The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

The time between the army's return to the capital and the presentation of prisoners was a little long, because the previous rumors of "women ruling the country" in the New South Kingdom aroused the emperor's interest. Later, even though he knew that it was actually a mistranslation caused by the language barrier between the two countries, the emperor still ordered Marquis Anguo to bring the captured New South royal family back to the capital so that he could see something new.

Naturally, the emperor's action did not escape Xie Yuzhen's eyes. After understanding the ins and outs of the matter, she only ordered Jun Yuexin to arrange reliable personnel around the prisoners of war before leaving, and never give the prisoners a chance to correct the mistranslation of male and female titles.

She kept it for use.

But perhaps all the royal family of Xinnan were frightened by Jun Yuexin's sudden break-in and killing people in the royal city, and they fell ill again and again on the way back to the capital. In order to ensure that they could complete the emperor's orders, the escorts had to send people to the capital again and again to request an extension.

at last.

Time has come to the end of the year.

On a snowy day, captives from the New South were escorted in prison cars into the capital of Dasheng.

At the same time, a rumor about Mr. Lin, who has become a little famous recently, was slowly spreading in the dark.

"Have you heard?" An old man in a sheepskin coat asked his neighbor in a somewhat mysterious tone, with his hands tucked into his sleeves.

The neighbor was also an old man, wearing a thick cotton coat and holding two pancakes in his hands: "What did you hear?"

The old man in the sheepskin coat winked at an alley ahead and said, "I passed by a school in the city a few days ago and heard a few scholars talking there. They said that Mr. Lin, who helped Jingzhao Prefecture solve a murder case three years ago, was a girl dressed as a man!"

The neighbor looked at him in surprise, then waved his hand nonchalantly: "These scholars just don't have enough work to do. When they are not studying, they like to gossip together. Mr. Lin was able to get the title of Juren at a young age, and he is also good-looking, so they have to make up stories about him."

"So you don't believe this, brother?"

"What's there to believe? When we were slaughtering a pig, my useless son couldn't even catch the pig and was kicked twice. Fortunately, Mr. Lin heard the noise and came to help. What do you think happened? He pressed and lifted the pig's neck with both hands and pinned my 100-pound pig to the ground."

The neighbor rolled his eyes and said, "Look at Mr. Lin, he is so brave. He is nothing like those scholars who are sickly and talk about others behind their backs while holding a book. They can't even catch a chicken... I don't want to bother with them. If I have free time, I might as well go and see those people from the New South."

The old man in the sheepskin coat thought for a moment and said, "Brother is right. The people in the New South are more interesting. They point at men and call them women, and point at women and call them men. Hehe, I heard that they had a queen. I went to see it when the captives were brought to Beijing. Wow, a fat man with an untidy beard!"

The two talked as they walked slowly towards home. As they walked, they found that there were more and more people in front of them for some reason.

In order to join in the fun, the two old men turned on tiptoe and walked towards the crowd, only to see Lin Qiao, who had just appeared in their mouths, and a woman whose dress was different from that of the people from the Central Plains, who were surrounded by a group of scholars.

"Mr. Lin, have you heard?" a young scholar with a large patch on his cotton gown asked loudly, "Some people say that you are a woman dressed as a man. What's going on? Are they maliciously spreading rumors to slander you? Is there anything we can do to help you?"

This scholar was not very old and his family was not well off. After Lin Qiao came to Beijing, with the support of the Yongjia Marquis' Mansion, he had helped many scholars like him.

After the rumors about Lin Qiao spread, some people said on the spot that they would never stay in the same room with a woman pretending to be a man and that they would break off all ties with Lin Qiao; some people said that they did not know whether the rumors were true or not and remained neutral and did not make any statement; of course, there were also people who thought that these words were deliberately made up by people who were jealous of Lin Qiao in order to slander her.

Young people are impulsive in nature. After a big quarrel between the two sides with opposing opinions, someone suggested going to ask Lin Qiao for clarification, and they all went to Lin Qiao's house to block him.

After hearing the young man's question, Lin Qiao did not rush to answer, but first glanced at the crowd and found that in addition to the young people with naive and childish faces, there were indeed a few old guys with cold eyes mixed in.

Then she smiled softly: "It's just some boring words said by boring people, why bother?"

"Will Mr. Lin not come out to respond?"

"Why should I respond?" Lin Qiao looked at the man who had just spoken with a smile, "The Spring Examination is approaching, why should we be disturbed by external things? For scholars like us, at such an important moment, the examination is naturally our top priority."

"Yes, he specifically stares at people during the exam and says some incomprehensible words before the exam. He must be thinking something bad. He really thinks that others have no eyes and can't see." Zhu Queyin said with a trembling voice. She was not used to the snowy days in the north. Even though she had wrapped herself up almost like a ball, she still felt cold and sneezed after she finished speaking.

Xie Yuzhen deliberately delayed the time of releasing those maids, and asked people to secretly infiltrate the group of Huang Ming and others who wanted to start trouble with rumors, delaying them a little, and thus bringing the time of their attack to now.

The purpose was to give people who didn't know the truth the impression that someone was deliberately trying to trip up Lin Qiao before the Spring Examination.

The young man with patches on his cotton-padded jacket breathed a sigh of relief: "That's what I was saying. Why did they spread this rumor just in a few months when the imperial examination is about to begin? Anyone with eyes can see what they are up to. Some people are so ugly—"

"This is groundless. If it weren't for you...something that was discovered and misunderstood, how could such an outrageous rumor spread?" Another voice in the crowd shouted, "Mr. Lin, we don't have any other intentions, and we are not targeting you on purpose. It's just that there has never been a woman studying for the imperial examination, let alone a woman dressed as a man and mixing with men. It really damages everyone's reputation!"

"Yes, the woman in my family is very jealous. If she knew that I went to school to hang out with a girl, I'm afraid she would..." The man touched his face in a funny way, grinning.

A group of men around him burst into laughter.

Zhuqueyin frowned and looked at them: "What are you laughing at? So you Han people go to school not to study, but to learn how to gossip about others?"

She looked the man up and down carelessly: "You are slovenly and your belt is not tied properly. You don't look like you have a wife."

The man, who failed so badly that his first wife divorced him and he has not been able to remarry since then, was furious: "My lady, how did I offend you that you humiliated me like this?"

"I'm just telling the truth. Don't you Han Chinese men like to tell the truth?" Zhuqueyin said deliberately, "Aren't you always gossiping about Ah Qiao and your non-existent wife? Oh, by the way, according to you, being with a woman is detrimental to one's reputation. So why are you surrounding me when I'm here? You know I'm a woman but you still deliberately surround me. Aren't you afraid of damaging my reputation now?"