Qi Feng wept as he recounted, point by point, how he and Ni Xian had colluded in their misdeeds.
"That Lü Ping was raped and murdered by Ni Xian! Afterward, the Ni Family spent a full five thousand taels of silver to buy the Lü Clan's silence! The Lü Clan had originally wanted to sell their pretty daughter for a good price..."
"When the Tian father and son first filed their complaint, Uncle Ni... no, that old fox Ni Kuo said right in front of us not to fear those mud-legged Tian Family people. He said the county magistrate would definitely help him, and even told us to teach Tian Lu a lesson after Magistrate Ji delivered his verdict!"
"I may have bullied a few people, but I never dealt a killing blow! I'm not as ruthless as Ni Xian and Yan Shoudao. I was afraid something would happen, so I only dared to instigate minor injuries! Yan Shoudao is the truly vicious and merciless one. No fewer than three people were crippled by him! His family are wealthy merchants, so they aren't afraid of anything going wrong!"
"Though this student has a blemished record, I'm not stupid! What is Ni Xian to me? He's not worth a fart! The true sons of prestigious families and high officials in Ning'an County, no matter how much they steal like men and whore around like women behind closed doors, are upright gentlemen on the surface. They never leave anyone a handle to seize! Only petty dandies like Ni Xian, neither high nor low, who cannot see a farther horizon and possess no lofty ambition, throw their weight around in the academy! That grandson Ni Xian is beneath even Cold Gate students in my eyes!"
"If you don't believe me, ask around. This