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

After everything was settled, a few days later, Yin San, who was in charge of training the secret guards, returned with a woman in her early twenties.

"Master, this woman collapsed outside the cave where we were training. After rescuing her, we saw that her martial arts skills were superb. We originally intended to get rid of her, but she volunteered to be your bodyguard. Therefore, we brought her back for your judgment..."

What Yin San didn't say was that he couldn't beat this person, and that training a group of excellent bodyguards would take a long time, which is why he risked bringing the person back.

Lin Shu then looked up and saw that the woman in front of her was tall and slender. Although she deliberately dressed in a rough manner, she still had an outstanding temperament and deep, bright eyes. However, her face was plain and she was wearing a gray linen dress. The whole person looked very incongruous.

As she scrutinized the man, he was also examining her. Feng Zhao stared at the woman before her, feeling as if she had seen her before, but she couldn't recall where she had met her.

"Oh? A guard?" Lin Shu immediately looked at the person in front of her with a blank expression.

This person has clear and honest eyes, unlike a treacherous and evil person. Moreover, not long after the Shadow Killer Tower's assassination attempt failed, he collapsed at the entrance of a cave outside the city. This person must be the "noble person" who came from the capital!

“Indeed, I am Xiao Zhao. To be honest, Miss, I am a martial artist who was chased here by my enemies. Fortunately, I was rescued by Miss’s men. To repay the debt of saving my life, I am willing to stay and serve Miss.”

Feng Zhao spoke nonsense with a straight face. If she could stay, she could use this identity to investigate until her own people arrived.

Lin Shu raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "Then stay."

"I hope Miss will reconsider... Hmm?" Feng Zhao seemed surprised that she agreed so easily and wanted Lin Shu to consider keeping her.

Lin Shu said in a deep voice, "I'll keep you here for two months." After two months, she will participate in the provincial examination and will not stay in the prefectural city.

Upon hearing this, Feng Zhao understood that this person must already know her intentions, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "This woman is indeed exceptionally intelligent."

The next day.

"This is the new guard, Xiao." Lin Shu introduced Feng Zhao to the Lin family, saying that he was her former classmate who had fallen on hard times and could no longer study, but was skilled in martial arts, so he came here to seek refuge and temporarily serve as a guard.

Feng Zhao: ...? Guard Xiao?

With no objections from the crowd, Feng Zhao settled down at the Lin family's residence.

Wushuang Pavilion opened as scheduled. Unexpectedly, Ziyi had a good business sense. With a little guidance, he found some beggars to "sell newspapers" in the streets and alleys.

Yes! Because it was intelligence and written on paper, Ziyi cleverly named it "newspaper".

The first issue uses the Jiangnan spice opium as a gimmick, while other sections add many secrets of the inner quarters, such as Qiu Shu, the eldest daughter of Prefect Qiu, keeping male prostitutes, and Xu Jingyun, the daughter of Magistrate Xu, having a penchant for women.

However, unexpectedly, Lin Shu reversed the genders of the male and female characters according to her memories from her previous life, and the first chapter of Mo's "The Story of the Stone" became the most popular.

At first, people didn't think much of it, and the storybook was relegated to a corner. It wasn't until an old scholar read it and praised it highly that people started to take notice. Little did they know that once they took notice, it would spread like wildfire and become unstoppable...

Teahouses and restaurants arranged for storytellers to perform a story every day... especially those four lines of poetry, which were almost universally recited...

[Full of absurd words, a handful of bitter tears!]

Everyone says the author is obsessed, but who understands the true meaning within? ...

……

Unfortunately, the peaceful days didn't last long.

On the fourth day of Wushuang Pavilion's opening, someone arrived at the door. This person was the manager of the Mengzhou branch of Yingshalou. His intentions were obvious: he claimed to want to cooperate with Wushuang Pavilion, but in reality, he wanted to take it over…

Lin Shu naturally refused, so Shadow Kill Tower sent many assassins to her door that very day.

