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

Upon hearing this, the other two both showed expressions of surprise. How could one enter the Jizhe Academy so easily? They wondered if this Lin Shu truly possessed real talent, or if she was all ambition and little ability.

"Lin Shu, do you know what you mean? If you fail the test, do you know the consequences?"

Lord Wen's expression darkened slightly. All those recruited by Jize Academy must meet the tastes of "the person beside him," and the questions set for each person are different each time. If someone fails the assessment, they will be treated as disturbing the court and will be forbidden from being recruited by any academy.

This is why powerful and influential families found it difficult to place their own people in the academy.

"Lin Shu naturally knows."

"Clap clap."

Lin Shu finished speaking, but before Lord Wen could say anything more, she was interrupted by the applause of the woman in black.

"Good! She has guts." The woman in black stared intently at Lin Shu for a moment, then turned to Lord Wen and said, "Senior Sister, shall I take this person on for assessment today?"

"Of course," Lord Wen replied respectfully.

The woman in black asked, "Are you ready?"

Lin Shu nodded and said, "Yes, please give me the question, sir."

"It is said that in the previous dynasty, there was an empress in her prime who had three daughters. The eldest daughter's family was weak and she was uneducated from a young age; the second daughter was the legitimate daughter of the emperor, loyal to the emperor and loving to the people, but she was too attached to her sisters; the third daughter's family was powerful and she had many supporters, but she was narrow-minded..."

The court officials all chose sides, and the second and third daughters were evenly matched in strength, but in the end, it was the eldest daughter who ascended the throne...

Legend has it that the change in the situation was caused by the defection of a high-ranking official during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han…

Q: If you were that high-ranking official and those princesses, what would you choose?

As soon as he finished speaking, Master Wen was unsure of her thoughts. Not only was the question so difficult, but she wasn't even given pen and ink, which was tantamount to not letting her think, wanting to test her on-the-spot reaction ability. He then glanced at the serious-looking Lin Shu, shook his head, but before she could express her regret…

"Your Majesty, Ruoshu is a person of high rank and great power, and none of the princesses have chosen her," Lin Shu said, looking up to meet the gaze of the woman in black, and then continued:

"As a subject, the primary duty is to be loyal to the emperor and love the country. If the emperor is wise, then one should only be loyal to the emperor and be a pure subject."

After Lin Shu finished speaking, the woman in black immediately countered, "What if the ruler is not virtuous?"

Lin Shu lowered her head, a slight smile playing on her lips, and said, "If that's really the case, I doubt I'll ever rise to the highest ranks of officialdom."

Upon hearing this, Minister Wen was shocked. This Lin Shu was truly intelligent and audacious. First, she declared her position as a "loyal subject," and then, through "this person's" words, she implied that if the current emperor was wise, she would surely rise to the highest position; otherwise...

Even the woman in black narrowed her eyes, and after a long while, she finally smiled and scolded, "You're quite the audacious one."

After saying this, he got up and walked towards the door. No one knew whether Lin Shu had passed the test or not. As he passed Lin Shu, he pulled a jade pendant from his waist, threw it to her, and said without turning his head:

"Report to Jize Academy in three days with this document."

After everyone left, Lord Wen wiped away non-existent cold sweat from his forehead before saying to Lin Shu:

"You child, you really have no sense of propriety... Ah! But it's a blessing in disguise! Never mind, go back now! Come back in three days."

Lin Shu bowed and took her leave.

However, if I'm not mistaken, the woman in black just now was none other than Her Majesty the Empress. This Jizhe Academy is a place specifically for selecting confidants for the Empress, so presumably the Empress only needs to obey her loyal ministers.

Lin Shu was slightly puzzled. Wasn't it said that the academy was difficult to enter? This one seemed quite easy.

Just as he was thinking this, he had already left the academy gate and was about to get into the carriage when he did not see the carriage servant who seemed to want to say something but then stopped himself.

Lifting the carriage curtain, one sees a chubby boy fast asleep on a small table, occasionally smacking his lips.

The young servant boy beside her was also drowsy, his head bobbing up and down like a chick pecking at rice. When he saw Lin Shu, he quickly shook his head and woke up.

The carriage moved forward slowly.

Lin Shu stared at the suspicious water stain on the small table, her lips twitching slightly.

The boy naturally saw it too, and for a moment felt a little embarrassed for Feng Yu. In this slightly awkward atmosphere, the boy quickly nudged Feng Yu several times before finally waking her up.

"Xiao Feng, why are you pushing me? I haven't finished my pineapple cake yet!" Feng Yu opened her sleepy eyes and immediately sat up straight after seeing Lin Shu in the carriage.

"Zhu Lin... ah, no! Lin Shu, you... you..."

