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

Just one day before the academy was on holiday, the Lin family received a letter addressed to Xue Wen.

Su Mu is now close to giving birth, and all household affairs have been temporarily entrusted to Li Huanzhi.

"Did the messenger identify himself?" Li Huanzhi asked in a deep voice, looking puzzled as he took the letter from the gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper shook his head and replied, "This letter was delivered to me by a little beggar."

"Understood, you may leave!"

The Lin family shouldn't know anyone in the capital. This letter specifically asked Xue Wen to be delivered, yet the messenger didn't dare to show his face. Moreover, Xue Wen has rarely left the capital since arriving.

Just then, Xue Wen accompanied Su Mu out for a walk and saw Li Huanzhi standing alone in the courtyard, gazing into the distance with a furrowed brow. He couldn't help but ask:

"Huanzhi, is something the matter?"

"Ah! Father, elder brother." Li Huanzhi seemed startled by the voice, but quickly recovered and handed the letter in his hand to Xue Wen, saying:

"Oh, right! Dad, this is a letter for you."

Xue Wen opened the letter with some doubt, and his face immediately changed. His fingertips turned white, and he gripped one corner of the letter tightly.

"Father?" Su Mu and Li Huanzhi stepped forward with concern.

Xue Wen hurriedly crumpled the letter into a ball, and after a long while, he said weakly, "Father is not feeling well, so he will go back to his room to rest for a while."

After saying this, he returned to his room without waiting for a response from the two of them.

Su Mu and Li Huanzhi were left looking at each other in bewilderment.

After returning to his room, Xue Wen immediately bolted the door from the inside. Then, he collapsed to the ground, exhausted, and unfolded the crumpled piece of paper in his hand.

[Awen, let's meet at the pavilion outside the city at the end of Shenshi (3-5 PM) today.]

The familiar handwriting caught his eye, causing him immense heartache. He couldn't help but recall the scene from long ago when she taught him to write...

So many years have passed, why can't I forget her? I had many concerns about coming to the capital before, but I came anyway, perhaps also to ask her in person why...?

Thinking of this, Xue Wen's eyes were already blurry with tears, and his face was covered with tear stains.

"Plop." The sound of a tear falling onto the letter pulled her back from her memories.

Xue Wen slowly stood up from the ground, wiped away his tears, washed up, opened the door, and was slightly surprised to see Su Mu and Li Huanzhi outside.

Su Mu stepped forward slowly, looked at his red and swollen eyes, and asked with concern:

"Father, are you... alright?"

As usual, Xue Wen gently took the two men's hands, patted them lightly a few times, and said slowly, "What could be wrong with your father? By the way, I need to go out later to see an old friend."

"Alright, then I'll have Chunyu go with Father." Su Mu felt relieved to see that Xue Wen's expression had returned to normal.

"That's fine then." Seeing the other party's firm gaze, Xue Wen didn't know how to refuse for a moment, so he agreed. Before leaving, he didn't forget to give a few words of advice:

"Looking at your body, I reckon you'll be giving birth in the next few days. You must take extra care."

Unbeknownst to them, when Xue Wengang left the mansion, Yin San, along with several bodyguards, followed him closely.

……

At 3:45 PM, at the long pavilion outside the city.

Chunyu carefully helped Xue Wen down from the carriage, and the two entered the pavilion. Although it was not far from the city gate, there was no one around at the moment, and in this empty place, she felt a chill down her spine.

By the end of Shen Shi (3-5 PM), no one had arrived yet. Only a few inconspicuous carriages were parked in the distance, but no one got out. Presumably, they were not the people the old master was waiting for.

Feng Rui, sitting in the carriage, stared coldly at Xue Wen in the pavilion. Years had passed, but seeing this wretched man again still filled him with rage. His face hardened with malice, and he sneered:

"Do it."

"Yes."

As soon as he finished speaking, more than ten tall, strong guards dressed in crimson robes with swords at their waists filed out of the carriage behind them.

Here.

Chunyu leaned against the eaves of the pavilion, glancing around from time to time. Suddenly, she saw a group of people with unfriendly expressions rushing towards them menacingly.

"My lord, look, a lot of people got off the carriage that was just parked over there. They seem to have ill intentions."

Xue Wen looked in the direction Chunyu pointed, and his face instantly turned deathly pale. These people, this scene, were exactly the same as they had been eighteen years ago…

Is she really that heartless? Does she really want me to die?

"My lord, let's go quickly." Chunyu saw that the people were gradually approaching, and it seemed that in order to prevent them from escaping back to the city, they killed the horses and the coachman who were driving the carriage.

Xue Wen naturally saw this as well, and let Chunyu help him run in the opposite direction from the city gate.

However, how could two frail men outrun those martial arts practitioners? In no time at all, they were caught up with.

Just as the sharp blade was about to strike Xue Wen's back, a dark figure leaped like the wind and rushed behind Xue Wen and his companion.

With a crisp sound, the dark figure drew a long sword with his right hand and held it horizontally in front of him. With a swift motion, he slashed forward with a dagger in his left hand, and the guard who had been wielding the sword immediately clutched his neck and fell to the ground in pain, lifeless.

Immediately afterwards, three more dark figures appeared with a "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." These four dark figures were the secret guards that Yin San and Lin Shu had ordered him to train.

The area outside the city was open and deserted, leaving them nowhere to hide. They had to conceal themselves in the distance, which is why it took them some effort to get here.

While fleeing, Chunyu glanced back and said to Xue Wen, "My lord, those people seem to be here to help us."

Xue Wen also had doubts.

Over there, a dozen or so guards stopped in front of Yin San and his group of four. The leader gave orders to those behind him:

“These four guards are very strong. You few hold them off, the rest of you follow me and kill that man first.”

After saying this, he left more than ten people to hold off Yin San and the others, while the other six or seven people bypassed them and chased after Xue Wen and the other two, and it was clear that they were about to form an encirclement.

Seeing this, Yin San quickly shook off the two guards who were entangled with him, and followed closely behind, standing in front of Xue Wen and his companion, saying:

"You guys go quickly, I'll hold them off."

Having said that, he drew his sword and began to fight the six or seven men. Although Yin San was highly skilled in martial arts, he was ultimately outnumbered and was injured. However, it was not difficult to hold them off until his own men arrived.

Xue Wen and Chun Yu, their hair disheveled, stumbled forward, completely unaware of their surroundings.

Suddenly, a group of people appeared ahead. Judging from their imposing manner, they must be some powerful figure from the capital.

"My lord, we are saved."

Chunyu hurriedly helped Xue Wen forward, but before they could get close, the guard at the front drew his sword and shouted, "Who goes there? If you dare to take another step forward, you will be killed without mercy!"

Chunyu hurriedly knelt down, kowtowing as she shouted loudly towards the magnificent carriage behind her, "My master and I are being chased and killed. I beg you, sir, to save us!"

The guard seemed enraged by his actions and took a few steps forward, about to make a move, when suddenly a gentle voice came from the carriage behind:

"Wait! Since we've met, it's fate. Give them a carriage and let them come with us to the capital."

"Yes," the guard replied respectfully, sheathing his sword.

Then, the guards led Xue Wen and his companion toward the carriages carrying maids and servants. As they passed one of the carriages, a gust of wind blew by, and Xue Wen vaguely seemed to catch a glimpse of Lin Dafeng.

Once on the carriage, Xue Wen quickly shook his head. It was impossible. Lin Dafeng should be in Peach Blossom Village right now. How could she be in the capital, riding in that nobleman's carriage...

However, he felt that the nobleman's voice sounded familiar...

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