Fang Lingchu said obediently, “I understand, Father. But Father, why did His Majesty appoint me as an official?”
Fang Yelin muttered to himself: It’s all because of your inner thoughts.
“I don’t know either. Don’t try to guess His Majesty’s intentions.”
“Oh.”
Fang Lingchu hung her head and responded unhappily.
“Father, I’m going back to my room.”
“Go ahead.”
Minister Fang watched his daughter’s retreating figure with great concern.
[Gua Gua, why do you think His Majesty appointed me as an official?]
Hearing Fang Lingchu ask the System, everyone grew tense, afraid that the System would find out and tell her that others could hear her inner thoughts.
[I don’t know. Maybe he was won over by your personal charm?]
[You’re so useless! All you do is gossip. You don’t know this, you don’t know that. What’s the point of having you?]
[That’s because you never go out, Host. I can’t get any juicy gossip to level up. We’ve been in this world for fourteen years, and I’m still at Level 2. I only leveled up to Level 2 today because we went to the palace and heard some gossip about His Majesty.]
[Is that my fault? I don’t know what’s wrong with my parents—they never let me go out, even though I’ve been pretending to be so well-behaved.]
[It’s fine. Now that you’re an official, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to gossip. Once I level up, you’ll get lots of good stuff.]
[What good stuff?]
[Probably things like the System Mall. There are tons of great things in there.]
[What kind of good stuff?]
[All kinds of weapons from the Interstellar era, weapons from your time, medical machinery, various potions. If you reach a high enough level, you can even practice Cultivation. There are also System Missions and more…]
[Weapons? Medical machinery? Nothing else?]
[Oh, and your Beginner’s Gift Pack hasn’t been unlocked yet.]
[What? You haven’t even given me my Beginner’s Gift Pack?]
[I don’t have enough energy for that. The gossip you provide only keeps me running normally.]
[Fine.]
Fang Lingchu thought it over and realized it made sense. Now that she was an official, her parents probably wouldn’t stop her from going out anymore.
And so, the Host and the System chatted about this topic until midnight.
The next day.
Fang Lingchu was woken up by her maid, Strawberry.
Strawberry: “Miss, you need to get up now. It’s time to attend the morning court assembly.”
Fang Lingchu: “Just a little longer. Let me sleep a bit more.”
Fifteen minutes later.
Fang Lingchu was still fast asleep.
Strawberry had no choice but to forcefully pull her mistress out of bed.
Even then, Fang Lingchu wasn’t fully awake.
The System had already woken up when Strawberry started shaking Fang Lingchu.
[Host, get up now. It’s time for the morning court assembly.]
Fang Lingchu reached out as if trying to swat away the voice in her head.
Strawberry looked at her mistress, feeling utterly helpless.
She had no choice but to have two maids prop Fang Lingchu up, dress her, hold her face to wash it, and then tie up her hair and put on her official hat. Strawberry said helplessly, “Miss, wake up. It’s time for the morning court assembly. Miss, you should eat something.”
Hearing Strawberry’s words, Fang Lingchu finally opened her eyes groggily.
“Strawberry, why are you making me get up so early?”
Strawberry looked at her mistress with exasperation. “Miss, have you forgotten? His Majesty ordered you to attend the morning court assembly every day from now on.”
“The sky hasn’t even brightened yet.”
At this moment, Minister Fang arrived at his daughter’s courtyard.
Then he saw Fang Lingchu slumped limply against her maid like a boneless creature.
Seeing his daughter like this, Fang Yelin felt a surge of anger rising in his heart.
Fang Lingchu saw it was her father and promptly collapsed onto him instead.
Minister Fang helplessly caught his daughter—after all, she was his own flesh and blood, no matter what.
His daughter was perfect in every way, except she was a bit lazy, loved to sleep in, could sleep like a log, and had an overly active mind.
Minister Fang placed her in the family carriage, where Fang Lingchu found a comfortable spot and continued sleeping.
Seeing her like this, Minister Fang felt a throbbing in his temples and could barely resist the urge to give his daughter a good spanking.
When they reached the palace gates, Minister Fang suppressed the impulse to smack her bottom and went to wake her up.
“Chu’er, get up quickly, it’s time for court.”
The System was also screaming incessantly in her mind.
Unable to bear the noise, Fang Lingchu forced her eyes open and responded.
“I’m up, Father.”
Minister Fang quickly stepped out of the carriage and stood beside it.
Fang Lingchu stumbled out of the carriage in a daze and, failing to watch her step, missed her footing entirely.
With a thud, she fell straight down, landing on a young servant below.
