To divorce his wife, the top scholar preferred being cuckolded to wearing a red hat.

Listening to Fu Jingsheng's words and looking at the noisy scene inside, Su Ziyu also felt a little reluctant to go in.

"Alright, let's go look around somewhere else first. There's probably some young ladies having a fight inside, there's nothing to see." Seeing that Fu Jingsheng didn't want to go in, Su Ziyu also lost interest in going in to watch the commotion.

Fu Jingsheng was about to leave when Fu Jingying, with her sharp eyes, spotted him at the door, about to depart.

She pushed through the crowd, taking three steps at a time, and shouted, "Brother, they're all bullying me! You have to stand up for me!"

Fu Jingying's cry of "Brother!" drew everyone's attention, and everyone looked towards Su Ziyu and Fu Jingsheng.

"It's Miss Su from the Su family."

"That man looks like the newly appointed top scholar in the imperial examination."

"I heard that Miss Su captured the newly appointed top scholar and brought him back. It seems it's true."

Fu Jingsheng gave Fu Jingying a wink, trying to silence her. Fu Jingying, still angry, didn't notice Fu Jingsheng's subtle gesture. She ran up to him and grabbed his sleeve: "Brother, they're framing me! I just wanted to try on the jewelry, and it broke before I even finished! Now they won't let me leave and want me to pay for it. What kind of shady shop is this? It broke before I even wore it properly; it must be of poor quality."

Seeing Fu Jingying rush through the crowd and grab a man's sleeve, looking furious, everyone immediately began to speculate about the identities of the two.

Someone with sharp eyes recognized Su Ziyu next to the man.

"Isn't that Miss Su? What's that man's identity, and why is he with Miss Su?"

"It seems to be Fu Jingsheng, the newly crowned champion today."

"The woman who was crying and shouting called him brother, so she must be the sister of the newly appointed top scholar."

"I'd heard the new top scholar came from the countryside, and then look at his sister's behavior..." Everyone's expressions were indescribable.

Fu Jingsheng felt utterly humiliated by the crowd and patiently asked Fu Jingying, "What happened? How much money do we have to pay?"

At this moment, a manager from Duobao Pavilion came out and cupped his hands in greeting to Fu Jingsheng: "Greetings to the newly appointed top scholar, and greetings to Miss Su."

"What happened?" Su Ziyu frowned involuntarily as she looked at Fu Jingying's jeweled, unkempt appearance.

"This young lady really liked a jadeite headdress. The jadeite beads in the headdress were all of the highest quality, and we agreed to let her try it on. After she put it on, upon hearing that the headdress cost five thousand taels a set, she rudely ripped it off her head. As a result, the headdress fell to the ground and broke on the spot."

The steward had someone bring up the noodles that had just been thrown to the ground.

There are a total of thirty-six beads on the headpiece, each bead is round and full, and is a superior product.

"Ten beads were broken in total, and the other thirty are unusable due to cracks. Each bead is worth one hundred taels. Please check them, Miss Su." The steward brought the plate to Su Ziyu.

"One bead costs a hundred taels? Are you trying to rob me? And your beads, do you really think they're real just because you say so? I suspect they're fake. If they were real, how could they break so easily? They're fake. You're trying to extort money from me? No way."

The jewelry Su Mingbai gave her before was also very valuable, ranging from tens to hundreds of taels of silver. A set of jewelry here costs five thousand taels of silver; this is robbery.

The manager's expression turned serious upon hearing Fu Jingying's words: "Miss, you can inquire about what kind of place our Duobao Pavilion is. We can guarantee that everything we sell is genuine, but the prices are not cheap. You can say our items are expensive, but you cannot doubt that they are fake."

The manager looked at Fu Jingsheng and said, "Scholar, your sister may not know what kind of place our Duobao Pavilion is, but you should. The jewelry costs a total of five thousand taels. Considering that Miss Fu did it unintentionally, you only need to compensate for the cost of these jade beads, which is three thousand six hundred taels in total. Do you want to give it to us now, or should we come to collect it?"

Fu Jingsheng had five thousand taels of silver notes on him, and in order not to lose face in front of Su Ziyu, he first apologized to the steward: "My younger sister has only been in the capital for a short time and is not clear about many things. I apologize to you on her behalf. Here are the silver notes, please see if they are enough."

"Exactly three thousand six hundred taels." The steward counted the silver notes and said to Fu Jingsheng with a smile, "The top scholar is indeed generous."

The manager gave all the broken beads to Fu Jingsheng.

Fu Jingying was furious at the sight of these troublemakers, but just as she was about to speak, Fu Jingsheng gave her a look that silenced her.

"Jingying, come and greet Miss Su." Fu Jingsheng didn't want to make a big fuss, and he didn't want people to think that his younger sister was a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.

Fu Jingying was still feeling the pinch of the money, but her eyes lit up when she heard her elder brother's words. She grinned and greeted Su Ziyu, "Hello, sister-in-law, I am Fu Jingying."

Su Ziyu's face showed a hint of embarrassment.

Although her affair with Fu Jingsheng had caused quite a stir, the two families were not yet engaged, so Fu Jingying's calling him that was somewhat inappropriate.

"Don't shout nonsense, call her Miss Su." Fu Jingsheng scolded lightly, but he was very happy inside.

If things go smoothly, Su Ziyu will soon become his wife.

Suppressing her displeasure, Su Ziyu gave Fu Jingying a reasonably polite smile: "You must be Jingying. If you're bored in the capital, you can come to the Su residence to visit me."

"Okay." Fu Jingying was overjoyed to hear that: "I will definitely come to visit you."

Fu Jingsheng used the excuse of sending his sister back to her residence to first send Su Ziyu back, and then take his sister home.

As soon as he got home, Fu Jingsheng's face changed, turning gloomy and ashen, looking quite terrifying.

Seeing her son's strange expression, Madam Qian looked at Fu Jingying who was following behind and asked, "Jingying, didn't you say you were going to Duobaoge to buy jewelry? What happened? Did someone bully you?"

My son is the top scholar in the imperial examination, and a thank-you banquet will definitely be held in a few days. As the mother and sister of the top scholar, we should naturally attend in a respectable manner.

“Mother, the people at Duobao Pavilion are all liars. Everything there is fake. I only used a little force to take it down, and it fell to the ground.” Fu Jingying felt wronged.

She spent over three thousand taels of silver, and all she brought back was a worthless piece of noodle. Even if you paid her to take it, she wouldn't want a worthless piece of noodle.

Upon hearing this, Madam Qian frowned: "What happened? Did the people from Duobao Pavilion bully you? Didn't you tell them that your brother is the newly appointed top scholar?"

"How dare you say that?" Fu Jingsheng said with a dark face. "You can't handle other people's things with care when you try them on. We spent 3,600 taels of silver and ended up with a worthless headdress. When we came to the capital, we only brought 10,000 taels of silver. We spent nearly 2,000 taels on household items and servants, and today we lost another 3,600 taels. We still have a thank-you banquet to hold, and without money, how are we going to do it?"