In truth, it wouldn’t have been difficult at all for Mu Mu to simply yield to the man in brocade’s challenge.

From that single move of summoning the sword through the air, everyone could already tell that his internal energy was absolutely formidable!

Yet when it came to his own appearance, he truly could disregard it to this extent.

To save time, he had ended it with a single decisive move, not even caring that his own face had been cut open in the process.

Though it was only a small wound that would heal back quickly enough.

Still, here in front of the princess, his face now carried a flaw, however briefly.

Wasn’t he worried at all that the princess might come to dislike his looks because of it?

Everyone below stood stunned, mouths agape, unable to recover for a long while.

An’bao too felt a pang of distress — he could least bear to see a stunningly handsome man get hurt, especially on that face so extraordinarily blessed with good looks!

Feng Jiu’er stared at the trace of blood on Mu Mu’s face, her heart clenching painfully all the same.

There was a kind of weary, jaded coldness to him — he truly seemed able to disregard his own body completely.

As if, so long as he achieved his goal, whatever harm came to his own body simply didn’t matter to him at all.

What kind of blow had this man endured in the past, or what sort of despair must be buried in his heart?

Why did he care so little for himself?

Mu Mu turned and gave a clasped-hands salute toward Feng Qiongcang and Feng Jiu’er before exiting the arena with effortless grace.

He returned to his seat just as before, quietly drinking his tea.

The match he had just fought seemed already completely cast from his mind, leaving not the slightest ripple across the course of his life.

As for the wound on his face, he merely wiped away the blood with his sleeve and paid it no further attention.

Below, the crowd’s feelings were a complicated mix.

The atmosphere carried an inexplicable heaviness.

It was only when Eunuch An’bao announced the next round of matches that the heaviness lifted just slightly.

In the second round, Jian Yi was matched against the eldest son of Great General Xiaoji.

Jian Yi’s technique was simply on an entirely different level from the young lord’s.

With a single flash of his blade, he forced his opponent into a position with no way to defend himself at all.

Winning had been expected, but winning this easily — defeating his opponent within just two strikes — still made a flicker of interest light up in Feng Qiongcang’s eyes.

Feng Qiongcang had originally intended to reserve a place for the eldest son of Great General Xiaoji’s household.

But this young lord, being proud and high-spirited, had refused to take that shortcut and insisted on competing in person.

Likely, he had wanted to show off his prowess in front of the princess.

Yet, unexpectedly, he had been defeated by his opponent in just two moves.

In the end, instead of showing off his prowess, he had only utterly humiliated himself.

As the young lord was led off, Feng Qiongcang glanced over at An’bao.

An’bao nodded, naturally understanding what the emperor meant.

Great General Xiaoji held military power in his hands and was someone the emperor needed to keep on his side.

So even though his eldest son had lost, a place still had to be reserved for him within the princess’s residence.

After the first round of the martial test, of the more than eighty participants, only forty-two remained.

By the end of the second round, only twenty were left.

For the third round, the drawing of lots began once more.

Jian Yi had a very bad feeling, and the moment he saw Mu Mu pick up his red token, his brow furrowed as well.

He looked toward Mu Mu, and found the man’s gaze had also settled on him.

Though neither said a word, he knew that Mu Mu had drawn the number one token again.

Jian Yi looked at the token the young eunuch brought before him, his brow furrowing even tighter.

Everyone ahead of him had already found their opponents.

Which meant that of the two tokens remaining, one of them shared the same number as Mu Mu’s.

The very thing he had worried about earlier was, it seemed, about to become reality after all.

There was a fifty percent chance that he and Mu Mu would have to face each other, with only one able to stay.

Helplessly, Jian Yi reached out his hand.

But just as he was about to pick up the token, from her high jade seat, Feng Jiu’er suddenly spoke. “Father, I want that white-haired man.”

“Hm?” Feng Qiongcang glanced at her.

Jiu’er, too, felt she had no other choice — she couldn’t possibly let Jian Yi and Mu Mu actually fight each other.

She had originally planned that if the two of them really were drawn together, she would simply call Jian Yi back to her side.

After all, Jian Yi had come from her own princess residence, so calling him back now wouldn’t be any trouble.

Among the remaining twenty-one participants, there would always be one extra — if they didn’t fight, then so be it.

But after watching several of Mu Mu’s matches, she had grown rather anxious.

Everyone who had made it to this final round was a true master.

It wasn’t that she feared he couldn’t win — she was worried that he would, just as before, completely disregard his own body.

Right now, Mu Mu carried some injuries on his body — none of them serious, but they were wounds he could easily have avoided.

If he had only been willing to put in a bit more effort, defeating those two earlier opponents wouldn’t have been difficult at all.

But he simply preferred speed! A few minor scrapes and pains meant absolutely nothing to him.

For the sake of speed, he was willing to get hurt!

By this round, everyone remaining was the very best among masters.

If she let him stay in the competition any longer, who knew what further injuries he might suffer.

She truly couldn’t bear to watch this man treat his own body with such disregard.

“Isn’t there an extra spot open in this round anyway?”

Feng Jiu’er met Feng Qiongcang’s gaze and said with a smile, “I like this white-haired man, Father. Let me have him come up and join me for a cup of tea.”

At the princess’s own selection gathering, the princess’s word was final.

Feng Qiongcang waved a hand, and An’bao immediately announced, “Let Young Lord Mu Mu come up and join the princess for tea.”

Mu Mu glanced once at Feng Jiu’er before stepping forward, walking toward the high seat.

Jian Yi breathed a sigh of relief — there was no longer any need to reveal the remaining token.

He and the one other person left were automatically paired together.

“Heh, here I thought the princess bringing you along meant she’d take special care of you. Turns out she tires of the old for the new — already found herself a fresh favorite this quickly.”

The man who had been paired against Jian Yi curled his lips into a disdainful smile.

Jian Yi didn’t even spare him a glance, paying no mind at all to such attempts to provoke and sow discord.

The man snorted coldly. “You, nothing but a kept plaything — just watch how this young lord deals with you in a moment!”

Jian Yi still gave no response at all, leaving the man feeling as though he’d thrown a punch straight into the open sea — utterly frustrated to death!

Up at the high seat, Mu Mu walked before Feng Qiongcang and bowed slightly. “This one greets Your Majesty!”

His manner couldn’t quite be called respectful, but neither did it carry any disrespect.

For some reason, An’bao found himself suddenly reminded of Zhan Qingcheng from that morning.

The two men’s bearing did seem to share something similar, though Zhan Qingcheng was the type whose commanding presence overflowed unmistakably.

Mu Mu, on the other hand, was cold, detached, indifferent — yet not arrogant.

Feng Jiu’er, growing a little impatient, immediately waved him over. “You, come here, sit beside me.”

The princess’s temperament showed not the slightest regard for palace etiquette — fortunately, the emperor doted on her enough to overlook it, or else she surely would have been punished.

Still, a princess like Jiu’er was certainly different from all those properly well-behaved young ladies.

Her temperament, if anything, made people like her all the more.

Down below, everyone’s determination to win the princess’s favor surged to unprecedented heights.

But Feng Jiu’er only had eyes for Mu Mu, who had come to sit beside her, and she immediately pulled a small green bottle from the pouch she carried.

“What’s wrong with you? With a face this good-looking, how could you let it get hurt so carelessly?”

Feng Jiu’er glanced at him, dabbing some ointment onto her fingertip, and gently smeared it over his wound.

“If your face really does get ruined, my princess residence won’t be taking you in.”