In front of the examination room, the students sat in silence for a whole night, but no one came forward to pay attention.

The students became even angrier. What did that mean? Did he look down on them?

The next day, they made loud noises and demanded a reasonable explanation from the government.

They made a lot of noise for a long time, attracting the people from all around. When the people heard the whole story, they all expressed their disbelief.

Princess Qingping was so smart, how could her brother be any worse? It was natural for him to be the top scholar in the imperial examination, so what did the county examination mean?

This made the students so angry that their mouths were crooked. All they could say was that they had chosen the wrong person.

Mu Wanqing's influence is huge, and the people naturally protect her because of her kindness.

No one can say anything bad about Princess Qingping, otherwise I will beat you.

The students were extremely frustrated, and their anger reached its peak when the academic affairs official finally arrived.

The students rushed towards him angrily, waving their arms and demanding an explanation.

The soldiers protected the academician in the middle. The academician looked at these simple-minded students and shook his head slightly, "You are so confused. You are being used as a gun. You are at the front and will face a lifelong boycott, loss of honors, and even imprisonment, but the mastermind is hiding behind you and looking smug."

“What a pity.”

These words made the faces of the students present change drastically. None of them were on the list, but when they saw so many members of the Mu family on the list and heard that there was something fishy going on, they immediately became excited.

But now that things have come to this, we can only charge forward, relying on our numbers and strength to ask for a punishment that does not involve everyone being held responsible. It would be best if they were all given the status of scholars.

This is what they are asking for.

"We are seeking justice. Why should we be punished?"

The academic official posted the test papers of the top 20 students and said, "Take a look for yourselves. If anyone is still unconvinced, tell me your name and I will post your test paper so that everyone can see who is better."

Let the facts speak for themselves.

An ordinary-looking man was extremely angry. "I don't accept it. I think I am very talented and will never lose to those people who use backdoors."

He introduced himself as Mao Mao, and the academician immediately took out his test paper and stuck it on the wall. Everyone was stunned.

But the man was full of confidence, "I am better than Mu Zicheng."

The academician suddenly felt that what could he say to such a fool? Even if you threw all the evidence in front of him, he would still close his eyes and say he didn't want to see it, it was wrong, and he didn't believe it.

He looked at the others, "You all think so?"

The students looked at each other, and anyone with eyes could tell who was more capable at a glance.

Mu Zicheng's test paper was clean, his beautiful official script was pleasing to the eye, he knew the Four Books and Five Classics by heart, his policy essays were meaningful, and his poems, although not full of spirit, were decent and well written.

No one can find fault with it.

In comparison, Mao Mao's test paper had many mistakes and was completely irrelevant.

Even so, he still thinks he is better than everyone else.

Is this a lack of self-awareness? Or is this intentional?

Mao risked his life to bite the Mu family, "This is not his true level. His sister leaked the questions and asked someone to do it in advance. You can't report it to each other and harm us ordinary students. Who hasn't studied hard for ten years? Why can he use his family background to get a back door? This is unfair."

This has stirred up a hornet's nest. You mentioned Princess Qingping by name, and the people will not agree.

"You find excuses when you can't pass the exam like others. Do you think you can get to the top by pulling down Young Master Mu? Hahaha, don't you know who you are?"

"Don't slander our county lord."

The academician found it ridiculous, as it was clearly jealousy.

Mu Zicheng often asked these officials for advice on his homework, so they knew his strength very well.

It is normal to pass the county exam, it would be strange if you fail.

"You accuse a third-rank official of leaking the exam questions. What evidence do you have?"

Mao Mao rolled his eyes and said, "The servants of the Qingping County Lord's Mansion said so."

The academician had no impression of him, as he was not a student of the county academy. He silently wrote down the man's name, "Which servant? Where is he? Ask him to explain clearly in public immediately, or report to the authorities."

Mao Mao sneered sarcastically, "You officials are protecting each other, who dares to go?"

The academician couldn't help but laugh. "Then how dare you show up here? This statement is self-contradictory, isn't it ridiculous? I'll give you one incense stick of time. If you have evidence, bring it out. If you don't, get out of here. If you gather and cause trouble after the time limit, you will all be sent to jail."

Mao Mao shouted loudly, "Let Princess Qingping come out and confront us face to face."

"You are not worthy." The people around were unhappy. Why? Princess Qingping was busy working for the welfare of everyone. Why did she abandon her official duties because of a random accusation from others?

"Who do you think you are? An important official in the court? You are so shameless, do your parents know?"

This is the will of the people, and it cannot be shaken by a few words from these students.

The common people spontaneously defended Mu Wanqing and were not afraid to confront these students.

The students looked pale and felt a little regretful in their hearts. They just wanted to gain some benefits.

The academician was relieved. "A country has its own laws, and a family has its own rules. If you want to confront a high-ranking official in the court, you must first produce witnesses and evidence to file a complaint. After the case is officially filed, start the procedure and follow the normal process."

Mao Mao's eyes widened. "I don't believe you. You are all subordinates of Qingping County Lady, so you are naturally protecting her."

Everyone was speechless. What was that? Why did you come here to sue?

The hot-tempered people could not help but point at his nose and curse, "Then go and file a complaint with the emperor. If you don't go, you are a dog."

"Haha, you say you don't believe it, but why did you come here? You all think you are smart, but you are actually idiots. Your words don't make sense. No wonder you can't even pass the simplest county exam."

"You took the opportunity to overthrow the Princess of Qingping County and let Xiliang return to its past, causing our people to have no food to eat. I have reason to suspect that the enemy country was behind all this."

