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

The Lin family's old house, Lin Dafeng's house.

"My lady, my lady, this is wonderful, wonderful... such amazing news..."

"What's wrong? What makes you so happy?" Lin Dafeng lay lazily under the peach tree in the courtyard of her brick house. Hearing Du Ruo's surprised voice, she didn't even bother to lift her eyelids, clearly not taking Du Ruo's good news seriously.

Du Ruo curled her lips, not annoyed at all. After all, she was used to her lazy attitude. If it weren't for her good looks and some family wealth, she wouldn't have followed her after leaving Chun Jiao Pavilion.

"My lady, guess what I just saw?"

Before Lin Dafeng could answer, he continued, "It was your eldest daughter, Lin Shu. You didn't see it just now. She was incredibly generous. She took out fifty taels of silver to pay off her gambling debts and bought a lot of grain and cloth."

Tell me, how did she suddenly become so rich...? Yue'er will be taking the imperial examination next February, and she's sure to pass with flying colors. But the money spent on bribes and getting to the exam isn't a small amount, so maybe...”

When Du Ruo mentioned fifty taels, Lin Dafeng's eyes opened, a greedy glint flashing in them like that of a hungry wolf.

Unbeknownst to anyone, over the years, the Lin family's finances had been stretched thin, like a spring about to dry up, in order to support their youngest daughter, Lin Yue's, education. So when she suddenly heard that Lin Shu had money, her first thought was to seize it.

However, remembering that the two families had already severed ties, her eyes darted around slyly, and feigning reluctance, she said:

"Alas! It's just that we've severed ties, otherwise, given the current situation at home... we could have asked Shu'er for help, after all, Yue'er is her sister..."

Upon hearing this, Du Ruo assumed Lin Dafeng disagreed and immediately became as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, saying:

“My lady, you said it yourself, Yue’er is her sister, what’s wrong with her contributing a little money? If all else fails, give her a chance to be recognized as a member of the family. Yue’er is destined to be a high-ranking official in the future. In the end, it’s Lin Shu who benefits.”

Lin Dafeng pretended to ponder for a moment, then helplessly took Du Ruo's hand and sighed:

"Sigh! Don't worry, Yue'er is my most proud daughter after all. She will surely achieve great things in the future. With her help, I believe Shu'er will not refuse."

"When shall we go?" Du Ruo asked impatiently as soon as his wife agreed.

"Shu'er is lazy and irresponsible. Let's go now and pick up Awen and his two sons-in-law first, and help them move their things back while we're at it." With that, the two of them went out and headed towards Lin Shu's house.

Lin Shu's thatched cottage.

Lin Shu had not returned yet, while Lin's father and his two sons-in-law were busy cooking at the stove, first rendering pork fat, which would last for a long time.

Let's make some stir-fried pork slices. After all, it's winter and there are no seasonings, so we'll just have to make do. But this is a rare delicacy for the Lin family, since farmers rarely get to eat meat all year round.

With a "bang," the courtyard gate was opened from the outside. Song Yun thought it was Lin Shu returning, but he was no longer afraid of Lin Shu.

"My wife is back!" He immediately hopped and skipped like a happy little rabbit to greet Lin Shu. Su Mu was also constantly looking towards the kitchen door.

"Ah, who are you? What brings you to my house?" Song Yun asked blankly when she saw a man and a woman enter. The man was petite and cute with delicate features, and looked to be around thirty years old. The woman was tall and beautiful. She looked somewhat familiar to Song Yun.

He married into the family late and didn't know anyone from the Lin family's old house.

Hearing the commotion, Lin's father and Su Mu quickly came out of the kitchen. When Lin's father saw that it was Lin Dafeng and Du Ruo, he knew the purpose of their visit. He immediately gave them a cold look and told them to leave: "You are not welcome here. Get out of here."

Lin Dafeng was humiliated and looked rather displeased. Remembering their purpose, Du Ruo quickly stepped forward, took Lin's father's hand, and said with a smile:

"Brother, my wife and I have come today to take you and Shu'er home. Don't be confused."

