Niu Mingjie's deputy, Qi Yefeng, was fast asleep when the butler's voice suddenly came from outside. "Master, Lord Yang has arrived."

Qi Yefeng rolled over. Why would Lord Yang come in the middle of the night? He must be dreaming.

Seeing no movement from inside, the butler raised his voice slightly. "Master, Lord Yang has arrived."

This time, Qi Yefeng heard it clearly; the sound was coming from outside.

Qi Yefeng sat up in bed. "Why has Lord Yang arrived at this hour?" Even if he wanted to deliver a gift, there's no need to come in the middle of the night, is there?

"Reporting to your master, Lord Yang said that something happened to Scholar Xu."

Scholar Xu?

Qi Yefeng's first reaction was that Xu Muwan had committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

But then I thought about it again and realized it was impossible. If Xu Muwan wanted to commit suicide, she wouldn't be spending her days reciting those old articles on the ground with a small pebble.

Lord Yang had only been seated for a short while when Qi Yefeng arrived. Niu Mingjie hadn't returned yet, and if something happened to Xu Muwan, Qi Yefeng wouldn't know how to explain it to Niu Mingjie. Not only would it be difficult to explain, but it would also make him appear incompetent.

As soon as Qi Yefeng arrived, he looked at Lord Yang and asked, "What happened to Scholar Xu?"

"Xu Xiucai is fine. Zhou Qiang sneaked into Xu Xiucai's room to strangle him, but my men caught him red-handed."

"..." Zhou Qiang has really lost his mind! Doesn't he know that a bunch of people are watching him right now?

After he exposed Xu Xiucai's affair, it wasn't just Xu Xiucai who suffered.

Even he and Lord Niu might be punished for failing to manage their subordinates properly.

Not to mention Lord Yang, who was in charge of verifying the candidates' identities.

After Zhou Qiang exposed Xu Xiucai's affair, Lord Yang would be the first to suffer the consequences. The worst that could happen is losing his official position, or at least being demoted.

Lord Yang wished he could beat Zhou Qiang to death.

Zhou Qiang actually wanted to kill Xu Xiucai without anyone knowing?

Lust truly blinds one's senses!

According to him, this kind of thing shouldn't be exposed; it would be bad for everyone. Of course, Xu Xiucai shouldn't be allowed to continue taking the exams. If it were discovered when he tried to advance further, they would also be in trouble.

The best way is to tell Xu Xiucai: You've been exposed. You can either fake your death or really die. The choice is yours.

He believed that Xu Xiucai would definitely choose to fake his death.

Now everyone will be punished.

Fortunately, Lord Niu grew up with the Crown Princess and can speak to her. If the Crown Princess put in a good word for them, their punishment should be lighter.

Seeing that Xu Yefeng remained silent, Lord Yang became somewhat uneasy. "Lord Qi, since Zhou Qiang has already exposed this matter, then Scholar Xu cannot die. Besides, even if Scholar Xu dies, this matter will not simply pass."

“I know. I’m not thinking about whether Xu Xiucai should die now. I’m thinking about how Zhou Qiang could be so foolish. Let’s go, let’s go take a look.”

Lord Yang was relieved. "Yes, please."

"Um."

When Qi Yefeng and Lord Yang arrived, Xu Muwan had already recovered.

Xu Muwan bowed to Qi Yefeng and Lord Yang. "Greetings, Lord Qi. Greetings, Lord Yang."

Qi Yefeng hummed in agreement.

Lord Yang ignored Xu Muwan.

When Zhou Qiang saw Qi Yefeng arrive, he quickly pleaded with Qi Yefeng, "Lord Qi, I was just confused for a moment, please forgive me."

Qi Yefeng also felt that Zhou Qiang shouldn't have told him in front of so many people that Xu Muwan was a woman. "Let's talk about it when Lord Niu returns. Miss Xu, were you frightened?"

Lord Niu's suggestion that he suppress the matter first might be because he wanted to acknowledge Miss Xu as a scholar.

"No. Thank you for your concern, sir."

"Hmm. Since you're not frightened, I won't bother you any longer. Zhou Qiang, I'll have to trouble you to stay in jail for a few days until Lord Niu returns."

What?!

Zhou Qiang wanted to ask why Xu Muwan should go to jail when Xu Muwan didn't.

However, just as he grabbed Xu Muwan by the neck, Lord Yang's men rushed in, making him realize that he had made a fatal mistake.

After Qi Yefeng and Lord Yang escorted Zhou Qiang away, Xu Muwan touched her neck.

Why did Zhou Qiang kill her?

Why did Lord Qi make a special trip here?

Could it be that she still has the opportunity to participate in the imperial examinations?

On the other side, after Qi Yefeng went out, he transferred some people to keep an eye on Xu Muwan, just in case anything else went wrong.

After returning home, Lord Yang had a feast prepared. At worst, he would lose his official position, but the man surnamed Zhou might lose his head.

The next day, Niu Mingjie came to find Sisi early in the morning.

Sisi would grab him and start playing chess as soon as she saw him.

As Niu Mingjie set up the chess pieces, he said, "I knew I shouldn't have come so early. Where's your son?"

"Going to school."

"I thought you had your son play with you every day."

How could that be? "Is your mother pressuring you to get married again?"

"Yes. My mother always feels that I can't let you go."

"So, you can't let me go?"

"Of course not. If it were me, I would stay far away from you."

"So disappointing."

"You won't be disappointed. Come on, let's play chess."

"Okay. Has your chess skill improved?"

"That's what I should be asking you. Hey, you can't walk like that. If you do, you'll lose in less than three steps."

Sisi didn't believe it. "I'm going to go this way."

Three steps later...

"I told you we couldn't go that way!"

Sisi made a face at Niu Mingjie. "Again."

Over here, Sisi and Niu Mingjie were playing chess and bickering at the same time.

On the other side, little Gou Dan gave his father a disdainful look. "If you're not comfortable with this, just go over there openly. What's the point of hiding here and peeking?"

“If I were in the past, your mother would think I was petty.”

You're petty to begin with. "Father, how long are you planning to watch? I still have to go to class."

"It's okay if I skip a little bit." If his wife finds out, he'll say he's there to catch his son skipping class.

Little Gou Dan sighed. "I just can't do anything with you two." One was playful, and the other was sneaky.

Ning Yirong felt no shame whatsoever. "Would you like a younger brother or sister?"

"I want to, but my mother said she'll wait until I'm older before she gives birth to me."

Ning Yirong knew what Sisi was up to as soon as he heard it.

Ning Yirong looked at little Gou Dan with sympathy.

Little Gou Dan thought his father felt that his mother didn't love him and wouldn't give him younger siblings. "Father, it's not that Mother doesn't love me, she's just a bit playful."

Ning Yirong ruffled Gou Dan's hair. "Silly son, once your mother gives birth to your younger sibling, you'll know whether your mother doesn't love you or is just playful." "You're right, your mother is just playful."

After a while, little Gou Dan really didn't want to watch his mother play chess anymore. "Father, let's go. If we don't leave soon, I won't be able to resist running out to help my mother play chess. My mother always loses."

"Close your eyes."

Little Dog Egg sighed inwardly. To his father, he was just a tool. "Father, you're trying to test my willpower, aren't you?"