Although Chen Shisong was haughty and arrogant, he was not without self-awareness.
A daughter of Duke Dingguo's household, even a concubine-born daughter, would never be permitted to marry a man who already had a wife.
Unless his rank and standing carried enough weight.
But if that were the case, why would he have stopped at nothing to get close to Shangguan Niao?
He had grown tired of Wanxue, but did he not loathe Shangguan Niao as well?
From his very first glimpse of Shangguan Niao, Chen Shisong had known that her family background was anything but ordinary.
Only after deliberately approaching her had he learned that Shangguan Niao was actually Duke Dingguo's youngest daughter.
If he could win her favor and gain the support of Duke Dingguo's household, his future prospects would be limitless.
With a broad road to success laid before him, how could Chen Shisong remain unmoved?
These past days, he had stayed by Shangguan Niao's side, even neglecting the spring imperial examination he valued most.
The stacks of books on his desk had not had a single page turned or a single word touched.
"A'Niao, you said before that you would introduce me to Duke Dingguo..."
"What's the hurry?"
Shangguan Niao cut him off. "You should focus on earning a good ranking."
"My father's birthday is in another fortnight. I'll take you to meet him then. With an examination distinction to your name, my father will certainly see you in a different light."
Chen Shisong forced the corners of his mouth upward, but could not manage a smile.
"Rest assured, A'Niao. I won't disappoint you."
He gently took Shangguan Niao's hand, brimming with tender affection.
"Once the spring examination is over, I'll go back home and divorce that vile woman. I'll work hard to earn Duke Dingguo's approval and marry you in grand style, bringing you home as my wife in a bridal sedan carried by eight bearers."
"Mm. I'll be waiting." A sweet smile appeared on Shangguan Niao's face.
The two embraced tightly.
Gradually, Chen Shisong's hands began to wander.
"Shisong~"
"You're awful~"
Quickened panting gradually filled the room.
"..."
Shen Yuxi spent the entire day working at the Ministry of Rites before returning to the residence with her father.
Once back at Gentle Whisper Courtyard, she flopped onto her bed and fell straight into a sound sleep without eating or even taking off her shoes.
Liuying looked at Shen Yuxi sprawled spread-eagled, sighed, and deftly removed her clothes before tucking the quilt around her.
All was silent beneath the low-hanging river of stars. Ordinary households in the capital had long since extinguished their lamps and gone to bed.
Only the nearby restaurants and streets remained ablaze with lights that burned throughout the night.
Occasionally, dim yellow light shone through paper windows, revealing scholars bent over their desks studying, their backs straight and their heads nodding.
When exhaustion overwhelmed them, they splashed cold water on their faces, rubbed their cheeks, and resumed writing furiously, or held their books and swayed their heads as they recited passages over and over until they knew them by heart.
There was no laughter, no clamor, only the weighty, almost obstinate atmosphere of arduous study spreading through the capital's streets late at night.
They dared not slacken even a little.
One moment of relaxation, and hundreds upon thousands would overtake them.
One extra moment of sleep, and they would let down ten years of study by cold windows, the thousand-mile journey to sit the examination, and their entire family's hopes.
The scholars had staked their lifelong honor and disgrace, their success or failure, on this one spring examination.
On the very last day, Shen Yuxi suddenly took it into her head to go and see the scholars in the capital.
Shen Yuxi strolled along at a leisurely pace and entered a lane.
The system said that everyone staying in this lane was a scholar from out of town.
Those with money stayed at inns, while those without huddled together for warmth, squeezed into whatever corner they could find.
Straw shelters and sleeping mats had been set up in the lane. Everywhere she looked, she saw the backs of scholars diligently reviewing their books.
Shen Yuxi frowned slightly. [System, doesn't the court arrange inns for them?]
Although spring had arrived, the night wind was still chilly.
[Host, do you think this is Earth, where students get preferential treatment in everything?]
The system said, [There are enormous numbers of scholars. Booking inns for all of them would be a considerable expense.]
[Holding the spring examination already burns through money. Every year, the scholars have brought their own travel funds. Otherwise, who would willingly take on such a huge extra expense for nothing?]
[The old emperor isn't a complete dumbass. He saves wherever he can.]
[But if they fall ill from the cold and an exceptionally talented scholar is lost, the court is the one that loses out in the end.]
[Well! That's why I said it comes down to fate!]
The system said, [The lucky ones will naturally make it through this hurdle. As for the unlucky ones, they can only resign themselves to their fate.]
The voices of the human and the system rang out, drawing the eyes of every scholar present.
No, their gazes had actually begun settling on Shen Yuxi from the moment she appeared.
Only scholars stayed in this lane. No woman had ever ventured here of her own accord.
"Brother Lin, look at that young lady. She's so pretty."
"Hey, hey, hey, he's looking at you! He's looking at you, Brother Lin! Could she have come to see you?"
A tall, thin scholar suddenly moved over beside Lin Shubai and excitedly patted his shoulder.
He looked as thrilled as though he had discovered some earth-shattering secret.
"Shut up. What utter nonsense. Do you realize that if word gets out, it could damage that young lady's reputation and cause her trouble?"
Lin Shubai's voice was sharp and his expression stern, his anger impossible to hide, nothing like his usual gentleness.
Seeing Lin Shubai lose his temper, the tall, thin man scoffed, muttered, "No fun," and slunk back to his straw mat.
"Brother Shubai, he's always had a foul mouth. Don't pay him any mind."
Yan Qinghe soothed him. "I'll give him a few punches later to vent your anger."
Shen Yuxi was looking at Lin Shubai solely because the system was sharing gossip about him.
Mindful of the distinction between men and women, Shen Yuxi stood at the entrance to the lane and went no farther.
The scholars farther away could not hear clearly, but Lin Shubai and Yan Qinghe were closest to her.
The system's voice was neither loud nor soft, just audible enough for them to hear.
[His name is Lin Shubai, and his family is terribly poor. You can tell just by looking at the fabric he's wearing, washed so often it's faded white.]
The system's tone was full of sighs. [Lin Shubai's family is so poor their pockets could only jingle with emptiness. Just how poor are they? They might not see even a grain of rice during the holidays.]
[When the whole family is starving, they go up the mountain to chew leaves and dig up roots. Even so, they save everything they possibly can to support his studies alone.]
[His parents never let him touch the farmwork. They only tell him over and over: all you need to do is study hard. We've done everything we can; the rest is up to you. Even if your examination results aren't ideal, we hope you won't blame us for being incapable.]
Lin Shubai's eyes dimmed slightly.
He had never felt inferior or ashamed because his family was poor. On the contrary, he was deeply grateful to have family who loved him so much in his life.
[Carrying his entire family's hopes and driven by a refusal to bow to fate, Lin Shubai once studied until he collapsed from exhaustion. He kept cutting down the time he spent eating and sleeping and used all of it to memorize his books.]
Yan Qinghe nodded in wholehearted agreement.
Like Lin Shubai, he came from a family that was not particularly well-off.
Yan Qinghe had been adopted by a hunter's family as a child. His adoptive parents treated him well at times and badly at others, often beating and berating him.
He no longer wanted to eke out a living under his adoptive parents' thumbs.
All he could do was stake everything and study hard in exchange for that sliver of a chance to defy heaven and change his fate.
How unfortunate: apart from his wretched life, he had nothing.
How fortunate: apart from his wretched life, he had nothing.
With no weak spot, he had no fear of loss, and could advance all the more fearlessly, pressing forward without hesitation.