In today's world, without a clan, it is extremely difficult to move forward. There was a hint of struggle in Lin's father's eyes.

But then she suddenly remembered that five years ago, when Lin Yue caused trouble but made Shu'er take the blame, and was beaten half to death and had her reputation ruined and kicked out of the house, she was filled with hatred.

"Hurry up and leave, this is my home."

"Xue Wen, you think I'm being too nice to you? Don't forget, you're still my woman. If I want to take you home, who dares to say anything?"

Enraged, Lin Dafeng reached out to pull Lin's father, Xue Wen (hereafter referred to as Lin Shu's father Xue Wen), and asked Du Ruo to go to the kitchen to get something.

Su Mu and Song Yun rushed to help Xue Wen. Just as Du Ruo was bringing the rice and flour from the kitchen to the yard, an unexpected incident occurred. Xue Wen bumped into the firewood in the yard during the shoving, and blood immediately flowed all over his face.

Upon seeing this, Lin Dafeng and the other person immediately picked up the grain and ran away. Su Mu quickly went to help Xue Wen and asked Song Yun to go to the village entrance to invite Doctor Hu over.

When Lin Shu returned carrying two large wooden planks, she immediately sensed the unusual atmosphere in the courtyard as soon as she stepped inside. She put down the planks and went straight to her father's room, where Su Mu and Song Yun were feeding Xue Wen his medicine.

"What happened? Who hurt him?" Lin Shu asked in an icy tone.

"Shu'er, Dad is fine, don't worry. The doctor said I'll be fine in a couple of days..." Seeing his daughter's increasingly grim expression, Xue Wen's voice grew softer and softer as he spoke.

Lin Shu turned her head to her two husbands, signaling them to speak.

Feeling flustered by her gaze, Su Mu pursed his lips and said, "It's...it's someone from the old house..."

"Waaaaah~ My lady, you must stand up for us! They've gone too far! They injured Father and stole all our food! If my elder brother hadn't hidden the meat first, we definitely wouldn't have survived either, waaaaah~"

Seeing that Su Mu had spoken first, Song Yun no longer held back and told him everything.

"Okay, I understand. You two rest well first. I'm going out for a bit." Lin Shu said calmly, then walked outside. Upon reaching the courtyard, she noticed her two husbands were still following her. After a moment's thought, she said to Su Mu:

“Su Mu, come with me. Song Yun will stay home to take care of Father.”

Su Mu is calm and collected; it's good to have his help.

At this moment, wisps of smoke are rising from the Lin family's old house.

The Lin family sat around the dining table. Lin Yue stared at the pearly white rice on the table. Her plump face and bright eyes darted around before she blushed and said to Lin Dafeng:

"Mother, I will be taking the exam next year. I would love for the tutor to give me more guidance; it would surely make me more confident. Unfortunately, I am short of money..."

Looking at her daughter's pitiful appearance, Lin Dafeng felt a pang of heartache. "Yue'er, I have my own way of getting money. You just focus on your studies. If all else fails, I'll go find that little beast Lin Shu..."

Before Lin Dafeng could finish speaking, a loud "bang" was heard. The courtyard gate was kicked down by Lin Shu, raising a cloud of dust as if a sandstorm had suddenly descended. Even the originally fragrant food in the courtyard was covered with a thick layer of dust.

"Cough cough...cough cough cough..." A series of coughs from Lin Dafeng and the others suddenly rang out in the courtyard, the sound like an old bellows struggling to breathe.

The dust has settled.

"Cough cough... Lin Shu, I'm your mother, what are you doing, you little beast? Cough cough...?" Lin Dafeng was coughing so hard her lungs were about to burst.

Du Ruo and Lin Yue wanted to say something in support, but when they looked up and saw Lin Shu's cold eyes, they were speechless. Lin Yue even shrank back behind her parents unconsciously. She hadn't forgotten how fierce Lin Shu was five years ago.

"Bring the grain." Looking at this family, Lin Shu didn't want to get entangled with them any longer. If they didn't know what was good for them, then... humph!

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