Private duels were strictly forbidden within the prefectural city, but because Wushuang Pavilion's previous newspaper articles had offended the prefect and the assistant prefect, the government turned a blind eye. The prefect's daughter, Qiu Shu, even held a so-called flower-viewing banquet, a grand affair, in an attempt to divert everyone's attention...

Lin Shu is now quite famous in the prefectural city, so she was also among those invited.

Feng Zhao had already learned of Lin Shu's identity a few days ago, and thus volunteered to go with her. Her own people hadn't arrived yet, and she didn't know if they were still being ambushed. If she could get Prefect Qiu's help, things would be much easier.

……

As darkness fell, Lin Shu returned home covered in blood. Judging from her appearance, the matter of Wushuang Pavilion should have been resolved.

"Let's go, Guard Xiao." After washing up, Lin Shu led Feng Zhao to Prefect Qiu's residence.

Feng Zhao: ...

The banquet had already begun, and the invitees were all so-called "young talents." Most of them knew each other, and some even brought their servants, whose behavior was quite unseemly.

After Lin Shu and her companion entered, Chen Jin pulled them to sit in the last row, away from the crowd. However, someone was not going to let them go.

Qiao Mu, Qiu Shu's lackey, looked at Lin Shu and the other two with a twisted expression, his words full of malice:

"Ha! Isn't this our renowned Chief Scholar Lin? Why are you sitting so far away? Do you perhaps think that our Miss Qiu is not worthy to sit with you?"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Shu's expression changed from playful to somewhat gloomy, and she stared at Lin Shu and the others.

Lin Shu never expected that this would be used to make malicious assumptions.

Before she could speak, Chen Jin, standing to the side, timidly offered an explanation:

“Miss, it’s me… I brought Lin Shu to sit here. The clothes of the gentlemen beside you are very fragrant, unlike ordinary clothes. I was afraid that if I went over there, I would offend them.”

When Lin Shu and Feng Zhao, who were standing beside her, heard the fragrance of the clothes, they couldn't help but think of something, and their eyes became deep and thoughtful.

Hearing this, Qiu Shu was quite pleased with herself and the topic was diverted. She said:

"You're smart to know what's good for you. But this dress is truly worth a fortune. I dare say that in the entire Phoenix Cry Kingdom, apart from my brother, no one else possesses such a fine item..."

Before she could finish speaking, a man adorned with exquisite jewelry stepped out from behind the screen and shouted sternly, "Qiu Shu! Shut up!"

Everyone turned to look at the newcomer. Although he had an ordinary appearance, he possessed an inexplicable charm. This must be Qiu Ze, the number one scholar of Mengzhou Prefecture back then.

Qiu Shu realized she had spoken rashly out of momentary pride, but being reprimanded in front of so many people still angered her, and she retorted:

"What are you so smug about? You're just a widow living with your mother's family. Your future depends on me..."

Before she could finish speaking, she was stunned by Qiu Ze's piercing gaze and fell silent for a moment.

However, Qiu Ze seemed not to care about her and gestured to the servant beside him.

The servant hurriedly stepped forward and said without a trace of emotion, "It's getting late, everyone, please go back."

The banquet ended unhappily.

After everyone left, Qiu Ze glanced contemptuously at Qiu Shu, turned and went back to his room. He sat upright on the couch, closed his eyes to calm himself down, and only then did he say:

"Fool! If he weren't my sister, I would have killed him."

The servant inside pretended not to hear and stood aside with his head bowed.

But a short while later, a seriously injured woman fell from the eaves with a "bang".

"Who?"

"Shadow Tower, Silver Fifteen." The Shadow Tower is named after gold, silver, and bronze. Gold-ranked assassin number one is called Gold One, and so on.

The person who came was one of the assassins who failed in her assassination attempt at Wushuang Pavilion and fled. When she returned to the Mengzhou branch, she found the place littered with corpses and no survivors. Helpless, she had no choice but to come to Qiu Ze, the head of the branch.

Upon hearing this, Qiu Ze's expression turned even more grim. He picked up the hairpin he had been playing with and plunged it directly into the man's temple, saying:

"Useless! All of them are useless, they don't even know who killed them... Peerless Pavilion..."

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