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

Chapter 171 The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole follows behind

Two days later.

When Crown Princess Feng Zhao came out of the Imperial Study after 'finishing her official duties,' she looked at the sky and realized it wasn't time to go off duty yet.

She stretched and wandered aimlessly around the street, eventually buying a lot of pastries before heading to Lin Shu's residence.

Since the mistress of the Lin family was not present and the guests were women, Su Mu could not approach them directly. He could only ask his younger brother, Feng Yu, to accompany and entertain them.

When Lin Shu returned home after her shift, she saw Feng Zhao affectionately rubbing Feng Yu's chubby face on a stone bench in the small garden at the end of the carved corridor leading to the study.

The chubby boy chewed incessantly, his bulging cheeks moving constantly. He pretended to angrily slap Feng Zhao's hand away while carefully munching on his pastry, huffing and puffing as he said:

"Sister, let go! Don't pinch my cheeks! My nanny said I'm already married and need to keep my distance from other women, otherwise Lin Shu will get jealous..."

"You brat, I'm your own sister! And you're jealous... Hahahaha..."

Feng Zhao retorted irritably, seemingly unable to imagine what Lin Shu would look like when she was jealous. He laughed heartily for a moment, but stopped what he was doing.

"Hmph! Even my own sister can't touch it, only Lin Shu can touch it!" The chubby boy gave the other person a 'you know what's good for you' look, then lowered his head and took another small bite of the pastry, his chubby cheeks jiggling a little, which was very cute.

Looking at the shameless chubby boy in front of her, seeing him eat piece after piece as if he hadn't eaten for days, Feng Zhao couldn't help but wrap the pastries in oil paper and tease him:

"Stop eating! You've gotten even rounder in just a few days. Be careful, you'll turn from a chubby little dumpling into a big chubby dumpling."

"Hmph!" Feng Rui jumped off the stone bench, stretched out his right hand, which was stained with oil from the pastries, and slammed it on the stone table with a 'smack', huffing and puffing.

When Feng Zhao saw the three finger marks on the stone table, she couldn't help but twitch her lips. There was a reason why this little chubby dumpling was so fat.

As for why there are three finger marks, it's because even when the chubby boy gets angry and slams his fist on the table, he still uses two fingers to hold the half-eaten pastry steadily, truly unwilling to waste a single bit!

Seeing her older sister staring intently at her last bite of food, Feng Yu stuffed it into her mouth without a second thought, then glared fiercely at Feng Zhao opposite her and said:

"Hmph! I'm not fat! You can ask Lin Shu if you don't believe me. She said it when I was crawling on top of her last night: I'm not fat..."

"Cough cough cough...Ayu!"

Now that things had come to this point, Lin Shu, who had been watching the commotion from the corner at the end of the corridor, couldn't stand still any longer. Afraid that he might say something he shouldn't, she quickly interrupted him.

"Ah! Lin Shu, you're back!" Feng Yu, holding up her oily hands, rushed towards Lin Shu with an excited expression.

Lin Shu didn't mind and let the other person pounce on her.

However, Feng Yu clearly knew that Lin Shu was a clean person, so he stopped two steps away from Lin Shu and handed her the pastries, saying, "Lin Shu, you eat!"

Feng Zhao: "..." I only glanced at it a moment ago and you were already hoarding your food, but now you're willing to part with it! What a heartless little thing!

Lin Shu glanced at his stomach and knew he had eaten quite a bit, so she didn't refuse and ate it in two bites from his hand.

Then she took out a blue handkerchief and gently wiped his fingers, saying softly:

"Dinner is almost here, so you're not allowed to eat any more of these pastries today. Be careful not to overeat!"

"Oh, I understand." Although Feng Yu was a little disappointed, she obediently agreed.

After wiping him clean, Lin Shu gently stroked his chubby face and said, "You go find Amu and the others first, I'll be there in a bit."

"Mmm." Feng Yu took the remaining pastries on the table and obediently left. Judging from her back, she probably couldn't resist stuffing another piece into her mouth. Lin Shu shook her head helplessly.

Watching the interaction between the two, Feng Zhao raised an eyebrow, touched his chin, tilted his head, circled around Lin Shu, and clicked his tongue in amazement:

"Ah Shu is not bad. This is the first time I have seen this little devil so well-behaved."

Lin Shu glanced back at her, but didn't reply. Instead, she led Feng Zhao to the study not far away: "Your Highness, let's get straight to the point!"

"Tch, two-faced." Feng Zhao muttered under her breath before speaking seriously:

"The Queen Mother is about to close the net."

Lin Shu wasn't surprised at all, after all, Empress Feng Han had been 'sick' for a whole month, and even if she was faking it, she must have been extremely tired: "When does Your Majesty plan to do it?"

"At the Empress's birthday celebration in half a month." After saying this, Feng Zhao noticed the puzzled look on Lin Shu's face and explained further:

"The Empress Dowager originally did not want to hold a birthday celebration, but the Emperor Grandfather suddenly said last night that he wanted to hold a grand celebration and insisted on it. Therefore, the Empress Dowager guessed that the other party probably made their move at that time!"

"I presume Your Highness already has a plan? What do you need Lin Shu to do?" Lin Shu nodded noncommittally. That day was indeed a good opportunity.

Feng Zhao smiled and nodded:

"Haha! As expected, A-Shu understands me best!"

On that day, five thousand imperial guards will be stationed not far from the Hall of Diligent Governance, and my aunt will also dispatch fifty thousand troops from the capital region camp. If anything unexpected happens, she will send a signal and lead troops into the city to provide reinforcements.

However, at that time, please have A-Shu lead the 1,500 personal guards left to you by the Prince of Dingbei to block the roads at all the palace gates and prevent anyone from leaving!

Lin Shu responded, "Yes!"

After discussing the details with Lin Shu, Feng Zhao got up to take her leave, since she had come to visit her brother and it was inconvenient for her to stay too long.

Not long after Feng Zhao left, Zi Yi arrived as well. Lin Shu looked at the newcomer and asked in confusion, "Is there something important?"

The Peerless Pavilion is now on the right track, and its affairs have been changed to be reported every seven days. It is not time for the report yet, so there must be something important!

Ziyi clasped his hands in a salute and said:

"My lord, the people keeping watch at Prince Rui's residence and the First Princess's residence have reported that Prince Rui visited the First Princess's residence late at night two days ago and did not leave until the end of midnight."

Also, those Northern Wilderness people you asked me to keep an eye on have been entering the capital in small groups, but after entering the capital, my subordinates have been unable to find them and do not know where they are hiding!

Your subordinate finds this matter suspicious and has come to report it!

Lin Shu frowned. She roughly knew about the plot between the First Princess and Prince Rui, but at this moment she was more concerned about the people from the Northern Wilderness: "They've only just entered the capital and they've already disappeared without a trace? Haven't they found anything unusual?"

Zi thought for a moment and said, "There's nothing unusual! Besides, there are quite a few of them, and they're staying at the Hongyun Restaurant near the Jingwei Garrison, where the security is good!"

"The Capital Garrison?" Lin Shu looked into the distance, muttering to herself, seemingly lost in thought. Then she scoffed, "Ha! I see!"

The commander of this Imperial Guard is the eldest princess's man, so the eldest princess is trying to use the power of the Northern Wilderness to usurp the throne!

I wonder if Feng Rui and the others know this? If they don't, then things will get interesting!

Thinking of this, Lin Shu's gaze deepened:

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind? Ha! But who is the cicada, and who is the mantis?"

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[Little Shushu: That's right, I'm the one whoops at the top!!! Wahahahaha!]