What is the next number in this matchsticks series riddle?

The great emperor Akbar once ruled India. He was well known for his intelligence. But along with that, he was known for the Nine Gems in his court. One of the nine gems was Birbal, a quick witted and extremely intelligent man. The stories of his wit were widely popular.

Once a king ruling in a distant land heard of Birbal. To check his wit, he sent an invitation and called him to visit his land. Akbar allowed Birbal to go and he took off on the journey.

Upon reaching that kings kingdom, he was welcomed with flowers. He was then escorted to the palace of the king. Upon entering the palace, Birbal found that there were six people sitting in front of him adorning the same robe. They were also lookalike and it was hard to judge who the real king was.

After a couple of minutes, Birbal approached one of them and bowed in front of him greeting him.

That was the real king. How did Birbal know who was the real king ?

An office is divided into 8 cubicles. How many of the cubicles are painted if only 1/8 of the cubicles are painted?

Which wheel of car does not rotate when you turn your car right?

In a kingdom, King George did not allow any citizen to visit the world outside. Also, only a person with proper paperwork was allowed to enter or he was sent back. A wooden bridge was what connected the kingdom to the world. The king had appointed a sharpshooter who would check the every five minutes on the bridge to check. After checking, he would go back to his hut and return exactly after five minutes again. The bridge took 9 minutes to cross.

A merchant was able to escape the kingdom without harming the shooter. How?

One day, all the courtiers from Akbar's court were gathered in the assembly hall when one of them told the Emperor that all his valuables had been stolen by a thief the previous night.
This shocked the Emperor to his core as the place where that courter stayed was the most secured in the kingdom. The Emperor thought that it is not at all possible for an outsider to enter into the courtier's house and steal the valuables. Only another courtier could commit this crime. He quickly called Birbal to identify the thief.
Birbal thought for a while and successfully solved the mystery by identifying the thief in just one statement.
What did Birbal say?

What is the word or phrase below?
R | E | A | D

What has a bottom at the top?

How is a fly different from a mosquito?

Client Dempsey living in one of the East Coast states of the U.S. was talking to Landon Donovan, who was living in the West Coast state of the U.S.

Dempsey: What time is it?
Donovan: Wow, It is the same time here.

How is this possible?