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

A day later, a crowd gathered again in front of the clan school's bulletin board.

You wouldn't notice unless you looked closely, but some of the most active people from before were gone from the crowd.

"What? The test papers of the top three students in Class A's monthly exam have been posted?"

"Not only that, take a closer look, there are also math exam papers from the county school instructors and math teachers from private schools in the four cities!"

"Yeah, I just squeezed to the front and took a look. These five are really ruthless. The math problems they set were so difficult and tricky. Some of them I've never even seen before!"

"Not only have I never seen it before, but even if I had, I wouldn't understand it. What kind of heavenly book is this?! The title recognizes me, but I don't recognize it!"

"Is this really a math problem? It's like some kind of cryptic script!"

The crowd erupted in discussion again, their clamor filling the area in front of the notice board.

"But it seems like there are answers and solutions on this," someone exclaimed.

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly pushed forward again, eager to catch a glimpse.

"Someone actually managed to solve such a difficult problem..."

"And using such a simple and easy-to-understand method..."

"Who made this? They're a mathematical genius!"

"Yes, the solution is extremely rigorous, it must be the work of a master in this field."

"This one seems even more capable than Master Yan. Could it be that a new mathematics teacher has arrived in the prefectural city?"

"I can understand the first two and the fourth one to some extent, but the third and the last one are really too difficult to decipher!"

This is the best student in math in Class B. He's practically worn holes in those two sheets of paper, but he still can't figure out the method and can't understand the problem at all.

Yeah, yeah, it's so hard! Compared to our monthly exams, this is hellish difficulty...

"Who wrote these answers? Judging from the handwriting, it's clearly the handwriting of six people. Five people set the questions, but the handwriting of all the respondents is from the same person."

Five against one, this guy's got something, he's a real pro!

At this moment, a clear voice rang out: "This is the answer sheet of Jiang Mingfei, a student of our clan school." It turned out that the teacher in charge of discipline at the clan school had arrived.

"Please look, everyone. These are the grading results written by five great mathematicians. There are five papers with twenty-eight math problems. Jiang Mingfei answered them all correctly without a single mistake!"

The five individuals signed their names and affixed their personal seals, signifying their responsibility for and corroboration of the grading results!

The crowd was in an uproar. Of course, everyone knew who Jiang Mingfei was—the one who had been at the top of the trending topics and the center of public opinion these past two days!

The teacher raised his hand to quell the commotion: "Rumors are rampant in the clan school, and you have been incited by some people to cause trouble in front of the Jiang residence. Lord Jiang is very disappointed by this!"

They are all students who have studied and understood principles. No matter which class they are in, they can all be called people who have read the classics. A scholar who does not understand principles is just a bookworm!

If you can be easily incited to cause trouble at our prefectural government office with just a few words in the clan school, will you be easily incited to cause trouble at the palace gates when you embark on your official careers?

Now, only family members know their own affairs. The clan school belongs to the Jiang family, so they wouldn't do anything to their own students.

But once you leave the Chiang family school and Xinghe Prefecture, who will still care about personal feelings and let you off the hook because of your inability to distinguish right from wrong and your tendency to follow the crowd?

"Your individual actions may seem insignificant, but if you impulsively cause trouble for your families and destroy their hopes for you, will you ever regret it?"

The crowd silently lowered their heads, some genuinely regretting being used and forced to become cannon fodder in the front lines.

Some people feel embarrassed, after all, it makes them look silly.

They're all teenagers, it's normal for them to be easily fooled.

Jiang Xiaoqi didn't think these people were easy to fool. If they didn't have a trace of malice in their hearts, how could they be instigated by others?

The fact that they were so easily instigated suggests that they had the intention to cause trouble from the beginning, thinking that the law would not punish the masses and that they could take advantage of the chaos.

Making a scene might not necessarily bring any benefits, but it certainly won't result in any punishment.

The idea that "the law does not punish the masses" gives those who blindly follow the crowd a greater sense of confidence.

The cost of causing trouble is so low, and it looks like a lot of fun, so of course I have to join in the "fun"!

As for whether anyone will be falsely accused or suffer injustice as a result, well, what does that have to do with us "righteous people"?

We just couldn't stand by and watch, and we wanted to uphold justice!

How righteous and eloquent! How noble and just!

Watching these bowed-headed people from the shadows, Jiang Xiaoqi found it all rather pointless.

Having been here for nearly six years, I dare not say that I am the most stubborn person of this era, but within this clan school, I believe no one has ever been more stubborn than me.

It was just a trivial monthly exam, and I wasn't the only one in Class A to have topped the list. Why should I be subjected to such speculation just because of my age?

Perhaps it offended someone, or perhaps it touched a nerve, but none of that is a reason to falsely accuse someone!

"Excuse me, excuse me!"

A dozen or so burly guards from the Jiang family pushed through the crowd, followed closely by the Jiang family steward and servants.

Four or five students from Class B had their hands tied and were strung together. They were dragged out by the guards and made to stand in a row in front of the bulletin board.

"What's going on? Why are they tying people up?"

"Yes, isn't that Liao Mingchen, Chen Feiyu, and the others from Class A? They even had wonton noodles together in the cafeteria this morning."

"What on earth is going on? Could it be..."

"Shh! Lord Jiang is here, stop talking!"

Jiang Changqing glanced at Jiang Xiaoqi, who was hiding behind the artificial hill: This child, we told him not to come here, why is he so curious?

"Rumors have been circulating in the clan school these past two days. I said yesterday that I would give everyone an explanation. Now, have you all seen the content on the bulletin board?"

"I saw it, I saw it, sir. Yes, we were used. We are sorry to Mingfei and Master Yan."

"Yes, yes, we were made a fool of, that's why we didn't think straight. We hope you can forgive us!"

"Please forgive me, sir!"

Most of them were teenagers, and they were quick to admit their mistakes.

"The people you should apologize to are not me, but the people you have maliciously speculated about and pushed into the spotlight."

"Yes, yes, we'll go find Master Yan and apologize to Mingfei right away."

"Yes, yes, let's go now!"

"Alright, you can apologize anytime. The most important thing now is for you to deal with the source of this malice."

After saying this, Jiang Changqing turned his gaze to the people who were tied up in a string.

"Why did you all frame your classmate and teacher? Are you willing to tell the truth now?"

The bound students from Class B exchanged glances, seemingly still hoping to bluff their way out.

"If you tell the truth now, I can be lenient and only expel you from school. If you want to continue your studies in the future, you can go to a more distant prefecture or county to start over."

However, if one manages to conceal the truth, then it will have to be dealt with officially. According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, if a person spreads a rumor and the facts are true, he shall be punished with thirty strokes of the cane.

Those who hold official titles will have them revoked. Those who do not hold official titles will be barred from taking the imperial examinations for six years. As far as I know, none of you are scholars (xiucai)?