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

Before I knew it, it was time for my day off. The morning light was just beginning to break, and it looked like it was going to be a rare sunny day.

After finishing her breakfast, Lin Shu went out and arrived at the brokerage firm on Sifang Street.

The person who greeted her was Aunt Qian, whom Su Mu had met when he rented a room last time.

As soon as I entered, Aunt Qian greeted me warmly, constantly saying auspicious words:

"Oh my! This young lady has an extraordinary air about her. Are you buying a house or a woman? I'm not bragging, but in this entire prefecture, I have the most complete selection..."

"Is there anyone who knows martial arts?" Lin Shu interrupted, unwilling to listen to her rambling any longer.

Upon hearing this, Granny Qian paused briefly, assuming Lin Shu was looking for a bodyguard. This bodyguard not only needed to know martial arts, but also couldn't be ugly, lest he frighten a distinguished guest; finding one was truly difficult. Therefore, she said with a troubled expression:

"Miss, are you looking to buy bodyguards? Alas! You are unaware that skilled martial artists are extremely rare, and most have already been recruited by wealthy families..."

"No problem, as long as you're skilled in martial arts, it's fine," Lin Shu replied expressionlessly.

"Oh dear, there really is one, Miss, please wait a moment." Upon hearing this, Aunt Qian quickly called to her servants to bring the person out.

Before long, he brought out eight or nine slaves, all of whom were bound hand and foot, seemingly to prevent them from escaping.

"Miss, look! It's all here."

"Hmm." Lin Shu's gaze slowly swept over the people. She was truly dissatisfied with the first few; their eyes were devoid of any light, resembling soulless walking corpses. Until...

"I want these three." A glint of light flashed in Lin Shu's eyes when she saw the last three.

These three were clearly not ordinary people; they exuded a bloodthirsty aura, and if I'm not mistaken, they should be assassins. Moreover, they were bound not with ropes, but with iron chains, indicating that they must be highly skilled in martial arts.

Upon hearing this, Aunt Qian glanced at the three men, her eyelids trembled slightly, and a look of hesitation appeared on her face. She then said slowly:

“Um… Miss, have you thought this through? These three have disfigured faces; they might be difficult to show to others… Moreover, they haven’t been trained by the dental clinic. What if they accidentally harm you or your family…”

"It's alright, make your bid!" Lin Shu said nonchalantly.

The three men looked up at Lin Shu, increasingly puzzled. Their faces were disfigured, and they never expected that someone would be willing to buy them, especially such a beautiful woman.

Seeing this, Aunt Qian's face blossomed into a smile as bright as a chrysanthemum, as if she wanted to raise the price:

"Miss truly has discerning eyes. These three were originally top assassins from the Shadow Assassin Pavilion. I heard they were targeted for revenge after failing in a mission a few days ago, which is why they were branded and sold off..."

As he spoke, seemingly noticing a hint of impatience on Lin Shu's face, he quickly offered a price:

"Twenty taels per person. Don't think the price is too high. Even ordinary guards cost twenty taels. Although these men have disfigured faces, their martial arts skills are superb!"

Lin Shu remained silent, took out a silver note from her bosom and handed it to Granny Qian. After Granny Qian handed her the indenture, she said, "Untie me."

The three never imagined that they would only be worth sixty taels of silver in total. In the past, any one of their missions would have earned them at least ten thousand taels of silver... But now, times have changed...

……

And so, Lin Shu led the three people dressed in black and covered in blood back home. After the three of them had washed up, she summoned them to her study.

study.

Lin Shu held the indenture in her hand, sat upright at the table, and looked expressionlessly at the two women and one man standing below.

"Are you assassins?"

"Yes." The three women were somewhat arrogant. Although they were like tigers fallen into the plains, they were not afraid of a weak woman like Lin Shu.

Lin Shu raised an eyebrow and said, "I'll give you one chance, the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. If you can hurt me, you can leave with the contract of indenture; otherwise, you'll stay here and serve me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the only man on the far right leaped up, his five fingers forming a claw, and attacked Lin Shu; the other two women also came to their senses, one attacking from the front and the other from the left.

In an instant, Lin Shu was surrounded by three people from three sides, with a chair behind her. Upon closer inspection, it seemed there was no way to escape.

Before the three could even feel happy, they sensed a sudden drop in temperature, their blood seemingly freezing, and time itself appearing to stand still. And so, they stopped just an inch away from Lin Shu, suspended eerily in mid-air in a lunging posture…

At this moment, Lin Shu stood up from her chair, stretched out her slender hand, caught a snowflake that seemed to drift from nowhere, and gently squeezed it. The three people who had been suspended in mid-air were all sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the bookshelf behind them, scattering pages everywhere...

"Would you like to try again?" Lin Shu slowly sipped her tea and asked.

The three exchanged a glance, stood up, knelt down with a thud, and shouted in unison, "Master!"

"Get up!"

After the three stood up, Lin Shu continued, "If you wish to follow me, you must not betray me, otherwise..."

Before they could finish speaking, the temperature plummeted again, and the three of them seemed to experience the near-death feeling they had just gone through. They hurriedly knelt down and said, "Your subordinates swear to follow you to the death!"

"Hmm. From now on, from left to right, they will be called Zi Yi, Chou Er, Yin San... I intend to establish an intelligence organization, and this matter will be handled by Zi Yi..."

"Yes, sir." Zi Yi replied, then asked, "And this name..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Shu realized that intelligence gathering in Fengming Kingdom was currently lagging behind. She wanted to build a unique intelligence network in all the prefectures and cities across the country to exchange information, including strange and unusual events, as well as private matters in residences, and so on...

Since it is the only one of its kind in Fengming, then:

"Let's call it Wushuang Pavilion! Wushuang Pavilion will have twelve pavilion masters, each in charge of their respective duties according to the state government. Ziyi will collect these matters and submit them to me monthly."

Lin Shu paused briefly, then said to Chou Er:

"You are in charge of recruiting the remaining nine pavilion masters. You have three days. Also, by whatever means you use, I want to see the first Wushuang Pavilion open to the public within seven days..."

Zi Yi asked with some doubt, "Master, this information has always been sold by some assassin organizations. We, the Peerless Pavilion, are new here. How can we... make a profit?"

Before she could finish speaking, Lin Shu understood what she meant and said:

"The intelligence of the assassin organization is worth a fortune, while we write the intelligence down on paper, divide it into sections, and can even add some storytelling serials to sell to the general public."

Seeing the strange expressions on the three men's faces, Lin Shu naturally knew they were worried about someone being jealous and seeking revenge. So she added with a cold and stern expression, "If anyone causes trouble, kill one to warn a hundred."

"Yes!"

……

Lin Shu then asked why they had been sold off by the Shadow Assassin Tower. It turned out that their attempt to intercept a nobleman coming to the capital had failed, and they didn't know who it was that could make the Shadow Assassin Tower send out its top assassins...

"Go and get it done. Also, Yin San, find some people with good aptitude and train a group of bodyguards as soon as possible..."

Just as the three were about to leave, Lin Shu spoke again: "Wait, tidy up." She pointed to the papers scattered on the floor...

Zi 1/Chou 2/Yin 3: ...

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