The Entire Capital City Comes to Eat My Melons

At three in the morning, Chu Hua was pulled out of bed by her mother and made to put on her elder brother's official uniform. Her father said, "Your brother has gone to do something for the Emperor. To avoid drawing attention, you will replace him in court during this period. After going to court, just hide quietly in a corner, don't stand out, and don't make a sound." Chu Hua blinked, "I'm so much shorter than my brother, I have pierced ears, and my skin tone isn't..." Her mother pulled out a pair of thick-soled height-increasing boots, applied powder to her face, ears, neck, and hands, fully prepared. Chu Hua questioned, "...Must we commit this crime of deceiving the Emperor?" Her father looked at her meaningfully, "The Emperor permitted it." Chu Hua was stunned. "Good heavens, deceiving the Emperor by imperial decree? You monarch and ministers are playing a very new game!"

While Chu Hua, who was substituting for her brother at court, was bored, a system descended from the heavens. "Ding, your Gossip System is online." The novice system, fresh out of the factory and transmigrated to ancient times, was low on energy and about to shut down. In its flurry, it didn't notice it had activated a sharing function, causing everyone within a fifty-meter radius to hear the conversation between Chu Hua and the system. System: "Host, will you bind?" Chu Hua: "A Gossip System? Never heard of it. Let's try it out."

The system dropped a bombshell: "The Third Prince is not the Emperor's biological son." Chu Hua was shocked, "Hiss—that's quite a bang to start with? Elaborate!!!" The Emperor and all the officials were equally stunned. "Who is so bold? Do they not want their heads?!"

System: "Twenty years ago, during the Emperor's southern tour, he favored several beauties. One of them, a courtesan, gave birth to a daughter. However, the significance of a princess and a prince is completely different. She left her daughter in the brothel, adopted another woman's male infant, and brought the jade pendant the Emperor gave her to the capital. After a blood recognition, he successfully entered the imperial family's genealogy." The Emperor and all the officials were shocked. "Abandoning an imperial princess and confusing the imperial bloodline, she deserves death!" Chu Hua commented, "So it's a 'true and false prince' trope. How uninteresting."

System: "No! Here's the crucial part! The fake prince she adopted is actually of the previous dynasty's imperial bloodline. He has now colluded with the descendant of the former dynasty's great general, preparing to excavate the previous dynasty's treasures to raise an army and ascend the throne." The Emperor and all the officials were aghast. "The Third Prince is actually a remnant of the previous dynasty, attempting to usurp the throne and restore the former dynasty? He deserves death!" Chu Hua remarked, "Old plot, uninteresting. If only you could draw the treasure map..."

System: "What's so difficult about that? I'll take you to dig for treasure!" The Emperor, who had many children but no money in his private treasury, was ecstatic. The officials, whose national treasury was empty and had no money to use, were equally thrilled. "Take me/us along!" they thought. Money wasn't important, primarily because digging for treasure was more interesting :)

Relying on Chu Hua and her Gossip System, the Great Sheng Dynasty successively acquired treasures from the previous dynasty, talented individuals for river management, smallpox vaccines, and high-yield sweet potatoes. The Emperor and his ministers coasted to victory for three months, waking up laughing in their dreams. However, as soon as the three months were up, Chu Qin returned. The Emperor and his officials' smiles gradually faded. After some discussion, everyone decided that the matter of Chu Hua cross-dressing as a man and substituting for her brother in court was still beneficial, so... As soon as Chu Qin returned, he was sent out again for half a year. As soon as he returned again, he was sent out for another year. Three years later, Chu Qin clung to the Emperor's leg, weeping and complaining, "Your Majesty, please let this subject stay! I'm already twenty-three and haven't married a wife yet!" The Emperor, feeling guilty, rubbed his nose, "How about... let your younger sister help you marry one?" Chu Qin was speechless. Chu Hua was speechless. "Listen to that, does that sound reasonable? You should get at least two!" :)