Who Cares About Being the Matriarch? My Rebellious Husband Secured Me a Noble Rank! - Chapter 70

“Your Highness, isn’t the Crown Prince’s sudden illness a little too… coincidental?”

A cold gleam flashed in Yan Xingzhou’s eyes. “I had men investigate. Yan Huai was indeed poisoned. If he staged this on purpose, then my good elder brother truly has a vicious hand—even against himself!”

Still, doubt lingered in his mind. The Crown Prince had always been the model of brotherly affection and filial piety. How could his nature change overnight?

“No matter the truth, His Majesty’s suspicions toward the Crown Prince have been eased for now. Our previous scheme has been wasted!” the elder adviser said grimly, unwilling.

But the younger strategist was calm. “Suspicion, once planted, never vanishes so easily. His Majesty may put down his guard for the moment, but at the slightest stir, those doubts will rise again like wild grass after the wind, reviving from dead embers.”

Yan Xingzhou forced down his irritation, his voice turning cold. “Very well. There’s a more pressing matter at hand. The provincial exam is upon us. Is everything prepared?”

The young adviser bowed deeply. “Rest assured, Your Highness. All proceeds according to plan.”

…

The next day would mark the start of the Autumn Examinations.

At the Chi family’s west courtyard, the air was thick with nervous energy.

“My son, what do you want to eat? I’ll have the kitchen make anything you like!” Second Madam Chi fretted. “Once you’re in the exam hall, you won’t be able to eat whatever you please anymore!”

The exam spanned three sessions, nine days and seven nights.

Eat, drink, sleep—everything was done inside the examination compound, under harsh conditions.

Chi Yan drawled lazily, “Mother, I’m going to the exam hall, not the execution ground. The way you’re talking, it sounds like my last meal.”

Second Madam Chi’s mouth twitched. She smacked him on the shoulder. “You little rascal, don’t say such inauspicious things! Pah, pah, pah!”

Shen Tangning’s lips curved with a faint smile. “Mother, it’s not as if husband is entering for the first time. With all that experience from past attempts, there’s no need to panic.”

Chi Yan’s eyelid twitched. Somehow, that didn’t sound like encouragement at all.

Second Madam Chi suddenly brightened. “That’s true. If nothing else, this brat has practically grown familiar with the examiners!”

Of course, familiar in the sense of mutual exasperation.

Over three sittings, he had often run into the same examiners.

At the sight of him, they always wore the same look—half contempt, half reluctant respect.

Again? You still haven’t given up?

Chi Yan: “……”

His face flushed. Clearing his throat, he quickly cut off his mother’s relentless truth-telling. “Anyway, just something light, Mother. No need to fuss.”

The closer to the exam, the more careful he had to be. Heavy meat dishes could easily upset the stomach.

Second Madam Chi agreed, bustling off to instruct the kitchen.

No sooner had she left than Ba Liang hurried in to report, “Second Young Master, Young Master Ji and Young Master Tang are here.”

Chi Yan exchanged a glance with Shen Tangning.

He had no desire to meet them now. But seeing his hesitation, Shen Tangning smiled. “Since they’ve come all the way, husband might as well meet them. Know your friends, know your foes, and you’ll never lose.”

Indeed—better to hear what they were plotting beforehand.

Chi Yan thought for a moment, then nodded.

Once Shen Tangning withdrew, the two friends arrived.

Ji Wuya leaned close, a conspiratorial gleam in his eyes. “Ah Yan, guess what treasure we’ve brought you this time?”

Chi Yan’s gaze flickered. He lifted his eyelids lazily. “Stop with the mystery. Just say it.”

Ji Wuya pouted, then produced a scroll. “Here. Don’t say your brothers never look out for you!”

Chi Yan unrolled it. His eyes darkened. “These are… exam questions?”

Ji Wuya burst out laughing. “You think I could get my hands on the real thing? No, no—these are predictions by a renowned scholar. Word is, students are paying high prices for them all over the city.”

Tang Xu added with a smile, “The moment Wuya got them, he thought of you first.”

Every exam season, there were always “prediction scrolls” for sale—supposed guesses at the exam questions, a convenient way for academies to make money.

Most of the time, they were wrong. But what if they weren’t?

Chi Yan sneered softly. “And you believe this nonsense?”

It was little more than a scam. If someone could really predict the questions, they’d be thrown in prison for leaking exam content!

The thought hit him like lightning.

What if someone was using this as cover—to deliberately leak the questions?

Wouldn’t that be… cheating?

Ji Wuya bristled. “The scholar who wrote these came out of the Imperial Academy! You know how capable those teachers are. He’s bound to hit one or two!”

Chi Yan’s casual air faded. His tone sharpened. “And how is that different from cheating? Even if I rank dead last, I’ll earn it with my own hand. Otherwise—what meaning is there?”

Both men froze.

A flicker of something unreadable flashed in Tang Xu’s eyes.

Ji Wuya scratched his head, dazed. “Now that you put it that way… it does sound a little wrong.”

They had money, connections. Buying this paper had been easy.

But if it really contained the real questions, then what of those poor students who had studied ten years, only to be crushed by the wealthy’s shortcuts?

Tang Xu gave a thin smile. “Second Young Master speaks true. But prediction papers have circulated for years, and few ever hit the mark. Let’s just treat it as amusement.”

Chi Yan calmly tore the scroll into shreds before their eyes. “This young master disdains crooked tricks. I’ve already failed three times. One more won’t kill me.”

Patting Ji Wuya’s shoulder, he added meaningfully, “Your mother doesn’t expect you to bring home the top scholar’s title. Even if you come last, she’ll still throw a feast. What’s there to worry about?”

Ji Wuya blinked, realization dawning. “That’s… true!”

He rubbed his neck, embarrassed. “I just worry for you. We’ve already sworn boldly, but if you fail again, won’t Xiao Yu and his lot laugh us to death?”

Chi Yan arched a brow. “If they laugh, does it cost me a piece of flesh? Do you take me for someone who cares about the world’s gossip?”

Ji Wuya’s eyes widened in admiration. “Chi Yan, I never knew you were so enlightened!”

Chi Yan shoved him away, deadpan. “Go get yourself a pair of spectacles, will you?”

Tang Xu: “……”

…

When they left the Chi residence, Tang Xu’s expression shifted subtly. As if idly, he remarked, “Wuya, don’t you think… Chi Yan has changed a lot?”

Ji Wuya scratched his head. “Really? He seems the same to me. Sure, he’s unreliable most of the time, but he’s always had his own way of doing things. Honestly, I think it’s a good change.”

Tang Xu’s gaze darkened.