After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

……

"Aaaaaaah!!!"

Wu Shangmei's miserable roar echoed like thunder within the Crane Cry Tower!

Upon hearing the howling and wailing, everyone's expression changed, and they were all horrified!

A huge uproar erupted in the room!

In the center of the first floor of the restaurant, Wu Tanhua knelt on both knees, kneeling on a pile of broken porcelain shards.

His right wrist was being held, his left cheek was swollen, and tears and snot were streaming down his face.

He stretched out his left hand, slapping and rubbing against the man in the black jacket, while shouting incessantly.

The burly man in the black jacket, with a cold and stern face, twisted Wu Tanhua's broken wrist with his iron hand and chuckled coldly a few times.

Leftover food and broken bowls littered the ground, tables and chairs were overturned, and the place was a complete mess.

Wu Shangmei had just gone on a drunken rampage, overturning several tables and smashing many fine dishes and drinks.

Several tables of guests had originally requested the restaurant to bring out a small stove for warming the wine, both to warm the wine and to keep warm.

When the third-ranking scholar flipped the table, the wine warmer and hot water spilled out instantly, and many people cried out in pain from the hot water and scalding wine.

Even the stove was thrown to the ground, sparks flying everywhere.

If it weren't for the quick thinking of the waiters who immediately took away the stoves and stomped out the burning wine foam, Heminglou might have been flooded by Wu Tanhua!

After everyone moved away, he smashed wine bowls and tea bowls everywhere, leaving the ground covered with dry and wet patches of broken porcelain.

Wearing a melon-shaped hat, Hong Shan tightly gripped Wu Tanhua's thin right hand, the veins on his temples throbbing.

When the man overturned the table, he hurriedly protected the prince and stepped back. A pot of ginger and vinegar carp was thrown at him, and his black jacket was stained with soup and oil.

Later, the drunkard picked up a cup of hot wine and splashed it at the prince, who reached out to stop him.

The back of my hand was scalded by the hot liquor, and it instantly became red, swollen, painful, itchy, and blistered.

Unfortunately, it was too late to stop him, and the prince still got some hot wine on his right cheek, which turned it red.

They were originally guarding the prince as he drank wine in the main hall while waiting for the announcement to be made.

Unexpectedly, this madman suddenly went mad, and Hongshan and more than ten guards of the prince were already extremely angry with him.

If this were in the Northern Dynasty, this man would have been chopped into eight pieces long ago! There would be no need for Lu Jing to give the order!

Hong Shan said, "When the officials and your Wu family come, I, Hong, will kill you!"

Pain shot through her wrist. Seeing her right hand dangling from her wrist, her fingers trembling slightly and out of control, and hearing that threatening remark, Wu Shangmei sobered up considerably.

At this moment, his face turned deathly pale, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat!

"stop!"

"stop!"

"Release Wu Tanhua!"

Inside the restaurant, those who truly believed Wu Tanhua was one of their own quickly shouted out, surging forward in righteous indignation.

Hongfeng remained silent.

Lu Jing narrowed his eyes and said, "Protect Prince!"

More than ten guards in black jackets immediately formed a circle around Prince Beile and Hongshan's guards, holding their waist knives.

Seeing the cold eyes of the group in black jackets and the fingers gripping the knife hilts, the crowd stopped in their tracks, not daring to go any further, and only dared to argue loudly.

"Wu Tanhua was rude first! But you've already beaten him!"

"You've crippled Wu Tanhua's hands!"

"This is my Great Liang territory! Not the Northern Dynasty! You can report this to the authorities!..."

The crowd was filled with excitement.

Lu Jing glanced at the Prince, who remained calm and composed. He then turned to look at Lu Jing, and upon seeing the Prince's gaze, Lu Jing felt a chill run down his spine.

He gritted his teeth and called out to Hongshan ahead, "Hongshan..."

Just as he was about to tell Hongshan to go all the way, a group of scholars dressed in white robes and wearing square headscarves pushed through the crowd.

