The war games had always been the climax of the annual Tournament of the Royal Court, and especially so when the war between the Central Plains and Norland was about to start. But this year's war games were extremely disappointing.
The kings seemed to have little enthusiasm, and their men were also in low spirits, as represented by their humble behavior on the court. The officials who were responsible for judging the outcome were struggling to find reasons to praise the teams.
In the end, King Shengri's army, which had been at the bottom of the list for more than a decade, had the fewest number of soldiers fall off of their horses as they charged and thus won the race.
There were very few cheers from the audience. Most people had left before the game was over.