A contest between the heirs of various marquises had ended in such a fashion. Given Princess Gouyu's standing, no one would suspect her of deliberately going easy on Jiang Chen.
After all, neither Jiang Chen's identity nor his status was sufficient to warrant such a thing from Princess Gouyu.
Moreover, who didn't know that Princess Gouyu was famously impartial? If she weren't, how could the King have entrusted her with something as important as the Hidden Dragon Trials?
Similarly, although Jiang Chen's defeat of Bai Zhanyun was miraculous, it had truly happened right before their eyes. Even if they wanted to doubt it, they could find no grounds.
Back at the banquet, food and wine flowed ceaselessly, but with so much having happened today, the atmosphere couldn't quite pick up.
More or less, every person wore a troubled expression.
Among the marquises who held grudges against Marquis Jianghan, there was a particular unease. Had Jiang Chen simply gotten lucky against Bai Zhanyun?
Or had they been playing the pig to eat the tiger, and now that the Hidden Dragon Trials were about to enter the final stage, this father and son were finally baring their fangs?
If a preliminary True Qi Realm cultivator with only three meridians of True Qi could, after seeing a technique performed just once, find its flaw and defeat an opponent with eight meridians—
Then no martial arts master would believe it.
Finding a flaw after a single viewing and then defeating the opponent in actual combat? How was that possible?
If defeating the strong while being weak were that easy, why would anyone bother cultivating?
But to say that Jiang Chen had been playing the pig to eat the tiger—that seemed far too convincing an act.
Most crucially, farting during the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony was not the sort of thing you'd see in a "play the pig to eat the tiger" plot! That was an unforgivable crime, punishable by the most extreme penalties.
Could it be that King Dongfang Lu had cooperated with Jiang Chen in playing the pig to eat the tiger?
That was even more absurd! The King surely wasn't so bored as to go to such lengths? And the Jiang father and son certainly didn't carry enough weight for the King to marshal the entire kingdom just to put on a show with them.
Only Marquis Tianshui and a handful of ministers and nobles harbored vague suspicions. After all, they had witnessed the truth with their own eyes that night at Marquis Jianghan's estate.
"The divine power entrusted to Jiang Chen, perhaps it hadn't departed yet, and that's what gave the boy such outrageous fortune?" Marquis Tianshui explained it to himself thus.
This theory was the most plausible. By observing Jiang Feng's expressions and movements, Marquis Tianshui had concluded that at the very least, even Jiang Feng himself had not known about this beforehand.
With Jiang Feng's level of cunning, had it all been an act, his performance would never have reached such a level—there would have been telltale signs long before.
After the banquet began, Xuan Pangzi and the others came over frequently, growing even closer to Jiang Chen. Previously, they had followed Jiang Chen because he was generous, loyal, and willing to stand up for his friends.
Now, Jiang Chen's strength gave them an even greater sense of pride—that his glory was their glory.
"Wow! Brother Chen, I, Xuan Pangzi, have been following you for two or three years and had no idea—you're the real genius! Top-notch acting, top-notch talent, and even more top-notch strength… I'm in awe, truly in awe!"
Xuan Pangzi's face was flushed with excitement, spit flying as he spoke, more animated than a child at New Year. It was as though Jiang Chen being awesome meant he himself was awesome.
At another table, Bai Zhanyun's face was pale, his head bowed as he drank in bitter silence.
Yan Yiming, who had been taken down by Jiang Chen in a single move earlier, had now recovered and said resentfully, "That Jiang Chen must have used some kind of sorcery! He's nothing but a three-meridian True Qi cultivator—how could he possibly have beaten me?"
Hong Tiantong, meanwhile, was secretly thanking his luck. Thank goodness he'd been smart enough not to step forward to show off after Bai Zhanyun demonstrated the Eastern King Finger.
Just imagine—if he had gone up to fight Jiang Chen, the ones humiliated today might not have been those two, but rather Hong Tiantong himself.
Seeing Bai Zhanyun drinking in sullen silence, Hong Tiantong had an idea and tried to further stir him up: "Brother Bai, don't lose heart. That kid Jiang Chen just got lucky. In terms of real strength, how could a preliminary True Qi Realm cultivator be any match for you? The Eastern King Finger is nothing but a beginner's technique—the kid just got lucky and trained it more proficiently. If we're comparing family heritage, how could his Marquis Jianghan compare to the ancestral martial arts of your Marquis Baihu?"
Bai Zhanyun lowered his head with a bitter smile, a stark departure from his usual domineering manner. He gave a faint shake of his head but said nothing. He was not a stupid man.
Previously, his repeated attempts to suppress Jiang Chen had been purely to curry favor with Long Juxue.
But after Jiang Chen's words of awakening just now, a sudden realization had cleared his mind.
Indeed—for the prime of his life, was it worth it for a woman who would never look his way? And then there was this Hong Tiantong, who had joined him several times in suppressing Jiang Chen, yet emerged completely unscathed every time, while Bai Zhanyun alone bore the consequences.
What did that prove?
It proved that Hong Tiantong harbored sinister intentions, always letting Bai Zhanyun be the one to stick his neck out.
"He really thinks I'm a fool?" Bai Zhanyun cast a glance at Hong Tiantong, and in that moment, a great deal of wariness and disgust toward this treacherous character sprang up within him.