After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

This question didn't puzzle Jiang Xiaoqi for long, because the Xue family arrived.

Jiang Xiaoqi took a quick look but couldn't see any resemblance between her and Xue Xu.

Then there's nothing to worry about. We can take them down one by one, or two by two.

Of course, he's not an unreasonable person; he'll give the other person a second to escape before he attacks.

He's just a child, what bad intentions could he possibly have?

"Who did it? Who did it?!"

A man in his forties, with a waist as thick as a barrel, didn't even order anyone to help his men up. Instead, he launched a barrage of attacks at Jiang Xiaoqi and his companions.

"I don't care whose little brats you are, daring to cause trouble for the Xue family within Puyang territory, don't you even consider whether your two-ounce bones can bear it!"

"Oh? The Xue family? Is it something special? Are you perhaps related to royalty?"

"Hmph! Dealing with you commoners is more than enough with the magistrate!"

"I'm not afraid to tell you, our Xue family is related to the county magistrate!"

Upon hearing these words, Jiang Lin, Jiang Hao, and the others relaxed in unison. A county magistrate? Their family had nothing to fear.

"At such a young age, you must pay the price for your reckless courage. Let's go, let's talk about it at the county office!"

The Xue family members who had been lying on the ground were finally remembered and helped onto the carriage.

The person in charge from the Xue family who has now arrived is determined to send the person to the county government office. What can be done? Of course, they have to go.

Although their family had asked the county magistrate to build a memorial archway for the successful candidates in the imperial examinations, none of the younger generation had ever actually met the county magistrate of Puyang County.

Perfect, let's see what kind of relative this county magistrate is to the Xue family.

When the group arrived at the county government office, they saw that the county magistrate was already waiting in the main hall. He had a pointed mouth and monkey-like face. When he saw the Xue family bringing Jiang Xiaoqi and the others, his eyes darted around.

Why don't you kneel before me?

Jiang Xiaoqi and Jiang Lin looked at each other in confusion. Oh, right, because they weren't wearing the clothes and hats that represented their status as scholars today for the ancestral worship ceremony.

Their current attire makes them look more like the young masters of a wealthy local gentry family.

"Your Excellency, you should be aware that in our Great Zhou Dynasty, scholars are not required to kneel before officials, right?"

Jiang Lin was the oldest among them, and he couldn't be a cousin for nothing. He hadn't had a chance to protect the younger ones when the fight started, so now it was his turn to step up.

"Oh? I didn't expect you to be a scholar at such a young age? Fine, then you don't have to kneel."

Lai Yuanqing, the magistrate of Puyang County, sighed inwardly. A scholar who was only fourteen or fifteen years old was really young. Back then, he was already thirty when he passed the imperial examination.

It took him more than ten years to pass the provincial examination, and he didn't even participate in the metropolitan examination. His family had to sell their land to fill the vacancy of a county magistrate. Now, nearing sixty, he has finally become the head of a county.

Sigh, comparing yourself to others is just plain frustrating; it's all so bitter and painful.

"The scholar may not kneel, but you juniors still must! Otherwise, it's considered contempt of court, and you can be punished with a cane!"

Magistrate Lai's threats were clearly ineffective. The troublemakers from the Xue family were behaving themselves and had already knelt down respectfully.

On the way here, the elders at home have already given instructions that they are the victims, and that once we get to the courtroom, it will be the Xue family's show of force.

With the county magistrate backing them up, they could take the opportunity to swindle a sum of money from these out-of-towners, and then split the profits with the magistrate.

Hehe, judging from the clothes these little rascals are dressed, their families must be rich nouveau riche or small landlords, they can definitely make a lot of money off them.

The Xue family has done this kind of thing many times before; they are very good at judging people and have a lot of experience.

Jiang Hao and Jiang Yan exchanged a glance. Why did they look so unlike scholars? All six of them present were scholars; how could the magistrate not recognize them?

"Sir, didn't you just say that those with the title of Xiucai (a scholar who has passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations) are exempt from kneeling before officials?"

"I did say that a scholar could not kneel before an official, but I did not say that the attendants accompanying a scholar could not kneel."

Attendants? Those five don't look like attendants at all!

"We are not followers!"

Magistrate Lai knew this, and he guessed that these people might be junior students who had passed the county examination. However, a junior student is still a junior student. When they see him, the head of the county, they still have to kneel!

“We are also scholars! We don’t have to kneel before officials!” Jiang Hao hadn’t even had time to enjoy his scholar’s ​​title before being questioned. He couldn’t stand it.

