Emperor Wu didn’t want to admit what that meant.

The empress dowager gritted her teeth. “So, the girl has been trying to save Baby Jun all along?”

Lady Northern Feng and Emperor Wu nodded in unison.

The old lady snorted. “Fine. But why did she kiss Baby Jun? Was that a down payment?”

Lady Northern Feng said, “Your Majesty… I’ve heard about this method of breathing into another person’s mouth. It’s said to be a way to save those that aren’t breathing.”

“Really?” the empress dowager asked.

Lady Northern Feng nodded. “Yes. I think that was what little Feng Wu was doing.”

The empress dowager snorted. “How can you tell? There will be consequences if she can’t save Baby Jun!”

Lady Northern Feng rubbed her forehead.

The empress dowager was so biased.

What had Feng Wu done to deserve this?

Did she want to be snatched by the beast?

Did she make the wrong move in trying to save Jun Linyuan?

And shouldn’t she try to get Jun Linyuan breathing again?

And what was wrong with treating Jun Linyuan with acupuncture?

She should be applauded, even if it was just for her efforts alone.

However, to the old lady, Feng Wu would be executed if she failed to cure Jun Linyuan.

Poor kid…

Lady Northern Feng sighed and said a silent prayer for Feng Wu.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the screen —

Feng Wu was treating Jun Linyuan with her green light.

And it could cure anything!

The light flitted around Jun Linyuan like fireflies, and the dots danced in the air like little fairies. It then seeped into his skin and entered his system.

Once all the light had been absorbed —

To Feng Wu’s relief, she saw Jun Linyuan frown a little.

Recalling what a neat freak Jun Linyuan was, Feng Wu wet her handkerchief with some ice water and began to wipe him clean.

That was what Jun Linyuan saw when he woke up — Feng Wu tidying him up.

Her bright eyes looked stunning in her tiny face. While she cleaned him, there was something very gentle about her, which was something he very rarely saw.

Jun Linyuan watched her movements with half-closed eyes.

“You…” His husky voice sounded mesmerizingly sexy.

Feng Wu said grumpily, “You’re still very sick. The toxin isn’t completely out of your system yet and it’s given you a fever. It’s very serious. So, don’t talk and lay still.”

Despite his weakened state, Jun Linyuan still had a brooding look in his eyes, which reminded one of the bottomless ocean. The only thing he did was to touch his lips lightly with his fingers.

His eyes twinkled.

Feng Wu hadn’t thought much of it when she performed the CPR, but Jun Linyuan’s movement gave the whole thing a different meaning.

She threw a dirty look at Jun Linyuan.

The tiniest smile appeared in Jun Linyuan’s eyes, but it was gone in a split second. Even Feng Wu missed it, let alone the other people watching.

Outside Cining Palace, Zuo Ming clenched his fists with a livid face.

Zuo Qingluan had been rising rapidly in the last five years, and so had the Zuo family. They had moved from the bottom of the list up to fifth of the nine major clans!

They had always been convinced that Feng Wu was a good-for-nothing, and the killing squad had only been sent in to tie up loose ends. Zuo Ming was genuinely surprised that Feng Wu had gotten her ability back.

How had she done it?

Did she still have True Phoenix Blood?

Grand Secretary Fang counted the number of days in his head.

The seven days would be up in a few minutes, and he prayed that Feng Wu would be very careful in the little time that was left. She couldn’t afford any mistakes now.

What she was doing just then… He hoped that she was only doing it to save the teenager.

On the other side of the screen.

Feng Wu smacked her head. “Hey, I almost got my priorities wrong.”

She then ran off, leaving Jun Linyuan behind.

The empress dowager was dumbfounded!

Her Baby Jun was the apple of her eye and the crown prince of the empire! What was that Feng Wu girl doing? She left him in the middle of treatment? What was she up to?!

The camera followed Feng Wu, for she was the candidate.

The empress dowager watched as Feng Wu ran over to the beast and stuck her fair hands into its chest. She began to fumble around inside.

The old lady frowned and her face turned livid.

How was that beast more important than her Baby Jun?!

A moment later, Feng Wu took out a fist-sized heart from its chest and carefully put it into a storage bag.

The empress dowager’s eyes lit up!

She grabbed Emperor Wu’s hand immediately and asked loudly, “That storage bag belongs to my Baby Jun, right? It’s his, isn’t it? I saw it on him the other day!”

Emperor Wu nodded. “Yes, it’s his.”

