The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 425 The Prefectural City Suffers Humiliation
Gu Ruinian lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

My experience in the prefectural city felt like a dream.

He couldn't understand why things were completely different from what he had imagined, and he wondered where the problem lay.

The reason God sent him to this place was to make him a disruptor of this era.
I thought that this trip to the prefectural city would allow me to not only win the favor of the top courtesan in the brothel with my "talent," but also make a name for myself and catch the eye of the dean of Wanliu Academy, thus becoming a student of Wanliu Academy.

Unexpectedly, all I got was a face full of injuries.

That Third Young Master Xie is really ruthless; he came with the intention of ruining his face.

He endured immense pain while taking the exam for three days, his mind in a daze and out of control, unable to even understand some of the questions.

He only knew that he had finished writing the questions, but he didn't know if he would pass the imperial examination and become a scholar.

He had given up hope of being ranked first; he only held onto the hope that he could pass the exam.

He lay in bed for a day and a night.

The whole family was extremely worried.

The door creaked open, and Old Master Gu and the others rushed in.

Gu Ruinian tried to hide his head under the covers, but Jia grabbed him and burst into tears.

Gu Ruinian felt a surge of unease.

"My son, my son, what happened to your face?" Madam Jia asked, weeping bitterly.

When Gu Ruinian returned home yesterday and took off his veil, Grandpa Gu and others were shocked to see the injury on his face. No matter how they asked him, he wouldn't say a word. In the end, he simply went into the house, lay down on the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

“Your brother has already gone to fetch a doctor for you,” Jia said, crying.

Gu Ruinian roared, "Don't call a doctor! Don't call a doctor!"

Aren't you ashamed?

Grandma Gu shakily approached Gu Ruinian's bedside, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Ruinian, what happened to your face? Was it Jingzhe's doing?"

Gu Ruinian gritted his teeth; he truly wished it was Gu Jingzhe who had done it.

This time, he lost face in front of Gu Jingzhe, his reputation in the prefectural city was ruined, he performed poorly in the exam, and he was even forced to accept help from Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe.

The thought of Xie San Gongzi telling Gu Dashu, "He only refrained from doing anything to you," filled Gu Ruinian with immense humiliation.

I'm afraid everyone in the eldest son's family already knows and is just waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

Seeing that Gu Ruinian remained silent, Old Master Gu stepped in personally.

"Ruinian, what exactly happened to you in the city? You have to tell me. The whole family has been worried sick all night. How can you bear to let your grandparents, who are all so old, still worry about you?" Old Master Gu asked with a serious expression.

Gu Ruinian's eyelids twitched, and he finally spoke, saying calmly, "Grandpa, my face is like this because the carriage I hired hit a pedestrian on my way to the exam that day. The carriage overturned, and I was thrown out..."

What's the use of telling his family about the humiliation he suffered in the prefectural city? They can't make decisions for him anyway.

Moreover, he didn't want his family to laugh at him.

He could only swallow his anger and seek revenge later.

"Which damned carriage...made my son suffer so much?" Madam Jia sobbed.

"They must have known that my son could be the top scholar, and since they couldn't compete openly, they resorted to underhanded tactics."

Jia spoke for everyone.

Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu looked distressed.

Wei stood at the door, completely unmoved.

"Did it interfere with the exam?" Gu Youtian asked with a dark expression.

Gu Ruinian felt extremely disheartened upon hearing this. This cheap father of his didn't care about his injuries at all; he only cared about his exam results.

Gu Ruinian didn't even look at Gu Youtian, and said indifferently, "It didn't cause any delay."

Madam Jia burst into tears, crying out, "My child, you've suffered so much!"

Grandma Gu and Gu Xiaoxue also cried.

Grandpa Gu's face was filled with mixed emotions.

Gu Youtian breathed a sigh of relief; he had thought his son had missed the exam.

He had already planned to use the money collected from Gu Ruinian's successful examination as a basis for his business ventures; if his son missed the exam, his plans would fall through. Madam Jia and Old Madam Gu cried for a while, then, after checking Gu Ruinian's body and finding no injuries, they began to sob again.

