Qiao Lian'er raised an eyebrow: "So what if it is? So what if it isn't? Do we need so many roundabout ways between us?"

"You want to kill your own mother without a shred of conscience. I'm just acting on behalf of Heaven."

Song Ruier felt large clumps of blood spreading through his mind, blinding him and making him unable to think for a moment, almost causing him to faint.

He knew very well that once Qiao Lian'er made her move, even if he used other effective methods, his hand would lose most of its function.

He finally made it through the tough times, his imperial examination, his future—was he going to be ruined by her?

"You, you..." Song Ruier pointed at Qiao Lian'er, spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell to the ground.

Qiao Lian'er instructed the shop assistant: "Throw it across the street."

Do not interfere with the medical treatment provided by the Xuanhu Clinic.

Several young noblemen were strolling down the street when they saw a person lying on the side of the road. Some pedestrians were gathered around, pointing and whispering, but none of them dared to approach.

If someone deliberately leaves a problematic person on the street, anyone who tries to help them up will be accused of knocking them down and may end up losing everything in the process.

Such extortion and staged accidents are not uncommon in Beijing, because there are many wealthy people there.

But these noble young men were not afraid; they were powerful and influential, and not just anyone would dare to extort them.

So, driven by curiosity, they went closer to see what was going on.

"Brother Liu, don't you think this person looks a little familiar?"

The man called Brother Liu waved his folding fan as he examined the person curled up on the ground with his back to the crowd.

"The figure looks familiar; could it be someone we know?"

Another young man said, "Then let's see what's going on." He then went to flip the man over.

He was stopped by a young man surnamed Zhang.

"Brother Li, no rush, how about we make a bet?"

"I don't think anyone we know would be in such a sorry state, lying on the street like that. It would be so embarrassing and shameful."

"If you know me, give me your valuables. If you don't, I'll book the whole restaurant and theater for today. How about that?"

Song Ruier was in a daze, but he knew from the voices that they were his friends.

When it rains, it pours; I never expected to run into them under such circumstances.

He just couldn't understand why he'd been so unlucky lately.

Not wanting them to see him like this, he crawled forward with all his might.

The young master surnamed Liu took two steps forward and stepped hard on his wrist, but it was on the side where the bone was broken. He grimaced in pain, broke out in a cold sweat, and regained his senses.

He buried his face even lower, his clenched teeth trembling, and for a moment, he even had thoughts of dying.

“Let’s gamble. I don’t think they’re the respectable people we know. They’re probably the ones who’re trying to curry favor with us, people whose status is a bit low, but we still know them. I’m willing to accept the consequences of my bet,” said the young man surnamed Liu.

They took out the bets and showed them to the young master surnamed Zhang.

The young master surnamed Zhang was quite satisfied: "Leave the matter of verifying your identity to me."

He walked over and kicked the person on the ground over.