If Qiao Lian'er gets involved, what will happen to him?

She even went so far as to slander him, causing his hard-earned academic achievements to vanish into thin air, leaving him with nothing in the end.

With nothing to rely on, he was powerless to resist her attacks.

Thinking of this possibility, Song Ruier's face gradually turned pale, and his whole body grew colder and colder. Looking at the night gradually descending outside, he felt that his life had been pulled into darkness by an invisible hand.

Even though he desperately wanted to see the light, Qiao Lian'er was always holding his head down—

Song Ruier closed her eyes, trying to convince herself that the results weren't out yet, but Qiao Lian'er was too terrifying; she couldn't dispel her fear of her just by comforting herself.

The study door was suddenly pushed open, and Song Fusheng's wrinkled, chapped face smiled like a dried chrysanthemum.

Compared to his previous patriarchal demeanor, Song Fusheng now exuded a more subservient air, his entire demeanor cautious and timid.

A look of disgust flashed in Song Ruier's eyes. A bunch of country bumpkins, uneducated brats, none of them even knocked before entering his study or room, they just pushed the door open.

"Rui'er, you are about to become a proper Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination), and you will be granted a good official position, truly achieving great success."

Song Ruier said with a stern face, "We can't talk about things that haven't been decided by the higher-ups yet. If someone with ulterior motives hears about it, it will be detrimental to me."

"Yes, yes, look at me, I'm not very knowledgeable and I spoke without thinking. Rui'er, don't take it to heart." Song Fusheng pretended to slap himself, but his hand didn't actually touch his face, only a little air flowed through it, which looked somewhat funny.

Song Ruier remained indifferent and did not try to dissuade her.

Even if Song Fusheng was just pretending to slap him, he wanted to slap him hard enough to make Song Fusheng dizzy and disoriented.

Song Fusheng had no choice but to stop, still wearing a smile.

"Oh dear, it's just a bit of a pity. If Rui'er hadn't disguised herself and had a nice face, she might have become the top scholar and the emperor would have personally bestowed a marriage upon her. That way, she would not only have gotten a good position, but she could also immediately marry into a high-ranking family, and our whole family would have risen even faster."

As Song Fusheng spoke, he rubbed his cloudy old eyes and stared at Song Ruier's face.

"Is this fake? Can I tear it off?" she said, reaching out her hand.

Song Ruier quickly took a step back, avoiding Song Fusheng's hand.

He thought he was greedy enough, but this old man was even more greedy and insatiable than him.

His face was a sore spot for him.

When the disguise was performed, the face was first cut open with a knife, and then worms were used to gnaw away at the inside of his face, damaging some of his flesh and bones. This changed the shape of his face and features. Although the original face was sewn back on, it was uneven, so another fake face had to be put on the outside to make him look like a normal person.

In order to undergo a complete transformation, he sacrificed his appearance and paid such a high price.

And all of this is because of Qiao Lian'er; the blame should be placed on Qiao Lian'er.

"I have to get busy!" Throughout the entire ordeal, Song Ruier never called Song Fusheng "uncle".

Song Fusheng was a little angry, but when he thought about how Song Ruier was being surrounded by scions of high-ranking families today, and how the Song family was about to reap enormous benefits from him, his displeasure subsided.

"Then you go ahead with your work. I'll go back and discuss with your uncle how to settle everyone down." Song Fusheng had come from another courtyard and was now going back.

"You old bastard," Song Ruier muttered as Song Fusheng left.

The results of the imperial examination were announced the following day.