Chapter 100: Chapter 96: Demon’s Whisper

The Emperor and Empress occasionally came to see Song Yan and the Princess studying diligently together, and they were very relieved.

If Yi Fen ascends the throne in the future, Song Yan will surely become her right-hand person.

The Emperor even went to check Song Yan’s exam results. She has already scored the top ranking in four consecutive exams, and if she gets another top score in the upcoming exam, she will achieve five consecutive top ranks.

Since the implementation of the examination system, no one has ever achieved six consecutive top ranks.

Even the Empress only obtained four.

Achieving six consecutive top ranks would be a good omen.

That night, the Emperor and Empress talked extensively, and they both believed that the case of Song Yan being kidnapped could be handled after the exams. If Song Yan indeed scored top in the exam, and then was chosen as the top scorer by royal decree, she would become the first person in history to achieve six consecutive top ranks.

Such talent, compared to the identity of the Song Family’s legitimate daughter, is clearly more significant.

Every Emperor needs capable and loyal ministers to assist him, and the relationship between Song Yan and their daughter is good, which pleases the Emperor and Empress.

“Song Runzhi doesn’t have a great eye for women, but he did have a good daughter.”

“Speaking of which, she should thank the Madams, for without the Madams, women wouldn’t even qualify for the exams.”

The Empress glanced at the Emperor, making him feel goosebumps, “Unfortunately, no one will know.”

The Emperor realized he had misspoken again and hurriedly courted her favor, “It’s because Madam is too formidable, I can’t compare. If the world knew that Yunyi’s only female Prime Minister married me, I fear I’d be assassinated by her suitors in my sleep every night.”

The Empress chuckled through her tears, “Alright, stop with the sweet talk.”

“Hehehe, Madam~”

The Emperor leaned in to get closer to the Empress, only to be stopped by one of her fingers pressing against his forehead, “Go away.”

“Alright.”

…

On the sixth day of studying quietly together, Shen Jingxian and Song Yan suddenly heard a rumor spreading in the Capital.

It said that when Song Yan and the Princess were kidnapped, they had lost their purity. When Song Yan was rescued, her clothes were disheveled, and because she resisted, her legs were broken, and all this was witnessed by her fiancé, the Princely Heir of Prince Rong.

No one dared to spread rumors about the Princess, but Song Yan lacked a strong identity to curb the rumors.

A lie repeated three times becomes the truth. Initially, it was unclear whether Song Yan’s purity was intact, but in the end, it turned into a story of Song Yan being violated by several kidnappers in turn.

Song Yan is not unattractive, and with the title of female Top Scorer, many took the opportunity to ridicule her harshly, as if this proved they were more impressive than a Top Scorer.

So what if she’s a Top Scorer, she’s just a woman. And once a woman loses her purity, who would dare to marry her? She’d end up as an old maid!

This was just the surface version. There were also more degrading and unbearable comments made behind her back.

The Prince Rong Mansion tried to stop these rumors as well, but they couldn’t silence everyone, and it dragged themselves into the mess instead.

By the time the rumor reached Shen Jingxian, it had turned into a story where the Princely Heir of Prince Rong didn’t mind Song Yan’s ruined reputation and insisted on taking her as a concubine.

Recently, the Capital has regarded the Princely Heir of Prince Rong as devoted, believing he’s a good man because of this matter ~

Shen Jingxian, however, just wanted to vomit.

Perhaps every dynasty has such matters, where there’s contempt for women hidden beneath the tides of history, along with the inferiority that gains a sense of achievement by suppressing women.

On the surface, everyone supports Song Yan’s achievements, but some people still believe that women should not attain such status. These people usually hide well, but once given the opportunity, they erupt.

Look, this is a woman, and women are just not competent.

This information was brought in by Pan Jiaojiao, who came to warn Song Yan, allowing her to mentally prepare so she wouldn’t be overwhelmed if she heard this after returning to Song Mansion.

