Shocking! Five men are in love with the same woman!

Seeing his sincerity and determination, the four of them naturally believed him.

Lingyan replied with a smile, "I understand and trust you, but we hope you can understand our attitude and actions."

Chu Xiyao immediately replied urgently, "I understand, and you can rest assured that I will never take the initiative to investigate anything about Da Zhao. I just hope that you will not be so wary of me, as it makes me feel uncomfortable."

In the end, he lowered his head in disappointment, his expression utterly somber.

Seeing his reaction, Xiao Muyao replied softly, "I'm sorry to have upset you. I know what kind of person you are and I believe what you said. I will never do that again."

Lu Yanqing replied, "I also want to apologize to you. I'm sorry for being so wary of you. I won't make you feel bad in the future."

He Jingchuan then looked at him and assured him, "I also want to express my apologies to you, but national interests come first. I will be careful to make sure you don't feel uncomfortable in the future."

After they had all finished speaking, Lingyan smiled and said, "Oh dear! Don't be sad! We're sorry! We won't treat you like that again, so please forgive us, okay?"

Seeing the four people's attitude and hearing their apologies, Chu Xiyao felt incredibly warm and moved.

All the previous discomfort, heartache, and grievances have vanished.

Instead, it brings a sense of comfort and joy.

So he smiled and replied, "I understand what you did and I don't blame you. Actually, you didn't need to apologize, but you still did it, and I'm very happy and touched. Now I'm fine, and I assure you that I will never infringe on the interests of Da Zhao in the slightest. You can rest assured."

The four of them, of course, trusted him.

Once everything was out in the open, everything felt so relaxed and warm.

Afterwards, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.

Lingyan rode his horse continuously for a long time without much rest.

Her inner thighs were already worn down and injured.

They all felt sorry for her and couldn't bear to do anything more.

After the three left, Xiao Muyao and Lingyan finished bathing, and Xiao Muyao applied a fine ointment to treat the inside of Lingyan's thighs.

The cool and refreshing ointment felt very comfortable when applied.

It instantly made her feel less of the burning pain.

The two then fell asleep peacefully.

Before going to sleep, Xiao Muyao gently kissed her and then whispered, "Sleep well and get plenty of rest. Tomorrow might not be peaceful."

Lingyan naturally understood the reason and nodded in reply, "I understand, goodnight."

I knew the next day wouldn't be peaceful, but I didn't expect it to be this chaotic.

There were actually three waves of assassination attempts.

How long have they been holding back?!

They couldn't hold back even though they were only a hundred miles from the capital, and the three waves of assassins came from three different factions.

However, those behind the scenes could have guessed it.

It was nothing more than a few princes who coveted the throne and the officials involved in this fraud.

Because the assassins' target was Xiao Muyao.

However, they were all dealt with before they could even get close to him.

Lingyan didn't understand this at all.

Knowing full well that their team has so many experts, why would they still come to assassinate them, just to be easy prey?

Is it because they're hoping for a lucky break, thinking there's a chance of success?

I can't figure it out. I can't figure it out.

Forget it, she couldn't understand those people's psychology anyway.

After the group had traveled two hundred miles, there had been seven more assassination attempts.

They were all dealt with ruthlessly and overwhelmingly.

Lingyan sensed that something was slightly off.

Because these subsequent assassination attempts were clearly completely different from the previous three.

The first three waves were fought with a do-or-die mentality, as if they were willing to die together with the enemy.

The subsequent attempts seemed to be mere assassinations, without the sense of a desperate gamble.

Logically speaking, it shouldn't.

The struggle for the throne has always been a life-or-death struggle, so those princes must have been determined to do everything in their power to assassinate him.

Instead of being so indifferent and reserved.

Besides this one thing being amiss, the officials involved in the fraud are also suspicious.

They did not send any messages to Jiangnan, nor did they make any other moves.

Do they think those wealthy merchants from Jiangnan won't betray them, or that it doesn't matter even if they do?

