Chapter 206 Playing the Mindset
As soon as Xu Laosan uttered his angry curses, the atmosphere instantly became tense and volatile.
Xu Jinnian's face darkened, his eyes filled with a chilling coldness, and his tone was devoid of warmth:
“An’an is my wife, and her will is my will. You dare to insult her by taking advantage of your age? Do you even deserve to do so?”
Xu Laosan was choked with anger. Xu Jinnian's indifferent attitude greatly angered him. He glared and cursed, "You, you unfilial son! I am your own father! How dare you speak to me like that!"
Xu Jinnian's lips curled into a mocking smile, and his words were even more inhuman: "On the Xu family genealogy, my father is Xu Chenglin. You are a stupid pig, a piece of trash who is being used as a pawn. What right do you have to impersonate my father?"
These extremely humiliating words not only made Xu Laosan's face turn ashen with anger, but Xu Huaining's face also darkened as he felt he was being alluded to.
Xu Jinnian ignored the uncle and nephew's face-changing act and coldly ordered Li Tian, the guard behind him, "Go over there and invite two constables over. Tell them that someone is disrupting the examination hall and trying to affect the candidates' mentality."
Li Tian had been eager to take down the insolent Xu Laosan, and upon hearing his master's order, he immediately straightened his chest and replied, "Yes!"
After saying that, he quickly ran towards several constables who were maintaining order not far away.
Xu Laosan never expected Xu Jinnian to do this. He immediately glared at him with eyes full of fury, as if he were looking at a mortal enemy: "You, you wretched child, how dare you!"
Xu Huaining's expression also changed, and he had no choice but to stand up and plead for Xu Laosan: "Jin Nian, your third uncle is still... Even if you don't acknowledge him, he is still your cousin in name. Can you please not hold it against him?"
Xu Jinnian refused expressionlessly: "No."
"You wretched child, you deserve to be struck by lightning—I should have strangled you back then, so you wouldn't be making me so angry now!"
Xu Laosan stared intently at Xu Jinnian, his chest heaving violently as if he were about to pass out at any moment.
Xu Jinnian ignored his curses without even changing his expression.
The other test-takers noticed the commotion and occasionally cast strange glances at the students, listening intently to the latest gossip to pass the time.
If it weren't for a group of guards controlling the situation, and suspecting that Xu Jinnian and his group might have unusual identities, they would have surrounded them long ago.
Sheng An, however, could not bear to listen to Xu Laosan's foul language towards Xu Jinnian, and gave another guard, Li Hu, a look.
Li Hu immediately stepped forward, grabbed Xu Laosan by the collar, and covered his mouth: "You, a commoner, dare to insult the scholar and his wife. I think you want to go to jail!"
Xu Laosan thought Li Hu was just trying to scare him. While struggling, he glared at Sheng An and shouted indistinctly, "You slut, you disrespectful slut!"
Xu Huaining's face was extremely ugly, and his gaze towards Xu Jinnian was cold: "Aren't you afraid that the clan will be dissatisfied with you for doing this?"
Xu Jinnian looked at him without saying a word, as if she had heard something funny.
He didn't say a single word, yet it seemed like he said everything.
Xu Huaining's hands clenched into fists under his sleeves; he was completely unable to remain calm.
He brought his third uncle to Jinling. If he were imprisoned on the first day of the provincial examination, what would the other candidates think of him?
At this moment, Li Tian arrived with two constables.
After understanding the situation, the two constables immediately took out chains and locked Xu Laosan up: "The Imperial Examination Hall is an important place. The examination is about to begin. How can we allow a troublemaker like you to cause trouble? Come with us to the jail and wait for your fate."
If other candidates cause trouble, the constables usually just admonish and reprimand them, without affecting their participation in the exam.
Xu Laosan was just an ordinary person who was nobody, so the constables naturally had no qualms about doing what they were supposed to do and followed the rules.
With his hands bound by cold iron chains, Xu Laosan finally felt fear.
Upon hearing that he really would be going to jail, he turned pale with fright, his legs trembling, and he pleaded with Xu Huaining for help: "Good nephew, please save your third uncle, you must save your third uncle! I don't want to go to jail, I don't want to go to jail!"
Xu Huaining couldn't just watch Xu Laosan go in, so he quickly stepped forward and cautiously negotiated with the two constables: "It was just a verbal dispute, could you two constables be a little lenient?"
The constable's signature cold expression: "No."
When they learned about the situation earlier, they already knew that these three scholars were classmates and friends of the prefect's son.
If we just release them like this, what will happen when the prefect's son asks about it? Will they still be able to keep their jobs?
Before Xu Huaining could plead for mercy again, the two impartial constables gagged Xu Laosan and took him away.
Before leaving, he specifically warned the candidates and their families and servants around him not to cause trouble in front of the examination hall, otherwise Xu Laosan would be a cautionary tale for them.
This tactic of making an example of someone to scare others was quite effective; the previously noisy venue quieted down considerably.
Xu Huaining gave Xu Jinnian a deep look, then turned and walked away expressionlessly.
With the annoying person gone, Sheng An felt refreshed and whispered in Xu Jinnian's ear, "He's completely dropped the pretense and deliberately let Xu Laosan mess with your mentality."
Xu Jinnian sneered: "So many years have passed, and he still hasn't improved at all. He can only do these despicable things to disgust me."
Sheng An was a little worried: "Won't this affect your performance in the exam?"
Xu Jinnian squeezed her hand, a faint smile appearing on his handsome face: "No."
A few harsh words from someone you've never cared about are no different from a dog barking; how could they possibly affect your mindset?
Sheng An felt relieved and was very satisfied with her husband's good mental state.
Fang Qingzhou and the others breathed a sigh of relief and continued talking about the topic that had been interrupted, as if nothing had happened. No one was curious about the grudge between him and Xu Laosan.
Before long, the Tan family's carriage arrived, and the large bronze gong in front of the examination hall rang out on time.
This is the signal for queuing to enter.
The thought of not seeing him for the next nine days made Sheng An feel a rare sense of unease: "Focus on your exams. I'll pick you up on the day you finish and cook you a big feast."
Xu Jinnian felt a warmth in his heart, his eyes filled with tenderness: "Okay, be a good girl and wait for me in the villa. If you want to go out shopping, you must bring at least two guards with you. Don't go out alone."
Sheng An nodded repeatedly: "I've got it."
Seeing his wife's unusually obedient demeanor, Xu Jinnian really wanted to kiss her, but since they were outside, he could only restrain the urge and squeeze her hand slightly.
After saying what needed to be said, the four of them began to line up to wait for inspection.
Sheng An's family members could not go over; they could only watch as the four of them slowly moved forward with the procession.
After the four of them entered the examination hall one after another and could no longer be seen, Sheng An and the others left with the flow of people seeing off the examinees.
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