The Marquis doesn't support his beloved wife's ambitions, so I'll take the imperial e

"Teach her a lesson?"

Instead of being angry, Magistrate Lin laughed. He slowly stood up, walked to Lin Ruyu, looked down at him, and his eyes were full of disappointment and contempt.

"How did you teach her a lesson? Did you send a bunch of thugs to her shop to block the door and yell insults, only to be silenced by a few words from her?"

"You still wanted to ruin her reputation with rumors, but instead she 'drew her sword and committed suicide,' which swayed all the students in the city to her side, making you a laughingstock for abusing your power?"

Lin Ruyu's face instantly turned a deep purplish-red. He hadn't expected that his father knew everything he had done in Pu County.

"Father, I..."

"Shut up!" Magistrate Lin snapped, "I told you to cut off all friendships and avoid making enemies so you could build good relationships and pave the way for your future career. I didn't want you to ruin your reputation for a woman!"

"I told you long ago, when dealing with a woman who's a little clever, you either have to use drastic measures to ensure she never recovers, or you shouldn't even bother with her!"

"And you, time and again, have suffered at her hands! Now, someone has even seized on your weakness, fabricating this malicious ballad! Do you know what the consequences will be if this ballad reaches the capital and the ears of your political enemies?!"

Lin Tongpan's voice grew colder and colder, and the anger contained within it made Lin Ruyu tremble like a leaf.

"Father, I was wrong! I was really wrong! I will never do it again!" He kowtowed desperately, his forehead hitting the cold bluestone slab with a dull thud.

"Your mistake wasn't provoking her," Prefect Lin said, a hint of weariness flashing in his eyes as he looked at his good-for-nothing son. "Your mistake was that you were incredibly stupid!"

Lin Ruyu's body stiffened abruptly; these words were more humiliating to him than any beating or scolding.

"A woman who runs a study can come up with a way to pre-deposit money, can hold mock provincial examinations, can invite scholars to give lectures, can defuse your underhanded tactics with just a few words, and can even compose a song that puts you in a dilemma..."

A dangerous glint flashed in Lin Tongpan's eyes.

"Do you still think of her as just an ordinary woman?"

Lin Ruyu knelt on the ground, his back soaked with cold sweat. He finally realized that he had not provoked a lamb to the slaughter, but a tigress in sheep's clothing.

"Then... what should we do now?" he asked, completely lost.

"What should we do?" Magistrate Lin sneered. "Arrest people? Seize shops? You'll only make things worse and confirm that the song is about our Lin family!"

"Swallow your anger? Then our Lin family will have to bear this filth head-on. In the future, at the slightest provocation, others will use this to attack me!"

Lin Ruyu panicked completely. He realized that his foolish move had driven his entire family into a dead end.

"Father, save me! You must save me!"

Lin Tongpan looked at his useless appearance and turned his head away in disgust.

"You no longer need to concern yourself with this matter." His voice regained its usual calmness, but carried an undeniable air of command. "From this day forward, you are to remain in your residence and reflect on your actions. Without my permission, you are not to step out of your room!"

"Father!"

"Get out."

Lin Ruyu wanted to say something more, but her father's cold gaze terrified her so much that she couldn't utter a single word. She could only scramble out of the study.

The empty study was once again deathly silent.

Lin Tongpan sat back in his armchair, his fingers lightly tapping the table.

After a long while, he spoke softly to the shadows behind the screen.

"Go check."

A dark figure appeared silently behind him and knelt on one knee.

"Investigate that woman named Jiang Zhenxue." Lin Tongpan's voice was like ice. "Her background, her origins, everyone she's met since arriving in Pu County, every word she's said, and every thing she's done."

"I'd like to see who she really is."

"And another thing," he paused, a flash of murderous intent crossing his eyes, "cut off the source of that nursery rhyme. Do it cleanly."

"Yes," the shadowy figure replied, then vanished back into the darkness like a ghost.

The Ningguo Marquis's Residence.

The leader of the secret guards, Night Hawk, knelt on one knee, his head bowed low: "My lord, I have investigated all the women in the inns, docks, and banks of the various prefectures in Jiangnan who match Miss Jiang's figure. Only... a rather strange message came back from Lizhou."

"explain."

"A mysterious female manager has appeared in Pu County and opened a study called 'Golden List Success.' This woman is extremely capable." Night Hawk reported in great detail what had happened in Pu County, from pre-depositing silver and mocking the provincial examination, all the way to the recent nursery rhyme that forced the Lin family, the prefectural magistrate, to stay at home.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qingyan stopped moving his fingers. He lifted his eyelids, his gaze falling into the void.

How could a woman manipulate local officials and gentry so easily?

"Do you think that's her?" Xiao Qingyan asked.

Night Hawk lowered his head even further: "This subordinate dares not make a rash judgment. It's just that the time this woman appeared roughly coincides with the time Miss Jiang disappeared. But... their ways of doing things are completely different."

Xiao Qingyan scoffed.

Jiang Zhenxue? That stupid woman who can't even turn the abacus beads properly and gets dizzy just looking at an account book? If she were bullied, she would just bury her face in his arms with red eyes, clutch his clothes and cry, begging him to stand up for her.

Setting a trap for the magistrate? Creating a stir with nursery rhymes? If she had that kind of brain, she wouldn't have been tricked into the Marquis's mansion by his few words and become a caged bird that couldn't see the light of day.

"It could never be her," Xiao Qingyan said decisively.

But in his mind, the image of Jiang Zhenxue in the days before she ran away kept replaying in his mind. She was unusually quiet, without making a fuss, and even accepted everything he brought her, as obedient as a mannequin.

What if she was pretending?

The thought had barely crossed his mind when he suppressed it. Absurd.

His desk was piled high with official documents; the old fogies in the Ministry of Revenue were arguing with him in court every day over the salt tax in Jiangnan. He had been discussing matters day and night, and his head was throbbing as if needles were pricking it.

He instinctively reached out and touched the side. Nothing there.

At this time, Jiang Zhenxue would usually bring over a bowl of calming soup. She would walk behind him and massage his temples with her soft, boneless hands, her body carrying a faint scent of jasmine. As long as she was there, most of the violence in his heart would subside.

Now, only Fu'an's heavy breathing can be heard.

Anxiety grew wildly in my chest like weeds.

"Find out the details about that female manager." Xiao Qingyan stood up, kicking aside the secret report on the ground. "Release the dirt on those old fogies in the Ministry of Revenue, give them something to do. I don't have time to waste with them."