The empress dowager frowned. “But why is that girl using my Baby Jun’s bag? How did she get her hands on it? Did she steal it from him?”

Feng Wu had never left a good impression on the old lady. With everything that had happened, she only disliked Feng Wu more.

Lady Northern Feng tried to speak up for Feng Wu. “She couldn’t have. She wouldn’t dare to do such a thing. There has to be some sort of misunderstanding here.”

The empress dowager cast a stern look at Lady Northern Feng. “Why couldn’t she? Tell me how else she got it, then? Hmph!”

Lady Northern Feng rubbed her forehead.

That was what the old lady was like. She wouldn’t hear one bad word about people she liked, but for those that didn’t earn her affection, she wouldn’t give them a chance.

The old lady stared at Feng Wu. “Why isn’t she treating my Baby Jun? What’s she doing there?”

Then, the old lady saw Feng Wu put a hand on the beast’s forehead, and a faint streak of spiritual essence flowed from the beast to Feng Wu.

Even a blind man could see that Feng Wu was absorbing the Frosty Night Beast’s spiritual essence!

The empress dowager was furious!

She smacked the table. “My Baby Jun is in such bad condition! Why is she carving out the beast’s heart when she should be looking after him?! And she’s so busy absorbing that beast’s spiritual essence! What’s wrong with her?!”

Lady Northern Feng darted a quick glance at the empress dowager.

Your Majesty, that’s no common magical beast. That’s a Frosty Night Beast!

And its heart was known as the Heart of Frost Essence!

Not to mention that the beast’s spiritual essence was incredibly dense!

Sure enough, Lady Northern Feng noticed the gray stars on Feng Wu’s headband begin to flicker.

Then, like little candles, they lit up one after another.

One, two, three… all seven!

There were seven of them in total and only after the system deemed the candidate worthy of 700 points would they all light up.

Lady Northern Feng had to explain on Feng Wu’s behalf. “Your Majesty, little Feng Wu is still taking the exam. She’ll get a zero if she doesn’t absorb the spiritual essence now.”

The old lady was still displeased. “So what if she gets a zero? What does it matter? Are those marks more important than my Baby Jun?”

Lady Northern Feng said in resignation, “I heard that little Feng Wu made a bet with someone, and she’ll die if she loses.”

The empress dowager said, “She’s more important than Baby Jun? Yaya, is that what you’re saying? Why are you on her side? Does that girl mean more than Baby Jun to you?”

Lady Northern Feng was speechless…

What more could she say at this point?

She had no choice but to pick sides. “His Royal Highness is more important, of course, but I’m sure Xiao Wu only did that because she knew that the crown prince was…”

“What?” The empress dowager cast a stern look at Lady Northern Feng.

Lady Northern Feng was speechless.

On the other side, Feng Wu finally drained the beast of all its spiritual essence, but she still wasn’t satisfied with the outcome.

If she hadn’t been busy saving Jun Linyuan, she would have had more time to work on the beast, and could have absorbed much more spiritual essence!

Just then, the countdown started.

Ten, nine, eight, seven…

And the last second!

Thud!

Everyone was teleported out of Proud Snowfield in that instant.

Light flashed in Feng Wu’s head, and the next second, she was in a teleportation space.

All the candidates were there, except for the 100 that had withdrawn from the exam.

During the short period of time before the exam ended, other than running away from that fissure in the ground, everyone had been hunting as many magical beasts as they could, so that they could accumulate more spiritual essence.

The life-threatening danger was temporarily forgotten, and lighting up the stars became their top priority.

Mu Yaoyao’s first reaction was to look at Feng Wu.

Feng Wu had a hat over her head, and Mu Yaoyao couldn’t tell how many stars were lit up on her headband.

However, Mu Yaoyao wasn’t worried about it at all, for she remembered that the last time she saw it, Feng Wu didn’t have a single star.

Mu Yaoyao was thrilled when she thought about their bet.

She had bet her own life against Feng Wu’s!

Feng Wu would have to cut her own head off if she couldn’t get first in the physical tryout, or Mu Yaoyao would if Feng Wu did!

Mu Yaoyao touched her neck. Her head was going to stay there for a very long time. She was sure of it.

Hence, she gave Feng Wu a taunting look. “Feng Wu, you didn’t forget our bet, did you?”

“Our bet?” Feng Wu darted a look at Mu Yaoyao.

Before Mu Yaoyao could reply, there was a whooshing sound.

Everyone was teleported out.

