Chapter 540: The Thousand-Year-Old (61)

Finally, Wen Wan practically wore herself out trying to persuade the emperor to create three new female official positions. These positions had no real power or rank, and they required examinations, though not the imperial examinations themselves, but they were no less difficult.

However, this news was a huge surprise for the students of the women's college.

"Can we also become officials?"

Wen Wan: "Of course, as long as you meet the standards, you can naturally become officials, so work hard."

After the competition with Mingde Academy, the girls' academy began to be established on a large scale. Not only in the imperial city, but also in other places, girls' academies gradually began to be opened.

After a year of evaluation, three female officials were selected for a trial period, one of whom was Qi Mingzhu.

This shocked Wen Wan. She hadn't expected Qi Mingzhu to be so capable, actually defeating others with her own abilities. However, because of her status, the ministers did not agree. After all, in their view, the position of female official was powerless and merely a facade. But if Princess Qi Mingzhu became a female official, it would be different.

Her status as a princess meant that she could not possibly be without any real power.

The emperor's children are naturally different from ordinary people, especially with the support of Consort Rong.

However, Qi Mingzhu still managed to keep her position, not because of Wen Wan, but because of herself.

She proved to everyone through her hard work that she was capable of fulfilling the duties of a female official.

Just as Wen Wan had predicted, these three female officials initially had no real power and were only doing menial tasks.

But that's not important.

They would throw all sorts of tiring, arduous, unprofitable, and unsuitable tasks at female officials in order to belittle them.

If they fail, they'll tell everyone: "Look! Women should indeed be good wives and mothers, not officials."

But what if it's actually done?

At first, the female officials felt frustrated, but Wen Wan told them that this opportunity was something they had to wait for. As long as they seized the opportunity, they should seize it and eventually they would be appreciated.

And indeed, these girls did not disappoint Wen Wan.

From seemingly insignificant and unimportant chores to a series of difficult tasks thrown at you.

They solved it, and they did it well.

He did an even better job than many other officials, subtly changing everyone's perceptions little by little.

Look, even women can become officials, and they can be good officials.

Their success shocked women all over the world, and changed the ingrained ideas they had been instilled with since birth.

They are no longer merely appendages of men, no longer limited to marrying, having children, being dutiful to their parents-in-law, raising their children, and serving their husbands.

They were able to study just like men, and some could even become officials.

As a result, the number of people enrolling in women's colleges suddenly surged. Perhaps this is just a small step forward, but one day it will become a giant leap.

Wen Wan expressed that she was already very satisfied with this.

...

The Crown Prince's affair has finally come to light.

It wasn't actually Wen Wan who said it, but after the scandal broke, the eldest prince took the blame upon himself.

Wen Wan felt extremely wronged.

Who knows if you couldn't resist having an affair again and got caught? You can't hide the truth forever; there are no secrets that stay hidden forever.

Besides, you've already gotten one of the concubines pregnant. If the emperor still doesn't know, he'd truly be a fool.

Wen Wan originally thought the Crown Prince's wife would be sad, but when Wen Wan saw the Crown Prince's wife again, she found that her mental state was exceptionally normal.

Wen Wan exchanged some words with her and learned that the Crown Prince's wife had known all along, because that concubine was the Crown Prince's childhood sweetheart whom he fell in love with at first sight, but her parents sent her to the palace for their own benefit.

She knew it, and she was hysterically sad, but for the sake of her two children, she suppressed her sadness and focused on being a blind and deaf princess, only wanting her children to grow up healthy.

She even helped cover up this scandal, because she knew that once it was exposed, the eldest prince would be finished. If the eldest prince was finished, what would happen to her, the eldest prince's wife? What would happen to her child?

As a result of Wen Wan's recent antics, the Crown Prince's wife actually gained some inspiration from them.

Women are gentle and weak, but mothers are strong. She does not only depend on the eldest prince for survival, but she can also support her children with her own abilities.

Therefore, her mindset has undergone a huge change, and she can now be said to be well-accepted.

The eldest prince was quickly punished and sent directly to guard the imperial mausoleum, never to leave it again. He would have no further connection with the position of crown prince or any other post.

The person who was happiest about this was none other than the Third Prince. After all, his biggest threat had brought about his own demise in an instant, which was an easy victory for him.

With her biggest rival gone, Wen Wan discovered that the Third Prince's faction was targeting her more aggressively. Naturally, they could no longer openly send assassins to kill her, but the attacks against her continued unabated.

Wen Wan was constantly being reported to the authorities about the girls' academy.

This can be expected, since her actions directly affected the interests of many people, including husbands and fathers. Those men whose interests were affected, those pedantic scholars who looked down on women, and so on, all hated Wen Wan to the bone.

They even spread rumors about Wen Wan among the common people every day.

