Chapter 16

Today was the first day of the selection competition.

The first round of selection competitions was held within each department, and the people selected from each department would then gather together to compete in the city-wide selection until the top ten most outstanding locals were selected.

The selection competition started with a martial arts test, followed by a literature test after the martial arts test.

Gong Xiaohua got up early this morning as her mother had instructed her to deliver the braised pork she had promised to her uncle the day before.

It was still dark out, and at this time the only people on the streets were some vendors who had to get up early to do business, and most of the others were government officials.

As Gong Xiaohua walked, she ate the steamed bun her mother had given her when she left home, which was still hot. All the ingredients were natural, making it very delicious.

To get to the side door of the Qin Residence she had to pass by the Ministry of Justice. It was just getting light out, but there were already many government officials going in and out at the entrance of the Ministry of Justice.

They were probably those who couldn't sleep at home and came to the Ministry of Justice early, eagerly anticipating the start of the competition.

She still had plenty of time, so she slowly walked towards the Qin Residence.

Not to mention the road from the Ministry of Justice to the Qin Residence was quiet and beautiful, the air was exceptionally fresh and pleasant.

Perhaps because the Chongren District was an area where prestigious families lived, commoners rarely set foot there.

When she arrived at the side door of the Qin Residence, the two attendants at the door had been replaced.

She asked one of the attendants to pass the braised pork to her uncle, and also to pass on the message "Thank Fifth Young Master Qin for his help. I've made some commoners' food, please try it."

The attendant was very enthusiastic to help, if it wasn't for the young miss Gong in front of him, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to get this lucrative position.

It was said that when Madam Qin the Third saw Miss Gong last time, she was so angry that when she returned, she dismissed Manager Wang and his troublesome nephew.

Madam Qin the Third was the real noble mistress of the residence. Who would dare offend her? Yet she was rendered speechless by a little prison guard.

And Miss Gong had become an idol for them servants.

What the attendant thought in his heart, Gong Xiaohua did not know.

At this time, she had already returned to the Ministry of Justice. Since everyone had their duties, the selection competition could not be held without people on duty. Therefore, the selection competitions within the departments took turns. There were a total of 350 people from the Ministry of Justice participating in the selection competition, 200 from the day shift and 150 from the night shift.

On the first day of selection, the 200 people from the day shift drew lots first.

people were arranged to compete each day, 2 people were selected each day, competing for 8 days total and 8 people were selected.

These 8 people then had to face challenges from those who were eliminated. They had to compete in both literary and martial skills. If a challenger won, they would replace the challenged person and enter the top 8. If no one challenged them, they would directly enter the top 8.

These 8 were not arranged to switch to the night shift, while those who were eliminated switched to the night shift as originally scheduled.

The original night shift personnel who switched to the day shift repeated the previous selection rules, were divided into 3 groups and picked out the top 6 people, competing for 6 days total.

The total of 14 people selected in the end then competed in the final round to pick out the top 10 of the Ministry of Justice.

The literature test was conducted during the final round of competition, so even if your martial skills were stronger than others, if you didn't have a basic level of literacy you would still be eliminated.

The whole internal selection competition took a total of 15 days.

This month Gong Xiaohua was assigned to the rear service shift, and the rear service had always been day shift only.

She was arranged to compete on the first day, and all the other female prison guards were also arranged on the first day.

The superiors thought that the female prison guards were just there to make up numbers. They wanted to get the competition over with them as soon as possible so the women could go back to work peacefully without distraction.

There were 10 female prison guards in total, with 5 on the night shift.

Only the 5 female prison guards from the day shift participated in today's competition. The other 45 were all males, from the Ministry of Justice's other departments.

Only 3 out of the 5 departments participated. The Confiscation and Punishment Division and the Demotion Division did not have anyone participating, only because these 2 divisions were clerical work.

The 50 people each drew lots and competed in pairs. The winner would then compete in the next round, until 2 people were selected from each small group to enter the final, with a bye if there was an odd number.

The competition venue was where they usually trained. A temporary martial stage was set up at the venue.

Right above the stage were 5 judges, who were the division chiefs from each department, serving as judges for this selection competition.

Deputy Minister Lin, the second in command of the Ministry of Justice, made a brief appearance before the start of the competition, said a few motivating words, and left.

On the right side of the stage was a row of weapon racks. All kinds of weapons were hung on racks for the competitors to choose freely.

Below the stage, apart from the 50 competitors, there were also some others who would compete later as well as some who didn't need to compete. Basically everyone who could come was there to watch the competition.

At this time, the crowd under the stage was passionate and lively. It happened to be nice weather today with the bright sun shining.

The competitors from the first group had already gone on stage, one from the Autumn Trial Division and one from the Prison Division.

The one from the Autumn Trial Division was a tall and sturdy man full of murderous aura, with a ferocious face.

It was obvious that this person was responsible for beheading death row inmates. He undoubtedly chose his specialty weapon, a big sabre. The one from the Prison Division, Gong Xiaohua’s colleague, was of medium stature with chubby cheeks. It was the second in command in the prison, Sun Daqiang. He chose a sabre as well.

In terms of power, they seemed evenly matched.

Standing on the stage, the two walked to the center, bowed to the judges, then walked to the two sides of the center as the competition officially began at the sound of a gong.

The burly man from the Autumn Trial Division raised the big sabre in both hands and charged towards Sun Daqiang first. His footsteps were like a thousand catties pressing down, shaking the stage.

Seeing this, Sun Daqiang swung his right arm, raising the sabre in his left hand and rushing towards his opponent.

The two big sabres collided in the middle of the stage, making a buzzing sound, showing how great each other’s power was.

“Great, wonderful!” A burst of cheers came from under the stage.

The two were shaken apart by the vibrations from each other's sabres. Their tiger mouths were also numbed by the vibrations, and they both marveled at each other's tremendous brute force.

In the end, the match between Sun Daqiang and the man from the Autumn Trial Division was won by Sun Daqiang. It was basically due to his brute force. Finally, Sun Daqiang took his opponent down by a feint, placing his sabre against his opponent's neck.

The competitions on stage continued round by round.

Gong Xiaohua looked around and found that most people did not have any fighting skills but relied purely on brute force. It just depended on whose power was greater to determine who had a higher chance of winning.

Of course there were exceptions who had true martial arts skills passed down in their families. The better the family background, the more exquisite martial arts they would have.

Four of the five female prison guards had gone on stage already. Only Gong Xiaohua was left. As expected, the previous four were defeated outright.

Soon it was Gong Xiaohua's turn. She drew No. 18 and her opponent was a young man from the Capture and Arrest Division.

The Capture and Arrest Division specialized in capturing and arresting fugitives and criminals.

Sometimes they would trace escaped fugitives for thousands of miles. So physical strength, endurance, and martial power were essential for their job.

Among the entire Ministry of Justice, the people from the Capture and Arrest Division also had the best skills. At least 7 out of 10 of them would win.

Gong Xiaohua was currently skilled in close combat and unmatched in speed, so she chose a short dagger.

While her opponent chose a long whip, and was also one of the hopefuls expected to enter the Ministry of Justice’s top 10 ranking.

Everyone saw that Gong Xiaohua was a female prison guard and also expected that she would be defeated within 3 moves like the previous female guards.

And now she even chose a short dagger. A short dagger versus a long whip, it should end as soon as it started.

"I can't fight a lady, you might as well concede defeat yourself," her opponent said helplessly.

How unlucky to meet a female prison guard.

To fight or not to fight? They had to compete for a win or loss, so it was best if the opponent conceded directly.