Outside, the royal guards had taken control of the square and cleared some space.

As soon as Jun Linyuan showed up, and before he could say a word, he was carried off on a stretcher by those people sent by the empress dowager.

Weakened and half-conscious, Jun Linyuan didn’t try to resist.

Mu Yaoyao felt sorry when she saw Jun Linyuan carried away.

She had wanted the crown prince to watch while she had Feng Wu killed. It seemed that that wasn’t going to happen… However, Feng Wu would die nonetheless!

At that thought, Mu Yaoyao stared at Feng Wu coldly. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten our bet. Feng Wu, do you think you can get away with it that easily?!”

Many people gave Mu Yaoyao strange looks at those words.

Mu Yaoyao had her back to the screen and didn’t see the rankings. Therefore, she took it for granted that Feng Wu hadn’t made it into the top 200, for she still thought Feng Wu was that Failure Wu that everyone knew.

“Feng Wu, many people were there to witness our bet. You can’t deny it by saying that you don’t remember it.” Mu Yaoyao took a written copy of their agreement and smacked it on the wall.

She shouted, “Everyone, look! Here’s my bet with Feng Wu!”

The font was rather large, and people could see the words from a distance.

Because of that, the looks on their faces became even stranger.

Mu Yaoyao’s attention was on Feng Wu the entire time, and she failed to notice the strange looks. She only sneered at Feng Wu. “See? Remember now? This is our bet! Look —”

Mu Yaoyao snorted as she pointed at the piece of paper. “You can have my head if you get first! But, if you can’t, I’ll have yours.”

A hush fell over the crowd…

People were practically gawking at Mu Yaoyao now.

The live feed might have been cut off, but the rankings were still there. Why would Mu Yaoyao humiliate herself like this?

Feng Wu was facing the screen, and she saw her own name high up on the screen right away. She was first.

Feng Wu frowned a little. “Do you really have to be so serious about the bet?”

Mu Yaoyao laughed.

So, Feng Wu was going to recant her words.

But she would never let Feng Wu do that. She wanted Feng Wu dead.

Hence, Mu Yaoyao smirked. “Stop trying to change the subject. It won’t work! It’s all written there, on paper! We had so many witnesses! You can’t pretend that the bet never happened!”

Feng Wu shook her head. “Does it have to be that serious? Do you really want to put your life at stake?”

“Yes! Watching you die will be the most satisfactory thing in my life! You’re so dead today!” Taking a dagger out of her chest pocket, Mu Yaoyao tossed it to Feng Wu.”Are you going to do it, or do I have to do it myself?”

Feng Wu sighed. “Mu Yaoyao, it really doesn’t have to end like this.”

Mu Yaoyao snorted. “It does, and it will! I’ll never forgive you! What are you gonna do?!”

Feng Wu sighed. “Are you sure you want to carry out this bet?”

“Of course I do! There’s no turning back!” Mu Yaoyao sneered at her.

Feng Wu shook her head and took off her hat, revealing the seven stars on her headband.

Mu Yaoyao was dumbfounded!

Her eyes widened and she stared at Feng Wu, utterly speechless!

She was so shocked that her eyes popped out!

“No! That’s impossible! How can it be? No!!!” Mu Yaoyao screamed!

Seven stars were lit up on Feng Wu’s headband!

All seven of them!

What did that mean?

It meant that Feng Wu had gotten full marks in the physical tryout!

“Aren’t you a cripple? How could you get all seven stars? You cheated! You must have!”

Mu Yaoyao gritted her teeth. “Feng Wu, I didn’t know you could be bold enough to cheat in the physical tryout!”

She began to make up a charge to pin on Feng Wu.

However, the crowd wasn’t convinced…

As a matter of fact, if they hadn’t seen how Feng Wu reacted when she fell into the fissure, or how she had revealed her cultivation ability and killed the beast at the last moment, or how she had lit up all seven stars by absorbing the beast’s spiritual essence…

They would have thought that Feng Wu had cheated, too.

But Feng Wu had demonstrated her cultivation ability.

Although they didn’t know exactly what level she was at, judging from her swift reactions, she was definitely one of the best among all the candidates.

Mu Yaoyao stared at Feng Wu. “No! So what if you lit up all seven stars by cheating? There’s still Yu Mingye! He’ll be first!”

After that, Mu Yaoyao turned to look at the big screen.

And she froze.

For she saw Feng Wu’s name high up at the top of the list!

