Amidst a round of enthusiastic applause, Ankang Princess stepped onto the stage to receive her award.
"As per His Majesty's command, the first-place prize for this month's competition is the restoration of the monthly stipend to its previous amount before the reduction."
Regarding this, the Three Little Ones didn't really care.
Firstly, their Jingyang Palace was no longer short of money.
Secondly, Jingyang Palace's monthly stipend was not much to begin with.
Whether it was restored or not actually made no difference.
With the current assets of Jingyang Palace, they truly weren't lacking those few taels of silver and a bag of coarse rice.
"In addition to that, Thirteenth Princess may proceed to the Royal Private Treasury and select any treasure."
Zhao Feng, who had kept everyone in suspense all day, finally revealed the true prize for today's competition.
Upon hearing this, Li Xuan's heart stirred even more, his large eyes shining brightly.
They had just visited the Royal Private Treasury not long ago, and there were indeed many good things inside.
"If I can choose any one…"
Li Xuan couldn't help but swallow, having already decided what he wanted to choose.
To speak of the most valuable item in the Royal Private Treasury, it was none other than that.
Zhao Feng also noticed Li Xuan's expression, and his heart immediately trembled, promptly adding:
"At that time, Your Highness, please select any treasure within the Royal Private Treasury's optional range."
Zhao Feng's tone emphasized the five words "within the optional range."
How could he not guess what Li Xuan wanted?
But that Crimson Gold Dragon was the Great Xing Dynasty's heirloom treasure, and moreover, it was a relic left by the founding Twin Sage Emperors; it wasn't just a matter of gold, but held special commemorative significance.
Other things were fine, but the Crimson Gold Dragon absolutely could not be chosen by Li Xuan.
Zhao Feng had to report this matter thoroughly to Emperor Yongyuan.
Before Ankang Princess made her selection, the optional range must be set first, otherwise, if they were to go back on their word later, it would harm the Emperor's dignity.
Seeing that Ankang Princess had won again this month, everyone couldn't help but feel a bit bored.
Ever since the Imperial Garden competition began, the first place each month had almost always been taken by Ankang Princess, and everyone else was just there to watch the show.
This competition had been going on for almost a year, and everyone was getting a bit tired of the scene.
Upon hearing Zhao Feng announce the competition results and prizes, the others prepared to return home.
"Your Highnesses, Consorts, please bear with us for a moment."
"Besides the official competition today, there is also an additional competition."
"The rewards for the additional competition are equally generous. Your Highnesses who are interested may stay and continue to participate. Those who leave will be considered to have forfeited directly."
Zhao Feng's words made those who were about to leave stop in their tracks.
"Additional competition?"
As Zhao Feng said that, everyone remembered.
The Flower-Clothed Eunuchs from the Internal Affairs Bureau who came to notify them had all mentioned this matter.
After Zhao Feng finished speaking, he waited quietly for a moment, and seeing that no Imperial Princes and Princesses left, he nodded and continued:
"Since Your Highnesses are all interested in the additional competition, this old servant will now directly begin introducing the rules of the additional competition."
As Zhao Feng spoke, he winked at a Flower-Clothed Eunuch beside him.
Immediately, a Flower-Clothed Eunuch cleared an area below the stage and set up a new wood shooting ground.
However, this time, the wood shooting ground was clearly very different from the one on the stage.
The throwing ball had changed from the original wooden ball to an iron ball that required both hands to embrace, which looked quite heavy.
And the bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillars had also become much larger, with long nails at the bottom piercing directly into the ground, making them stand even more firmly.
This clearly looked like an enhanced version of wood shooting.
"Your Highnesses, these are the tools for the additional competition."
"The rules of the competition are the same as before: five throws per person, points are calculated, and the person with the highest score wins."
"And the prize for the competition is also very simple: the winner can choose to exchange monthly stipends with the opponent."
"Of course, challenging requires mutual consent, but if one party does not agree, a forced challenge can also be conducted."
"For a forced challenge against the same contestant, the first time costs one hundred taels of silver, the second time two hundred taels, the third time four hundred taels, and so on, doubling each time."
Hearing the content of the additional competition, the expressions of the people below the stage varied.
The Three Little Ones, however, were uninterested.
"This additional competition isn't very interesting," Li Xuan thought to himself.
"Chief Zhao, what if the person who is forcibly challenged wins?" someone below the stage immediately asked.
These people were not fools; they immediately thought of the key point.
