Chapter 026 Chapter 26

Zhen Shou raised his eyelids slightly and looked at Yuan Ming who was kneeling upright on the stage, with no expression on his face.

Qin Qiaoer heard the deep meaning in his words, and her eyes reflected a strong hatred, wishing to bite a piece of meat off Yuan Ming. But she knew very well that the other party was very cruel, and those threatening words were not just talk. It was as if a pair of hands were strangled by the neck, and her face turned red but she couldn't say anything.

"Qin Qiaoer, is what he said true?" Zhen Shou spoke with a heavy pressure.

Qin Qiaoer broke out in a cold sweat, and dared not nod or shake her head.

Ji Qingyue suddenly became nervous and subconsciously grasped Yuan Ming's sleeves: "Husband, why is Qin Qiaoer silent? Wang Qian splashed all the dirty water on her, why didn't she refute it at all?"

Yuan Ming said: "Wang Qian threatened Qin Qiaoer with Qin's father and mother, and she dared not disobey."

Ji Qingyue obviously didn't want things to develop like this. She was anxious and wanted to stand up and speak for Qin Qiaoer, but soon froze.

Yuan Ming's words were still ringing in his ears. He was Yuan Ming's husband now, not the county magistrate who could do whatever he wanted. His every word and action was closely related to Yuan Ming. If he offended the town guard, Yuan Ming would be the only one who suffered in the end.

He couldn't let Yuan Ming get hurt because of his own affairs.

So, his feet were firmly fixed on the spot.

At this time, the town guard was extremely impatient. Qin Qiaoer ruined his banquet, and he had been very angry for a long time. Now she started to pretend to be dumb, which was simply provoking him!

"Well, since Qin Qiaoer has acquiesced, this official believes that you are seriously suspected of false accusation, and will open the court for trial on a later date. In addition, you openly broke into the chrysanthemum banquet, and you will be beaten with twenty boards. The sentence will be executed immediately."

After speaking, the yamen runner standing beside him raised his hand and called two people to come up. Qin Qiaoer was quickly put on a stool, and was about to be executed in front of everyone.

Yuan Ming frowned. Beating a woman in front of so many people, and with twenty boards, even an adult man might not be able to withstand it.

Feeling Ji Qingyue's tense body and emotions, Yuan Ming sighed.

He took a step forward and said loudly, "Sir, wait a minute, I have something to say."

His plans were disrupted again, and Zhenshou's expression became visibly worse.

"This is their business, what does it have to do with you? As a student, it is the right thing to do to do your duty and study hard, and don't meddle in other people's business and ruin your future."

His words were a warning and a warning. A smart person already knew what to do.

Yuan Ming was a smart person, but he didn't want to be led by Zhenshou.

"Of course it has nothing to do with me." Yuan Ming said calmly, "But it has something to do with you, sir, and I dare not hide it."

The guard asked suspiciously, "What does it have to do with me?"

Yuan Ming walked to Wang Qian calmly, pointed at him and said, "He is a student in Class T of Fangyuan School. He has been enrolled for seven years and has participated in the provincial examination for five years, but failed every time. Many classmates in the school know his level of poetry. That poem of his was definitely not written by him."

As soon as these words came out, many people whispered to each other, and they all expressed their approval of Yuan Ming.

Wang Qian's face changed drastically. Being humiliated in public, his face turned red and white. He

pointed at Yuan Ming angrily and said, "Don't spit blood on me if you don't have evidence! I wrote that poem. I prepared it for this chrysanthemum banquet for a long time. You don't have evidence. How can you say that I asked someone to write it for you?"

Yuan Ming didn't even look at him. He bowed and said to the town guard on the stage, "Sir, I dare not deceive you. The evidence you want is on him."

The town guard just wanted to end this farce as soon as possible. He didn't ask him the reason and directly gave a look to the yamen runner beside him.

The yamen runner was strong and powerful. When he stood in front of Wang Qian, he blocked him seriously. After searching him carefully, he found a ball of paper and handed it to the town guard.

The town guard took a look at it and sneered, "Pastoral poetry, how did you know that the topic I was going to ask today was a pastoral poem?"

Wang Qian was already sweating profusely when the yamen runners found the paper. Now he was so frightened that his legs went limp. He kowtowed in panic and admitted his mistake, "Please spare my life, sir. I was confused for a moment. Please forgive me!"

His head banged against the stone slab, and the town guard's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

Now he still didn't understand anything. Wang Qian bribed the people around him, got the topic in advance, and asked someone to bring a pen to show off, and the person who performed the best today was very likely to become his son-in-law. Wang Qian's behavior was simply Sima Zhao's intention.

Considering his daughter's reputation, the guard couldn't say it directly, so he had to ask people to drag Wang Qian away, released Qin Qiaoer with a sullen face, and announced that the banquet would continue.

But Qin Qiaoer refused to go down, crying and shouting about her grievances, insisting that the guard give her justice.

Yuan Ming returned to the banquet table and sat down, and for a moment he admired Qin Qiaoer a little. She was very smart. Now that Wang Qian had been taken away, as long as she confirmed Wang Qian's crimes and made him unable to get out of prison forever, he would not be able to threaten them again.

The guard had no choice but to let her continue to speak.

