After a long silence, Xiao Mochen asked, "Does your aunt know that you plan to take the imperial examination to become a scholar?"

Li Xiangkang shook his head and said, "I didn't tell my mother. If I pass the exam, I'll give her a surprise. If I fail, she won't be disappointed because she doesn't know."

Xiao Mochen nodded in agreement, finding his words to be quite reasonable.

He once thought Li Xiangkang was too young to keep up with him, but now it seems he was short-sighted.

With an aunt as capable as her, her children would naturally be exceptional as well.

In particular, Li Xiangkang's talent in politics will probably be no less than his own in the future.

He had always hoped that if he were to inherit the throne in the future, he would have a brother who could become his right-hand man.

However, he had no close relatives in the imperial family. His brothers all wished they could kill him, the eldest son. It was difficult to coexist peacefully with them, let alone get them to genuinely assist him.

It seems that the four Li brothers were more sincere towards him now.

However, among the four Li brothers, he was closest to Li Xiangkang.

Firstly, the two were of similar age, and secondly, Li Xiangkang was destined for a career in politics, so the two were bound to have more in common.

Xiao Mochen spent a long time in Li Xiangkang's study. Besides chatting, the two also discussed the topics left by the Master.

After the discussion, both of them were deeply moved, and they learned from each other to look at problems from different perspectives.

Yan Qingqing smiled when she learned that Xiao Mochen was chatting with Li Xiangkang in the study, and then asked Ruyi to instruct the kitchen to send the two of them some tea and snacks.

She also hoped that Li Xiangkang could relax a bit.

That day, Yan Qingqing was thinking of cooking some of Li Xiangkang's favorite dishes when news came from the gatehouse that Han Xiucai was requesting an audience.

Yan Qingqing was somewhat surprised to hear this, as she had not heard much from Han Xiucai since she and Magistrate Ling went to the prefectural city to rescue him.

However, the punishments for Zhao Luming and Shen Hongyan had already been decided.

Zhao Luming, out of jealousy, deliberately framed his classmate, Han Yu, causing him to be imprisoned. This chilled the hearts of scholars across the land, and as a result, Zhao Luming was stripped of his title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the county-level imperial examination).

Furthermore, the matter was reported to the education authorities, and the individual was permanently barred from employment.

Shen Hongyan was of questionable character, inherently jealous, and violated traditional female virtues; moreover, she deliberately framed him. She was given thirty strokes of the cane and ordered to pay Han Yu five thousand taels of silver in compensation.

Magistrate Shen was punished for failing to properly educate his daughter, Shen Hongyan, and was fined a year's salary. He was also ordered to strictly discipline Shen Hongyan within the family.

I heard that after leaving Lord Mei's residence, Magistrate Shen had someone pick up Shen Hongyan and take her directly to the nunnery.

When the news arrived, Yan Qingqing sneered a few times. This Magistrate Shen was truly heartless; he could even abandon his own daughter at a critical moment.

It is said that after Shen Hongyan was sent to the nunnery, Madam Shen did not cry or make a fuss. She was even more magnanimous than before. She even went to Magistrate Shen to apologize for failing to raise her daughter properly and for bringing shame to the Shen family.

Shen Tongzhi felt guilty but didn't say much. However, Yan Qingqing knew that Madam Shen would not let this go. This kind of forbearance was not Madam Shen's style at all. She was probably brewing an even bigger conspiracy.

Seeing that Yan Qingqing was silent, Ruyi assumed that she did not want to see Han Yu, so she said, "If Madam does not want to see him, just have the gatekeeper refuse him."

Yan Qingqing then came to her senses and said, "You silly girl, how can you not see Scholar Han when he comes to visit?"

Yan Qingqing went to great lengths to save Han Yu, even persuading Magistrate Ling to go to the prefectural city with her. Although she felt guilty for implicating Han Yu, she had genuinely saved him.

Yan Qingqing received Han Yu in the flower hall. Upon seeing Yan Qingqing, Han Yu bowed deeply to her. Yan Qingqing quickly went up to him and helped him up, saying, "What are you doing? You are a scholar, not an official. You don't need to kneel. There's no need for such a grand gesture."

Upon hearing this, Han Yu replied, "I perform this ceremony not for any other reason than to express my gratitude to Master Mingzhao for saving my life."

From now on, whenever Mingzhao Shuoren has any orders, Yu will not dare to disobey.

Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "This is nothing more than a small favor. You are a talented and ambitious person. You should do something great for the country and the people, instead of being ruined by those petty people."

Besides, I really didn't help much in saving you; it was Magistrate Ling who did all the work from start to finish."

Yan Qingqing was telling the truth. Once they arrived in the prefectural city, she didn't need to lift a finger. It was all because Magistrate Ling's background was too powerful; even the Provincial Administration Commissioner Mei gave him some face.

Of course, there was no need for outsiders to know that Magistrate Ling had taken her out of the city overnight to avoid Lord Mei's wrath.

Seeing that Yan Qingqing had no intention of taking credit for herself, Han Yu felt even more admiration and gratitude towards her.

Then he spoke again, saying, "Mingzhao, you need not be modest; I know what's going on."

"If it weren't for your intervention, Magistrate Ling wouldn't have gone to the prefectural city. Of course, I am also grateful to Magistrate Ling."

Han Yu was actually very clear about this matter. If it weren't for Yan Qingqing, Magistrate Ling probably wouldn't have bothered with it at all.

Therefore, deep down, he was most grateful to Yan Qingqing.

Yan Qingqing didn't want to discuss the life-saving grace with him here, so she changed the subject and asked about his studies.

Han Yu spoke with a confident expression. Although he had been recuperating in the prefectural city, he had not slacked off in his studies and was determined to take the exam this year.

Looking at Han Yu's confident demeanor, Yan Qingqing knew that he should have no problem passing the imperial examination this year. Besides, if Han Yu hadn't been so learned, the eldest son of the Shen family and Zhao Luming wouldn't have been jealous of him.

Yan Qingqing simply gave him a few words of advice, telling him not to put too much pressure on himself and to take Qiu Wei seriously, since he had studied hard for ten years for this day.

However, Yan Qingqing and Han Yu were not close, so she didn't say much.

But these words warmed Han Yu's heart, even though his parents had never said such things to him.

Han's parents did everything they could to support his education so that he could bring honor to their family.

His parents were even more terrified after he was framed. His mother, in particular, was constantly worried and urged him to make something of himself so that he wouldn't be bullied in the future.

He understands his parents' good intentions, but the longer they nag, the more pressure he feels.

When Han Yu left, he left behind a handbook containing the answers to outstanding examination papers from previous years' preliminary examinations.

Unlike later generations, ancient times did not have things like the three-year college entrance examination and five-year mock exams, especially since these high-quality answer sheets were generally unavailable to ordinary people.

Even Yan Qingqing never thought of getting these things back for Li Xiangkang.

Therefore, Han Yu's gift was more precious to the Li family than any gold or silver jewelry.

Yan Qingqing accepted it immediately and then called Li Xiangkang out to thank Han Yu.

This made Han Yu feel a little embarrassed, as he had come to the Li family to express his gratitude.

However, this incident also brought Han Yu and the Li family closer together.