Magistrate Lai frowned. All of them were scholars? Hmph, he didn't believe it!

Is the youngest one ten years old? He's seen child prodigies before, but he's never seen a family with so many child prodigies, all of them scholars... You're kidding me!

"Do you know that impersonating a scholar is a serious crime? I advise you not to spout nonsense. I will pretend I didn't know anything just now. Kneel down obediently!"

Just as several yamen runners were about to step forward and force the man to kneel, Wu, the clerk, jogged in from outside the hall and whispered a few words to Magistrate Lai.

"What? Lord Jiang has arrived? Quickly, go and invite him in! How can we let him wait outside? That's impolite!"

Master Wu wasn't annoyed. He quickly ran out again and respectfully welcomed Jiang Changqing and Jiang Changshou in.

Jiang Changqing originally intended to come by himself, but Jiang Changshou couldn't sit still when he heard that someone was bullying his precious grandson.

Anyway, the ancestral worship ceremony is over, and there's nothing more for him to do. But at the very end, he's being bullied by a few small fry in his own ancestral home. How can he tolerate that?

Absolutely not! We must drag my cousin along to seek justice for my grandson!

When Jiang Changqing arrived at the hall, he didn't even greet his own children, but went straight to sit in the main seat that Magistrate Lai had given up.

Magistrate Lai sat down in the advisor's seat, picked up the brush the advisor had just used, and began to work diligently.

"This is Vice Minister Jiang of the Ministry of Revenue. If you have any grievances, speak them out, and I and Minister Jiang will help you!"

"It's a rare opportunity for Lord Jiang to return to Puyang; you must seize it!"

Upon hearing this, the Xue family felt relieved. It seemed that this official wasn't there to support the other party, but was simply on his way back to his hometown and happened to stop by the county government office.

The group of people hurriedly recounted the beating by Jiang Xiaoqi and his gang, embellishing the story with exaggerated details.

Jiang Xiaoqi glanced at her great-uncle and her grandfather standing next to him; both of them had the same expression on their faces.

His mischievous face and that "I haven't quite finished holding my pee" look really appealed to him.

These two old rascals seem to be up to something.

"Have you finished speaking? Good, now it's the other side's turn. Magistrate Lai, take notes."

"Yes, sir!"

Magistrate Lai, seeing that Lord Jiang really thought of him as his advisor, didn't dare to say anything and obediently recorded everything.

He wrote quickly and fluently, recording both sides' testimonies. His more than ten years as a county magistrate had not been in vain; his skills were still there.

"...

That's how it is. We've already proposed a solution, and if the other party isn't satisfied, we can negotiate further. But without saying a word, they immediately tried to take action.

Alas, the students were helpless. They were all just weak scholars who could not even kill a chicken. They could only fight back. They couldn't just stand there and wait to be beaten, could they?

Besides, we don't think we did anything wrong. Everyone has to relieve themselves. When did taking a piss become an insult to others?

We peed in the middle of nowhere, not on their faces!

The Xue family was surprised that the other party dared to emphasize that everyone on their side was a scholar. Could it really be true?

They didn't believe any young man was so fearless as to collectively impersonate a scholar...

However, the person who can teach and cultivate so many young people must not be a simple wealthy man; perhaps there is a scholar in his family who holds a high position!

The leader of the Xue family rolled his eyes and set his sights on Minister Jiang, a fourth-rank official sitting in the hall.

He remembered that not far from that piece of land were the memorial arches of the Jiang family, one for a successful candidate in the imperial examinations and the other for a high-ranking official...

If Lord Jiang knew that these petty thieves had run rampant in the land of the Jiang family's generations of glory, causing the Jiang family to lose face, would Lord Jiang let them off?

"My lord, my lord, please understand! We didn't end up in court because a few of them beat up my son."

It's really true, it's really true. These people are outrageous. They're not just causing trouble on the wasteland, they're showing disrespect to the newly built Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) archway of your Jiang family!

They were all scholars, and they must have been jealous that the Jiang family had produced two Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) at once, so they went to the Jinshi Memorial Archway and committed an insulting act!

Our children couldn't stand by and watch the honor of these scholars being trampled upon and insulted, so they stepped in to stop it, which led to the conflict!

Oh? Jealousy can change a person beyond recognition?

Jiang Xiaoqi and the others were so angry at the Xue family's actions that they laughed. They were speechless. Was they insulting themselves?