The person who paid to initiate a forced challenge must have been eyeing the opponent's higher monthly stipend.
But if the person who was forcibly challenged won the competition, and the result was still an exchange of monthly stipends, then probably few people would agree.
At that time, everyone would only repeatedly initiate forced challenges for higher monthly stipends, and the outcome of the game would become completely irrelevant.
"The person who wins after being forcibly challenged may choose any item from the opponent's possessions, provided its value does not exceed the amount of silver the opponent spent when challenging," Zhao Feng said with a smile.
"Heh heh, it's a gamble," Li Xuan shook his head silently, but also grew a little interested.
The treasures on these Imperial Princes and Princesses were quite numerous, and if he could win some, it would always be a gain.
The Three Little Ones, who were originally uninterested, also began to find this additional competition interesting.
"Your Highnesses who wish to participate in the additional competition, please come to the stage to receive your fate tokens. Each person only has three. If you lose a competition once, one token will be broken."
"If all three fate tokens are broken, you will no longer be able to participate in the additional competition, neither challenging nor being challenged."
Everyone understood Zhao Feng's meaning.
In other words, each person could only lose a maximum of three times in the additional competition, after which they would be completely eliminated.
Immediately, many Imperial Princes and Princesses eagerly went to the stage to receive their fate tokens.
But there were also many who looked at the iron ball and the special bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillars, shook their heads, and gave up on the additional competition.
These two items looked quite heavy, and those who were not confident in their own strength would not easily participate in the competition.
Otherwise, even if they went to receive a fate token, they would merely be harvested by others.
Among the Little Beans, only Eighteenth Prince Li Xiong went to the stage to receive a fate token; the other Little Beans remained still, only preparing to watch the show.
The Consorts who were originally about to leave also stayed, full of interest.
Compared to the previous official competition, this additional competition seemed to be more to their liking.
"Li Xuan, should we participate too?" Ankang Princess asked Li Xuan, who was in her arms, for his opinion.
Li Xuan looked around, already understanding what Emperor Yongyuan meant by holding this additional competition, and immediately nodded to Ankang Princess.
Ankang Princess obediently went to the stage to receive her fate token, and her action made many people breathe a sigh of relief, while also casting malicious glances at her.
"Heh heh, truly oblivious to death," Li Xuan chuckled inwardly, waiting to watch a good show later.
After Zhao Feng finished distributing the fate tokens to all the Imperial Princes and Princesses who wished to participate in the additional competition, he immediately announced the start of the additional competition.
As soon as Zhao Feng's voice fell, a synchronized sound echoed throughout the Imperial Garden.
"I want to forcibly challenge Ankang Princess!"
Several people shouted simultaneously, almost at the same time, which made many people, including Ankang Princess and Yuer, stunned.
Only Li Xuan looked as if he had expected it.
Zhao Feng silently scanned those who had shouted, then said:
"Third Prince was the first to shout. Please, Third Prince, prepare to challenge."
It was easy for Zhao Feng, with his cultivation, to determine who had shouted first.
The people who had shouted earlier couldn't help but sigh in regret, as if they had missed some great opportunity.
Third Prince laughed loudly as he went onto the stage and handed over one hundred taels of silver, then took out another one hundred taels of silver notes from his embrace and said to Ankang Princess:
"If I lose later, I'll compensate you with this."
Ankang Princess, however, shook her head and said calmly, "Third Imperial Brother, I don't lack money."
"I'll choose something else later."
Third Prince's expression froze, but then he said indifferently, "As you wish."
Seeing that the two had agreed on the wager, Zhao Feng immediately arranged their match.
"Third Prince, according to the rules of the competition, the challenger goes first." Zhao Feng explained from the side.
Third Prince glanced at Zhao Feng, his expression displeased, as if saying, "Why didn't you say something so important before?"
But facing Zhao Feng, Third Prince had no choice but to obediently go and throw the ball first.
The iron ball's weight was clearly not light. Third Prince approached the iron ball, squatted down to embrace it with both hands, then began to lift it with effort.
Third Prince's face turned red, and the iron ball also lifted off the ground.
But as Third Prince had just lifted the iron ball a few inches, he put it back down with a thud.
The sound made the nearby people feel a slight tremor.
"My goodness, how heavy is this iron ball?" Li Xiong was the first to exclaim.
If even the Third Prince, with the highest cultivation, couldn't lift it, weren't the others just serving themselves up?
At this moment, many people had already begun to regret their rash participation in the additional competition.
