Xu Su Ying and Chen Wanqing rushed along, finally catching up to the group at the entrance of the alley.

At that moment, Qi Lan was telling Chen Song what he had discovered. "Those troublemakers clearly came prepared. Two of them look familiar. If I’m not mistaken, they’re servants from the Zheng Family whom I glimpsed when we went to their estate to make arrests. They must hate you for causing Mr. Zheng to be stripped of his title, so this is deliberate revenge."

"As for the other woman who was making the biggest scene, I recognize her too. She’s the widow of the county’s former jail warden. Come to think of it, you have a history with her. You caught the Lord County Magistrate’s eye when you arrested an escaped convict on the street. That convict had killed the warden before he broke out."

’So, in a way, Chen Song had done that woman’s family a favor. Why weren’t they grateful? Why repay kindness with hatred?’ 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Qi Lan couldn’t understand it, but Chen Song and Xu Su Ying knew exactly what was going on.

’It had to be Mr. Li. She must resent Jing for exposing the "child-swapping" incident, which turned her and her son against each other. Since a mother can’t do anything to her own son, she had to vent all her pent-up fury on their family instead.’

’But what had their family done to deserve this!’

’When it came down to it, wasn’t this whole mess because Mr. Li, the mother, had deludedly tried to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes and created this disaster herself!’

’If she had just told the truth from the start, Li Cun would have been upset with her, sure, but things between them would never have gotten this bad.’

’But no, one wrong step led to another. She made a mistake but refused to admit it, shifting all the blame onto their family, making them the scapegoats. They were being framed for something they had nothing to do with.’

As they spoke, the group arrived at the entrance to the county government office.

Because the Zheng Family and Mr. Li were making such a scene—brandishing a blood-red banner while wailing and shouting curses—a large crowd had gathered in an instant.

The townsfolk didn’t care whether the story was true or not. As long as the news was sensational enough, they would join the commotion, even eagerly spreading the word to passersby about the "exam fraud"—an offense they considered unforgivable.

They didn’t see it as a false accusation at all; to them, it was fact.

In their hearts, they simply couldn’t believe that a seventeen-year-old boy could beat out everyone else to take the top spot.

’Some people study until their hair turns gray and still can’t pass the first exam. What makes you so special? Are you the son of Heaven itself?’

’Who knows if he’s the son of Heaven, but his father-in-law is rich and powerful. He must have pulled some strings for him. They’re just painting him as a ’genius’ to pull the wool over our eyes and treat us all like idiots.’

The crowd was in a frenzy, nearly wrestling Chen Song to the ground and beating him.

Luckily, the constables from the county government office arrived just then. Dressed in their uniforms, they roared with fierce expressions, "SILENCE!"

They even made an example of a middle-aged man who was shouting senselessly, tying him up and stuffing a smelly sock in his mouth. At that, the scene fell instantly silent.

Chen Song cupped his fists toward the surrounding crowd. "Right and wrong will be decided by the Lord County Magistrate. My fellow people of Qingshui County, you may not trust my character, but can you possibly distrust the character of our Lord County Magistrate? His Lordship despises the abuse of power and hates nothing more than exam fraud. This matter will be handed over to him for a fair judgment. Do any of you, my friends and neighbors, disagree with that?"

The two servants from Mr. Zheng’s household wanted to object, but their voices were completely lost in the crowd.

After all, everyone in the entire county knew that Mr. Cheng hated exam fraud more than anything.

During the first county exam he presided over, he had severely punished someone caught with cheat sheets, banning them from the examination hall for three years. He made an example of that person to deter a hundred more, earning the deep respect of every Qingshui County candidate who spoke of the incident.

When you combined that with Mr. Cheng’s own legendary history with the imperial exams, who would dare claim he would tolerate exam fraud?

Absolutely zero tolerance!

So, the crowd calmed down, ready to wait for the Lord County Magistrate to hear the case.

Just then, Wang Jun, Wang Xiao, Chu Xun, Huang Chen, and others arrived, having heard the news.

Though Huang Chen was homely, he had a reputation among the townsfolk for being a "great talent."

He saluted the crowd. "I, for one, am convinced that Mr. Zhao earned his top rank. His words have substance, and he speaks in elegant prose. I associate with him because I admire both his talent and his character. He would absolutely never resort to plagiarism or cheating. I implore you, my fellow townspeople, do not believe one-sided tales and allow yourselves to become a weapon in someone else’s hands."

Wang Jun also spoke up. "We’ll know in a few days whether he has true talent or not. After every county exam, the county government publishes a collection of the new scholars’ essays. If you still have doubts, you can simply buy a copy then and see for yourselves."