Bring your aunt to eat big meat, the scumbag father's family is furious

The emperor looked quite regretful.

“Apart from your brother-in-law Mu Xinghe a few years ago, I haven’t seen such a talented young man in a long time. There is no shortage of talented people in the capital, but how many can pass the imperial examination at the age of fifteen? But how did your right hand become crippled?”

Qiao Lian'er also felt a little sorry. If Song Rui'er had a righteous mind, with his talent and intelligence, a broad and smooth road would definitely have been laid out in front of him.

But, there is no if.

"The Director of the Imperial Observatory said that Scholar Pang was wary of the emperor. I had the Ministry of Revenue check Scholar Pang's family background. He came from a humble background, and his parents were ordinary poor farmers. Whether it was his life story or his surname and name, there was nothing about him that would clash with me. Could he be an exception? I have been thinking about this and I don't know how to settle him."

Qiao Lian'er knew that the emperor's words were mostly a tug-of-war between cherishing the young genius and his concerns.

Having finally encountered such a promising talent, the emperor was reluctant to not use him, much less punish him.

However, guarding against one's master is absolutely a major taboo for a monarch.

In reality, given Song Ruier's usual aptitude, if it weren't for this incident, his performance in today's palace examination would have been at best mediocre.

However, his disabled right hand inspired even more of his potential, allowing him to perform exceptionally well. The emperor even wanted to make him the second-highest scorer in the imperial examination.

This was all while being surrounded and bothered daily by a whole bunch of eccentric members of the Song family.

This was something Qiao Lian'er hadn't expected.

Fortunately, Pei Shijiu had made preparations in advance; otherwise, he would have truly risen to prominence overnight.

She considered it carefully.

"His Majesty summoned me to discuss this matter."

“That’s right, it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it needs to be thought about carefully.”

Qiao Lian'er said, "The Emperor is a wise ruler who governs the world with kindness and benevolence. He is protected by the will of Heaven. Who can truly guard against the Emperor?"

Her words were pleasing to the ear and touched the emperor's heart, but the emperor still frowned.

"But--"

"Your Majesty may use Pang You, but it is not advisable to give him important responsibilities for the time being. It would be better to observe him for a period of time first. If he does not perform well, then remove him from the list. If it is proven that the Imperial Observatory is overthinking things and Pang You has performed well, then we can make further plans at that time."

Judging from the emperor's attitude, he really wanted to appoint Song Ruier, so she might as well go with the flow.

If she were to stop the emperor now, it would only leave him with regrets and cause him to develop a grudge against her.

The emperor was still pondering, but his expression had softened considerably.

Qiao Lian'er continued, "Throughout history, there have been scholars whose talents clashed with those of the monarch. Even those with exceptional abilities would be given opportunities by the monarch, but they would not be placed in prominent positions."

The emperor thought about it and realized that there were many such precedents. Although what he encountered was the problem of disabled students guarding against their master, the situation was similar.

"Okay, let's do it that way."

Upon hearing that the emperor had met with Qiao Lian'er again, Song Rui'er felt uneasy.

He suspected it might be related to the palace examination. His performance today was beyond his expectations, but his right hand was disabled, and he was afraid the emperor wouldn't know how to deal with him.

If Qiao Lian'er gets involved, what will happen to him?

She even went so far as to slander him, causing his hard-earned academic achievements to vanish into thin air, leaving him with nothing in the end.

With nothing to rely on, he was powerless to resist her attacks.

Thinking of this possibility, Song Ruier's face gradually turned pale, and his whole body grew colder and colder. Looking at the night gradually descending outside, he felt that his life had been pulled into darkness by an invisible hand.

Even though he desperately wanted to see the light, Qiao Lian'er was always holding his head down—

Song Ruier closed her eyes, trying to convince herself that the results weren't out yet, but Qiao Lian'er was too terrifying; she couldn't dispel her fear of her just by comforting herself.

The study door was suddenly pushed open, and Song Fusheng's wrinkled, chapped face smiled like a dried chrysanthemum.

Compared to his previous patriarchal demeanor, Song Fusheng now exuded a more subservient air, his entire demeanor cautious and timid.

A look of disgust flashed in Song Ruier's eyes. A bunch of country bumpkins, uneducated brats, none of them even knocked before entering his study or room, they just pushed the door open.

"Rui'er, you are about to become a proper Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination), and you will be granted a good official position, truly achieving great success."

Song Ruier said with a stern face, "We can't talk about things that haven't been decided by the higher-ups yet. If someone with ulterior motives hears about it, it will be detrimental to me."

"Yes, yes, look at me, I'm not very knowledgeable and I spoke without thinking. Rui'er, don't take it to heart." Song Fusheng pretended to slap himself, but his hand didn't actually touch his face, only a little air flowed through it, which looked somewhat funny.

Song Ruier remained indifferent and did not try to dissuade her.

Even if Song Fusheng was just pretending to slap him, he wanted to slap him hard enough to make Song Fusheng dizzy and disoriented.

Song Fusheng had no choice but to stop, still wearing a smile.

"Oh dear, it's just a bit of a pity. If Rui'er hadn't disguised herself and had a nice face, she might have become the top scholar and the emperor would have personally bestowed a marriage upon her. That way, she would not only have gotten a good position, but she could also immediately marry into a high-ranking family, and our whole family would have risen even faster."

As Song Fusheng spoke, he rubbed his cloudy old eyes and stared at Song Ruier's face.

"Is this fake? Can I tear it off?" she said, reaching out her hand.

Song Ruier quickly took a step back, avoiding Song Fusheng's hand.

He thought he was greedy enough, but this old man was even more greedy and insatiable than him.

His face was a sore spot for him.

When the disguise was performed, the face was first cut open with a knife, and then worms were used to gnaw away at the inside of his face, damaging some of his flesh and bones. This changed the shape of his face and features. Although the original face was sewn back on, it was uneven, so another fake face had to be put on the outside to make him look like a normal person.

In order to undergo a complete transformation, he sacrificed his appearance and paid such a high price.

And all of this is because of Qiao Lian'er; the blame should be placed on Qiao Lian'er.

"I'm busy!" Throughout the entire ordeal, Song Ruier never called Song Fusheng "uncle".

Song Fusheng was a little angry, but when he thought about how Song Ruier was being surrounded by scions of high-ranking families today, and how the Song family was about to reap enormous benefits from him, his displeasure subsided.

"Then you go ahead with your work. I'll go back and discuss with your uncle how to settle everyone down." Song Fusheng had come from another courtyard and was now going back.

"You old bastard," Song Ruier muttered as Song Fusheng left.

The results of the imperial examination were announced the following day.