Female Supremacy and Rise to Power: Lin Shu's Imperial Examination Adventures

Li Yun'er was stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered and said, "Sister, you really have a way! This way she can't take the imperial examination! Let's see how arrogant she can be then."

"Ah."

At this moment, Li Huanzhi, still somewhat weak, said, "Thank you for today. Have I caused you any trouble?"

This prefectural office is not a place where one can easily enter or leave. I wonder if Lin Shu was given a hard time when she was alone inside.

"No. You're my fiancé, not a nuisance."

When Lin Shu and the others arrived, they only rode one horse. Li Huanzhi had not yet recovered, and Lin Shu was helping him onto the horse while answering him earnestly.

Upon hearing the words "fiancé," Li Huanzhi, sitting on his horse, lowered his head somewhat embarrassed.

Lin Shu didn't notice; she was currently leading the horse by the reins, walking back side by side with Li Yun'er. However, she was already thinking about her next move.

That would be too lenient with Liu Qiqi. If she's not eliminated, there's no guarantee she won't cause future trouble. The more Liu Qiqi cares about something, the more she'll destroy it. If she wants to take the imperial examinations, then she'll destroy her hands; if she cares about her reputation, then she'll make her infamous…

Xu Jingyun's incident served as a reminder that while her skills were decent, she couldn't fight off multiple opponents. If her superpowers were to disappear or become inconvenient to use, wouldn't she be helpless? Moreover, her husband needed protection at home, so she needed to find an opportunity to train her own bodyguards…

……

evening.

Lin Shu escorted the Li siblings back home before returning herself.

Xue Wen and Su Mu were waiting for her to eat at home.

"Is Huanzhi alright?" Xue Wen asked worriedly.

"It's nothing." Lin Shu took the soup Su Mu handed her, nodded to him, and then replied to Xue Wen.

After dinner.

Su Mu took out a letter and handed it to Lin Shu, saying with a smile in his eyes, "This is a letter from A-Yun."

Lin Shu took the letter and raised an eyebrow. So fast? They've only been gone a few days!

Song Yun was very skilled at needlework, and the clothes she made were novel and beautiful. Su Mu was also very good at running a shop. So the two brothers planned to open a clothing shop together, but the plan was put on hold because Su Mu suddenly became pregnant.

A few days ago, Song's mother heard at the dock that there was a kind of fabric in Jiangnan with a natural fragrance that was snapped up by thousands as soon as it hit the market, and that once you wore it, you couldn't get enough of it. So, after some discussion, Song's parents accompanied Song Yun to investigate...

But to everyone's surprise, just two days later, I received a letter from Song Yun...

“It takes ten days to travel from Mengzhou to Jiangnan by the fastest waterway. It’s only been two days now. I suppose A-Yun must have just boarded the ship and couldn’t wait to send a letter back…” Su Mu couldn’t help but laugh as he spoke.

Lin Shu shook her head helplessly, opened the letter and saw that the handwriting on the paper was crooked and messy. The entire letter, several hundred words long, could only reveal that he missed Lin Shu and her older brother, and wanted Lin Shu to remember him, and so on...

Su Mu also came closer, saw the contents, and chuckled, "Ah Yun's handwriting doesn't seem like that of a wife-taught teacher..."

Lin Shu: ...

The two talked for a while longer. After Lin Shu escorted her husband back to his room, she went to her study, called a servant, gave him a few instructions, and then sent him away.

The servant, following instructions, pretended to be a government official and went to Liu Qiqi's house. He knocked on the door, told the woman who opened it about Liu Qiqi's situation, and said that Liu Qiqi had asked him to come and find her to raise money to get himself released...

"What? Three or five hundred taels? That's so much! Why don't we just rob them?" Madam Liu roared excitedly after hearing that it would cost at least three or five hundred taels.

"Young master, you jest. Robbing money is illegal. Whether or not to help is ultimately up to you, Young Master Liu," the servant said with a grin.

