Chapter 6: Another Transmigrated Woman

When Su Mu saw Xie Yi kneeling at her feet to eat, she almost withdrew her feet.

She put down the porridge spoon in her hand and pulled his arm, “Get up.” Xie Yi almost couldn’t hold the porridge in his hands steady and nearly spilled it.

Su Mu pulled him to sit beside her, “From now on, you sit and eat.” Fearing that Xie Yi didn’t understand, she also patted the stool and the table, her tone stern, “Sit, understand? You are a person, not a beast. Why are you kneeling on the ground to eat? I don’t allow men to not be able to eat at the table here.” Seeing Su Mu’s suddenly raised voice and somewhat serious expression, Xie Yi not only didn’t feel afraid, but suddenly laughed instead.

He couldn’t understand what Su Mu was saying, but this feeling of sitting firmly on a stool, this feeling of being treated as a person, was really good.

Since his parents died in the war and his brothers were separated, he was forcibly sold to the Central Plains. It had been a long time since anyone had made Xie Yi feel this cherished.

After eating, Su Mu prepared to go out to register for the student examination.

The female-dominant world also had imperial examinations, but they were still somewhat different from what Su Mu remembered.

First of all, the imperial examinations were open to all people of clean background, except for merchants and monks. Even those who had not attended school could participate in the student examination.

Passing the student examination, one could be called a “xiucai” (licentiate), and there was a certain number of admissions each year. It was said that this year there were two.

After becoming a “xiucai”, one could participate in the “juren” (recommended man) examination. After passing, one could then participate in the “jinshi” (presented scholar) examination, and then smoothly become an official. However, in this small county of Juan City, as long as one passed the “juren” examination, one foot was basically in the government office. Becoming a county magistrate might depend on luck, but becoming an education official was completely fine.

Because the provincial examination was presided over by the county magistrate, the registration place was in the ceremony room of the county yamen.

Su Mu had just arrived at the door when she saw a long queue of people outside. Su Mu consciously lined up at the end.

Seeing Su Mu’s appearance, the originally calm queue immediately started buzzing with discussion.

Su Mu lowered her eyes and pretended not to hear anything. She was already used to being criticized by others.

“Hey, isn’t this Su Mu? Why aren’t you staying at the Yan family and being an obedient husband-in-law? Why did you run to the ceremony room?” A round woman in a red robe walked out of the queue, her voice filled with a mocking laugh, immediately attracting everyone’s attention.

She was Yan Ruyu, Yan Jiyue’s cousin and one of the many parasites in the Yan family. In the previous life, she was severely punished by Su Mu and since then, she didn’t even dare to fart in front of Su Mu.

However, now that she had divorced Yan Jiyue, whether they were parasites or not was none of her business.

“Oh my, don’t tell me you’re also here to take the “xiucai” examination?” Yan Ruyu said in surprise, covering her mouth.

Su Mu smiled faintly, “The ceremony room is the place for students to register. What else can I do here besides taking the “xiucai” examination?”

“Tongsheng” referred to those who had not passed the “xiucai” examination, regardless of age.

Seeing Su Mu say it so directly, Yan Ruyu said, “Shameless. Have you taken a look at yourself? I bet you can’t even recognize a few characters.”

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter, their eyes filled with mockery as they looked at Su Mu.

“The ceremony room is not a place for this kind of husband-in-law to come.”

“Exactly. Lowering the integrity of us scholars.”

Su Mu remained unfazed, “Just because I couldn’t recognize characters before doesn’t mean I’ll always be unable to. People should always make progress. If I didn’t have a little bit of knowledge, I wouldn’t come here either.”

“You have knowledge? I’m afraid it’s all used to eat soft rice.” Yan Ruyu laughed loudly, “Get lost. This is not a place where a husband-in-law like you can come. We have all studied in school for many years since childhood.”

Su Mu’s lips curled up slightly, “That’s right. Ruyu started school at the age of six and is already 26 now. It’s conceivable that you are very familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, but it’s a pity that you’re still a “tongsheng”.”

“You—” Yan Ruyu was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly exploding with rage, “You’re also a “tongsheng” like me. What are you so smug about? I can’t pass the “xiucai” examination, but can you? Keep dreaming.”

Su Mu chuckled, “Why don’t we have a competition and see?”

Yan Ruyu was amused by her inexplicable confidence and laughed loudly, “Did you all see that? This husband-in-law has only studied for a few days and dares to compete with me?”

The crowd laughed loudly as if watching a clown.

“What do you want to compete in?”

“Let’s see who becomes a “xiucai” first. The bet is 10 taels of silver.” Su Mu said.

Yan Ruyu was laughing so hard that tears were coming out, “Becoming a “xiucai”? Hahaha, if you can become a “xiucai”, forget 10 taels of silver, I’ll give you 100 taels of silver.”

Su Mu’s eyes curved, “It’s a deal then. I ask everyone present to be our witnesses.”

The surrounding crowd only laughed, but no one responded to her. It was conceivable that no one would take a husband-in-law seriously.

Yan Ruyu was still laughing when suddenly she saw a horse carriage coming from not far away. The corner of her mouth twisted into a smile, “No wonder even someone who can’t recognize a few characters is rushing to take the examination. I guess it’s because you were stimulated by Cousin, after all, the person Cousin likes is Miss Shen Yuxue.”

The person coming from afar was none other than Miss Shen Yuxue, who wrote “The Charm of the Moon Over the River”.

Su Mu smiled faintly, “I’m taking the examination for myself, not for Yan Jiyue.”

