I was a stepmother in ancient times, and I led my whole family to wealth.

Chapter 31 Gu Meiyu's Complete Defeat

Feng scoffed: "He's just a novice scholar. Even the merits that the master doesn't want are better than his."

Even if one becomes the top scholar in the imperial examination, it doesn't guarantee a good outcome. Those greedy officials like Gu Jia are just corrupt officials who prey on the people, and they have no fear of such treatment.

"Hehe, if that's the case, let's stop here and not waste the spot."

"Uncle Zhao, we don't need to worry about this. They will destroy themselves little by little."

When that young scholar takes the imperial examination, someone will investigate his ancestors for three generations. Don't forget, the town and county have records of his land reclamation, corvée labor, military service, and discharge.

They have now expelled their master from the clan on the grounds of disrespecting his elders and being unfilial; this is something that needs to be investigated secretly…”

What Feng Ming said next was obvious to Zhao Yuming, even without him saying it.

The second young master's move was brilliant; it seems he's quite shrewd. It appears the Duke was worrying unnecessarily.

……

Dongfang Jin was getting a headache just looking at Gu Meiyu. How could this person be so stupid and shameless?

Before she could speak, several scholars walked over with backpacks on their backs, the leader of whom was Ma Wencai.

When those people saw them, they all made way for them.

Ma Wencai was extremely excited to see them and quickly stepped forward: "Brother Gu, Sister Jin, what are you doing here?"

Dongfang Jin sighed, this enthusiasm was a world apart from their first meeting yesterday: "Are you guys done with get out of class?"

Ma Wencai waved his hand: "Today is the academy's rest day. We got together to go to the Four Seasons Study, where a new batch of books has arrived."

When Fang Shiyu saw Dongfang Jin, he took out a notebook from his crossbody bag, handed it to her with both hands, and said respectfully, "Sister Jin, I was very rude yesterday. This is a small gift from me. Please accept it."

Upon seeing the notebook, Dongfang Jin quickly waved her hand. As far as she knew, notebooks like this were considered luxury items for students in this place, just like designer bags and watches in modern times.

"Put it away quickly, I have no use for this thing. Besides, I didn't even notice it, so put it away quickly. You can use it right now, I don't need it either."

She thought to herself that she had plenty of space; she had bought a lot of high-quality 4A paper, special drawing paper, and various notebooks back then.

They even have large, leather-bound notebooks with horizontal stripes, which were prepared for my maternal grandfather and my grandfather Song Bin. Because they are not used to using computers, and they often write short poems together and participate in poetry competitions for the elderly.

So she's been to the wholesale market quite a few times to buy them. Oh, and she also has a lot of colored pencils in her warehouse; she'll give them to Gu Caiwei to use sometime.

"Jin-jie, my name is Xie Wenke. We are a group of five. We often go to the county government office to guess words, and we have accumulated quite a few over the years. I have a favor to ask, could you please help us solve this puzzle?"

Dongfang Jin looked puzzled: "Why are you guessing words? It's not like we're taking a test."

"Sister Jin, please enlighten us. We're not short of money," Ma Wencai said with a serious face, initially appearing like an old scholar, but his words carried a hint of roguishness.

After saying that, he grabbed Fang Shiyu and said, "This Fang Shiyu, his family runs a pawnshop in the county, and the shop is in Anyang Prefecture. You could say they have branches all over Jizhou. They're not short of money."

Fang Shiyu glanced at him and said, "Jin'er, Ma Wencai's family owns a restaurant. If you see Ping An Restaurant, that's his family's."

As she spoke, just as Ma Wencai had pulled him, she dragged Xie Wenke to Dongfang Jin's side: "This is Xie Wenke. His family owns a tea shop called Xianmingju."

This is Liu Lingzui. As you can tell from his name, his family has been brewing wine for generations; they own the county's best brewery.

Seeing him like this, Ma Wencai also pulled over a short man: "His name is Guo Yuming. His family sells porcelain. They have a kiln passed down from their ancestors. Hexing Pottery in the county belongs to his family."

Dongfang Jin: "..." What's going on? How did this friendship even happen? Did bad friends exist in ancient times?

This action gave her a familiar feeling; she missed Song Bin (male), Li Baitong (male), Shen Zhouzhou (female), Su Jinyan (male), Jiang Xiaopei (male), and Qian Duoduo (female).

They all grew up with their grandparents or maternal grandparents.

She lived in the same compound as Song Bin, Su Jinyan, and Qian Duoduo, and was in the same school district as the others... That's how they grew up betraying each other.

Gu Chenglin: "..." What's going on? Don't you know that men and women shouldn't touch each other?

This daughter-in-law... never mind, he's still here. She's still young, let's educate her slowly.

Once the onlookers saw Ma Wencai and his group, they fell silent, and some even moved away from the area.

Looking again, the woman who had been following Gu Meiyu had long since disappeared.

As for Gu Meiyu, she looked at Ma Wencai and the other four people as if they were merchandise, examining this one and then that one.

Dongfang Jin was speechless; wasn't this person being a bit too blunt?

"I've come to Jinyulou to buy jewelry for my little daughter. Please wait for me a moment."

Hearing her words, Gu Meiyu perked up again: "Shameless! Seducing men in broad daylight!"

Gu Chenglin was utterly disappointed in his younger sister, who was becoming increasingly outrageous.

Dongfang Jin, wow! This underdeveloped girl, how dare they put such a huge label on her? This is intolerable!

Looking at her, he sneered, "I seduce men? Ha! My man is right here with me! My child is right here with me too!"

The eyes of the masses are discerning; young lady, have some decency, lest you never find a husband.

When Gu Chenglin heard Dongfang Jin say, "My man is by my side," a flutter rose in his heart.

Seeing that her words had no effect, Gu Meiyu continued to jump up and down: "You, Fang Jin, you bitch!"

Dongfang Jin narrowed her eyes. This person was really asking for it: "Who are you calling a slut?"

"A bitch is insulting you?"

Guo Yuming: "Pfft..."

Xie Wenke: "Pfft, haha..."

Ma Wencai: "Pfft, haha..."

Liu Lingzui: "She really is a despicable person..."

Fang Shiyu gave Gu Meiyu a disdainful look: "Idiot!"

Dongfang Jin smiled at Gu Meiyu and sneered, "Hehe, you really know your place."

"You...you just wait, just wait until my brother becomes the top scholar in the imperial examination," Gu Meiyu said fiercely, then turned and left in a sorry state.

Dongfang Jin watched her leave, shaking his head at her retreating figure. Old Granny Gu was still thinking of keeping this daughter to find a wealthy husband for her youngest son. With a brain like that, would any rich family even consider her? And if they did, they wouldn't be kind-hearted.

Fang Shiyu stared at Gu Meiyu's retreating figure, puzzled: "Top scholar? Who is her brother?"

Dongfang Jin did not answer his question; she didn't want to ruin her and her child's reputation. "You go find a place. I'll come find you after I've finished shopping."

Seeing that she didn't say anything, Ma Wencai wisely didn't press the matter further: "Jin'er, are you trying to embarrass us? Your daughter is our niece. We bought her a gift as a token of our niece's affection."

Dongfang Jin really liked their personalities. Fang Shiyu's personality was just like Su Jinyan's, and Ma Wencai's personality was just like Qian Duoduo's.

She waved her hand at him and said, "Get out of here. Your sister can afford this little bit of money."

“Jin’er, we also want to do our part, please don’t make things difficult for us,” Xie Wenke said as he stepped forward.

Liu Lingzui chimed in, "Jin-jie, we're all genuinely trying to befriend you, you have to give us face."

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