Little Fu Bao pricked up his ears to listen.

In the morning, seeing that Liang Xiucai was unwilling to aid and abet the evildoers and frame her little brother, she secretly helped him out.

She told Liang Xiucai that there was something wrong with his rice, and that she had seen someone switch his rice.

Although Liang Xiucai was not an utterly wicked person, he was not a kind-hearted person either. Moreover, he was cunning and shrewd, and when he sought revenge, he was extremely ruthless.

Let them bite each other!

"I heard from Scholar Xu that his hometown has a method of revealing characters using silver and rice; I imagine many people have gone to visit him."

"That's what Liang Xiucai said."

Xu Xiucai's home was in Heishan Village, Dinghai County, which was dozens of miles away from Niushan Village. It was different from Niushan Village. Although Niushan Village was called Niushan Village, there were no mountains there.

However, Heishan Village is truly surrounded by mountains, economically impoverished, with barren land, and a breeding ground for wicked people. Moreover, it lies behind Qinglong Village, Haijia Village, Zhaojia Village, Niushan Village, and Sangjia Village.

People from Dinghai County who wanted to go to the prefectural capital had to pass through Niushan Village. They all had a way to get to the prefectural capital by passing through Niushan Village.

Many people are hearing about the "Silver Rice Character Display Technique" for the first time, but the people of Niushan County are familiar with it and have indeed heard of this craft.

Last month, someone in Niushan County started doing this and made a living from it.

Xu Xiucai's eyes darted around. He thought, since Liang Xiucai was determined to get rid of Mu Yan, and he was on good terms with Liang Xiucai, it would be difficult for him to prove his innocence. He decided to eliminate Mu Yan as well, killing three birds with one stone and eliminating several rivals. He then said:

"Yes, I do have this skill. I personally witnessed Master Xiao using this method."

He now plans to push Mu Yan out as a scapegoat because he had previously bribed one of his fellow villagers who made a living in the prefecture, using gold leaves exclusively issued by the Mu family.

It was just a coincidence.

Xu Zhen thought to himself: This scholar Liang is quite cunning, but luckily he still has a backup plan.

“I did not cheat. Since Lord Xu accuses me of using this method to cheat, then I ask you gentlemen to bear witness and clear my name. I am about the same height as this young magistrate, so I request that the magistrate have his men fetch Xiao Heng a new set of clothes that you usually wear.”

Xiao Heng respectfully said to a young county magistrate next to Ji Ninghai that examiners who came from various counties for this imperial examination also needed to bring their own clothing.

Ji Ninghai ordered his yamen runners to soak all of Xiao Heng's clothes, including his shoes and socks, in water one by one, and not a single piece showed any signs of wear.

Xu Zhen was somewhat surprised.

That scholar Liang had always been playing dumb to deceive others; he had no intention of joining him in framing Xiao Heng and currying favor with Mu Yan.

Once the truth came to light, Scholar Liang immediately knelt down and admitted his mistake: "My lord, it's all my fault for being misled by others and almost putting Brother Xiao in an unjust position."

The officials present were all shrewd and could easily see through the scheme. However, since the imperial examination did not involve cheating, they could not arbitrarily punish the candidates. Although false accusations were a crime, they could not be used to strip the candidates of their academic honors.

Furthermore, Liang Xiucai admitted his mistake quickly, so it cannot be considered a false accusation.

The examiners merely reprimanded Liang Xiucai a few times, but Ji Ninghai turned around and questioned Xu Zhen, saying:

"Just now, the yamen runners took out all of Xiao Heng's clothes, including what he was wearing, and there were no clothes that were soaked in water." "So how can you say that you personally saw Xiao Heng put his clothes in the water and cheat by displaying his name?"

"It is clearly a false accusation."

Xu Zhen was completely bewildered, not knowing how the situation had turned around, and immediately knelt down and said:

"My lord, my lord, it was all Young Master Mu who made me do it!"

Those who falsely accuse accomplices, and also report on the principal offenders, becoming tainted witnesses, may be barred from participating in scientific expeditions for up to ten years.

"After that poetry gathering, Young Master Mu was extremely jealous of Young Master Xiao's fame and talent, fearing that he would steal the limelight. So, he bribed a craftsman from my hometown to tamper with my clothes and falsely accuse Young Master Xiao." "If you don't believe me, you can call that craftsman here; he's at the city gate on East Street."

Mu Yan narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw someone trying to pull him along.

At this moment, Xiao Fubao stepped forward and said:

"Since you claim that Princess Mu Xiang instigated you to falsely accuse my family, then call that person here!"

A quarter of an hour later, the craftsman from the city gate on East Street arrived. He was an old man. "I am Sheng Tong, greetings to the Prefect and all the magistrates."

Xu Zhen said, "Old man Sheng, tell me quickly, is it this Mu Yan, this Master Mu, who instructed you and me to use the Silver Rice Script to falsely accuse Young Master Xiao?"

Mu Yan?

Isn't his surname Liang?

Sheng Tong said, "Your Excellency, Scholar Xu and a young master did indeed give me a gold leaf, asking me to use my skills to inscribe words on their clothes."

In fact, Liang Xiucai knew nothing about this, and Mu Yan knew even less.

Xiao Fubao tugged at Ji Ninghai's sleeve and said, "Scholar Xu, you said you have gold leaves as proof?"

Xu Zhen said:

"yes"

Xiao Fubao said, "But we all have them, even my maid has them. That day, Master Mu publicly distributed many gold leaves to the people who went to the poetry appreciation competition." "I suppose he himself has quite a few as well. How can you prove that those gold leaves were given by Master Mu and not by someone else?"

Mu Yan slightly raised his eyes and glanced at the little girl, surprised that she would help him.

Upon hearing this, everyone agreed that it made a lot of sense and nodded in agreement.

"Yes! We all have them."

Xu Zhen, unwilling to give up, said, "It's true we both have them, but we only have one. I can produce my gold leaf." He added, "Besides, if my fellow villager doesn't know Master Mu, he certainly won't be able to identify him. Sir, you can let my fellow villager testify about Master Mu in public."

Sheng Tong nodded and said:

"yes!"

Little Fu Bao said leisurely, "It's precisely because he doesn't recognize him that you specifically pointed out Master Mu's full name and even introduced who Master Mu is!" "Scholar Xu, your memory is truly terrible!"

"Also, where is that piece of clothing that was used as evidence?"

Liang Xiucai suddenly said:

"My lord, that garment is at the inn. To be honest, that day, I, Xiansheng, was of wicked intentions, but because I have studied the classics extensively, I suddenly realized my mistake and refused to associate with him." "So I cut the garment into pieces and burned it, and some parts are still not completely burned."

"That day, he confided to me that he felt Master Mu was in a bad mood and suspected it was because Young Master Xiao's literary talent was making Master Mu unhappy. He wanted to curry favor with Master Mu but was afraid of being held responsible if he failed, so he wanted to tell him about this."

Xu Zhen said, "He himself also smuggled cheat sheets into the rice. He once told me that he was farsighted, so he could see the words on the rice without looking at them. Sir, his words cannot be trusted."

Little Fu Bao laughed; this was truly a case of someone deliberately walking into a trap.

Scholar Liang said:

"My lord, I am indeed farsighted, but this person is making false accusations. If I had cheated, why would I have told everyone about it so easily?"