Night was falling over Peony Court.
Sheng Minmin sat alone, drinking.
Everyone in the household assumed she was drowning her sorrows in alcohol, heartbroken over what had happened with Concubine Ruan and her son.
But in truth, her heart was full of contentment and calm.
Her enemies—Taoniang and the Feng family—were finished.
Sheng Mingjian’s reputation was ruined, and his health was broken.
Especially his health. If Sheng Mingjian didn’t pass this time, so be it. But if he did…
She would make sure he made a fool of himself in the great hall, cutting off his official career for good!
The higher Sheng Mingjian climbed, the harder he would fall!
And Sheng Mingyi required attention, but for now… his problems were mostly manageable…
Sheng Mingbo, on the other hand, was no threat at all…
Once Sheng Yong’s health completely collapsed, that would be her time to torment them all mercilessly.
As for Sheng Mingzhu—with her poison worms and special constitution—she was a bit trickier to deal with…
But Sheng Minmin had a lead. Sheng Mingzhu owed her current standing entirely to Master Dale and Lin Zhijing.
And those two must have something odd about them, to have transformed Sheng Mingzhu into what she was now.
After the Crown Prince’s wedding, she planned to send Qingdai out to investigate thoroughly.
Qingdai had a blood feud with Lin Zhijing’s family, so she would surely be more than willing.
As long as she could uncover what was strange about Master Dale and Lin Zhijing, she’d have a chance to bring them down through the Eldest Princess.
Without her backers, Sheng Mingzhu would be nothing but a clown.
And then there was Zhu Qisheng.
In her past life, without Zhu Qisheng backing Sheng Mingzhu, she would never have been so arrogant.
Every bit of suffering Sheng Mingzhu had inflicted on her bore Zhu Qisheng’s contribution.
Perhaps she’d feel a little sorry for the Princess of Jin, but Zhu Qisheng still had to die!
Of course, she wouldn’t make the first move.
Based on her understanding of Sheng Mingzhu, the girl would definitely cling to Zhu Qisheng…
And with Sheng Mingzhu’s current constitution, Zhu Qisheng would be lucky to survive.
Then there was the steward of Prince Qi’s mansion—her husband from her previous life…
He’d sided with Sheng Mingzhu, framed her, and only then managed to marry her.
Later, while she was pregnant, he’d conspired with Sheng Mingzhu to divorce her and cast her into hell…
A coward who bullied the weak and feared the strong, who was terrified of death and craved vanity…
Once Zhu Qisheng was dead, she’d send that man to keep him company in the grave!
There were also some servants she wouldn’t spare.
Beyond that, there was just Huang Yaning…
Toward Huang Yaning, she’d initially felt nothing but disgust and hatred.
Over the years, she’d avoided seeing Huang Yaning whenever possible.
When she couldn’t avoid her, she could sense Huang Yaning’s efforts to please her.
Reluctant as she was to admit it, Sheng Minmin had to acknowledge that her hatred toward Huang Yaning had slowly eroded somewhat in the face of that groveling.
Now, her feelings toward Huang Yaning had grown complicated…
Of course, two things were certain.
First: she had not forgiven Huang Yaning. She never could.
Second: Huang Yaning and she were fundamentally not on the same path.
When she held a blade to the throats of Sheng Mingjian and his brothers, Huang Yaning would surely try to stop her.
And when that day came, she would strike Huang Yaning too!
In this life, anyone who stood in the way of her revenge was her enemy!
Sheng Minmin felt that the day of her full-scale revenge was not far off!
——-
Days passed, and gradually, the day of the Crown Prince’s wedding arrived.
The Sheng family barely met the threshold to attend the wedding banquet. Originally, only the legitimate children were invited.
But then a new invitation arrived, bearing the names of Huang Xianjing, Sheng Mingli, and Sheng Mingshu.
Sheng Minmin guessed that the princess must have pulled some strings.
The wedding day itself was lively, and Sheng Mingzhu caused no trouble. Qingdai, following orders, quietly slipped out of the Sheng mansion.
Two months after the Crown Prince’s wedding came the day of the imperial examinations.