Mu Yaoyao’s knees buckled, her muscles went stiff, her heart pounded, and she couldn’t breathe!

She stared at the rankings in disbelief!

“No, no, no… That’s impossible… There has to be a mistake…” Mu Yaoyao wouldn’t believe it!

She had noticed before Feng Wu and Jun Linyuan fell into the gap that Feng Wu didn’t have a single star!

Not a single one!

But it had only been more than an hour since they fell. How could Feng Wu light up all seven in such a short period of time? How?!

“And aren’t you supposed to be a cripple? You don’t have any spiritual essence! How can you light up the stars without it? Feng Wu, you —” Mu Yaoyao gritted her teeth.

But —

Someone in the crowd interjected.

“Feng Wu doesn’t have cultivation ability? Says who?”

Someone else chimed in.

“That’s right. Who told you Feng Wu has no spiritual essence?”

Mu Yaoyao turned her head abruptly. “What did you say?!”

“It’s the truth. Everyone saw it. Feng Wu can cultivate and she has spiritual essence. She’s a much better cultivator than you are, Princess Mu.”

Mu Yaoyao yelled, “That’s not possible!”

Mu Yaoyao could ignore the words if they were from just one person.

Or from two people.

But what if it was from a large group of people? What if that group contained tens of thousands of people?

Mu Yaoyao stood there, dazed, while everyone told her about what happened after Feng Wu fell into the gap.

Everyone began to talk at the same time, telling Mu Yaoyao everything that had happened in detail.

Mu Yaoyao was speechless.

Feng Wu didn’t interrupt, and only watched with a mild smile on her face.

“Shall we proceed with our bet now?” Feng Wu said, waking Mu Yaoyao up from her trance-like state.

Mu Yaoyao was speechless.

She swayed, recalling what she had said just then.

“Feng Wu, many people were there to witness our bet. You can’t deny it by saying that you don’t remember it.”

“You can have my head if you get first! But, if you can’t, I’ll have yours.

“Stop trying to change the subject. It won’t work! It’s all written there, on paper! We had so many witnesses! You can’t pretend that the bet never happened!”

–

Feng Wu had suggested that they forget about the bet, but Mu Yaoyao was the one who wouldn’t let it drop… As it turned out, Feng Wu got first!

Mu Yaoyao wanted to slap herself now.

Holding Mu Yaoyao’s dagger, Feng Wu smiled in an insouciant manner. “Do you want to do it yourself, or shall I?”

What should she do now? What to do? Mu Yaoyao was furious. She still had a whole life ahead of her; she didn’t want to die now!

As soon as Feng Wu took a step forward with the dagger in her hand —

Mu Yaoyao’s head spun and she fell to the ground with a thump.

It sounded very painful.

Yao Ying and the others rushed over, helped Mu Yaoyao to her feet, and said to Feng Wu, “The princess isn’t feeling well. We’ll come back to the bet after she wakes up. We’re taking her home now.”

After that, Yao Hao put Mu Yaoyao on his back and Yao Ying kept her steady. The siblings then fled the scene in a hurry.

People booed them.

Mu Yaoyao had sounded so righteous and unforgiving, but in the end, she had to pretend to pass out to get away.

All she had to do was apologize to Feng Wu. Did Feng Wu really want to kill her? Obviously not.

But all Mu Yaoyao could come up with was to run away by pretending to pass out… Many people shook their heads and were disappointed in Mu Yaoyao. As a result, even Mu Manor’s reputation was severely affected.

Everyone applauded Feng Wu and exalted her. They were excited for her.

They only realized something serious after Feng Wu left.

“Didn’t Feng Wu disrespect His Royal Highness?”

“And she stole kisses from His Royal Highness!”

“And I clapped for her! What’s wrong with me?”

–

Many were overwhelmed with conflicting emotions.

However, Feng Wu didn’t feel any such conflict, and it was only natural that she wanted to go home now. She had been away for seven days, and she had no idea how everyone was back home.

“Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu —” Duan Chaoge rushed out to welcome her. Holding Feng Wu’s hand, she said loudly, “I’m in! I’m in!”

“Really?” Feng Wu was happy for the girl.

Chaoge said, “I was injured toward the end, but I got enough points by then. I had four stars! Adding what I got in the written exam, I’m 100th on the list!”

10000 candidates took the Imperial College entrance exam every year. From the written exam, 1000 candidates would be selected to proceed to the physical tryout, from which the top 100 candidates would be chosen.