Ye Yaming was thorough in her actions; she naturally wouldn’t let Zi Jin take the front line by reporting Song Yifeng.

Though Zi Jin wasn’t her real name, Cui was her mother’s surname. After sending Song Yifeng to prison, she could disguise the aunt and niece and have them stay in an alley for a few months. In this era without surveillance or electronic communications, it would be difficult for Madam Yu to find them.

When spring came next year and the weather warmed, she could find ways to alter Zi Jin’s household registry, then send them out of Lin’an City to a small southern town.

But for two women to go through the three-court trial, to be insulted by Madam Yu, to be cursed by Song Yifeng—their situation would become difficult. If some yamen runners or hooligans saw them as vulnerable and harbored evil intentions, and if Ye Yaming couldn’t keep an eye on them or couldn’t intervene in the yamen, they might fall into someone else’s trap.

So Ye Yaming definitely couldn’t let Zi Jin and her aunt become victims and get dragged into this lawsuit just for the sake of revenge against Song Yifeng.

She had someone leak the information to one of Song Yifeng’s rivals at the prefectural school.

This person was named Tang Kun, also considered a young talent, who had once been highly regarded by Wang Wenzhi. But ever since Song Yifeng passed the provincial examination and caught Wang Wenzhi’s eye, Tang Kun had fallen out of favor.

If it were just this, Tang Kun would merely be resentful. It wouldn’t be enough to make him want to destroy Song Yifeng.

But Tang Kun also wanted to become Wang Wenzhi’s son-in-law. Before Song Yifeng appeared in Wang Wenzhi’s circle, Wang Wenzhi had shown such an intention. However, after Song Yifeng—who was more talented, younger, and more handsome than Tang Kun—appeared, even though Song Yifeng was already engaged and couldn’t marry Wang’s daughter, Wang Wenzhi no longer looked favorably upon Tang Kun.

Wang Wenzhi probably had another thought: to wait until both men participated in the spring imperial examination; after they passed and became jinshi, they could discuss marriage then. He constantly hinted at betrothing his daughter to these talented scholars, but in reality, he was just stringing them along, waiting for the highest bidder.

After all, given his position, with two daughters who were like pearls and jade in appearance, with above-average looks, literate and educated, he wasn’t afraid they wouldn’t find husbands.

But Tang Kun couldn’t see through this and harbored hatred toward Song Yifeng. Especially since during every examination at the prefectural school, Song Yifeng always outperformed him. He believed his essays were well-written, but the officials at the school only had eyes for Song Yifeng, not for him.

Not just at the prefectural school, but also in the spring imperial examination two years later, Song Yifeng would be a strong competitor. As long as Song Yifeng was there, his ranking in the spring examination would always be pushed back by one. Perhaps he would be the one ranked just outside the cut-off line.

Besides this, Ye Yaming had people investigate Tang Kun and discovered he was also ruthless. If someone offended him, he would take revenge whenever possible—a perfectly qualified gunman.

On this day, Tang Kun received a letter from an unknown sender stating that Song Yifeng had written poems and essays expressing dissatisfaction with the court, the emperor, and officials like Wang Wenzhi. He immediately became excited.

The letter even specified exactly where these writings were kept, suggesting it wasn’t false.

And what did it matter if it was true or false? He didn’t want to show his face and attract trouble. Although the officials at the prefectural school looked down on Song Yifeng’s character, they acknowledged his talent and hoped that in the next spring examination, Song Yifeng could achieve a high rank, bringing glory to the Lin’an Prefectural School and them.

If they knew he was the one who reported Song Yifeng, they would certainly give him the cold shoulder.

Therefore, Tang Kun disguised his handwriting, using his left hand to write an anonymous letter, sealed it tightly, then had his confidant pay a beggar on the street to deliver this letter to the yamen.

When the yamen runner saw that the letter was reporting a provincial graduate for writing taboo poems and essays, he dared not conceal it and immediately reported to Prefect Qi Pei.

The letter was detailed and convincing. Besides, if someone knew about these taboo writings but didn’t handle them, and it was exposed, their official position would be at risk. Moreover, the reported person was Song Yifeng, whom Prefect Qi Pei didn’t think highly of. Prefect Qi had no reason to shield him and bring trouble upon himself.

He immediately had the judicial commissioner lead officials to search Song Yifeng’s home.

At that time, Madam Yu was at home engaging in a battle of wits with Mama Cui.

Madam Yu looked down on Zi Jin in every way. The reason she moved into the residence rented by Zi Jin was that she saw that Zi Jin’s food and clothing were quite good, suggesting she had money, so she came to take advantage.

So after moving in, she cried poverty every day, not contributing a single coin to household expenses, just waiting for Zi Jin and her maid to spend money on rice and vegetables. Then she would put on the airs of a future mother-in-law in front of Zi Jin, making Zi Jin serve her and follow her orders.

How could Madam Cui watch her niece being bullied? Besides, being too accommodating would make the Song mother and son suspicious of them. So she took on the role of an old servant protecting her mistress, and while Song Yifeng was at school, she would have major arguments with Madam Yu every three days and minor ones every two.

She wouldn’t shout during these arguments, but would just speak sarcastically or with a strange tone. Then when Song Yifeng returned, she would change her demeanor, making Madam Yu grind her teeth in anger.

But indeed, all household expenses were covered by Zi Jin, and she also paid the rent. Madam Yu had certainly taken advantage. Additionally, with her son being pointed at and isolated at the prefectural school, Madam Yu didn’t dare make her son constantly mediate such disputes.

Moreover, Madam Yu was depressed, and arguing with Madam Cui allowed her to vent her frustrations.

So the four people in the residence lived a lively life.

But on this day, an official suddenly arrived with yamen runners, knocked on the door and entered without saying much, asking which room was Song Yifeng’s bedroom, then directly pushed open the door and searched everywhere.

The anonymous letter had indicated the location of the poems and essays, so the yamen runners found them very precisely after entering.

The judicial commissioner looked at those writings, his face immediately darkening, and directly led the yamen runners to the prefectural school, where they arrested Song Yifeng in front of all the teachers and students.

Song Yifeng was still claiming innocence, thinking it was the Ye family using Magistrate Wu’s influence to harm him again. But when the judicial commissioner held his writings in front of him, he collapsed to the ground.

Although Wang Wenzhi and others despised Song Yifeng’s character, they were still hoping he would pass the imperial examination. Once he became a jinshi, they would be colleagues, and everyone would need to maintain face. After giving Song Yifeng the cold shoulder for a few days, when he actively sought them out to explain and apologize, they took the opportunity to forgive him.

His classmates were also wary of his prospects and didn’t dare offend him too much. Some even felt they should show concern during his difficulties, hoping to earn his goodwill when he was at his lowest point, so that after he passed the examination and became an official, he might help them.

So although Song Yifeng’s days at the prefectural school were not as spirited as before, they were still manageable.

Now that he was arrested, the teachers at the prefectural school naturally wanted to know the situation. As a result, the judicial commissioner had people show them the writings that were found.

The teachers could naturally recognize Song Yifeng’s handwriting. When Wang Wenzhi saw a poem filled with resentment toward himself, his expression changed immediately.