This time, Qin Qiaoer had no secrets and told all the grievances and entanglements between her and Wang Qian.

Seeing that the matter had been settled, Yuan Ming took Ji Qingyue out of the venue and told everything he had found out.

It turned out that after Yuan Ming heard about the relationship between Wang Qian and Zhao Yucheng that day, he mentioned it to Zhao Yucheng and learned the true nature of the matter.

Wang Qian was indeed a relative of Zhao Yucheng, but the two families had completely broken up a few years ago.

At that time, Wang Qian failed the imperial examinations many times, so he wanted to give up this path and turned his attention to Zhao Zan - he wanted to seek a job in the government.

The job in the government was very popular. Except for the promotion of the town governor himself, no one else had the right to interfere. Zhao Zan was just an assistant in charge of the prison and could only recommend candidates to the town governor.

Wang Qian is lazy and greedy, he is ambitious, and his temperament and character are not what Zhao Zan likes. How could he recommend his people to the town guard? If Wang Qian really goes to the government and something happens, he will be implicated in the end.

After many unsuccessful attempts, Wang Qian was angry and embarrassed, so the two families broke up completely, and Zhao Zan was happy to see this happen.

"You mean, he deliberately released that kind of news, and his goal was us?" Ji Qingyue widened his eyes in disbelief.

Yuan Ming tapped him on the head: "To be precise, it's you. It's a good thing to be kind, but it's not a good thing if kindness is taken advantage of by others."

Wang Qian and Qin Qiaoer did not get married. Qin's parents did not support it, but seeing that the rice had been cooked, Qin's father and mother could only pinch their noses and accept it.

At this time, Wang Qian heard the rumor that Juhuayan Zhenshou was looking for a son-in-law, and he immediately became interested, so the marriage was delayed again and again until Qin Qiaoer became suspicious.

Wang Qian did not deny it, and he said in a beautiful name that everything he did was for their future.

The Qin family's sauce shop was repeatedly suppressed by competitors and urgently needed a protective umbrella. They placed their hopes on Wang Qian, but Wang Qian's ability was limited and there was no hope for the imperial examination. At this time, there was an opportunity for Wang Qian to rise to the top.

The Qin family hesitated.

Wang Qian seemed to have deep feelings for Qin Qiaoer, but feelings were too illusory and worthless in the face of absolute interests. To show his loyalty, Wang Qian promised to let Qin Qiaoer give birth to his eldest son.

Ji Qingyue was completely stunned.

"So, Wang Qian didn't force Qin Qiao'er at all, everything was her own will!"

Yuan Ming nodded: "Wang Qian knew that you were the county magistrate's son. When they heard that you had been looking for abandoned women, they joined forces to set up a trap and let you come to him on your own initiative."

Therefore, if Yuan Ming hadn't rushed over in time, Qin Qiao'er might not have done anything to Ji Qingyue, but she would definitely use him to let Wang Qian show his face in front of Fu Zhiyan and win her favor.

The chrysanthemum banquet hadn't ended yet, but Yuan Ming and Ji Qingyue had lost interest in staying any longer and went down the mountain early.

On the way back in the carriage, Ji Qingyue was in a very depressed mood.

Yuan Ming touched his head soothingly and let him lean on his shoulder: "It's a good thing that you want to help others, but you must also keep your eyes open, protect yourself, and don't let me worry."

"Husband, did I really do something wrong? In order to help her, I almost caused my husband to fall into an unkind and unjust situation. In the end, she was just using me, and everything was fake."

"It's their fault, not yours."

After chatting in a low voice all the way, when they returned home, Ji Qingyue was finally not so sad, but his spirit was still not very good. After dinner, he went back to his room to rest.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming let him go without saying much.

After all, everyone has to grow up, and this is what he should experience. Some things, no matter how much others say, are not as good as feeling them once by himself.

The next day, Yuan Ming came to the school, and the classroom was full of whispers.

Before he could wonder, Liu Shaoxuan grabbed him, his tone full of regret: "I heard that there was a good show at the Chrysanthemum Banquet yesterday. I would have attended it if I had known. I thought it was just boring poetry writing like in previous years. I had to persuade my father for half an hour before he stopped forcing me to go."

Yuan Ming twitched his lips. It seemed that the classmates in the class were discussing what happened at the Chrysanthemum Banquet, so it was so lively.

"Brother Yuan, tell me quickly, what happened at that time? I'm so curious!" Liu Shaoxuan said with blinking eyes.

Yuan Ming was silent for a moment, and replied: "You should ask Brother Zhao. I left early with my husband, and I don't know what happened."

Liu Shaoxuan was disappointed and said exaggeratedly: "I have already asked Brother Zhao, and he only replied with one sentence. It's better not to say anything."

Yuan Ming turned his head and saw Zhao Yucheng flipping through the book seriously. He couldn't help laughing. With Zhao Yucheng's personality, he really didn't seem like a person who would gossip.

At this time, the teacher came in.

Liu Shaoxuan could only suppress his inner excitement, sat down quietly in his seat, and yawned loudly.

After half a day of class, Yuan Ming was packing up his things, and Zhao Yucheng walked over with a complicated expression.

Yuan Ming raised his head with a questioning look in his eyes.

"Just now the servant said that the town lord wants to see you."