The sun shined down and there was not a single cloud in the sky. On the eastern field, the flags were flying.

  This was the first day of the competition between West Chu and East Qin.

  The grand eastern field had two grand stands, one on the left and one on the right. There were sun drapes over the stands with several dozen chairs placed under them.

  The competition was set for noon, but everyone had arrived at 7 already. The West Chu ministers were all sitting on the left stands. Everyone looked worried and they whispered with one another.

  There were two seats placed in the center, a phoenix throne and a dragon throne. These were the positions of the emperor and the Empress Dowager.

  Not long passed, under the guard of the imperial guards, Mo Chuan in front and the Empress Dowager in the back, appeared in the sight of the ministers.

  The ministers all stood up.

  Mo Chuan dismounted his horse and assisted Empress Dowager Zhou out of her sedan. Then he supported Empress Dowager Zhou as they walked step by step up the stand.

  “Greetings to the emperor and Empress Dowager.” The ministers all shouted their greetings.

  “No need for greetings.”


  Mo Chuan supported the Empress Dowager into the phoenix throne before looking over the stands. He saw that they were empty, without a single person present, making his heart feel strange.

  “The East Qin envoys aren’t here yet?” His brows slightly knit as he looked at the hourglass to the side.

  There was only an hour left until noon. Were these East Qin people that confident in winning that they didn’t need to come and prepare in advance?

  “Reporting to the emperor, the intelligence this servant has obtained is that the East Qin envoys left the guest palace early in the morning and left the city. They are not back yet and haven’t sent a single word back, it is unknown what has happened.” Xiao Si replied with a bow.

  “Left the city?” When Mo Chuan heard this, he felt it was unbelievable.

  When the ministers heard this, they all began to make speculations.

  Time slowly passed and it was quickly approaching noon, but the East Qin envoy group still had not appeared yet.

  The West Chu ministers all stood up, looking at the gate with their hearts in their throats.

  On the vast eastern field, other than the ministers, there were also several thousand imperial guards. Everyone was holding their breath at this moment and the field was silent, even the sound of a needle falling could be heard.

  Because according to the rules, if any side could not arrive at the field on time, the other side would be declared the winner.

  Another minute passed and the sun was already over their heads. The ministers could not contain their excitement as they discussed with each other.

  “Ha, ha. It must be the East Qin fearing my West Chu’s national power, giving up without a fight.”


  “That’s right. Otherwise, why would they leave without a single word?”


  “From what I can see, the East Qin clearly know they can’t defeat out King Jing An, so they ran back to their country with their tails behind their legs!”


  “Ha, ha, reasonable, reasonable!”


  At this time, hearing a “dong” sound, a large cannon could be heard.

  This was just the first cannon. As long as the cannon sounded three times and the East Qin envoys did not come, that meant they were abstaining from the competition.

  Several hundred pairs of eyes watched the gates of the eastern field, but it was completely empty.

  The ministers were already laughing.

  Even Empress Dowager Zhou couldn’t help slightly lifting her brows. That tense face she had also became softer.

  She had been worried these past few days, worried about this moment.

  She turned to Mo Chuan and said with a faint smile, “It seems like the East Qin evoys really aren’t coming.”