"Mother, today I'm going to teach this arrogant brat a lesson on behalf of my sister!" Jiang Yaojie said through gritted teeth.

Judging from Jiang Yaojie's expression, Jiang Ling knew that Jiang Yaojie was truly angry.

But it's never a good thing for a grown man to hit a young girl, so Jiang Ling shook her head and stopped him, saying, "Yaojie, no way!"

The girl in purple was very clever and immediately recognized Jiang Yaojie and Jiang Ling's identities.

The playful gaze turned contemptuous, and the words became even more arrogant: "Oh, who was I back then? I thought I was a hero rescuing a damsel in distress, but it turns out I'm just a wild girl's family. Oh well, since you're all here, let's have a chat!"

The precocious tone of the girl in purple made Jiang Ling very uncomfortable. She rolled her eyes at the girl and said, "Chat? What's there to talk about? You're bullying my daughter, or are we mistaken?"

"Tsk tsk tsk." The girl in purple stretched out her slender fingers and gestured in front of Jiang Ling's eyes. She glanced at Jiang Suihe, who was trembling beside her, and said, "Then let me ask you, shouldn't you pay for damaging other people's things?"

"Mother...I didn't!" Jiang Suihe's face turned pale upon hearing this, and she shook her head weakly to defend herself!

"Shut up, you brat!" The girl in purple turned around and angrily scolded Jiang Suihe.

Jiang Ling and Jiang Yaojie saw Jiang Suihe trembling and teary-eyed, and their hearts ached. At that moment, they had only one thought: to make the girl in purple pay a thousand times over!

"If you have any problems, come at me. I'm her mother!" Jiang Ling said coldly, her face tense.

The girl in purple chuckled and walked up to Jiang Ling without fear. She pinched Jiang Ling's clothes with disdain and clicked her tongue again, "Tsk tsk tsk, coarse linen clothes. Even ten thousand of these wouldn't be enough to compensate for my ruqun made of fragrant silk!"

"Ha, what do you mean? You dare to bully my daughter like this just because of a piece of clothing? You've gone too far," Jiang Ling said with a cold laugh.

Jiang Ling's sarcasm did not frighten the girl in purple; instead, it made the girl even more convinced that Jiang Ling was an uncultured peasant woman.

She covered her mouth and chuckled, speaking recklessly, "A dress? Do you know how much that dress costs? Let me tell you, even if you sold your daughter to a brothel, you might not be able to afford that dress!"

The children are Jiang Ling's bottom line. Jiang Ling tried her best. She originally did not want to put pressure on them as a woman, but now the purple-clad girl's actions have gone too far.

With a gloomy expression, she grabbed the girl in purple's arm and led her towards the door.

"Yaojie, take your sister and we're going to report this to the authorities!" The voice wasn't loud, but it exuded a powerful and authoritative aura.

The girl in purple was nothing more than a paper tiger, and seeing Jiang Ling's face, she felt a little wary.

But because she perceived a huge difference in their social status, the girl in purple began to shout and yell, "Let me go! Let me go! You country bumpkin! Where are you taking me?! Do you know that my father is you?! It would be easier for my father to kill you than to kill an ant!"

The purple-clad girl's voice immediately attracted a crowd of girls. Some of them wanted to help her out, but they could only give up in the face of Jiang Ling's face, which resembled that of a demon from hell.

"Big sister, you... quickly let Luo Miaoran go!" The woman in the light blue robe who had been there earlier rushed over after hearing the commotion. Seeing the scene before her, she ran in front of Jiang Ling to stop her.

Jiang Ling glanced at the woman in front of her. Given the woman's previous attitude towards her, Jiang Ling didn't want to make things difficult for her this time. "Bring your academician here!"

Looking at Jiang Ling's serious face, then at Luo Miaoran's struggling appearance, and finally at Jiang Suihe who was hiding behind Jiang Yaojie and crying, she seemed to understand something.

For the sake of the academy's reputation, she hurried toward the room where the academician was.

"You peasant! Let me go!" While the woman in the light blue robe went to look for the academician, Luo Miaoran continued to yell at Jiang Ling.

Jiang Ling found the bratty kid in front of her really annoying, so she immediately widened her eyes and said to Luo Miaoran with an almost ferocious expression, "If you yell at me again, I'll sew your mouth shut and throw you into the mud!"

Whether it was Jiang Ling's expression, her voice, or both, before she finished speaking, Luo Miaoran's arrogance vanished completely. She stood there blankly, pouting, and soon burst into tears.

"Tsk, paper tiger, utterly pathetic!" This was Jiang Ling's assessment of Luo Miaoran.

Academician Liu and the woman in light blue quickly ran over, their expressions filled with panic.

Jiang Ling glanced at Academician Liu and said, "Academician Liu, does your Linghui Academy only require academic qualifications to be met for admission?"

Academician Liu didn't understand why Jiang Ling would ask that question, but he still vividly remembered the incident during the entrance exam.

He cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Madam An, it's been a long time. I heard you've been promoted again recently, is that true?"

"Academician Liu, I didn't expect you to be so well-informed. My imperial decree as an eighth-rank lady was issued less than two months ago, and you already know about it!" From the moment Luo Miaoran bullied her daughter, Jiang Ling no longer wanted to hide her identity. She couldn't find a suitable place to reveal it, and Academician Liu just happened to provide her with a way.

"What? You! You! Academician Liu, you must have mistaken me for someone else. How could this country bumpkin be a noblewoman of the imperial court!"

Everyone present was startled when they heard the title "Eighth-Rank Lady". Of course, the one whose emotions were most turbulent was Luo Miaoran, whose arm was being tightly gripped by Jiang Ling.

Alarm bells rang in her heart as she looked at Academician Liu with her last glimmer of hope.

However, Academician Liu's serious expression completely shattered her last hope. Her mood had already plummeted to the bottom, and a trace of regret crept into Luo Miaoran's heart. Of course, she didn't regret bullying Jiang Suihe, but regretted not knowing the identity of this peasant in front of her sooner.

After all, my father always said, "Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants," and although our family is wealthy, we are ranked at the very bottom. Miaoran, if you study hard and pass the exam to obtain an official position, our family will be honored...

"Is it really necessary to do it this way?" Academician Liu's anxious tone broke Luo Miaoran's thoughts.

She looked up at Academician Liu's expression and realized she had made a huge mistake.

"I don't care if you don't report it to the authorities, then my daughter should return the favor to my daughter right now, no matter how she bullied her!" Jiang Ling's face was tense, and there was not a trace of room for negotiation in her words.

"This..." Academician Liu was in a dilemma. Although he had heard about Luo Miaoran bullying other girls a few times before, he had turned a blind eye because Luo Miaoran's father had sponsored a lot of money to his academy. If he really let Jiang Suihe fight back, and her father came to demand that the academy repay the money, the loss would be considerable.

However, if Jiang Suihe is not allowed to retaliate, then the other party is, after all, an eighth-rank lady, and he cannot afford to offend her.

"Academician Liu, have you thought this through?" Jiang Ling was furious when she saw Academician Liu, who was not saying a word. Recalling the scene just now, Jiang Suihe must have been bullied by Luo Miaoran more than once.