"Where would we get that much money?" The Liu family moved from the county to the prefectural city, incurring huge expenses, and now they have less than a hundred yuan left.

"I've delivered the message, and it's not good to stay out too long, so I'll head back now." Seeing this, the servant feigned regret and said:

"It's just a pity for that scholar Liu; his hand has been broken. If I hadn't felt sorry for him, I wouldn't have risked coming to deliver the news. I don't know if it's too late now, or if he'll be able to continue his studies..."

Upon hearing this, Madam Liu quickly grabbed the servant's arm: "Don't go yet, please show me the way."

The servant looked at his hand being grabbed, a strange smile playing on his lips. He turned to Liu and said, "You may not have money, but you do have a house, don't you?" He gestured towards the inside of the house with his chin, then continued:

"There's a really good money exchange in our city. The manager is a renowned philanthropist. Why don't you give it a try?"

Upon hearing this, Madam Liu fell into deep thought. He had heard before of a great philanthropist in the prefectural city who frequently distributed porridge and performed other acts of charity to pray for his mother, who had been bedridden for many years. Moreover, the money exchange he ran was dedicated to helping those truly in need, unlike others that offered compound interest... This must be the man...

Thinking of this, and seeing that the servant seemed genuinely anxious to return, he didn't suspect anything and quickly asked for the name of the money shop before letting the man go...

Lin Shu's side.

"Master, you don't know, but when Madam Liu heard me mention Liu's Money Shop, she didn't suspect a thing..."

"Alright, go down! Go and collect your reward from the master tomorrow." Lin Shu was satisfied after hearing the servant's detailed report.

After everyone left, Lin Shu finally curled the corners of her lips into a slight smile. Ha! Foolish. There was indeed a money exchange in the prefectural city that specifically helped those in need, but it wasn't Liu's Money Exchange; it was the Jimin Money Exchange. Liu's Money Exchange, on the other hand, was a place that specialized in lending money at exorbitant interest rates.

Sure enough, the next day, Liu couldn't wait to borrow five hundred taels from Liu's Money Shop. Looking at the smiling shopkeeper, he pressed his fingerprint without the slightest hesitation...

Finally, that afternoon, they successfully got Liu Qiqi out of the government jail.

After the doctor shook his head and left, Madam Liu looked at her emaciated daughter and cried uncontrollably, "Who the hell is this? My Qiqi!"

"Stop crying." Liu Qiqi said sharply with a gloomy look in her eyes. She was very agitated. The doctor had just said that she would have difficulty even picking up a pen in the future, let alone writing.

Lin Shu! I will make you wish you were dead... pay for my pain a hundredfold, a thousandfold...

Unfortunately, she didn't know that the other party would never give her that chance.

……

three days later.

In Shanshui Lane, where the Liu family lived, a house caught fire. Neighbors rushed out to help put it out, but those who went in came out with disgusted expressions.

...A few days later, a rumor spread like wildfire throughout the city, and Liu Qiqi was expelled from Nachuan Academy for her bad behavior.

The two thought that they would be fine as long as they stayed home, but a few days later, the people from the money shop came to collect the debt. They had borrowed money for 10 days at an interest rate of 50 taels per day, totaling 1000 taels.

The two of them were robbed of their remaining money and the courtyard, and Liu Qiqi even had her leg broken...

In the end, Liu had no choice but to take Liu Qiqi back to their old village and resume their old trade to support the two of them...

Liu Qiqi watched as Liu Shi was pampered by different women every day, yet she grew more and more haggard each day.

Until one night, she had a dream in a daze. In the dream, she could distinguish right from wrong, was not misled by her father, and did not... (omitting two words that were not allowed to be released).

In her dream, she married Li Huanzhi, and they lived a happy life together. Her career was also bright...

Finally, she slowly uttered a few words from her throat, and then closed her eyes forever:

"Wrong... wrong... wrong..."

It's unclear whether she meant the ending was wrong, or if she herself knew she was wrong...

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