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

"Watch your eyes and mouth, or else... humph!" The pageboy looked at Chen Jin, his eyes full of warning. After saying that, he led everyone in through the side door.

After wandering around, we arrived at an old courtyard, which should be the original form of Nachuan Academy. Later, as the number of students increased, many new courtyards were built, and this one was left idle.

Pushing open the door, Chen Jin was greeted by several statues of upright and learned scholars. Looking at them, a hint of mockery flashed in his eyes. Who would have thought that such a seemingly scholarly and sacred place was actually a den of iniquity...

There were two people inside the room at that moment, none other than Prefect Qiu and Qiu Ze.

The place where the two were standing didn't look like a house, but more like a warehouse, with dozens of dock crates piled up inside. If I'm not mistaken, those should be the hibiscus cloth...

"Master, the person has been brought." Upon entering the room, the page bowed to Qiu Ze, who had his back to everyone. His eyes seemed to only see Qiu Ze, and he didn't seem to care about Prefect Qiu. Prefect Qiu seemed to be used to this and didn't mind.

"Okay. Bring it over." Qiu Ze turned around and gave the order.

His men quickly released Lin Shu and the other woman from the sack. This was the first time Qiu Ze had looked at Lin Shu so closely; he hadn't noticed her before. His eyes lit up.

He took a few steps forward, raised his hand to touch Lin Shu's face, then lowered it as if remembering something, and said softly, "What a pity!"

Then, he raised his hand and groped Feng Zhao's face, and soon tore off a fake human skin.

"Ah! It's her." As the human skin hit the ground, Prefect Qiu exclaimed in surprise.

"Mother?" Qiu Ze frowned, looking at Prefect Qiu with a puzzled expression.

Prefect Qiu's voice trembled: "Ze'er, this... do we really have to kill these two?" She had lived in the capital before and knew Feng Zhao.

"Mother, this is the will of the esteemed one above." Qiu Ze didn't know why Prefect Qiu would ask this question, since it had already been agreed upon before.

"But we can't afford to offend her! She...she is...the Crown Princess! If we kill her, it would be tantamount to rebellion!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Shu, who was standing to the side, and Chen Jin, who had followed in, were both secretly surprised. Although they knew that her identity was not simple, they did not expect that she was actually the Crown Princess.

Qiu Ze was also shocked for a moment, but he quickly suppressed it and said with a serious expression:

“Mother, they now suspect us. If we don’t get rid of them, how can we survive? Besides, what we’ve done is nothing short of rebellion.”

"Fine! Now that things have come to this, let's listen to Ze'er." These words left Prefect Qiu speechless. There was no other way now but to rely on Qiu Ze to secure a bright future for himself…

"Ah! Lord Qiu, how have you been?"

Before anyone could react, Feng Zhao, who should have been unconscious, opened his eyes and said with a mocking smile, the ropes binding him somehow coming off.

"You...you're not unconscious? How could you..." Qiu Ze began in disbelief, but before he could finish speaking, Lin Shu held a sword to his neck.

The surrounding subordinates quickly surrounded him, but with Qiu Ze in Lin Shu's hands, no one dared to make a move.

"Aren't you going to make a move?" With Qiu Ze's shout, two hidden guards suddenly appeared and attacked Lin Shu with great speed, one in front and one behind. Feng Zhao quickly stepped forward to help her repel one of the opponents.

Lin Shu easily repelled the other person, but little did she know that Qiu Ze was also ruthless towards her. Seizing the opportunity, he rolled to the side without regard for anything else, thus escaping the attack range of Lin Shu and Qiu Ze.

Qiu Ze stood up, tore off a piece of cloth, covered his bleeding neck, and said viciously, "Grab them."

Upon hearing this, the people around quickly stepped forward and surrounded the person.

"Wait!" Feng Zhao shouted sharply, then looked at Prefect Qiu and said, "Does Prefect Qiu know what he is doing?"

Seeing the struggle resurface on Prefect Qiu's face, Qiu Ze quickly interrupted:

"Mother, you've already done it all. Do you think she'll let you off now? This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family! Don't be foolish! Don't make a mistake at this crucial moment. If you kill both of them now, no one will know..."

Prefect Qiu was persuaded once again and turned his head away from Feng Zhao.

"Ha! Who said there are only two of us... Aunt!" Feng Zhao looked at her as if she had given her a chance but she didn't appreciate it.