Originally, the metropolitan examinations were held in February. But after the current emperor ascended the throne, he changed the date to early October.
The results would be released a month after the exams ended, giving those who failed enough time to travel home for the New Year’s reunion.
On the morning of the exams, Sheng Yong personally led the entire family to see Sheng Mingjian off at the examination hall gates.
Many examinees recognized Sheng Mingjian and recalled the rumors about his scandalous fondness for men. Some cast less-than-friendly glances his way.
Sheng Mingjian ignored them all completely.
In fact, he was downright smug!
In his dreams, his teacher had obtained the outstanding essays from this cohort and brought them to the academy for all students to study, hoping to inspire them for the next round.
Sheng Mingjian believed his dreams were prophetic—that the topics he’d seen in his dreams were this year’s actual exam questions.
So he’d long since prepared a perfect essay.
All he had to do once inside the examination hall was write it out from memory!
He was certain he’d make the list!
Once he had a title and rank, who would dare mock him? Who would dare spread rumors about him?
He would also confess his feelings to Mingzhu.
He was going to marry Mingzhu!
He would convince his father and mother to let Mingzhu marry him…
Furthermore, Sheng Mingjian planned to torment that wild girl from Haitang Court!
Sheng Mingjian could already see himself passing with flying colors, basking in everyone’s praise and envy, then avenging himself, marrying the one he loved, and ascending to the peak of life…
In truth, the exam topics Sheng Mingjian had seen in his dreams were real.
In his past life, Grand Tutor Zhang had come up with those questions after consulting his father, the elder Grand Tutor Zhang.
But many things had changed in this life.
For instance, Zhang Chuyao, the legitimate daughter of the Zhang family, had some mental instability. The elder Grand Tutor Zhang was so preoccupied with his granddaughter that he had no mood to craft exam questions.
So in this life, the exam questions were devised by Grand Tutor Zhang himself—completely different from the previous life…
But Sheng Mingjian didn’t know that yet, so he wore an air of triumphant confidence.
His demeanor puzzled both Sheng Minmin and Huang Yaning.
They both knew that in the previous life, despite Sheng Mingjian’s scholarly talents, it had still taken him three more years to pass.
In this life, his learning had deteriorated significantly, and he was younger too. It didn’t seem likely he’d succeed.
They couldn’t understand why Sheng Mingjian was so confident—as if he was certain he would pass.
A jolt of alarm ran through both of them. Could it be that Sheng Mingjian had also been reborn?
But they quickly dismissed the thought.
If he had truly been reborn, he wouldn’t have been so easily pushed around in this life…
Once she’d reasoned it through, Sheng Minmin felt perfectly at ease.
Huang Yaning, however, was unsettled…
After that incident at the manor estate, and later the assassination attempt by Sheng Mingjian’s servant, Huang Yaning and Sheng Mingjian had become mortal enemies.
If Sheng Mingjian ever gained power, Huang Yaning knew she’d suffer terribly.
During the months he’d been studying so diligently, she’d barely slept.
She couldn’t stop thinking—what if he passed? How could she save herself and protect Minmin?
She’d even considered sabotaging him to keep him from taking the exams…
Sheng Yong must have sensed it. He’d confined her to the inner courtyard, forbidden her from leaving the estate, and had people watching her.
In short, Huang Yaning desperately hoped Sheng Mingjian would fail—
It was ironic, really. In her past life, Sheng Mingjian had been the son she was most proud of…
A few days later, the exams ended, and the Sheng family gathered early at the gates to await his return.
They all froze when they saw Sheng Mingjian.
He looked like he’d had his life force drained by a female ghost…
His face was pale, his eyes vacant, with dark circles underneath.
His lips were nearly cracked dry, and he walked unsteadily, stumbling…
There was no need to ask—it was obvious he’d failed miserably.
Sheng Yong’s face darkened instantly. He flicked his sleeves and stormed off.
Sheng Minmin suppressed the smile tugging at her lips and ordered a servant to help Sheng Mingjian into the carriage and back to the mansion.
The moment everyone stepped through the gates, Sheng Mingjian collapsed in a dead faint.
