Jiapingguan Chronicle

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!"

Song Yaojia gently shook her finger, indicating that she was somewhat dissatisfied with Jin Miaomiao's account.

"What's wrong?" Jin Miaomiao looked at Song Yaojia with a puzzled expression. "Where did I say something wrong?"

“It’s not that you said it wrong, it’s that you didn’t tell it at all, you didn’t tell a proper story.” Song Yaojia looked at her with a smile and said, “Stories aren’t told like that. We want to hear the complete process, not just the result, right?”

"Yes!" Shen Haolin nodded. "We know the result, but we don't know the process yet."

"Got it!" Jin Miaomiao rolled her eyes and said irritably, "You two are just curious about how they argued, right?"

"A tug-of-war?" Shen Haolin disagreed with this statement. "It's not quite that. We mainly want to hear how they got to this point."

"Who? Two of the advisor's friends?"

"Hmm!" Shen Haolin nodded. "It's not easy for the two of them to go from being framed to being the framer, especially since the person they framed was someone who had once saved them. We want to know what kind of stimulus they received that made them do something like this, right?"

"Because of money."

Shen Cha yawned, and before she could finish speaking, she saw Mei Lin, who had just gone out, return with a bowl. Without even getting close, she could smell the strong medicinal smell. She sighed helplessly, took the bowl from Mei Lin without saying a word, pinched her nose, took a deep breath, and drank the whole bowl of medicine.

Shen Haolin had been watching her closely. When he saw that she had finished drinking, he quickly stuffed the candied fruit into her mouth. He watched as her furrowed brows relaxed and smiled gently.

"It feels like it's getting harder every day, and each meal is more bitter than the last." Shen Cha looked at Jin Miaomiao with a wronged expression. "You really didn't change the prescription?"

“No.” Jin Miaomiao looked at Shen Cha sincerely. “You can look at the recipe; they’re all the same.”

“It smells the same to me.” Shen Haolin patted Shen Cha. “You’re just afraid of bitterness.”

“Alright!” Shen Cha touched her nose. “Let’s continue with what we were talking about earlier. Their underlying message from the beginning can be summed up in two words.” She held up two fingers. “They were short of money. They wrote assignments for their classmates and helped them cheat because they were short of money. So, the fundamental reason they did so many things is this. Thinking back, when they betrayed Master Qingsong, besides not wanting him to participate in the imperial examinations, there was another reason: someone must have paid them to do it.”

“Xiao Cha is right.” Song Yaojia nodded. “So, I want to hear what kind of brains those who framed others and those who were framed had. Especially those who framed others, they were quite young back then, how did they come up with such an idea? It shouldn’t be something people their age would think of.” Song Yaojia picked up the small teapot beside her, poured some tea into her teacup, took a sip, poured another bowl, and said, “Tell me in detail, tell me everything you know.”

“Alright!” Jin Miaomiao nodded. “Actually, my great-uncle doesn’t know much either, because he only heard it from my master. What my master saw might be different from what actually happened.” “That’s for sure.” Song Yaojia nodded. “It’s okay. Like I said, tell me everything you know. By looking at the details, we can glean some clues.”

“I understand.” Jin Miaomiao thought for a moment. “We mentioned before that the small group wanted to set a trap for Wang Qin and Dong Qian, but they didn’t act immediately. According to them later, they planned it for about three months.”

"Three months?" Song Yaojia raised an eyebrow. "That's quite patient, isn't it?"

“I guess they had no other choice,” Jin Miaomiao said, holding up a finger. “Their first step was to get Wang Qin and Dong Qian to only serve their parents, the second step was to get them to do their bidding for free, and the third step was to get them to complete all their homework and quizzes. But the first step failed, didn’t it? The whole plan fell apart. So, they decided to go all the way and try to cover their mouths.”

"Their desire to cover their mouths isn't just about revenge, it's also out of fear." Song Yaojia raised an eyebrow at Jin Miaomiao, and seeing the other's surprised expression, said, "Didn't you think of that?"

"No." Jin Miaomiao looked at Shen Cha, who nodded. "You all thought of that?"

“I thought of it when my great-uncle mentioned it.”

"What's the problem?"

“There are too many problems,” Shen Cha sighed. “Like I said, although they seem to be richer than most of their classmates, their wealth is still limited. And the things they do, like having others do their homework for them and isolating others at the academy, are all kept secret from their families, right?”

"That's true. I definitely won't let my family know. If they did, I'd be beaten half to death."

“Very likely,” Shen Cha nodded. “That’s what they’re afraid of. If Wang Qin and Dong Qian hold a grudge against them and spread what they’ve done, it will reach their families’ ears. Who knows what kind of storm they’ll face then? So, they need to strike first and get rid of these two before this gets out.” She looked at the smiling Song Yaojia and said, “Brother Yaojia, am I right?”

“That’s right!” Song Yaojia snapped his fingers lightly. “That’s what I thought too, mostly because I wanted to cover my mouth.” He paused, looking at Jin Miaomiao. “How many people are in this little group?”

“Three.” Jin Miaomiao held up three fingers and said, “One is surnamed Meng, one is surnamed Tang, and one is surnamed Ao. I heard from my great-uncle that these three children come from similar backgrounds, all from merchant families, and all have some connections. But the richest one is surnamed Meng, the one surnamed Tang is the smartest, and the one surnamed Ao is the strongest. Usually, if anyone wants to make a move, it is this Ao who will step in. His family runs a security escort agency.”

“Hmm, the setup is really good.” Song Yaojia and Shen Haolin exchanged a glance, a faint smile flashing across their faces. “Back when we were studying in the Eastern Palace, we had companions like that too. One was the brains, one was the money bag, and one was the thug. They wanted to bully this and that, but they never expected to be kicked out of the Eastern Palace. Later on, no one in the entire Xijing City’s academies wanted them.”

"Huh? Who is it? Why are they in such a terrible state?"

"Tragic?" Shen Haolin raised an eyebrow and sneered, "They're trying to bully His Majesty!" (End of Chapter)