After the mind-reading and gossip-eating incident, officials in the imperial city were demoted one a

"By the way, I just saw a servant and a maid running out of the mansion with their hands hidden in their sleeves and looking flustered."

At first, we thought they were unwell, but now it seems they might have stolen something.

Aunt, they left from your yard. Quickly check if anything is missing from your area.

It turns out those two snake handlers were from my mother's courtyard.

Liu Yunshu, who was in charge of the household, had not transferred all her informants away, and could now guess who had gone out to release snakes in the middle of the night.

"Cousin, those two have dirty hands and won't have a good ending. Just ignore them."

"That's good." Liu Langyue knew what Ye Yaoyao had done.

[Host, what kind of medicine is that powder sprinkled on the table?]

My newly developed premium itching powder is absorbed into the skin as soon as it comes into contact with the skin. Washing hands is useless. The flare-up will only start the next day and will gradually become more and more painful.

I don't know how itchy it is, but if no one relieves it, it'll itch for seven days. Hehe, those two unlucky guys are perfect for me to test the medicine on.

I wonder what it will be like these next few days? I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.

Ye Xiyao understood; no wonder she said she would find out who it was today.

Liu Langyue thought to herself, those two looked like they were in a lot of pain, it seems that her cousin's itch medicine is something special.

The two Ye brothers went to the academy together today, and many people watched and talked about them as they passed by.

"Look, Li An and Jing Yang have come to the academy."

The speaker was Wei Shaohan, and the person accompanying him was Lu Haoran.

"Shaohan." Hearing someone call his name, Ye Li'an turned around and responded with a smile.

Wei Shaohan quickened his pace, walking alongside the Ye brothers, and said excitedly:

"I heard a few days ago that my little sister Yaoyao had an accident, but thankfully she came back to life. I was almost heartbroken."

Lu Haoran smiled faintly:

"Li An, this guy keeps talking about your family's affairs. Fortunately, news of Yao Yao's resurrection has come out, so he can finally calm down and read his book."

All of them were children of officials and had played together since childhood. Ye Li'an sighed deeply.

"Yes! Fortunately, Yaoyao is very lucky, otherwise I would have no interest in taking the imperial examination."

Wei Shaohan had high hopes for Ye Li'an, always believing he would be the next top scholar. He patted Ye Li'an on the shoulder, his gaze full of trust.

"Li An, don't say that. Everyone has seen your talent, and the teachers have high hopes for you."

No matter what happens, I believe in you; you're destined to be the top student.

Ye Li'an shook his head gently, a humble smile on his face.

"With three thousand students, how easy is it to stand out as the top scholar?"

"I believe you can do it." Wei Shaohan firmly believed in him.

"Everyone can see Li An's talent. You should take care of yourself first! I heard your father and other adults are saying they're waiting for you to come back in the top three!"

“I have no talent for studying and no patience. My dad is just joking. He’ll be happy for days if I make the list.”

There can only be one top scholar. Most officials hope that their sons can pass the exam and enter officialdom. They don't care about the ranking. They will arrange the career path for their sons. Master Wei was open-minded about this.

"Haoran, keep up the good work! There are still the second and third place winners among the top three. If you ask me, being the third-place winner is much more interesting than being the top-ranked winner."

"Sigh, but how many people can compare to Li An's face? Could he end up being the third-best scholar because he's too good-looking?"

"Haha, Shaohan is right." Ye Jingyang laughed and agreed. "However, with Haoran's talent, if he works hard, getting into the top three is not difficult."

"I don't have such lofty ambitions." Lu Haoran waved his hand, taking a Buddhist-like attitude, just like Wei Shaohan: "It's good enough to make the list."

"You just lack self-confidence," Wei Shaohan said, giving Lu Haoran a hard pat on the shoulder.

Of the four, Ye Jingyang and Wei Shaohan were the least diligent in their studies.

"By the way, Li An, the imperial examination is approaching. The teacher said that since our examination period is near, we don't need to go to the academy every day anymore. We can study at home and return to the academy if we have any questions."

Later, various prominent families will usually hold literary banquets. Will you attend?

“Of course, reading too many books can be tiring, so going out for a walk is much more refreshing.” Ye Li’an nodded slightly.

“You go, I’ll go too. Let me know which house you want to go to.” Wei Shaohan then inquired about Ye Yaoyao’s situation.

"Is Yaoyao feeling any better? I'll go see her with Youyou another day."

Wei Shaohan also regarded Ye Yaoyao as his younger sister.

"My little sister is feeling much better," she thought, and decided to go out.

As they were talking, a figure quickly passed by them. Ye Jingyang looked at Ye Chengzhu, who was walking hurriedly with his head down, and called out to him loudly:

"Brother Chengzu, what's the matter that you're in such a hurry?"

Ye Chengzhu had been behind them for a while, listening to them talk about how Ye Li'an was sure to become the top scholar. He felt a surge of anger and quickly overtook them.

Ye Chengzhu gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, cursing Ye Jingyang inwardly. Composing himself, he turned to them and smiled:

"Jingyang, did you just arrive? I left in a hurry, and if you hadn't called me, I wouldn't have seen you."

Ye Chengzhu had a thin face and eyebrows that resembled Xue Ruoxue's. His appearance was not particularly outstanding. He wore a simple long robe, which was quite different from the gorgeous clothes they were wearing. He did look somewhat similar to Ye Mian.

Xue Ruoxue often took her children to visit Madam Ye; they knew each other and were in the same college.

Ye Mian was afraid that Ye Chengzhu and he looked somewhat alike and that they would notice, so he told him not to have too much contact with the two of them.

Normally, they would only occasionally bump into each other in the academy, nod to each other, and then hurry past.

Ye Jingyang initially thought it was because he was aloof.

Most of the students admitted to the Dyeing Ink Academy came from official or imperial merchant families. Ye Chengzhu's admission to the Dyeing Ink Academy was arranged by Ye Mian.

If it weren't for this connection, given his family's background of only running a small shop, he wouldn't have been able to get into the Dyeing Ink Academy.

Everyone knew that his family ran a shop, but even with Ye Mian as his "uncle," no one wanted to talk to him much. Ye Chengzhu was completely out of place in this academy.

All he could prove was his own studies; whenever the night was deep and quiet, he would still be buried in his books by candlelight.

Even so, he was still far behind Ye Li'an in academics, which made him resentful and jealous.

She knew her true parentage from a young age: the legitimate son was reduced to a concubine's son, and she was also overshadowed by Ye Li'an.

Whenever Ye Chengzhu thought of these things, his heart burned with pain that could not be extinguished day or night, and his hatred for Ye Li'an deepened day by day.

The two brothers had seen Ye Mian's changing expressions more often recently, and they could see the true emotions in Ye Chengzhu's eyes.

Their shared thought: 'Just like their scumbag father, they're really good at pretending.'

"By the way, you guys seem to be related," Wei Shaohan asked casually, scratching his head.

"Yes, her mother is my grandmother's goddaughter, so I should call her my cousin."

Ye Jingyang spoke calmly, but a hint of barely perceptible contempt flickered in his eyes.

Ye Chengzhu clenched his fist under his sleeve; he was the legitimate son of the Ye family.