The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

Because of this concern, Zeng Fu set his sights on his original body's drinking and eating friends.

In his opinion, those friends were usually on good terms with the original body, but when the time came, none of them extended a helping hand to the original body. Instead, it was as if they had never existed. What kind of friends were they?

Therefore, Zeng Fu did not feel any burden at all about harming Huang Ming.

It’s just...Huang Ming’s enthusiasm for this matter made him a little scared.

A few days later, Huang Ming called Zeng Fu over again, and brought along a few people dressed as scholars, who were obviously unsuccessful. After introducing them one by one, Huang Ming said to Zeng Fu, "I'm really sorry, brother. My grandfather knows about the thing you told me before. He...well, he has a strong character and is upright. Naturally, he can't stand such things that go against the will of heaven, so...so all those who are here are talented people."

Huang Ming recalled with some distress what Old Man Huang had said to him before he left: "It's just because of bad luck that I failed repeatedly. So, based on the idea that we are all brothers and can help each other, I will... bring them here, and we will expose it together. There is strength in numbers!"

Zeng Fu's eyebrows jumped when he heard this: "Didn't your grandfather say anything?"

"I told you, my grandfather said that heroes always emerge from youth. Don't worry, brother. This time, with my grandfather's help, the credit for exposing the crime will definitely fall on you!"

Zeng Fu, who only knew that Old Man Huang suffered repeated losses and that his grandson was a fool, still underestimated the other party.

Although Old Man Huang was a bit pedantic and sometimes impulsive, he had been in official circles for many years. How could he be so easily fooled by Zeng Fu?

Instead of being fooled, he broke the trick with a temporary move and then counterattacked with another move to hold Zeng Fu back.

How could the ancients be so cunning?

Zeng Fu cursed inwardly and said with a bitter face: "Brother Huang misunderstood, I am a small family, and I am timid..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw the middle-aged and elderly scholars beside him getting excited: "This is wrong! To restore order and uphold ethics is what we scholars should do, isn't it?"

"How can we allow a woman like her to conceal her crimes? Otherwise, more women will follow her example and start crowing at dawn, which will cause chaos in the world!"

"Brother Zeng, you didn't tell Brother Huang about this on purpose, hiding behind the scenes and instigating him to step forward and offend others, did you?"

"Yes, yes. You are a scholar, but you only know how to hide when you encounter such a thing?"

Everyone was talking and I was forcing Zeng Fu into a dead end, where he would be considered a cowardly villain and a despicable scum if he did not join them in the rebellion.

Although Huang Ming didn't quite understand, he instinctively interrupted and said, "How could Brother Zeng deliberately harm me? If I was retaliated by the Xie family, he would definitely be implicated as well."

A dandy.

Selfishness is the most important thing, self-interest is the most important thing.

If Zeng Fu really did trick them, it would definitely be a dog-eat-dog situation.

Zeng Fu suddenly regretted why he had chosen such a person. After apologizing to everyone repeatedly and expressing his determination, he managed to save his life from the encirclement of several angry middle-aged men.

Finally calming everyone down, Zeng Fu wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Everyone, to be honest, my mother is just a timid girl. When that slave girl told her about that incident, she was so scared that she sent her back to the government office overnight. Now we don't know where that slave girl has gone. We... only have words, but no evidence!"

"It's not that simple. Just ask Lin Qiao to take off her clothes in front of all of us so that we can check her true identity." Huang Ming laughed obscenely. "Let's all go together and ask her to take off her clothes for a body check. Then we can start a fight and ask her to get off. If she refuses, we can all spread the news that she is guilty and let everyone scold her!"

"How disgraceful!" After all, he was an educated person. Although he agreed with Huang Ming's statement in his heart, he still had to pretend on the surface.

The people who really started to think said, "Now that Empress Xie is powerful, if so many of us gather together, I'm afraid we will attract the Jingzhao Prefecture. Moreover, with the Xie family's ability, if this rumor gets out, I'm afraid it won't last long."

"What's the big deal? As long as Lin Qiao refuses to take off her clothes for a body inspection, she will bear the stigma of being a woman dressed as a man. As long as we keep saying it, more and more people will agree with this statement. If she is not happy, we can find them one by one and ask them to take back their words."

Huang Ming is a typical playboy who only sees the benefits of doing things and never thinks about the risks. He also assumes that the other party will be scared when faced with this rumor. His plan is simply ingenious and there is no possibility of failure.

"You say, since she dares to wear men's clothes and rob our brothers, she wouldn't even have the courage to confront them one by one, right? Hahaha!"

Zeng Fu was sweating more and more as he listened. Seeing that these scholars were nodding along with Huang Ming's nonsense, he became more and more anxious and quickly interrupted, "Wait a minute! You are all educated. Don't you know that according to the Sheng Law, making a person with the title of Juren strip in public for a body examination will be punished? Also, we don't have any evidence that she is indeed a woman dressed as a man! Spreading rumors is also a crime!"

"What evidence? If more people say so, won't it be enough for everyone to believe it? Hehe, as long as everyone agrees, when people mention Lin Qiao, they will think of her disguising herself as a man to deceive the world. By then, I'm afraid even the Empress in the palace won't dare to intervene and say anything!" The more Huang Ming thought about it, the more he felt that he was really smart.

"Cold words hurt people like a cold winter. It would be best if that young lady was so scared that she dared not even defend herself. That would just prove that she is a liar who deceived the world and stole her reputation!"

"Great, great! Even if she has the guts to confront us one by one, there are more of us. Can she finish the confrontation? Does she have the fortitude to face everyone's contempt and abuse? She is just a weak woman. She should learn a lesson."

Zeng Fu stared in amazement as everyone continued to echo and flatter this unlearned dandy, while at the same time he also felt a sense of loss of control that made his bones chill.

He couldn't control what he had started.

"......But not everyone will blindly believe whatever you say......"

The weak words were drowned out by the sound of everyone's heated discussion on how to target Lin Qiao.

Huang Ming's sickly, withered face seemed to have become even more ferocious. He walked over and patted Zeng Fu's pale shoulder: "Don't worry, I will definitely help you become famous this time. If you fail the exam, this can also help you get the chance to be selected as a filial and honest official. Although the quota for this year has been decided, it doesn't matter. I checked for you. There is a kind of lousy filial son who only has an old mother at home. I secretly hired someone to chop off his hands so that he can never be an official again and this quota will be vacated for you."