Yan Ruyu snorted disdainfully, “Stop pretending. Who doesn’t know that you, Su Mu, wear a green hat? My cousin doesn’t like you at all. You’re the one who shamelessly threw yourself at him. But don’t worry, a pheasant is a pheasant. No matter how hard you try, you can’t become a “xiucai” or a phoenix.”

It was a well-known fact that Yan Jiyue liked Shen Yuxue, so Yan Ruyu mocking her for wearing a green hat was indeed the truth.

In the previous life, she wore this green hat for a full ten years and couldn’t take it off even if she wanted to.

But it was different now. She had already divorced Yan Jiyue and was single. She was about to tell Yan Ruyu.

But after mocking her, Yan Ruyu ran towards the person behind her without stopping.

Su Mu turned around, and as luck would have it, the person was none other than Shen Yuxue.

Because Shen Yuxue had recently written a poem called “The Charm of the Moon Over the River” and become famous, as soon as she appeared, she immediately attracted everyone’s attention.

“I heard that Shen Yuxue used to be a prodigal. I never thought that after falling into the water recently, she could actually write such an immortal masterpiece.”

“That’s right. ‘May we live long, to share the beauty of the moon together, even though miles apart.’ It’s written so well.”

Shen Yuxue was surrounded by the crowd and started lining up. Only Shen Yuxue herself knew that she was being forced into this.

If she had known that she would be forced to take the imperial examination, Shen Yuxue wouldn’t have pretended to be that person.

Her father was also like this. She had already explained that the poem was written by someone else, but he refused to listen and insisted that it was her.

Now, so many pairs of eyes in the entire city were staring at her.

She was just an ordinary office worker. Reciting a couple of poems was fine, but if she really had to take the imperial examination and write eight-legged essays, she might as well kill herself.

“Miss Shen, this way please.” Shen Yuxue forced a smile and was pulled to the end of the queue to start lining up.

And the person in front of her happened to be Su Mu.

“I heard that the husband-in-law’s beloved talented woman is none other than Shen Yuxue… This is going to be interesting.” Some people’s gazes turned to Su Mu, their eyes filled with unconcealed amusement.

Shen Yuxue also vaguely heard the playful voices of others. Husband-in-law? Wasn’t that similar to a modern-day kept man or rice worm?

She curiously sized up Su Mu and let out a sigh in her heart.

Damn, he’s so good-looking.

The beauties depicted in ancient poetry using the most gorgeous language were nothing more than this. Dressed in white, her waist constrained by a red sash, her waistline was not even a handful. Her eyes were clear, cold, and pure, a perfect example of a cold and lustful beauty.

Shen Yuxue swallowed her saliva without changing her expression.

Who was her husband? This kept man was worth it, so worth it.

If she were a man, she would also marry Su Mu.

After coming to the female-dominant world, Shen Yuxue felt that everything was good, except that the women in the female-dominant world considered roughness as beauty. Even the body that Shen Yuxue herself was attached to was the heroic type.

Unexpectedly seeing a cold and beautiful woman like Su Mu from Jiangnan, and a beauty that completely hit her fetish, Shen Yuxue’s heart and liver were trembling.

What’s wrong with eating some soft rice with this appearance?

She wished she could bring the rice bowl to her face and eat, eat hard for her.

Su Mu felt the gaze from the person behind her lingering on her body, feeling a bit uncomfortable and itchy.

She knew that the person staring at her was Shen Yuxue. In the previous life, Su Mu didn’t have much interaction with Shen Yuxue and only heard that Shen Yuxue later went to other places.

Even though she knew that Shen Yuxue was also a transmigrated woman, Su Mu still didn’t dare to acknowledge her because there was no need.

If she wasn’t the only transmigrator in the world, could there be a third or fourth one?

Casually using famous poetry was the easiest way to be judged by others. Rather than exposing herself like Shen Yuxue, Su Mu preferred to hide herself in the dark.

Finally, it was Su Mu’s turn to fill in the examinee information. After filling in her name, age, place of origin, and other details, she left.

Who knew that after walking a few steps, she was called by the person behind her?

“Miss!” Shen Yuxue was calling her.

Everyone’s eyes were quietly sizing up the two of them. One was Yan Jiyue’s wife, and the other was the talented woman that Yan Jiyue admired. One was the moon in the clouds, and the other was the mud under the feet.

Fight, fight.

“What do you need, Miss Shen?” Su Mu turned around, her expression indifferent.

Shen Yuxue was a bit surprised, “Miss, you know me?”

Su Mu lowered her head and smiled faintly, “Of course I know you. Miss Shen’s poem ‘The Charm of the Moon Over the River’ is already known by everyone.” Shen Yuxue was a bit embarrassed, “I’m flattered, flattered.”

“So what do you need from me, Miss Shen?” Su Mu smiled slightly and asked again.

Seeing Su Mu’s smile, Shen Yuxue felt like her heart was about to melt. Beautiful sister, let’s be friends.

“Actually, it’s nothing. I just wanted to tell you that the rumors outside are not true. Young Master Yan and I have only met once or twice before and are not in the kind of relationship that the outside world rumored. Miss, don’t mind it.” Shen Yuxue didn’t want Su Mu to misunderstand and didn’t want the innocent Su Mu to wear a inexplicable green hat.

Su Mu’s expression showed a faint surprise, and then she chuckled softly, “It’s alright.” The crowd waiting for Su Mu to make a scene: “……”

Shouldn’t they start fighting?

Why aren’t they fighting anymore?