When Nie Yin’s sight was blocked, his gaze turned cold.

Wen Qiong was startled by his intimidating gaze and looked at Nie Yin timidly. “Brother Nie Yin, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Only then did Nie Yin come back to his senses. He concealed the cold look in his eyes and looked at Wen Qiong with a much gentler gaze. “I’m fine. Why are you here?”

Seeing that Nie Yin’s expression had returned to normal, Wen Qiong chuckled and said, “I heard that you…”

Wen Qiong was halfway through her sentence when she realized that Nie Yin’s expression had turned ugly.

Only then did she realize that Nie Yin didn’t seem to want people to mention this, so she changed the topic and said, “I heard that you obtained some treasures yesterday and wanted to ask you to come to the palace to show it to me. Unexpectedly, you weren’t feeling well and couldn’t come to me.”

“Are you better now?” Wen Qiong asked, finally finding a suitable excuse.

Nie Yin’s expression didn’t change. He only said indifferently, “I’m fine. Sorry to trouble you, Princess.”

Nie Yin’s tone was distant, and his attitude towards Wen Qiong was very polite.

Wen Qiong pursed her lips with an indignant look.

Fortunately, a palace servant quickly walked to Wen Qiong’s side and whispered, “Princess, the queen wants you to go back.”

Wen Qiong glanced at Nie Yin indignantly before turning around and walking towards the rostrum.

Kong Rui had already heard everything clearly and couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.

Wen Qiong was really quite servile in front of Nie Yin!

Just as Kong Rui was sneering at Wen Qiong’s actions, she suddenly felt someone walk past her.

“Don’t laugh too loudly!” Hua Shang said, as if he had seen through Kong Rui’s thoughts.

Kong Rui turned around and glanced at Hua Shang, but she only saw his back as he walked away.

The contestants returned to their seats. As Kong Rui sat in her seat, she glanced at the Patriarch and the First Elder, who had just arrived.

The two of them looked normal.

Yesterday, the Li family’s residence was in such chaos, so Kong Rui believed that what the servant said was the truth. Even if the Second Elder wasn’t dead, his cultivation level had probably been sucked dry by someone, and he was probably seriously injured and paralyzed. However, these two people were not worried at all. They were even talking and laughing with the people from the other families!

For a moment, Kong Rui wondered if these people were so cold-blooded that they didn’t even care about the lives of their brothers!

Kong Rui took a deep breath and couldn’t help but sigh. No wonder no one saw through her disguise after she had pretended to be Li Ling for so long. They didn’t care about Li Ling at all!

The competition officially began, so Kong Rui wasn’t in the mood to think about those complicated things anymore.

The previous few matches were between small families that were not interesting. There was really nothing to watch. Even Fu Jiao, the representative of the Fu family, who was somewhat capable, was defeated in three to four moves by Hua Shang.

Lei Peng sat on the Fu family’s viewing platform. When he saw Fu Jiao walk back to her seat angrily, he hurriedly went forward and comforted her.

Their interaction confirmed the news that the Lei and Fu families were about to have a marriage alliance.

As for Hua Shang, winning against Fu Jiao wasn’t something to be proud of, so he just sat back in his seat calmly.

The most interesting segment of the entire competition was probably the battle between Kong Rui and Wen Qiong!

Kong Rui was already prepared. As long as Wen Qiong summoned the little phoenix, she would use the Clear Sky Slash that Lu Yang had made for her to cut off the thing that was restraining the little phoenix!

It was just a pair of jade buttons. She believed that the Clear Sky Slash would definitely work!

Kong Rui had already made up her mind. On the other side, Yin Ling suddenly walked to the queen and whispered something.

The queen’s expression changed slightly, and she jerked her head in the direction of the patriarch.

The patriarch looked in the direction of the queen, as if he sensed something, then nodded gently.

The queen frowned and gripped the arm of the chair so tightly that she made a few holes.

“Bring the princess back and send someone to guard outside the princess’s palace!” the Empress instructed Yin Ling.

Wen Qiong also heard the queen’s words and suddenly turned to look at her. “Mother! I’m not going back! I haven’t taught that brat Li Ling a lesson yet!”

The queen’s expression became unusually stern. “Be obedient! Go back!”

Wen Qiong had never seen her mother have such an expression and was shocked.

Kong Rui didn’t expect Wen Qiong to be brought back before she could fight. She looked in the direction of the queen anxiously.

Wen Qiong couldn’t go back!

The little phoenix hadn’t been brought out yet!

The queen also sensed Li Ling’s anxious gaze.