Although Gu Ruinian's face is not as handsome as Gu Jingzhe's, he is still a handsome young man. How can he talk to his wife if his face is ruined?

Even if I become an official in the future, if I'm too ugly, I probably won't catch the emperor's eye.

"Grandma, Mom, please stop crying, my face is fine." Gu Jingzhe was upset, but the two old women kept crying.

Grandma Gu and Madam Jia continued to cry.

"I'm hungry." Gu Ruinian used his trump card.

Sure enough, when Jia heard that her son was hungry, she quickly got up to cook for him.

I'm still saving the chicken, fish, meat, and eggs I bought yesterday for Gu Ruinian.

Grandma Gu gradually stopped crying.

"Ruinian, how did you do on the exam? Are you confident you'll pass this time?" Gu Youtian asked.

Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu Honglian stared at him intently, their eyes filled with hope.

Gu Ruinian felt like he couldn't breathe.

You can't tell the truth.

Gu Ruinian continued calmly, "The exam went alright."

Gu Youtian nodded and said, "That's good! Tell your mother to give you some nourishing food."

Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu's eyes and brows radiated joy.

This grandson has always been steady and reliable.

He had this attitude and expression after the preliminary examination. Without a doubt, Ruinian wouldn't have said that if he wasn't confident.

Who knows, I might even get the top score.

"Ruinian, you should rest well. You still need to see a doctor to check your face," said Old Master Gu.

Grandpa Gu stood up; he intended to ask the clan chief for five taels of silver.

This time, Gu Ruinian spent all of his family's money on the exam in the prefectural city.

When the county officials come to announce the good news, we need to distribute congratulatory money and buy candy and melon seeds to give to the well-wishers. We also need to hold a banquet and invite people from the clan, the village chief of Qinghewan Village, the head of Yanguan Town, and other prominent figures... All of these things require money.

Grandpa Gu wasn't afraid of borrowing money; what he feared was that his descendants wouldn't amount to anything.

Once Ruinian's title of scholar is officially awarded, the clan will likely scramble to lend him money.

"You rest, I'm going to see the clan chief," Old Master Gu said before leaving.

Gu Ruinian clenched his fingers.

He could guess that Grandpa Gu was going to the clan to report his exam results to the clan chief.

He knew that his grandfather and the clan chief hoped he would win the duel with Gu Jingzhe and become the leader of his generation in the Gu family.

Gu Jingzhe, you good-for-nothing Gu Jingzhe.

Gu Ruinian thought of Gu Jingzhe.

After Gu Jingzhe learned why he had been beaten, he severely reprimanded him, saying that he was unworthy of being a descendant of the Gu family, that he had let down the expectations of the clan, and that he had disgraced all the students of Yanguan Town...

He suppressed his anger and begged Gu Jingzhe not to tell his family about what happened in the prefectural city, or at least to keep it from Old Master Gu and the others.

The humiliation Qiu Gu Jingzhe suffered was far greater than the humiliation of being beaten by Xie San Gongzi.

What angered him even more was that a beautiful young woman came to visit Gu Jingzhe, and the look in her eyes when she looked at him was not that of a lover. He then ate shit on live stream.

Later, he learned that the girl was Lu Zhaozhao, the daughter of the wealthy merchant Lu family in the prefecture, and that her brother was a brilliant scholar from Wanliu Academy who had just gone to the capital to take the imperial examination this spring.

Gu Jingzhe had some incredible luck to catch the eye of the Lu family's daughter.

He hated Gu Jingzhe to the core.

Only a modern man like him, with his understanding and appreciation for beauty, is worthy of a celestial being like Lu Zhaozhao.

How could a rigid, dull scholar like Gu Jingzhe be a match for Lu Zhaozhao?

He will get his revenge on Gu Jingzhe, Tianxianglou, Qianqian, and Young Master Xie sooner or later.