But what's really outrageous about these people is that they just cursed Wen Wan during the day, and that very night they broke their leg, twisted their back, and lost money...

They attributed all these coincidences to Wen Wan, who was truly wronged.

After all, for her, it would be a good thing if more people criticized her! She's already standing out too much, and continuing like this isn't a good sign.

Wen Wan is now completely convinced of her own constitution; she must have a crow constitution, whoever she bumps into will be unlucky, and even speaking ill of her will backfire.

So those who were still cursing her stopped, after all, it had come at a price. She had only cursed for a few days and she was already in such bad luck. If she cursed a few more times, she might lose her life.

That's terrifying.

So they changed it to praise.

Wen Wan's fame has risen again, and she is so afraid that she hides in her palace every day, spending time alone with Gu Li.

Wen Wan didn't want to care about the commotion outside.

However, Gu Li goes out every day, and sometimes Wen Wan doesn't even know when he goes out. Even if she does know, Wen Wan won't find it strange because the system said that the male lead is secretly working on his career.

She actually had the urge to ask, but she felt she shouldn't. If the male lead wanted her to know, she would find out sooner or later.

Even so, the emperor still didn't let her go, nor did the Grand Tutor. The Grand Tutor insisted on shaping this piece of rotten wood, even emphasizing countless times that she was just careless and could actually do it all.

Wen Yan: "..."

She really couldn't memorize those obscure and difficult classical Chinese texts every day, or analyze policies for governing the country every day!

Look at the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince, and the other princes next to him. They are all so smart. Why is he being punished alone? He is punished by standing every day during class, and even his hands are slapped.

I'm almost developing PTSD from being a tutor.

The emperor, too, would frequently make her read memorials, all of which were trivial matters. Wen Wan fell asleep while reading them several times.

To ensure fairness, the emperor also had the third and fourth princes watch the exam together, and each of them had to come up with their own ideas. For Wen Wan, this was like going back to the college entrance exam, or even worse.

The end result was... she was just a hopeless case; while others could immediately come up with solutions after reading a memorial, she got sleepy.

The third and fourth princes are engaged in fierce competition, while Wen Wan remains a nobody.

Finally, he was punished by the emperor to copy books.

Wen Wan couldn't bear this injustice, but she couldn't escape. She only returned to the palace to save her life, but now, she might die at the hands of these memorials and the Grand Tutor, if not at the hands of the Emperor.

Only at night could he snuggle up to Gu Li, seeking comfort and a hug.

When it came time for the assessment, Wen Wan's performance was so bad that even the Grand Tutor's forehead wrinkles could trap a fly.

The emperor sighed several times.

Wen Wan is just giving up. Let her be punished. There's nothing we can do about it. She just doesn't like to study and can't learn those things anyway.

...

The medicine the system gave the emperor can preserve his healthy lifespan for at least twenty years, so barring any unforeseen circumstances, she can continue to develop in a lowly manner for another ten years or so. What to do then will be decided later.

But no one expected that the emperor would suddenly become frail.

Wen Yan: "..."

Moreover, it was all an act. The system discovered it, and Wen Wan realized that the emperor was up to no good. He had spread the news that he was failing and was going to appoint a crown prince, which caused several princes to start a fierce internal war.

This gentle demeanor... well, you're truly something else.

Who told you to have so many children? Isn't it normal for them to fight?

Wen Wan quickly started to become a couch potato, ignoring everything and letting go of everything.

Now, whoever stands out will incur the emperor's wrath. She's not stupid; she just wants to live a peaceful life as the second prince.

The third prince and the fourth prince were fighting, and the concubines in the harem were also constantly vying for power. Today it was discovered that this concubine had used witchcraft, and tomorrow it was discovered that that concubine's father's family had embezzled funds.

Anyway, it's like watching a grand drama every day. If the harem is like this, then the court is even more turbulent.

And all of this... has nothing to do with Wen Wan.

Because her mother had gone to become a nun and her maternal grandfather's entire family had been wiped out, she wasn't afraid of committing any crimes. Moreover, although she had a high reputation among the common people and had done many "big things," she had never had any private dealings with officials in the court. Even after the Crown Prince fell from power, many of the Crown Prince's former ministers came to see Wen Wan, wanting to stand behind her, but Wen Wan resolutely refused them.

Therefore, apart from one or two ministers left over from the original empress, Wen Wan's power in the court was practically nonexistent.

Wen Wan was right; the emperor was playing chess, a very big game.

The subsequent purges caused significant losses for the princes. Ministers who had attempted to take sides, if they hadn't yet committed offenses, were marginalized, while those who had were dismissed. Concubines were also purged, and the rule that the harem should not interfere in politics was not just empty words. Not long after Consort Rong was released, she was imprisoned again, and her maternal family's influence was also greatly diminished, leaving them severely weakened.