Qu Jingyun stepped forward, pulled the crazed Shen Cong away, and then dislocated the arms of the other men. She sat down beside them and coldly observed them.
"Come on, everyone, introduce yourselves. I'd like to know how my daughter is unworthy of you, and how you've targeted my son?"
Upon seeing who it was, the group immediately lost their bravado and huddled together.
They didn't want to cause trouble for their own families.
But then Shen Cong sneered and said, "He is He Xuan, the son of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. The other three are the grandson of the General of the Central Army, the son of the General of Huaihua, and the son of the Minister of Revenue."
Shen Cong had a deep impression of these people, as they had been causing him trouble before.
However, he didn't take it to heart and secretly investigated their affairs.
Unexpectedly, these people gathered together today and started discussing Shen Yue in such an absurd way.
Qu Jingyun nodded knowingly and said directly, "Since you can't give a clear answer, I'll go to your parents myself to ask them for the result."
Everyone panicked.
Although He Xuan was flustered, he still pretended to be calm and said, "We were wrong in this matter, but Shen Cong beat us up like this and you even broke our arms. We're even now, aren't we?"
"We don't want to argue with you either. Let's just let this go, okay? Otherwise, if you make a big fuss, you won't be any better off."
"General Shen is no longer the general who has made great military achievements and held a high position. Offending the sons of high-ranking officials like us is no small matter for you."
He thought these words would threaten Qu Jingyun and Shen Yunting.
But to his surprise, all he got in return was a sneer from Qu Jingyun.
"The son of a high-ranking official? Since when can a mere fourth-rank official be considered a high-ranking official?"
"Have you forgotten that I am a county princess personally appointed by the Emperor, a proper third-rank official? And who are you? Do you even have the right to humiliate my children?"
"Not to mention, do you want to go back and ask your parents if I, Qu Jingyun, was able to offend anyone in the capital when I was young, even without any official rank?"
"And who are you?"
Qu Jingyun looked down at them with satisfaction, watching their faces flush red and pale in turns.
He clapped his hands, and the guards entered in response.
Qu Jingyun directly instructed, "Send these young masters home safely. Remember, make sure everyone sees that I sent people to take them back."
Upon hearing the guard's response, everyone's expressions grew even more unpleasant.
Needless to say, Shen Cong continued, "I happen to have some information about their and their parents' great achievements, so I'll take this opportunity to spread the word."
Qu Jingyun looked over in confusion, and then saw Shen Cong suddenly grin.
“When they first started making things difficult for me, I secretly had someone investigate their affairs. Sure enough, I found out some things, such as abducting women and staying overnight in brothels, which were common occurrences.”
"There are also all sorts of things in their family, such as favoring concubines over wives, but they have never found an opportunity to publicize them."
“Those are all true stories, completely different from the false rumors about me and my sister.”
"Don't they like to hear rumors? I just wonder if they'll still be in the mood to listen when the person making these comments becomes them."
Shen Cong's smile grew wider, like that of a cunning little fox.
Seeing this, Qu Jingyun couldn't help but say, "You are very much like your father in this respect."
Shen Cong smiled sheepishly, his gaze slowly shifting to the pale-faced group of people.
His eyes suddenly changed, revealing only ruthlessness.
"Didn't they say they wanted to disqualify me from the imperial examinations? I'd like to see if those of us who are already on the list will be expelled once their despicable deeds are exposed?"
These words were exactly what everyone wanted to hear.
"You can't do this, my father is..." He Xuan shouted, but was immediately silenced by the guards.
She could only glare at Shen Cong with hatred as the guards dragged her out without any courtesy.
A deep sense of regret welled up in my heart.
I should have known better than to act impulsively.
After everyone was pulled away, Shen Cong turned to look at his family and lowered his head in frustration.
"It's all my fault, I've dragged you all into this."
"Why are you saying such things as family? Besides, it's not your fault," Qu Jingyun said with a smile.
Shen Yue, standing beside her, chuckled lightly and said in a casual tone, "Today, Mother has prepared a feast for you that includes my favorite crab roe pastries. If you feel bad, brother, how about I have them all?"
"To be honest, I've been craving this for a long time and have always wanted to try it."
Shen Cong was immediately amused and quickly said, "Okay, you can have them all."
"If you like, I'll use my own money to buy you a few more plates so you can eat your fill."
The heavy atmosphere was finally broken, and smiles returned to everyone's faces.
Once seated at the dining table, Shen Cong asked with some concern, "I'm afraid today's events offended those families. Won't this cause trouble for the family? After all, there are officials in their families."
Qu Jingyun smiled dismissively, "Don't take it to heart. They were in the wrong to begin with, so naturally they wouldn't dare to make things difficult for us."
"Not to mention that I have saved the Emperor's life and have the title of County Princess. Although they don't think the title of County Princess is of any use, they still don't dare to be too presumptuous to my face."
“Moreover…” Qu Jingyun paused, a smile appearing on her lips.
"Don't you know what your parents' reputation was in the capital? They wouldn't dare."
“They all know that if they push me too far, they are capable of anything.”
After saying this, Shen Yunting suddenly burst out laughing, as if he had thought of something.
He added, "Especially your mother, back then she used to ride a horse and chase after young masters of noble families with a long whip, beating them up. Now, many people in the court are terrified of your mother."
"Even though we are now distrusted by the Emperor and have fallen on hard times, we are not people they can bully at will."
Shen Cong was relieved and nodded, saying, "That's good then."
The matter was finally put to rest.
Qu Jingyun couldn't help but say, "I never expected that someone like Zhang Xuanhe could achieve such a good result as fourth place. Could it be that the questions in this imperial examination were too unusual?"
Zhang Xuan and Zhang Hu are cousins, and Qu Jingyun had been paying close attention to them beforehand.
He did not seem to be outstanding in literature, and the teachers at the Imperial Academy also considered him mediocre.
Qu Jingyun felt that things were not so simple that such a person could be on the list.
Upon hearing Qu Jingyun's words, Shen Cong realized something was amiss and frowned.
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