In seven years, Great Xia would be gone

[Guagua, tell me, how did I end up back in the Great Xia Dynasty again? Great Xia will fall in seven years. I don't want to become the princess of a fallen kingdom and jump off the city wall all over again.]

Jiang Nuan looked at her dark, scrawny paws and let out a long sigh.

[Don't be sad, host. Guagua will always stay by your side.]

Jiang Nuan had originally been an invisible little princess who had tasted every shade of human warmth and coldness in the palace. Seven years later, the Great Xia Dynasty had fallen, and the dumbass emperor who took the throne had actually wanted to give her to the enemy emperor in exchange for peace because she was pretty.

Even thinking with his toes, he should have realized that an enemy army that had already reached the capital would never withdraw over a single woman!

In the end, unable to bear the humiliation, Jiang Nuan had chosen to leap from the city wall.

Unexpectedly, she had arrived in the twenty-first century with her memories intact. Though she was an orphan and life was a little hard, it was far better than her life in the palace, and she had been content.

With financial support from kindhearted people, she had finished university. Having majored in Chinese language and literature, she had fought her way through five passes and slain six generals to finally become a middle school Chinese teacher with a permanent government-funded position.

She had barely enjoyed a few days of the good life before dying a heroic death while helping someone in danger.

Then she had opened her eyes and found herself back in the Great Xia Dynasty—and back at the age of ten, no less.

The difference was that this time, she had bonded with a newbie system: the Gossip System. Aside from letting her feast on everyone's juicy gossip, it had no other functions.

At the thought of everything she would go through over the next few years, grief welled up in Jiang Nuan's heart.

While Jiang Nuan was immersed in sorrow, the expression of a certain figure in bright yellow who happened to be passing by changed several times.

Beside him, Chief Eunuch Wang's face abruptly changed.

Who was spreading these wicked lies to mislead the people?!

The Great Xia Dynasty was flourishing. How could it possibly fall in seven years?!

Which little bastard was spouting nonsense? Were they trying to get me killed?!

Eunuch Wang hurriedly dropped to his knees. The junior eunuchs around him were confused, but they knelt along with him.

"Please quell your anger, Your Majesty!"

Inside, Jiang Nuan heard the voice and felt puzzled.

[His Majesty? That scumbag dad of mine came over? What happened? Why is he so angry? Forget it. I'd better go out and take a look.]

Hearing that familiar voice, Jiang Yunsheng's expression darkened.

Good. Very good. Not only had she declared right in front of him that Great Xia would fall, she had even dared call him a scumbag dad. He would see which of his children had such nerve!

Soon, a small, thin figure emerged from the entrance to the Listening to Rain Pavilion. Upon seeing him, she knelt and bowed. "Your daughter greets you, Father."

Jiang Yunsheng looked at Jiang Nuan with utterly unfamiliar eyes. Did he have a "daughter" like this? Why didn't he know about her?

Seeing Jiang Yunsheng's confusion, Eunuch Wang said quietly, "Your Majesty, this is the ninth princess, born to Attendant Liu."

[Hahahaha, host, your scumbag dad doesn't even recognize you when he sees you.]

The Gossip System, Guagua, spoke with a laugh.

Jiang Nuan did not particularly care. From birth until now, she could count the number of times she had seen her scumbag dad on her fingers. It was only natural that he did not recognize her.

[If he doesn't recognize me, then he doesn't. I don't care either. But could he let me get up first? Kneeling is so uncomfortable. Boohoo~]

Jiang Nuan quietly shifted her body, easing her discomfort a little.

By now, towering waves were already crashing through Jiang Yunsheng's heart. When Jiang Nuan had been in the courtyard, he had thought she was talking to someone. Now that she had come out, he could clearly see that she was alone. Then whose childish voice had been talking to her?

More than that, Jiang Yunsheng saw that when he heard Jiang Nuan's voice, she had not opened her mouth at all!

Could he be hearing Jiang Nuan's thoughts?

Seeing that none of the junior eunuchs other than Wang Dehai showed any reaction, Jiang Yunsheng guessed that only he and Eunuch Wang could hear these thoughts.

