My younger sister insisted on marrying me and made me the Marquis' wife.

Chapter 697 Severing Ties
The crowd erupted in uproar upon hearing this, with shouts rising and falling.

A smile flashed across Lin Ziqi's face before quickly disappearing.

Qin Siyuan is truly clueless. He has already admitted to everything, yet he still demands severe punishment for Wu Juren, which will only further incite public anger.

Now, Qin Siyuan's reputation is truly ruined!
He now has all the connections of the Qin family!

He suppressed his joy, clenched his fists tightly in his sleeves, and silently reminded himself that he needed to be more careful.

The Ninth Princess sneered, "Since you have already confessed, why do you still want to severely punish Wu, the scholar who made the report? That's absurd!"

Qin Siyuan was taken aback and said, "I do not understand what the Ninth Princess means. May I ask what crime I have committed? The evidence of Wu Juren's crime is right here, and he himself admitted to stealing the poems. Why is he not severely punished? Where have I been absurd?"

The Ninth Princess disdainfully pointed her jade finger and angrily shouted, "Just now, Scholar Wu said that you used the poems of Young Master Nantang to gain fame, and used these poems as evidence. You also said that these are the original manuscripts given to you by Young Master Nantang, so doesn't that mean what Scholar Wu said is true? Are you still going to deny it to the death?"

If you don't step up now, when will you?

Tomorrow, the entire capital will be filled with the illustrious name of the Ninth Princess.

She wished she could immediately trample this person underfoot so that Qin Yuan would also lose face. If she could take this opportunity to bring down Qin Jijiu, that would be even better. If she could replace him with someone from the Empress Dowager's faction, they might be able to challenge the Jiangxi faction that supported Prince Qi in the court.

Qin Siyuan, oblivious to the situation, still tried to make a last-ditch effort: "It's true that Scholar Wu took the original manuscript that Young Master Nantang gave me, but my poems did not borrow from Young Master Nantang's works, much less alter them. I was fortunate enough to receive guidance from Young Master Nantang, how could I do such a thing as deceiving my teacher!"

The Ninth Princess chuckled and raised her chin: "Qin Siyuan, stop arguing. If reading the original manuscript of Young Master Nantang's poems could transform you, Scholar Wu would naturally keep it a secret. Why expose you in public?"

Scholar Wu, who claimed to be seeking justice for all scholars: ...

The Ninth Princess continued to deduce: "There is only one possibility, that is, the poem on this has been used by you. Scholar Wu discovered that you had already obtained the poem written by the Young Master of Nantang before visiting Yuyuantan, and used it to gain fame. In his anger, he exposed your false reputation in public."

Wu, the scholar who reported the case out of anger and a desire to gain nothing: ...

King Qi chimed in, "That makes some sense, otherwise, the fact that Scholar Wu stole the poetry manuscript..."

The implication is that this person's despicable behavior is completely at odds with the lofty ideals he speaks of.

Wu, the scholar, looked ashen-faced and opened his mouth to argue.

Lin Ziqi suddenly spoke up, his voice trembling and hoarse: "Brother, so you... you value fame so much. I've always envied your extraordinary encounters and fantasized about being introduced to Young Master Nantang so that I could achieve the same success as you in the future."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he suddenly ripped off the hem of his shirt, and with a "rip," half of the hem was thrown to the ground, along with a resounding statement.

"In ancient times, people severed ties by cutting their mats; today, I, Lin Ziqi, tear my robe to sever all ties. I, Lin Ziqi, disdain to associate with such despicable people as you!"

The crowd applauded and cheered.

Qin Yuan sighed softly, "You are supposed to be a disciple of a sage. Confucius said: 'The Master avoided four things: preconceived notions, dogmatism, obstinacy, and egoism.' It seems that Scholar Lin is still lacking in self-cultivation."

