Qi Junlin quickly drew his sword to defend himself.

"Brother, protect Brother Ju'an. I'll have a go at this masked man!"

Qi Junxian: "Yes, elder brother!"

Qi Junlin engaged in a fierce battle with the masked man.

Xie Ju'an was merely a scholar, utterly powerless. If it weren't for the protection of the two young masters, he would surely have died tonight at the hands of the masked man.

Although Qi Junlin pressed forward relentlessly and drove back the masked men, it wasn't over yet, as several more masked men ran out from the side.

The masked man, carrying a sword, ran towards Xie Ju'an.

Fortunately, with the protection of Qi Junlin and Xie Ju'an, they pulled Xie Ju'an around to dodge.

However, the masked man was ruthless and deadly, each strike fatal.

Just as Qi Junlin and Qi Junxian were about to be overwhelmed, a flaming sword flew in and knocked the masked men to the ground one by one.

The masked man was so frightened that he retreated repeatedly.

The Flame God Sword flew like lightning to the throat of the masked leader, just a hair's breadth away from sealing his throat.

The masked leader was so frightened that his legs trembled like a leaf, and for a moment, he even wet his pants.

The Flame God Sword used the same move to force the others back.

The leader waved his hand and said, "Let's go! We're retreating!"

The other masked men fled in panic.

After the masked men left, Xie Ju'an was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.

He was still muttering to himself, "Who is this person who wants to kill me?"

Qi Junlin thought to himself: It seems that, just as Qiuqiu said, someone did indeed cheat in the imperial examination. At this moment, the perpetrator was in a hurry to kill him to cover it up.

Otherwise, Xie Ju'an had neither connections nor enemies in the capital. Who would want to mess with a country scholar like him, so eager to take his life?

After returning home, Qi Junlin and his companion recounted their harrowing experience to the Third Prince.

Fortunately, the Third Prince also heard Qiuqiu's thoughts, so he was convinced that she had cheated in the imperial examination.

The Third Prince asked Xie Ju'an, "Do you remember what you wrote in your article?"

Xie Ju'an: "Reporting to the Third Prince, I remember it perfectly clearly. Now I will write it down from memory."

The writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were quickly brought to Xie Ju'an.

Xie Ju'an wrote a long and detailed article.

The Third Prince carefully put away the document and said, "Alright! I will go to the East Palace tomorrow to discuss countermeasures with my elder brother, the Crown Prince."

Xie Ju'an immediately knelt down before the Third Prince: "Thank you, Third Prince! Thank you!"

The Third Prince frowned and helped Xie Ju'an up.

"This matter is of great importance and requires careful consideration."

Xie Ju'an: "Yes!"

There was another person who was filled with anxiety that night.

After escaping, the masked man encountered a mysterious person in the dense forest.

The masked man knelt down and said, "I am incompetent; Xie Ju'an escaped."

The mysterious man roared in fury: "What did I say? We must eliminate them completely!"

The masked man said, "But that kid has the two Qi brothers with him. And there's a demon helping them!"

Mysterious man: "A demon? You mean the two young masters of the Qi family are harboring a demon?"

The masked man said, "I didn't see it clearly. But that thing is really strange. Otherwise, how could it appear out of thin air and then defeat us one by one?"

The mysterious man said, "Great! If they are harboring demons, that's wonderful! His Majesty hates demons and monsters the most. If it is discovered that they are harboring one, it would be a capital offense, punishable by the execution of the entire family! Hahaha!"

Mysterious man: "How about this..."

The mysterious man waved to the masked man.

The masked man leaned close to his ear.

The two whispered to each other for a while.

Just as dawn was breaking, the Third Prince went to the Eastern Palace to find the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince had just been summoned by the Emperor to review the examination papers.

One of the articles caught the emperor's eye, and he wanted to ask the crown prince for his opinion.

The Emperor took out the top three essays and said, "Take a look at these essays and see which one deserves to be number one?"

After reading it, the crown prince praised the article highly.

The Emperor glanced at it.

It's true that father and son are of one mind; they both chose the same article as their favorite.

They were all happy that the court had gained such talented people.

When the Crown Prince returned to the Eastern Palace, he found that his younger brother had been waiting for him for a long time.

The Third Prince dismissed the servants and spoke privately with the Crown Prince.

The crown prince asked, "Is there something wrong?"

The third prince carefully pulled an article out of his sleeve and said, "Brother, what do you think of this article?"

The Crown Prince glanced at it and asked the Third Prince in surprise, "Brother, where did you get this article?"

The Third Prince said, "This is the essay submitted by a scholar who was nearly murdered last night during this imperial examination."

Crown Prince: "Are you talking about Li Cai?"

The third prince shook his head and said, "No. He was just a poor scholar."

The Crown Prince said, "But the article I just saw from my father is exactly the same. Could it be a case of substitution?"

The Third Prince: "Brother is indeed exceptionally intelligent! Absolutely!"

The crown prince slammed his fist on the table in anger and said, "Outrageous! The imperial examination, which the court values ​​so highly, is being cheated on? Do they all have a death wish?"

The Third Prince said, "They want to live, they just don't want Xie Ju'an to live."

Crown Prince: "I will go and inform my father immediately! This matter will be thoroughly investigated!"

Third Prince: "Then I'll have to trouble you, brother!"

The Crown Prince said, "We brothers don't need to be so polite."

The third prince smiled and said, "Yes, brother!"

After the Third Prince bid farewell to the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince hurriedly went to find the Emperor.

When the emperor found out, he was furious. He ordered a thorough investigation of the imperial examination and that anyone suspected of cheating be severely punished!

The mastermind behind the examination scandal has not yet been caught, but people have already started to accuse the Qi brothers.

In the imperial court, someone presented a memorial to the emperor.

"Your Majesty, someone has seen Qi Junlin and Qi Junxian of the Qi family harboring demonic creatures. Their crime deserves death. We beseech Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!"

The Emperor was furious: "Harboring demons? Do they want to lose their heads?"

Immediately, the crowd below erupted in chaos.

"These two dare to harbor a monster? Don't they want to live?"

"Yes! Last time, their younger brother Qi Junzhou finally managed to drive the demon away. How could the older brother do such a foolish thing?"

Qi Junzhou stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, our family has not harbored any demons. This is a deliberate frame-up!"

Xu Ziming also said, "Yes, Your Majesty. Qi Junzhou went through countless hardships to subdue the monster. Even if their brother were a fool, he wouldn't have brought trouble upon himself like this."

Grand Tutor Chen: "I also believe that the two Qi brothers would not do such a foolish thing. I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!"

Crown Prince: "Please, Father, investigate this matter thoroughly!"

The Emperor's emotions calmed slightly as he thought: The Qi brothers shouldn't be harboring demons. Otherwise, it would be a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of their family. If that were the case, it would involve Qiuqiu. I don't want my Qiuqiu to suffer any harm.

The Emperor coughed twice and said, "Harboring demons requires evidence. Do you have any evidence?"

The emperor glanced at the person who had just presented the memorial.

The man said firmly, "The evidence is in their house!"