Chapter 186 - 175: Night Banquet (Part 1)
As a document fluttered out from the queen’s palace, the entirety of the empire boiled in excitement. When a queen formed her knights, it significantly reshuffled the powers of the northern territories. Anyone who could join the knights would see their family’s status greatly elevated. A quota of three thousand knights was enough to uplift hundreds of families from obscurity to the upper echelons.
Of course, the selection process for the Lorain Knights was exceptionally rigorous. Firstly, the candidates must have a clean history, with no involvement in treason within three generations of their family. Secondly, the age of the candidates was limited—they could not be more than three years older than the queen. This strict rule was set by the Wrathful Sun Queen herself. When she ascended to the throne and learned that her husband must be chosen from the Lorain Knights, she decreed there must be an age limit. The conditions during the Wrathful Sun Queen’s ascension were much better than Nono’s; the preceding queen did not die unexpectedly but doted on the Wrathful Sun Queen, allowing her to establish these rules.
The Lorain Knights would grow alongside the queen. Nono, not yet twenty years old, was the youngest in the history of these selections. The officials previously in charge of selecting the Lorain Knights were now grappling with how to select this batch of candidates. The previous methods and trials used for selection were not suitable for this young group. After all, how high could you expect the capabilities of twenty-somethings to be? They were plainly inadequate for the secretive realms usually used.
In just three days, over a hundred thousand young people had registered to join the Lorain Knights, mostly coming from various realms under the empire’s control. Many strong individuals had emerged from these families, but due to the differences in their realms, it was tough to gain divine favor. This selection process undoubtedly provided them an excellent opportunity to set their footing in divine favor.
Naturally, Lu Hong was also dragged to sign up, and he was internally selected without following the standard procedure. He advanced to become a prospective knight without needing to participate in the preliminaries. Of course, Nono’s method made Lily look down on Lu Hong once more, but luckily, the selection of the Lorain Knights depended on strength. No matter how influential the background, one couldn’t skyrocket to the top immediately. Such scum, relying on women to advance, would sooner or later be eliminated in subsequent trials, and by then, the queen would surely see this man’s true colors.
"Captain of the Guard, what are you thinking about?" Lu Hong asked, waving his hand in front of Lily.
"Ah?" Snapped back from her reverie, Lily quickly stepped back to increase the distance between them and said sternly, "Baron Yitian, please behave yourself!"
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