Report to the Empress and the Eldest Princess: They're using the system to poach your men.

"I'll give you a white piece, you go first."

Shen Sangwan naturally swapped her chess basket with Shen Yuchen's.

Luckily, I'm a big fan of this stuff, otherwise I wouldn't even have a chance to put on airs with the little emperor, hehe.

By the middle game, the opening strategy was already set.

Shen Sangwan demonstrated two escape methods to Shen Yuchen, ultimately winning by half a point.

"Can you calm your mind?"

Shen Yuchen nodded somewhat ashamed.

"I gave you two chances, but I also put myself in a dead end twice. This game is different from the previous one. You can now use the two forces to restrain each other, which shows that you have made great progress. Even if the other party is putting on an act, you have achieved your goal. As for the outcome, just like this game of chess, who knows what will happen until the very last moment?"

Shen Yuchen took Shen Sangwan's warning to heart.

"Sister, if you were a man, you would surely be a king a hundred times better than me."

"No way! What's so great about being a king? You work yourself to the bone and get nothing in return. You're always on guard against this and that. Being able to live a normal lifespan is already a great blessing."

"Get out of here, get out of here! Don't get involved, I value my life."

“Ah Chen, you are just too young and inexperienced. I believe in you. One day, you will be a calm and capable king.”

Shen Yuchen's furrowed brows had long since relaxed. "Sister, now that we're in a dead end, what should we do?"

When is the provincial examination scheduled?

"The 18th of next month."

"Has this been announced to the world?"

"The Left Prime Minister has already ordered someone to write a notice."

Shen Sangwan picked up the chess pieces one by one and put them back into the chess basket.

"Sister, why did you put the white pieces inside..."

Halfway through his sentence, Shen Yuchen suddenly remembered something. "Fu'an, Fu'an, summon the Minister of Personnel to an audience immediately."

“Ah Chen, the provincial examination is extremely important. The only thing your older sister can do to help you is to do her best to ensure that no one is cheated or corrupt. If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Today, you should stir up this stagnant water. This is the best strategy.”

Shen Yuchen sat back down in his original position and laid all the chess pieces on the chessboard.

“In the past, the questions for the provincial examinations were all set by the inspectors who were dispatched to various places. The questions were opened on the day of the examination. As a result, leaks, leaks, and selling of questions were commonplace, and there were also many other serious incidents such as exchanging exam papers. It was a real problem.”

Shen Sangwan haphazardly stirred the scattered chess pieces together again with her hand, completely mixing the black and white pieces together.

"The exam questions were then set by Zhongdu and delivered to each prefecture on the day of the exam, and were presented to the candidates in front of them."

“Sister, this method won’t work. Not to mention that the distance from each place to the capital is different, and we can’t guarantee that the test questions will be delivered on time, the probability of accidents on the way is also hard to control.”

Shen Sangwan picked out the white pieces one by one. "Solutions are devised. For example, how do you separate these messy pieces in the fastest way?"

Before the opponent could respond, Shen Sangwan tilted the chessboard, causing the white pieces to slide down rapidly, while the black pieces remained firmly attached to the board.

"Look, this is the method that people in the past came up with."

"The exam questions can be sealed in a special box. Each prefecture will send an inspector, escorted by the Imperial Guard. The method to open the box will be broken down and told to different people. Only when they are put together can the question be solved."

"What if someone forcibly removes the roll box?"

"Does Ah Chen still remember the wooden puzzle blocks you played with when you were little?"

Mentioning the past, Shen Yucheng's cheeks flushed red again, and he lowered his head shyly.

"I remember Ah Chen was so angry that he wanted to smash it open with an axe, but in the end he didn't succeed. If we had found a skilled craftsman to make a cleverly crafted box, would Ah Chen still think this method wouldn't work?"

Shen Sangwan had originally planned to ask Wen Yuening for help, but while playing chess just now, she accidentally glanced at a mortise and tenon toy on a bookshelf in the distance, and the current solution came to her mind.

"In the future, I will definitely build a shrine and sculpt a statue for my elder sister so that she may be revered by all people."

If anyone else had said this to her, Shen Sangwan would have thought they were just making empty promises, but coming from the mouth of this young emperor, she believed it completely.

After all, the young emperor's thought process is not like that of ordinary people. He can do many amazing things, and most of the time his words become law.

"Heavens above! Please don't flatter me. I'm just a nobody; what merit do I have to deserve the respect of so many?"

“Achen, don’t talk nonsense. You must never mention such words again in the future.”

“Sister, you deserve it. Why can’t we mention it? Even if you didn’t help students make a living, your military achievements in protecting the border over the years are enough to qualify you.”

Shen Sangwan stood up and patted the other's head. "I accept your kindness, but this matter of repairing the shrine and shaping the body is absolutely forbidden. If you want to shorten my lifespan, you can ignore my advice today."

"Sister, I...I...I didn't mean that, I just wanted to..."

"Your elder sister knows everything. All your elder sister needs is for you and Mother to be safe and sound, and for the people of Nanjing to live in peace and prosperity. That is the best way for you to repay your elder sister."

The young emperor held Shen Sangwan tightly, forcing back tears, "Sister!"

Shen Sangwan gently patted the other person's back, "Alright, you're a man, you can't shed tears so easily."

After Shen Yuchen took a deep breath to compose himself, Fu'an's voice came from outside the hall.

"The rest is up to you. Are you confident?"

"Yes." Shen Yuchen nodded solemnly.

After patting the other person's shoulder twice, Shen Sangwan left Xingde Hall from the side hall and headed straight for Fengluan Palace.

[Beep beep beep, the deadline for the detection task is approaching. Please complete it as soon as possible.]

Xiao Tong and Shen Sangwan were both taken aback, then opened the panel and saw a new side quest that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Are you kidding me?!"

[Master, it's my fault, it's my fault. I didn't check in time. I thought you could read the tasks yourself, so I didn't keep an eye on them.]

Shen Sangwan wasn't cursing Xiao Tong, but rather the sixth brother in the main system; this was clearly a deliberate attempt to sabotage her.

"thump!"

Time was up, and she finally reached the cobblestone path between the two palaces, collapsing to the ground, utterly exhausted.

Previously, when leaving Chonghua Palace, she had specifically asked Shuyi to wait for the Empress outside, but now she has shot herself in the foot.

A light rain began to fall from the sky at that moment.

It was truly a case of "when it rains, it pours," and "when the boat is late, it gets caught in a headwind."

"Xiaotong, I can't muster any strength at all."

"Master, I... I can't save you either. I can only wait for the punishment to pass."

"If an assassin were to appear now, do you think they'd be kind enough to leave me a whole corpse?"

[Pah, ah, ah, don't jinx it! This is the palace, where would an assassin come from?]

Shen Sangwan lay face up, raindrops hitting her face in a dense, stinging manner.

What exactly did the system do to me? Was it an anesthetic or something else?

I cannot monitor my master's health.

【Hey—hey, Master, look at that mission panel! The second timeout is almost here again.】