"Avoid the four" refers to eliminating four faults, thereby avoiding rash judgments, rigidity, stubbornness, and self-righteousness. This is tantamount to pointing a finger at Lin Ziqi and saying that he is uncultured and unworthy of being a scholar.

Lin Ziqi's face turned ugly, but he quickly sneered, "Young Master Nantang and Qin Siyuan are in cahoots. No matter how high your reputation is, you're still despicable. What's wrong with me not wanting to be like you?"

The crowd echoed, "That's right. Bowing and scraping to the powerful and wealthy—where is the integrity of a scholar? Lin and Wu are the true role models for us. We have so highly praised Young Master Nantang, but it turns out he is not worthy of the title."

"Yes, from now on, we will no longer fawn over Young Master Nantang. No matter how good his poetry is, if his character is despicable, he is not worth mentioning."

The crowd was filled with rage, expressing their indignation.

Lord Gu's eyes widened, and he said angrily, "You scholars start making a fuss over nothing! The person hasn't even finished speaking yet, and you're already stirring things up. If you were to become officials, the people would all suffer."

Mr. Songshan also shook his head: "To speak based on hearsay is to abandon morality. Your behavior of speaking based on hearsay without verifying anything is truly worrying."

Seeing that the crowd's voices were gradually subsiding, the Ninth Princess said loudly, "Marquis Dingbei, you cannot publicly protect the Qin family and the young master of Nantang because of marriage ties, otherwise I will definitely appeal to the Emperor tomorrow."

Princess Fuyun immediately interrupted her spellcasting: "As a legitimate princess of the royal family, you should act impartially. Why don't you let her finish speaking before expressing your opinion? If there are other hidden reasons for this matter, it will not look good for Mother."

King Qi nodded: "What Master Songshan said is true. I am not talented, but I have heard my teacher talk about the Doctrine of the Mean. He said that in all things, one should study extensively, inquire carefully, think prudently, discern clearly, and practice diligently. Now that the matter has not been clarified, it is really inappropriate to make a decision hastily. It would be better if Young Master Nantang and Qin Siyuan explained the matter clearly."

Someone in the crowd chimed in, "Didn't Master Yangming say that we should investigate things to gain knowledge? We should investigate things until we can't investigate them anymore before we stop. This matter hasn't been explained clearly yet, so it's really not appropriate to condemn it."

"Yes, I've wanted to say this for a long time. We should always give people a chance to prove their innocence. How can we convict someone with just a few words?"

"But Lin Ziqi is Qin Siyuan's brother-in-law, and Wu Juren is Qin Siyuan's roommate. Both of them say so, how can Qin Siyuan be innocent?"

"If Your Excellency were to become a local official, I wonder how many wrongful convictions you would have committed."

"You talk as if you're some kind of upright official. If what Scholar Wu said is true, wouldn't people like us without any backing be wronged?"

Xiao Dong, who was mixed in with the crowd, was unhappy and shouted, "Even a kid like me can see that you just don't want to believe that Qin Siyuan has such an opportunity. After all, not everyone has the chance to receive guidance from Young Master Nantang, and not everyone can understand it so easily. In the end, it's just jealousy!"

"What do you know, you little brat?" The man's face flushed, and he bullied the younger one, saying, "The affairs of scholars are not something a little bean who hasn't even memorized the Analects can understand. Go play, is it your turn yet?"

Xiao Dong was furious.

To refute this, I must admit I haven't even read the Analects yet.

But he was unwilling to admit defeat so easily.

Suddenly remembering the story Qin Yuan had told him, he sneered, "Even Confucius took a child as his teacher. You're just a scholar at best, yet you look down on a little kid like me! You're truly a traitor to your teacher and ancestors. How can you have the face to stand between heaven and earth?"

"Hahahaha," everyone was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"You!" The man was furious and was about to slap Xiao Dong when his companion pulled him back and advised, "Stop arguing. What's the point of beating a kid? Wouldn't it be even more shameful if you lost? He doesn't look like an ordinary kid. It's better to avoid trouble."