Minister Fang covered his face, truly reluctant to admit that this was his daughter.
Fang Lingchu squirmed around on the ground, unable to get up.
With no other choice, she called out to her father, “Father, come quickly and pull me up.”
Minister Fang had no choice but to go over, grab her by the collar, and lift her up like a little chick.
Once she was up, Fang Lingchu dusted off her clothes and laughed awkwardly to cover her embarrassment.
Then she trotted happily after her father.
The onlookers couldn’t help but chuckle at the silly young girl.
Seeing his colleagues’ mocking looks, Minister Fang couldn’t help but grumble inwardly: What a headache this child is.
Fang Lingchu, however, didn’t mind at all. She didn’t care about others’ opinions—as long as she was happy, that was all that mattered.
The crowd whispered among themselves.
“Is this the first Female Official specially appointed by His Majesty? Tsk tsk tsk, and this is what she’s like?”
“Indeed. His Majesty even said she had something special and told us to keep it a secret. Tsk tsk tsk.”
“Exactly…”
As Fang Lingchu and her father slowly approached, the crowd’s voices grew softer and softer.
At that moment, the System came online.
[Host, wake up quickly, there’s gossip.]
The crowd: Who’s speaking?
Hearing that there was gossip, Fang Lingchu instantly became alert.
[Gossip? What gossip?]
The officials: Could this be the secret His Majesty mentioned about Lord Xiao Fang?
Fang Lingchu, now fully awake, noticed most people staring at her with puzzled expressions.
Being thick-skinned, Fang Lingchu paid no mind to their gazes and continued asking,
[System, what are they looking at?]
[Perhaps they’re stunned by your beauty.]
Fang Lingchu touched her face and giggled.
She agreed, saying: [That must be it. After all, my mother was the number one beauty in the capital, hahaha, so naturally, I’m also stunningly beautiful.]
Just as Fang Lingchu was about to continue boasting with the System, Minister Chen from the Hanlin Academy walked over and said, “This must be Lord Xiao Fang.”
Fang Lingchu looked at the man before her—though not particularly handsome, he exuded a strong scholarly aura—and politely returned the greeting in the manner her father had once taught her.
“Yes.”
At that moment, Vice Minister Fang introduced, “This is Minister Chen from the Hanlin Academy.”
“Greetings, Minister Chen.”
“I heard Lord Xiao Fang is exceptionally skilled at poetry, which earned him an official post from His Majesty. I wonder when I might have the chance to exchange insights with you.”
Fang Lingchu looked at the person before her who seemed to harbor some hostility and curiously asked the System, [System, is he challenging me?]
The System replied with some indignation: [Definitely. His hostility toward you is quite strong.]
Fang Lingchu continued to observe the person in front of her and asked in confusion: [Why? I don’t even know him. Why is he acting so arrogant toward me?]
The System snorted coldly and said: [He comes from a humble background. His family sold everything they had to send him to the capital for the imperial examination, and through sheer effort, he barely managed to rise to the seventh rank after all these years. You, on the other hand, became an official out of nowhere. How could he not be envious and resentful?]
[He despises people like you who rely on connections to get ahead, especially since you’re a woman. Entering the court as an official without even taking the imperial examination—of course, many people are dissatisfied. If it weren’t for the fact that your Emperor is a tyrant, the literati officials’ scorn alone would drown you.]
Fang Lingchu looked at the person before her with disdain and said: [Hmph, blaming others for their own incompetence. If they have the guts, they should take it up with the Emperor. Too scared of the Emperor, so they pick on a young woman like me. I despise such trash—they don’t deserve to be officials. Besides, I didn’t even want this position in the first place. Seriously.]
Those who held a grudge against Fang Lingchu felt as though she were insulting them.
Seeing Fang Lingchu’s blatantly boastful attitude, the System couldn’t help but want to roll its eyes.
[Host, don’t you think you’re being a bit too boastful?]
Although no one understood what “boastful” meant, it didn’t sound like a compliment.
Fang Lingchu politely clasped her hands and bowed to the person before her, saying, “My apologies, sir. I’m not skilled in poetry. You should seek someone else.”
The person before her grew even angrier and was about to speak when Minister Fang interjected, “Minister Chen, I have urgent matters to discuss with my daughter. I wonder if…”
Minister Fang’s gaze turned sharp as he looked at the person before him. Though his tone remained polite, Minister Chen couldn’t help but feel a pang of nervousness.
Minister Chen of the Hanlin Academy was terrified, but he forced himself to remain composed as he looked at the two. Still, he stepped aside to make way.