The words had barely left his mouth when the sound of horses' hooves hitting the ground and armor scraping against the light came from outside. A man entered against the light, his figure imposing and his eyes sharp...

"The... the Great General of the State..." When Prefect Qiu saw the person who came, his legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground, knowing in his heart that he was finished.

"Take them down!" With Xiao Zhuqing's order, the soldiers outside filed in.

Qiu Ze seemed incredulous and called out to the air, "Someone come here..."

"Are you looking for them?" Xiao Zhuqing's deputy general asked, throwing six or seven tightly bound guards in front of him.

Upon seeing this, Qiu Ze's eyes widened; he didn't know what had gone wrong. Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he turned his head and looked at Chen Jin in disbelief. Seeing the unusual look in Chen Jin's eyes, his suspicions were confirmed.

"It's you? Why?"

"Young Master, we can't continue down this wrong path!" Chen Jin looked at the man with a complicated expression.

"Hahahaha! Good! Very good, Chen Jin!" Qiu Ze burst into laughter upon hearing this. After laughing enough, he raised his hand to wipe away the tears from his eyes.

He never imagined that in the end, it would be someone he had never suspected who would betray him...

...Time boundary line

Go back to a few days ago.

It turned out that after overhearing Lin Shu and Feng Zhao's conversation that night, Chen Jin approached Lin Shu the next day. She expressed her willingness to cooperate with Lin Shu and Feng Zhao, but Lin Shu had to guarantee that she would bring her younger brother out safely.

Lin Shu agreed without hesitation and planned that after they were arrested, while Prefect Qiu and his men were preoccupied with Xiao Mi, she would have Zi Yi sneak in and quietly take Xiao Mi away...

Seeing that Lin Shu didn't doubt him at all, Chen Jin couldn't help but ask with some doubt, "You don't doubt me at all? You trust me that much?"

"Hmm." Lin Shu nodded, then asked, somewhat puzzled, "Wasn't it you who kept giving me hints? Deliberately getting close to me, and deliberately doing things that would arouse suspicion..."

Chen Jin chuckled upon hearing this.

And so the plan was finalized, which led to what just happened.

...Time boundary line

Three days later.

The prefectural city was in an uproar again because of a piece of news: Prefect Qiu was accused of plotting a rebellion and colluding with an enemy country, and his entire family was to be executed.

Qiu Ze, the eldest son of the Qiu family, confessed to his crimes without reservation, but concealed the identity of the mastermind. He also made no mention of Chen Jin working for him.

At this moment, the people in front of the city's bulletin board were discussing the matter animatedly:

"Ah! What happened? What's going on?"

"Doesn't it say so above? Prefect Qiu is a traitor who has colluded with the enemy and is even plotting a rebellion..."

"Hey! You don't know this, do you? I heard from my third uncle's niece's aunt that the eldest son of the Qiu family is the mastermind behind this. His ex-wife's family was framed by him for treason and was executed along with their entire family..."

"Tsk, this man is too ruthless!"

"Alright, I heard there was a beheading being held in the market today, let's go take a look..."

"..."

Chen Jin and Lin Shu were listening to the conversation from behind. When they noticed something was off about Chen Jin's expression, Lin Shu said, "Let's go!"

"I...I want to go see him." Chen Jin lowered her head, her voice somewhat hoarse.

When the two arrived, it was almost noon. The executioner was Feng Zhao, who was sitting in the main seat.

Coincidentally, Chen Jin and his companion were standing directly opposite Qiu Ze's family.

Qiu Ze was wearing prison clothes, his hair was as messy as usual, and his hands and feet were shackled. He was completely different from his usual lazy and refined appearance. Naturally, he also saw Chen Jin.

Seeing that Chen Jin's eyes were slightly red, he looked up and met her gaze, his mouth moving silently. Chen Jin understood what he meant when he said, "See you in the next life!"

Then, she gave Chen Jin a pure, unadulterated smile, just like when they first met...

"cut!"

At Feng Zhao's command, the executioner first spat a mouthful of wine onto his blade, followed by a spurt of blood...

Chen Jin watched the smiling head roll off the bed, her eyes widening in shock before she suddenly fainted without warning. Luckily, Lin Shu was behind her, preventing her from falling to the ground...

-

[Actually, although Roy Chiu is hateful, he's also a pitiful person, which will be explained in the extra chapter...]