"There’s no reason to fear him. These days he’s too busy gallivanting around to chastise me,"
Ye Zi’an laughed heartily, playing with one of Yang Chuxia’s flowing locks of hair. Slowly, he spun each strand, gradually reaching behind her ear and the nape of her neck. His hand seemed just about to slip beneath the collar of her dress when Yang Chuxia intercepted it.
Seeing this happening, Ye Zi’an couldn’t help but sigh, having missed a good opportunity.
"Oh," responded Ye Zi’an, promptly sitting upright again.
Observing his behavior, Yang Chuxia laughed lightly. She was reminded about the impersonation incident and mentioned, "It seems we have to thank Mu Shaoling for this. But wasn’t he too casual in letting the cat out of the bag? Isn’t he worried about being attacked by the people in the Capital City?"
"What could they possibly find to attack? With the third branch of the Mu family now being independent, even if there was an issue, the Capital City would merely remove it from its jurisdiction. Besides, after the incident, the Shi family conveniently shifted the whole blame onto that Academic Administrator. The narrative changed to suggest that the Administrator had proposed the idea owing to the benevolence shown by the Shi family, incredible!"
Without elaborating further, Yang Chuxia understood his disdain for the Shi family’s conduct. They had shamelessly asked for assistance and then, when a problem arose, rather than trying to shield their benefactor, they promptly pinned the whole blame on him. Quite an audacity indeed.
"However, that Academic Administrator did reap what he sowed. The Shi family is clearly not a decent one, yet he used to receive their favors. I bet he’s not a good person either."
After a moment, thinking of Mu Shaowei, Yang Chuxia added, "I think suspending Mu Shaowei from the Imperial Exam for ten years is rather lenient. Such a person is clearly morally bankrupt. Imagine if he works hard during these ten years, passes the exam once lifted, and ends up in an official position. He would only wreak havoc. He’ll be just twenty-eight by then, the prime age for Cultivated Talents. In fact, twenty-eight is still considered young among the Recommended Men."
"You’re overthinking things. We don’t know what the situation will be a decade from now, so why waste time pondering it?"
Ye Zi’an thought to himself that Xiaxia was sometimes too naive, unaware of the darkness within those prominent families. After the incident, Mu Shaowei should consider himself lucky if his family doesn’t disown him, let alone him inheriting anything. With Mu Shaofeng now in charge of the Mu family, there’s no chance he’ll give his younger brother any opportunities, let alone allow him to sit the Imperial Exam. That’s ludicrous."
As for the Shi family, they too got embroiled, and being merchants rather than bureaucrats, all of their business dealings tied to the government were summarily withdrawn. Mu Shaofeng wouldn’t just let the remaining ventures go either.
"By the way, Mu Shaowei seems quite a fool, doesn’t he? Why would he choose you, the top scholar, to impersonate? If I were him, I would’ve chosen the lowest-ranked. Everyone would’ve thought of him being mind-blowingly fortunate."
"Perhaps he felt that replacing the top position could more likely overshadow Mu Shaofeng," conjectured Ye Zi’an after giving it some thought.
However, internally he was grumbling. If things were as Xiaxia suggested, Mu Shaoling probably wouldn’t investigate Mu Shaowei.
At this point, Yang Chuxia was unaware that in Great Zhou there were indeed one or two individuals who, sharing her train of thought, had paid to replace the last-ranked scholar. Although the impersonator’s regular performance was not particularly good, the people praised him for his stellar performance in the exam and considered him blessed by the gods.
Of course, had Ye Zi’an’s case not erupted that year, they could’ve substituted someone else unnoticeably. However, with Ye Zi’an’s incident coming to light, their dirty little secrets were soon exposed. The two replaced scholars were inconsolably tearful upon hearing the news.