Feng Yu and Lin Shu locked eyes, and for a moment, Feng Yu felt as if she had been burned. She quickly looked around nervously, and suddenly noticed the suspicious puddle of water. Her face flushed red, and she grabbed the sleeve of the boy next to her and began to wipe it...

"Heh!" Lin Shu couldn't help but chuckle.

"You smiled?" Feng Yu stared intently at the woman, his eyes crinkling with laughter. He tilted his head and praised her with delight, "So beautiful."

Lin Shu did not answer, but only asked, "Give me directions, and I'll take you back to your residence."

"Ah? No, I can't go back. If I go back, I'll... yes, I'll have no food to eat." Seeing Lin Shu looking at her with surprise, Feng Yu blinked her round eyes and continued to feign a pitiful state.

“My parents are very strict; I’m not allowed to eat after noon. They certainly won’t let me eat at this time! So, please take me to eat before you go back…”

Lin Shu: ... (glancing furtively at Feng Yu's body) Despite being so strict with him, he still managed to grow up to be so well-fed...

Helpless, just as he was about to nod, he heard a loud commotion coming from not far away, and the carriage stopped.

The servant hesitated slightly before saying, "Master, those people ahead seem to be the same ones from the academy gate earlier."

Lin Shu frowned and said in a deep voice, "Go around it."

"But...but on the other side it seems to be the lord and his two young masters..."

Before the servant could finish speaking, Lin Shu hurriedly lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage, with Feng Yu following closely behind.

As I approached, I heard Song Yun's familiar voice:

"Oh, I'm so sorry, miss, I didn't mean it."

He had just gotten off the carriage to help Su Mu, and hadn't noticed the people behind him. He accidentally bumped into the young lady. He had no intention of doing so, but she kept bothering him.

“These shoes of mine are made of brocade from Jiangnan, which costs a hundred gold pieces per bolt. You think you can just apologize and call it a day?” The young lady slightly lifted her long gown, revealing a pair of spotless shoes that looked nothing like they had been trampled on.

"Miss, my brother did not mean it. We are willing to compensate you. Please do not make trouble." Su Mu saw that the other party had a frivolous appearance, so what was there to misunderstand?

Before the young lady could answer, a flirtatious female voice came from behind her: "Oh! Wu Mei, what's going on?"

Looking in the direction of the sound, it was none other than Ling Wanzhen, who was now leading the young master out of the shop behind them.

The Lin family members all felt that this person looked familiar, but they just couldn't remember where they had seen him before.

"Your Highness." The unreasonable Wu Mei, upon seeing Ling Wanzhen, immediately raised her head high and glanced sideways at Song Yun, saying:

"Fine, I won't make things difficult for you. You can pay me two hundred taels today and that'll be it! Otherwise, I'll have to use you to pay for it!"

Two hundred taels of silver?

Su Mu and the others sighed inwardly. This person was clearly trying to extort them, and they would probably have no choice but to swallow this bitter pill today!

at this time--

"boom!"

"Ah!" A piercing scream drew everyone's attention, and they all turned to look. They saw a large shoe print on Wu Mei's foot, which was extremely conspicuous.

Lin Shu, who had arrived at some unknown time, chased after them with her foot in front of everyone, her face displaying a half-smile.

"You...you...how dare you?" Wu Mei was furious when she saw Lin Shu.

"Give me two thousand taels." Lin Shu handed it to Wu Mei.

"What?" Wu Mei was dumbfounded. Had this person gone mad?!

“You just said my husband dirtied your shoes and demanded two hundred taels of silver. Now you've dirtied my shoes, so it's two thousand taels.” After saying that, Lin Shu added, “Shu brocade is worth a thousand gold pieces.”

"Hiss..." A collective gasp filled the air.

Ling Wanzhen, who was watching the commotion from the sidelines, couldn't stand it anymore. Wu Mei was one of her people, and Lin Shu's actions were a slap in her own face.

"I advise you not to be so aggressive, or you'll regret it." Ling Wanzhen first leaned closer to Lin Shu and threatened her before speaking loudly:

"The two hundred taels just now was nothing but a joke! Does Miss Lin not think she can take a joke?"

"Oh?" Lin Shu raised her lips in a cold laugh, a hint of arrogance appearing on her beautiful face. Then, her smile vanished, and she continued in an icy voice:

"If that's the case, then I was just joking."

Just when everyone thought the matter was over, Lin Shu spoke again, sarcastically asking, "I wonder if the young lady finds this funny?"

“You…” Ling Wanzhen’s face flushed red as she glared fiercely at Lin Shu.

"It seems that even the young lady doesn't find it funny. It's best not to make such jokes in the future."

After Lin Shu finished speaking, she casually tossed twenty taels to Wu Mei, leaving her unsure whether to pick it up or not.

"Your shoes are only worth twenty taels."

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