"There's a story behind that too?"
Qi Shiyun's robes fluttered in the wind. Both she and Lianshan Xin looked somewhat surprised.
Yi Anle was surprised too. "I thought Your Majesty named me Civil Examination Champion back then because both the Second-Place Graduate and Flower-Seeking Scholar came from powerful clans. Was this the real reason? Did Your Majesty intend to use me to counterbalance the Jiang Clique?"
Yi Anle actually made Emperor Yongchang laugh. "Anle, I truly envy your confidence. Forget back then-even now, what could you possibly use to counterbalance the Jiang Clique? They have two immortals holding the fort. Who else does your Yi Family have? You were already the Yiqi Clan's greatest expert five years ago." Yi Anle's weathered face reddened again.
He really had no backing. If he had any, Emperor Yongchang himself was his backing.
Since Emperor Yongchang ascended the throne, the people who had risen through the ranks faster than Yi Anle could be counted on one hand.
"The biggest reason I named you Civil and Martial Examination Champion was that you beat everyone else into submission. No one dared compete with you, that was all. There weren't that many hidden calculations behind it." Emperor Yongchang said calmly, "You took the examinations more seriously than Shiyun. At least you didn't deliberately lose to He Hongye out of sympathy." Qi Shiyun defended herself. "Your Majesty, is there any difference between second and third? Neither is first, anyway. Besides, Flower-Seeking Scholar is universally recognized as the place reserved for the best-looking candidate. Of course I chose that."
The unspoken rule through the ages was that, among the Top Three Graduates, the strongest became champion and the best-looking became Flower-Seeking Scholar.
As for the Second-Place Graduate... that really was the one most easily overlooked.
Qi Shiyun's reluctance to