Shen Jingxian, however, stopped Pan Jiaojiao, “Since Sister Song Yan doesn’t know, let’s keep it that way, don’t disrupt her exam focus.”

“But…” Pan Jiaojiao wanted to say that Song Yan couldn’t stay in the Imperial Palace forever.

“There’s no ’but,’ Jiaojiao, do you trust me?”

Pan Jiaojiao didn’t understand why the Princess suddenly asked this, but she didn’t hesitate, trusting her own instincts, “I trust you.”

“Then tell me, has Song Yun contacted you recently, or has there been any movement between Shen Ming and Song Yun?”

Pan Jiaojiao’s expression immediately turned conflicted after hearing this, making Shen Jingxian realize that these two were indeed planning to meet in the next couple of days.

And judging by Pan Jiaojiao’s look, it seemed like she was the conduit for their meeting.

After spending these days together, Shen Jingxian had already discovered that Pan Jiaojiao was loyal to her friends. Although she lacked some intelligence at times, when it came to things she was committed to, she showed a stubborn persistence.

Such a person, once won over, could exhibit blind loyalty in court.

Blind loyalty has its merits, but now that the person Pan Jiaojiao was loyal to was Song Yun, it posed a significant issue.

To break Pan Jiaojiao’s “loyalty” towards Song Yun, Shen Jingxian chose to reveal her suspicions, “Jiaojiao, I’m telling you this because I consider you a friend. Father and others have already found out that the kidnapping of me and Sister Song Yan was orchestrated by Song Yun, and it’s only because of Sister Song Yan’s impending exams that the punishment has been postponed.”

“You have been associating with Song Yun and have made things difficult for Sister Song Yan, which means you’re implicated in this matter.”

Pan Jiaojiao reacted with disbelief to Shen Jingxian’s words, “Impossible, Yunyun couldn’t do such a thing.”

Shen Jingxian continued with insidious whispers, “You’ve surely been investigating these past few days. I don’t believe you didn’t find any leads relating to you. But this matter isn’t your doing, so why does the evidence point towards you? It’s a large scheme, Jiaojiao, you’re already a piece on the board, and once you slip, you’ll be sacrificed.”

Pan Jiaojiao was clearly shaken.

“You know Sister Song Yan’s strength. If she truly wins first place, she will be the second female Top Scorer after the Grand Secretary, and Father will surely assign important tasks to her.”

“I understand Father the most. As soon as Sister Song Yan wins first place and the Prince Jing Mansion can’t prove her innocence, Father will definitely target Prince Jing Mansion.”

Pan Jiaojiao couldn’t find any rebuttal, and instead was haunted by the recent slander against Song Yan she had heard, as she murmured in a trembling voice, “But Song Yan has lost her purity, how can she still take the exams…”

“Let’s not mention that Sister Song Yan wasn’t violated at all, and Yunyi doesn’t have any law stating that women losing their purity can’t take exams. If that were the case, then men and women should be treated equally, and those men who have Concubines and have lost their purity should also not be allowed to take exams, right?”

Pan Jiaojiao was taken aback by this unheard bout of reasoning, “This… how can men be the same as women…”

“Why can’t they be the same? Since both men and women are permitted to take exams, in reality, Yunyi’s gender status is already equal. It’s women themselves who can’t break out of that circle, always thinking they are incapable, which results in so few Female Officials.”

“Jiaojiao, you are Prince Jing’s only daughter, the sole bloodline of Prince Jing. Besides consorting, you can actually inherit Prince Jing Mansion yourself. Do you really want to hand over Prince Jing Mansion’s legacy just because… you are a woman?”

“I don’t want to… What should I do…”

“Jiaojiao, you need to prove yourself in this incident, to prove you can inherit Prince Jing Mansion.”

“Do you understand what I mean?”

Pan Jiaojiao froze for a long time, so long that Shen Jingxian thought this child had become mute, before she finally gritted her teeth and replied, “The day after tomorrow, Song Yun will meet with my cousin at Huahua Workshop, and I’ll take Your Highness there.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep