The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

"Young Master Shen, Miss Shen, I'll take Li Changquan back to the yamen."

"Some things need to be investigated thoroughly before a decision can be made."

"I will also take this inkstone with me as evidence for the time being. Also, please do not leave the house casually these days, as we may need to summon him."

Shen Chen nodded.

When the onlookers saw the officials taking Li Changquan away, they immediately understood the truth of the matter.

Sure enough, Mr. Shen's elder brother was wrongly accused.

Especially the student who testified for Li Changquan, who has long since disappeared.

Shen Chen then noticed Shen Wan and Shen Qing standing to the side.

"Are you here too?"

Shen Wan reached out her hand, wanting her older brother to hug her.

Shen Chen bent down and picked up Shen Wan.

Shen Wan whispered in his ear, "Big brother, the officials we just saw were invited by my brother and me. Aren't I amazing!"

Shen Chen reached out and gently pinched her nose. "Wan'er has grown up. She's so amazing!"

"Big brother, I'm here for you too!" Shen Chen looked at Shen Qing, who kept jumping onto him.

She bent down and picked him up.

"Qing'er has grown up so much, she's amazing!"

Shen Cao was worried that her older brother's body couldn't take it and wanted her younger siblings to get off him.

The older brother shook his head. "Don't worry, I can handle this."

"Why are you here?"

"Brother, you said you would come home for dinner today, but I didn't see you come back after dinner time, so I came to the school to look for you."

"I guess my younger siblings came because they saw that I hadn't gone back for a long time."

"It was because Mother saw that my elder brother and sister hadn't returned that she came looking for you, so my younger brother and I came in Mother's place."

Oh dear, Shen Cao suddenly remembered that her parents were still waiting for them to eat at home.

"Brother, let's hurry back to eat. Father and Mother must be getting impatient."

"it is good."

The group walked quickly home.

Sure enough, as soon as they arrived at the door, they saw Mr. and Mrs. Shen looking anxious.

When Shen's father saw that his child had finally returned, he quickly stepped forward to take Shen Qing from Shen Chen's hands and asked, "Why did it take so long? I heard that the officials went out too?"

Shen Chen gave his father a reassuring look. "Father, let's go inside and talk."

"Yes, yes, look at me, I was so anxious I forgot."

The group went inside, and Shen Cao closed the door of Shen Family Restaurant behind him. It was well past lunchtime, so he decided to close the door first.

In the main room, Shen Chen described the whole story to his parents.

After hearing this, both of them asked with concern, "Chen'er, will this affect you?"

"Don't worry, Mother, this inkstone originally belonged to our family, so it won't affect me."

After hearing her son's words, Shen's mother was finally relieved.

How can there be such a person in this world?

Shen Cao walked up and took her mother's hand. "Mother, don't worry. My brother will definitely meet even worse people in the future. There are always some people who don't want others to be better than them."

Shen's mother was well aware of what Shen Cao had said; she just hadn't expected to encounter such a person in Xin'an County. She thought that such people only existed in the treacherous capital.

"Alright, it's good that everything's alright. The children must be hungry, come and eat." Seeing that nothing serious had happened, Mr. Shen waved his hand, signaling his family to hurry up and eat.

"Your mother just reheated the food, so eat up."

Shen Cao had a feeling that things weren't that simple.

If she wasn't mistaken, the way Li Quan looked at Li Changquan at the end clearly indicated that he recognized him.

Shen Chen had the same reaction as Shen Cao.

He vaguely remembered that Li Changquan's father seemed to be a well-known local wealthy man named Li.

Meanwhile, Liu Zixu in the examination room finally finished all his work related to the autumn examination.

After bidding farewell to his colleagues, he first returned home, explained the situation to his wife, and then rented a carriage to head towards the Deer and Elk Academy.

Zhao Haoran, the headmaster of Lumi Academy in Xin'an County, has just finished a day of lecturing. He learned a lot during his lecture at Lumi Academy.

He must make thorough reforms when he goes back this time, and strive to improve all the problems existing in the Xin'an County School.

This time he was confident that the Xin'an County School would definitely improve.

He tidied up his notes and headed towards the inn.

As soon as he entered the inn, the waiter approached him and said, "Headmaster Zhao, you have a visitor."

Before the waiter could even take him to meet the visitor, Liu Zixu saw Zhao Haoran just entering the gate.

He immediately walked up to Zhao Haoran, raised his hands to his chest, and performed a gentlemanly salute, saying, "Brother Haoran."

Zhao Haoran was delighted to see Liu Zixu, and then raised his hands to his chest in return, saying, "Brother Zixu."

Seeing that the two knew each other, the waiter turned and went back to his work.

Zhao Haoran never expected to see Liu Zixu here. Suddenly, he remembered that Liu Zixu had mentioned to him before that he was in charge of the autumn examination. Could it be that...?

To confirm his suspicions, he spoke first, "Brother Zixu, weren't you busy with the autumn examinations? Why are you here? But have all the results been settled?"

Liu Zixu originally wanted to keep it a secret, but seeing that Brother Haoran seemed to have guessed the purpose of his trip, he no longer hid it.

"Since Brother Haoran has already guessed it, then I won't keep you in suspense any longer."

"To be honest, the matter of the examination office was only completely finished today. I remember you wrote to me some time ago saying that you were attending lectures at the Deer and Elk Academy during this period. As soon as I finished, I rushed over."

As Zhao Haoran listened to Liu Zixu's words, his smile grew wider. If Brother Zixu could say that, it meant that the academy had done quite well in the exams this time; otherwise, they wouldn't have sent him on this trip in person.

Seeing his friend getting more and more excited, Liu Zixu nodded, "I heard it from the examiner. He said that Xin'an County did well in the exam this time."

"The examiner knew that I was also from Xin'an County, so he gave me this information."

"As soon as I heard that, I couldn't wait to share this good news with you."

The chief examiner this time was the Grand Tutor of the Great Xia Kingdom, who had countless students. Before this, he had never spoken a word to the Grand Tutor. This time, after learning that he was from Xin'an County, the Grand Tutor took the initiative to praise Xin'an County as a good place that produces talented people.

"really?"

Zhao Haoran was somewhat incredulous. He had guessed that the students in Xin'an County would perform better than in previous years, but he never expected to receive praise from the Grand Tutor.

"If the Grand Tutor has said so, how could it be false?"

"Brother Haoran, just go back and wait for good news."

Zhao Haoran wondered to himself whether it was just one student who did well on the exam, or whether all of them did well.

As far as he knew, Shen Chen and Wang Chengyan seemed to be doing well among the candidates this time.

Upon hearing the news brought by Liu Zixu, he lost all interest in continuing his lectures and wished he could rush back to Xin'an County immediately to personally inquire about the candidates.

He was overjoyed and immediately called over the waiter, ordered a table full of delicious dishes, and also asked the waiter to bring a jar of fine wine so that he could drink and chat with Liu Zixu.

When he finished lecturing and returned home, the red list of successful candidates had just been delivered to the school.

What he didn't know was that a major event was happening in the school without him.