♂,
I was startled for a moment, while Zhu Daoyun smiled and said, "Anyone who can reach this level either comes from a family with a profound scholarly heritage or possesses extraordinary talent. Xin Yuliang happens to be a combination of both. Besides, it's not as though she has no backers. A second-rank official is already a very high-ranking official. Otherwise, in the third match earlier, where would she have found such an incredible third-rank sword-testing judge to fight on her behalf? Once the Court Council approves it and a high-ranking official imposes the punishment, her grandfather will be able to take up his post as a Subordinate First Rank official immediately! Heh heh, by then, this beautiful young lady's future will be exceedingly bright!"
"Then do you think she can beat Han Shanshan?" I frowned. This sounded rather uncertain. Xin Yuliang hadn't shown anything particularly outstanding earlier, at most being comparable to Lü Rui, whom Prince Murong—who had been grouped with her—recommended. But now the sisters had inferred that this woman was an expert with the Star Box. Could it be that everyone had made it into the finals, only for her to gain an advantage over the others?
"That's hard to say. But when Sister Shanshan and I studied how to unlock the Star Box before, she was incredibly fast. She was at least the fastest person I'd seen besides Xin Yuliang. So I think the odds are roughly forty-sixty, or perhaps forty-five to fifty-five!" Zhu Daohe said solemnly.
"Mm, Shanshan has about a sixty percent chance. That's not bad!" I breathed a sigh of relief. But Zhu Daoyun looked at me with a smile and said, "As far as I know, it's actually the other way around!"
"Huh?" I sprang to my feet and stared blankly at