Do they still think they are confident they can kill Xiao Muyao?

But the problem is, even if Xiao Muyao is killed, won't anyone else investigate this case?

Why aren't they in a hurry at all? On the contrary, they are very calm and composed.

It should be known that Emperor Jingzhao will definitely deal with them ruthlessly this time and will not let them off easily.

So why aren't they afraid at all?

What exactly are these officials relying on to be so calm and composed?

Not right.

Something is wrong!

She felt that something was amiss in this whole affair. What exactly was wrong with it?

Seeing that she looked strange and very serious, the four of them asked her with concern what had happened.

Lingyan shared all her guesses.

After hearing her analysis, the four of them also felt that something was wrong.

So the group quieted down and began to think carefully.

It was evening, and Lingyan calmed herself down, closed her eyes, and pondered deeply.

She meticulously analyzed the entire incident, like stringing beads together, leaving no detail overlooked, and began to unravel the mystery.

First, we need to consider what their purpose is in this incident.

Was it to obtain a large sum of money that these students were encouraged to cheat?

However, once a major fraud case is exposed, the perpetrators may face a gruesome death, disgrace, and eternal infamy.

Are they really capable of going to such lengths for money?

Or were they overconfident that they had done something discreet and wouldn't be discovered?

However, many people questioned the fairness of this imperial examination when the list was released.

It's highly unusual that so many students from the Jiangnan region made the list.

If the person behind this didn't want to be discovered, why didn't they inform these family members beforehand, thus allowing them to expose the matter for their own selfish reasons?

Because these wealthy businessmen all wanted their descendants to be listed on the list, they naturally did everything they could to find talented writers to act as authors.

Because everyone in the family thinks this way, all of these answers are excellent, and each one is good enough to be on the list.

So, as expected, every single one of them made the list, which led to the discovery of the discrepancy and ultimately resulted in failure.

Didn't the person behind the scenes anticipate this situation?

They must have thought of that, because they know all the happenings of each company.

The problem is that they knew all along but didn't warn them, watching them jump into the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed).

They should have been able to foresee this outcome, but instead, they acquiesced to it all.

It was as if they were being deliberately pushed into the abyss of destruction.

This shows that the person behind the scenes did not have this as their goal this time.

In addition, those sixty-odd people looked like good-for-nothing good-for-nothing playboys.

It's obvious to everyone that they are unworthy of their reputation and lack real skills; it's easy for people to notice something amiss.

Then why go to such lengths to cheat?

What exactly is the reason for this?

What people strive for in this world is nothing more than money and power.

Since it's not money, then only power remains.

This matter must have involved officials of the third rank or above in the imperial court; otherwise, how could the exam questions have been leaked in advance?

A minor official wouldn't get the exam questions in advance.

But this man is already a high-ranking official in the court. If he were to climb further up the ranks for the sake of power, then...

Oh no! If this minister isn't planning to rebel and become emperor himself, then he must have sided with one of the princes.

Then the person behind it all is one of the princes.

So this prince's goal was naturally the throne.

Now that Crown Prince Xiao Muyao has left the capital, this prince's assassination attempt on the road must have been aimed at killing Xiao Muyao if possible, but it wouldn't matter if he couldn't.

In any case, he will take this opportunity to kill Emperor Jingzhao or control Emperor Jingzhao and sit on the throne himself.

Whether Xiao Muyao lives or dies will be irrelevant by then, since the matter has already been settled.

Therefore, their purpose from beginning to end was not to engage in cheating on the imperial examination.

The cheating in the imperial examinations was merely a pretext to lure Xiao Muyao out of the capital; their true aim was the throne.

Presumably, all the officials involved in this case are the prince's men.

Once that prince ascends the throne, will he still be afraid of the crime of cheating in the imperial examination?

Besides, they were all in cahoots to begin with, and this whole thing was their conspiracy.

That's why they were so calm and unhurried, without making any move.

What a good plan!