trembling, not daring to speak. She could only offer Feng Bu Liu a helpless look.
There weren’t many voices criticizing Feng Chiyue in Phoenix Mountain, but it was a different story in Danxue Mountain. Both the Vermilion Birds and Bifangs couldn’t understand the purpose of this assessment, convinced that Feng Chiyue was deliberately making their lives difficult. The elders, however, thought more deeply. After the assessment of the candidates for selection, it would be the turn of the attendants and emissaries. Would Feng Chiyue really dismiss those who failed? If so, where did she get the courage? Was she relying solely on the Emperor’s Daughter’s name seal? They knew that although the Emperor’s Daughter had shown her support, she wouldn’t interfere if conflicts arose within the feathered race. Feng Chiyue had Undefeated, but could it withstand a siege from all the other immortals?
“Why is she doing this?” the Vermilion Bird elder asked, searching for a reason.
“She’s even more arrogant and domineering than before,” the Bifang elder said after a moment of thought. “In the past, she only dared to act this way because of Ming Jian Su. So now…”
“Could it be that Ming Jian Su isn’t actually dead, but hiding somewhere, cultivating in secret?” someone voiced the Bifang elder’s suspicion.
“We never found her body. We simply declared her dead based on the assumption that anyone missing for a certain period of time is deceased,” the Vermilion Bird elder said thoughtfully. “Perhaps we should send someone to the battlefield between the Immortal and Demon Realms to search for traces of her.”
“It would be best if she truly is dead.” A collective sigh echoed through the hall. Among the Four Generals of the Heavenly Court, Ming Jian Su was the most formidable. Even Chang Li was overshadowed by her. With her gone, the soldiers under her command now answered directly to the Heavenly Emperor. But if she were still alive, many would be willing to serve her. Among the soldiers, the admiration for strength was deeply ingrained.
—
Feng Chiyue was unaware that someone had already decided to search for Ming Jian Su on the battlefield between the Immortal and Demon Realms. She was lying on a hammock under the peach tree, contemplating life.
The attendants and emissaries also had to be assessed, but she didn’t want to bother coming up with new questions. Should she just reuse the previous set? But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she dismissed it. After all, the previous questions had already been publicly displayed on the Chaos Mirror. She was starting to regret her actions. Although she had enjoyed the drama on the Chaos Mirror, the subsequent troubles were now flooding towards her like a tidal wave.
“Why can’t you handle everything?” she asked, frowning, her voice filled with frustration.
Zhu Wan, passing by, thought the question was directed at her. She instinctively replied, “This disciple is incompetent.” But then she realized, wait a minute, why should she be capable of handling everything? Seeing Undefeated buzzing in protest, she suddenly understood. Feng Chiyue was trying to exploit Undefeated.
What sword had ever been reduced to such a state?
Feng Chiyue heard Zhu Wan’s voice. She turned and stared at her for a moment, then said slowly, “Incompetence is simply a lack of practice.”
Zhu Wan: “…” She wished she were deaf and blind.
Feng Chiyue took out a large book and tossed it to Zhu Wan. “Can you write test questions? Choose some content from ‘The Records of the Feathered Race’ and come up with a hundred questions.”
Zhu Wan had also seen the drama on the Chaos Mirror. She had initially felt sorry for the candidates for selection, but now, she was about to become the “merciless executioner” herself. She looked at Feng Chiyue, her expression troubled. “I’m from the human race. I don’t know what the feathered race should know. Immortal Monarch, if you’re trying to select talented individuals, I’m afraid I’m not qualified to write the questions.”
Feng Chiyue raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with you writing them? They should know everything in ‘The Records of the Feathered Race,’” she said lazily.
“But… isn’t that unreasonable?” Zhu Wan asked.
“That’s the point,” Feng Chiyue replied matter-of-factly.
What else could Zhu Wan do? Under Feng Chiyue’s “benevolent” gaze, she embarked on the path of “aiding the evildoer.” She feared that if she refused, the assessment would be held in Dong’e Mountain, even though currently, it was only her, Feng Chiyue, and a few wood spirits pretending to be dead.
When it was time to assess the attendants and emissaries, Feng Chiyue didn’t show up.
Que Chen Yi, who had just taken office, was entrusted with a major responsibility. She stood on the platform, clutching Undefeated, her body stiff with tension.
She had reviewed the assessment questions beforehand and couldn’t help but feel grateful that she hadn’t been selected as an attendant last year. Otherwise, she would have been dismissed for failing and even publicly humiliated on the Chaos Mirror. The thought of it made her want to hide.
This time, the Minister had given her specific instructions: instead of selecting based on the percentage of correct answers, she was to choose only the top twenty-eight individuals. She glanced at the attendants and emissaries below. There were about fifty of them. More than half would be dismissed. She wondered how they would react when they learned the truth. She had read the regulations and knew that the total number of officials in the Celestial Feather Ministry was thirty. Including the Minister and Junior Minister, there were only a few positions left. Wait, if she selected twenty-eight, what about her? Que Chen Yi frowned and discreetly changed the number of successful candidates to twenty-seven. She was just following the rules. No one could fault her for that. The Celestial Feather Ministry was overstaffed. It was time to correct that.
An hour later.
Undefeated, without waiting for Que Chen Yi’s instructions, collected all the jade slips.
Que Chen Yi couldn’t multitask like Feng Chiyue. She had to patiently review them one by one.
She worked until midnight, uploading the jade slips to the Chaos Mirror. Finally, she stretched, her legs wobbly, and left the Celestial Feather Hall.
The cold moon, like a silver disc, hung above the magnificent Heavenly Palace. Moonlight washed over the long corridors, where immortal clouds drifted lazily.
Que Chen Yi was fortunate enough to be assigned a room in the dormitory. Upon returning to her room, she took out the Chaos Mirror and contacted the elders in her village.
— The Minister is incredibly knowledgeable. The rumors about her being incompetent are clearly false. It seems many immortal officials are blind.
— There’s going to be an assessment. I’m going to be nailed to the pillar of shame.
— Tell my younger sisters not to come to the Heavenly Court to be officials. There’s too much work and the salary is too low. It’s better to stay on the mountain and eat wild fruits.
After sending her messages, Que Chen Yi transformed into her true form, a small bird with fluffy feathers. She curled up in a hanging basket and fell asleep.
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