"How much benefit did you receive to attack the Princess of Qingping County? You ate someone's food and then put down your bowl and cursed her. You can't be so shameless."

"If you keep talking nonsense, I will teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents, you are disloyal, unfilial, unkind and unjust guy."

Before Mu Wanqing showed up, the people scolded the students badly.

Two days later, a notice was posted in the government office, saying that the students who made the riot were instigated by the Prince of Jin's Mansion, with the intention of overthrowing Xiliang and causing internal fratricide in Xiliang. The Prince of Jin's Mansion took advantage of the chaos to attack. This was their usual tactic. They had used this trick to take down the Prince of Wei's Mansion before, and they were repeating the same trick this time.

As soon as this announcement came out, the Prince of Jin's Mansion was criticized bitterly, and the military and civilians were so excited that they wanted to go to war with the Prince of Jin's Mansion immediately.

The Jin Palace is ambitious and has been waging wars in the east and the west. It is their business to use their own people as cannon fodder, but it is absolutely unacceptable for them to extend their hands to Xiliang and harm the people of Xiliang.

For a while, there was an endless stream of requests for battle, and young and strong men took the initiative to join the army. In just a few days, tens of thousands of new soldiers were recruited.

A few days later, Xiliang issued a manifesto, formally declaring war on the Prince of Jin's Mansion, causing an uproar throughout the country.

The manifesto denounced the Prince of Jin for his wolfish ambitions, his ingratitude, his disloyalty, his injustice, and that he treated the people of the world as his pawns, killing them at will, having no respect for the king, plotting intrigues in the Xiliang territory, and repeatedly attacking the Princess of Qingping County.

In a word, you must have a legitimate reason to do so.

Everyone in the Prince of Jin's Mansion was stunned. No one expected that Xiliang would make such a big move and start a war directly.

The advisers of the Prince of Jin's Mansion surrounded the Prince of Jin, all with unhappy expressions, "They chose this time to fight, have they recovered their strength? This is impossible."

The Prince of Jin has been in high spirits and high spirits during this period.

He personally led his troops to capture the Prince of Wei's Palace and took control of a large area of territory.

The imperial court was also busy, destroying and integrating small forces.

Today's Da Qi is divided into three forces: the court, the Prince of Jin's Palace, and Xiliang.

Among them, the imperial court struggled to maintain itself, the Prince of Jin's Mansion was in its heyday, and Xiliang was developing on its own without interfering in the affairs of the outside world.

But with Xiliang's declaration of war, the three-way balance of power was broken.

No one can predict where the future will lead.

"With Mu Wanqing here, nothing is impossible."

Although the Prince of Jin's Palace was busy with wars, it also did not forget to stir up trouble, sending waves of spies to Xiliang and the court.

Xiliang has strict control, but there are always fish that slip through the net, so big things can't be done, and small chaos continues. This time, Xiliang was completely annoyed.

The counselor frowned. "When they attacked Madam Du, Xiliang was indifferent. But when they attacked Princess Qingping, they went straight to war. Does this mean that Princess Qingping is the real ruler of Xiliang? Was it her decision to start the war?"

Another strategist who had come into contact with Mu Wanqing had a terrible headache. He started fighting as soon as he was told to, which was quite like Mu Wanqing's style.

But this girl, Mu Wanqing, is hard to figure out and cannot be reasoned about based on common sense.

The King of Jin originally estimated that the war would start a year later, but it was brought forward a year and they were not yet fully prepared.

"It's entirely possible. I knew she was a ruthless character and should have gotten rid of her before she grew up. Unfortunately, I missed the best opportunity."

The development of many things is exactly the same as in the previous life, except for the variable of Mu Wanqing. Xiliang and the Du family army changed because of her.

Relying on the memories of his previous life, he bit off a big piece of meat from the court. The officials had the handle in his hands and dared not disobey his orders, causing the court to suffer a great loss.

But he could not use the experience of his previous life to fight against Xiliang. Xiliang had long since changed beyond all recognition. The person in charge of Xiliang became Mu Wanqing, a man who was both resourceful and intelligent.

Therefore, he has always relied on assassination, kidnapping and framing to solve problems.

If we get rid of the troublemakers, we can get things back on track.

Unfortunately, Mu Wanqing is too resourceful, too defensive, and too well managed, making her too difficult to deal with.

An officer sighed softly, "Oh, Mu Wanqing is really good at making money. Glass and glass mirrors were invented by her. She made a lot of money from this line."

With money, we can equip the army and have sufficient food and grass. Perhaps this is the reason for starting the war early.

Prince Jin subconsciously looked at the glass window of his house with a frown. This thing was good, but he couldn't resist the temptation.

From another perspective, as an emperor, can't he enjoy the best things in the world?

He had just taken over the Prince of Wei's Palace and put into his pocket all the good things that the Prince of Wei's Palace had accumulated over the past hundred years, making him rich.

He also took control of the troops of Prince Wei's Palace, and at this time his military strength was far greater than that of Du's army.

Naturally, his mentality was inflated, and he felt that he could do anything. "Then let's fight. I will be crowned emperor after I conquer Xiliang."

Proclaiming himself emperor and establishing a country, then taking down the capital and changing the dynasty, this is equivalent to taking back the entire borders of Da Qi, which is several times better than the fragmentation in the previous life.

"Yes." The eyes of the subordinates were shining. The time had come to expand the territory and build achievements. Charge forward.