"stop!"

A rapid, crisp sound came from among the scholars.

A female scholar, dressed as a man but clearly a beautiful woman at first glance, stepped out with an anxious expression.

"Stop! Stop right now! You're going to beat Wu Shangmei to death!"

Gongsun Heng squeezed in with a group of students from Bailu Academy, her face flushed with anxiety as she jumped up and down, shouting.

Perhaps it was because they heard that familiar voice.

Wu Shangmei's shouts stopped abruptly. Her face turned pale as she gritted her teeth and turned around. When she saw who it was, her eyes, which had been filled with violence, fear, and regret, suddenly softened. She looked at Wu Shangmei and mumbled a few words.

Gongsun Heng was startled when she saw the man's swollen face.

This person was, after all, her childhood playmate. Seeing him beaten up like this, she felt bad and then became angry.

On one hand, they were angry at the Tartars' ruthlessness, and on the other hand, they were angry at how incompetent this person was.

Gongsun Heng snorted, anger flashing across her pretty face. She stepped forward and looked at Lu Jing and Hong Feng behind the square table, saying:

"Brother Lu, Seventh Young Master, it was wrong of Wu Shangmei to insult you in public; the imperial court has its own laws to discipline him. You've already beaten him to this state; aren't you satisfied yet?"

When Lu Jing saw that it was the eldest daughter of the Gongsun family who stood up for Wu Shangmei, he raised his eyebrows slightly, but did not intend to say anything more.

The prince intends to propose marriage to the Southern Dynasty. Regardless of Wu Shangmei's character, considering the Southern Dynasty's perception, he naturally cannot have his hands stained with the blood of the Southern Dynasty.

The best course of action would naturally be to let Lu Jing do these dirty work, and then let the Prince punish him to vent the anger of the Southern Dynasty.

He felt helpless, but showed no sign of it on his face, and coldly shouted:

"Miss Gongsun, this man has insulted our Prince, a crime deserving of death..."

Just then, Hongfeng suddenly raised his hand. When Lu Jing saw the prince's gesture, he paused. Seeing that the prince seemed interested in intervening again, he quickly stopped talking.

Hongfeng looked Gongsun Heng up and down with great interest.

Gongsun Heng felt uneasy when she saw the Tartar's gaze, and her face paled.

Hong Feng said in a loud voice:

"Miss Gongsun is right. Your dynasty has its own laws to discipline this arrogant fool who has wasted his time studying the classics. My servants were just a little flustered because they were concerned. However... they were also afraid that this arrogant fool might accidentally harm any of your dynasty's worthy talents, which is why they took action to subdue him."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions immediately softened considerably.

Hongfeng shouted, "Hongshan, you dog of a lackey! Brother Wu seems to have sobered up. Why aren't you releasing this top scholar from Daliang?"

"Yes, Master!" Hong Shan's voice boomed, and he loosened his grip.

Wu Shangmei's right hand fell off.

Wu Shangmei, for some reason, stopped looking at the Tartar and instead stared intently at Gongsun Heng, who had stood up for him.

He held his broken right wrist with his left hand, and large tears kept welling up in his eyes.

Suddenly, the hatred he felt for the Tartars vanished.

After crawling a few steps on his knees, he staggered to his feet and walked a few steps toward Gongsun Heng.

"Hengmei... Hengmei... I... I was wrong... We'll... we'll get married... I'll have my father... offer betrothal gifts..."

Gongsun Heng's expression froze, and for a moment he didn't hear what the person was saying.

As the other person dragged their feet closer and spoke more clearly, she heard them call her "Hengmei" and mention something about "getting married," and suddenly felt a chill run down her spine!

The woman wearing a headscarf retreated like a cat with its fur standing on end, screaming, "You, you, you, you, don't come any closer!"

Li Yanting, Yang Gu, Qian Huang, and other students from Bailu Academy changed their expressions and hurriedly stepped forward to block Gongsun Heng...