That realization left Jiang Yunsheng somewhat displeased. He was the Son of Heaven of Great Xia, the man favored by destiny. It was only natural that he could hear thoughts. But what gave that eunuch Wang Dehai the right?

Wang Dehai felt a faint chill creep over the back of his neck.

Jiang Yunsheng glanced at Jiang Nuan and said mildly, "Rise."

Jiang Nuan hurriedly stood.

"You..." What did you mean just now when you said Great Xia would fall in seven years?

Jiang Yunsheng was about to ask Jiang Nuan what she had meant, only to feel an irresistible force block his throat, leaving him unable to speak.

Jiang Nuan looked at him in confusion.

[What's wrong with my scumbag dad? Is he having an episode? I remember he won't die of illness for another six years. Don't tell me my butterfly effect made him kick the bucket early!]

Wang Dehai dropped to his knees again with a thump, his whole body trembling.

Jiang Nuan looked at him in bewilderment.

[What's wrong with Eunuch Wang? Why do he and my scumbag dad both seem so strange today?]

[I don't know. Maybe they're getting old.]

Guagua offered that guess.

[Forget it. Who cares? The imperial kitchen made roast chicken today. I want roast chicken. Slurp~ Slurp~]

Having abruptly heard news of his own death, Jiang Yunsheng had yet to calm down and wanted to hear more about it. Yet in the very next moment, Jiang Nuan's thoughts were filled with nothing but roast chicken.

Jiang Yunsheng: ...

"Your Majesty, shall we return to the Hall of Diligent Governance to attend to state affairs?"

After they had lingered there for a while, Wang Dehai noticed that it was nearing the time when Jiang Yunsheng usually handled state affairs and cautiously asked the question.

Perhaps Jiang Yunsheng had also been brainwashed by the roast chicken in Jiang Nuan's thoughts, because he blurted out without thinking, "Roast chicken."

Upon realizing what he had said, Jiang Yunsheng was inwardly speechless, though he did not show it.

While everyone else remained baffled, the quick-witted Eunuch Wang had already caught on and hurriedly covered for him. "Prepare the imperial procession to the Merit Assessment Hall."

The Merit Assessment Hall was a palace building used specifically to assess the princes' and princesses' studies.

Jiang Yunsheng glanced at Wang Dehai and decided that he was reasonably quick-witted, so he would keep him around a little longer.

[That startled me. I thought my scumbag dad said roast chicken. But the Merit Assessment Hall? If I remember correctly, today's a rest day. No one's there. What's he going there for?]

Hearing this, Wang Dehai stiffened, his mind beginning to race wildly.

Jiang Yunsheng pressed his lips together without speaking.

[Hehehe, host, there's some huge gossip at the Merit Assessment Hall. Want a bite?]

Guagua suddenly spoke.

[What huge gossip? I want it! Hurry up and tell me, Guagua.]

Even Jiang Nuan's inner voice grew excited, and she stopped thinking about roast chicken.

Jiang Yunsheng suddenly had a bad feeling.

[Today's a rest day, so the Merit Assessment Hall was supposed to be empty, right? But now there are people there. Maid An slipped inside, and there's an imperial palace guard there too.]

[What? This... Don't tell me it's what I'm thinking!]

[Host, you guessed right. It's exactly what you're thinking. Right now, Maid An's scarlet mandarin-duck bellyband is still hanging from that scoundrel's waist!]

Having feasted on that juicy gossip, Jiang Nuan could not hide the shock on her face. Her gaze drifted involuntarily toward her scumbag dad's head. She could practically see a bright green cuckold's hat sitting on it.

Receiving Jiang Nuan's strange look, Jiang Yunsheng's face darkened, however skilled he was at concealing his emotions.

Wang Dehai's back was already soaked with cold sweat. If he could, he would have knelt and begged Jiang Nuan to stop talking.

"Prepare! The! Procession! To! The! Merit! Assessment! Hall!"

Jiang Yunsheng spoke each word through gritted teeth.