Third Prince's expression was also not very good; the weight of this iron ball had somewhat exceeded his expectations.
But he wasn't completely unable to lift the iron ball; he just felt that it was too strenuous, and it would be better to simply push the iron ball.
Third Prince immediately changed his stance, stepped on the iron ball with his foot, and then pushed it forward with force.
The round iron ball immediately began to roll, heading towards the bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillars.
However, the ground of the venue was grass, and the iron ball's rolling speed quickly slowed down, beginning to wobble.
Finally, the iron ball touched a bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillar, but it only made the bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillar sway, with no sign of being knocked down at all.
"Ah!" The whole place was in an uproar.
No one had expected that Third Prince, the contestant with the highest cultivation, would fail so badly on his first throw.
Third Prince was also somewhat surprised by this result.
At this moment, Zhao Feng stepped forward, gently waved his hand at the iron ball, and the heavy iron ball rotated on its own, returning to its original starting position.
"Third Prince, do not be discouraged, please continue."
Seeing Zhao Feng's smiling appearance, Third Prince couldn't help but get even angrier.
"Can anyone even play with this broken iron ball?"
"The so-called additional competition, it wouldn't just be a scam for money, would it?"
Third Prince vaguely felt that something was not right.
But he had already participated in the additional competition and successfully challenged Ankang Princess, so there was no reason for him to retreat now.
This time, Third Prince dared not be overconfident. He took a firm stance, settled his qi in his dantian, then pushed forward with all his might, using his internal true qi to strengthen his power.
The iron ball was pushed out much faster than the first time, heading straight for the bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillars.
Thump, thump, thump.
Several dull thuds came, and three bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillars fell in response, but they were two black and one red, and Third Prince was actually deducted a point.
The iron ball rolled on the grass, and after hitting the bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillars, it would sway left and right, and coupled with its own excessive weight, it also knocked down the black bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillars on both sides.
This scene made the other contestants who participated in the additional competition frown collectively.
The additional competition seemed to have only replaced the iron ball and bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillars with heavier and larger ones, but the difficulty had increased linearly, much harder than their previous competition on the stage.
Third Prince then pushed the iron ball three more times, finally completing the competition with great difficulty, exhausted and silently adjusting his breathing.
Others might not see it, but Third Prince knew well that with such competition intensity, most people would likely run out of stamina before even using up three fate tokens.
"I can't just challenge anyone anymore. I need to conserve my stamina. Maybe there will be an opportunity to pick up some easy wins," Third Prince thought to himself, looking at the other contestants.
"Third Imperial Brother, are you alright?"
"Is that iron ball really that heavy?" As soon as Third Prince came down, Ninth Princess went over and asked.
"I'm fine, just a bit caught off guard at first. I'll be fine once I adapt," Third Prince naturally wouldn't tell others his discovery, and said calmly to Ninth Princess.
Anyway, he just needed to stop Ninth Princess from actively challenging; it wouldn't be too late to go up once the others had mostly exhausted their stamina.
Next, it was Ankang Princess's turn.
She handed Li Xuan, who was in her arms, to Yuer to watch, then walked over to the large iron ball herself.
"It's so big," Ankang Princess exclaimed.
She reached out and gestured, realizing that even with both hands spread open, trying to lift the iron ball in front of her was not an easy task.
Ankang Princess extended her foot and touched the iron ball, weighing it, and a strange expression appeared on her face.
"Your Highness, you may begin," Zhao Feng said from the side.
"Oh~" Ankang Princess responded, extending one foot and tucking it under the bottom of the iron ball.
This action made everyone a bit confused.
"How does she push it like this?" In the eyes of others, this was not a good way to push an iron ball.
But the next moment, Ankang Princess hooked it with her foot, and the large iron ball actually flew up, accompanied by a dull whooshing sound, drawing an arc and accurately smashing onto a red bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillar.
Bang!
The large iron ball hit the ground, making the ground tremble.
What was even more heart-stopping was that Ankang Princess actually kicked the large iron ball with such a light movement, and even hit the target accurately.
"Ah!?" Everyone looked at Ankang Princess, then at the stunned Third Prince, momentarily unable to figure out who was playing tricks.
But then everyone reacted; the dull thud of the iron ball landing was certainly real.
Everyone immediately turned their gaze to Ankang Princess, their faces filled with disbelief and uncertainty.
"What kind of medicine did Imperial Physician Xue feed her, after all?"