The Entire Capital Is Scavenging My Gossip

At three in the morning, Chu Hua was dragged out of bed by her mother and dressed in her older brother's official robes. Her father said, "Your brother has gone to handle a task for the emperor. So, to avoid drawing attention, you'll take his place at court for a while. Once you're there, stay quietly in a corner. Don't draw attention or make a sound." Chu Hua: ? "I'm so much shorter than Brother, I have pierced ears, and my skin tone is..." Her mother produced a pair of thick-soled height-increasing boots, then put makeup on her face, ears, neck, and hands. She had prepared everything down to the last detail. Chu Hua: "...Do we really have to commit the crime of deceiving the emperor?" Her father looked at her meaningfully. "The emperor approved it." Chu Hua: ?? Wow, deceiving the emperor with imperial approval? You people are trying something very new! * Chu Hua was bored while attending court in her brother's place when a System dropped out of the sky. [Ding! Your Gossip System is now online.] The newly launched rookie System had traveled to ancient times, and it was low on energy and about to shut down. In its frantic confusion, it failed to notice that it had enabled the sharing feature, so everyone within fifty meters could hear the conversation between Host and System. System: [Host, shall we bind?] Chu Hua: [A Gossip System? Never heard of one. Let's open one up and have a taste.] The System dropped a bombshell: [The third prince isn't the emperor's biological son.] Chu Hua: ??? [Whoa, starting with something this explosive? Tell me more!!!] Emperor: ??! Officials: ??! Who was so bold? Did they want to lose their head?! System: [Twenty years ago, during the emperor's southern inspection tour, he slept with several beauties. One of them, a girl from a brothel, gave birth to a daughter. But a princess and a prince are worth very different things, so she left her daughter at the brothel and took another woman's baby boy. She came to the capital with the jade pendant the emperor had given her, and after passing a bloodline test, she successfully had the boy added to the imperial family register.] Emperor: ??! Officials: ??! Abandoning a princess and falsifying the imperial lineage, punishable by death! Chu Hua: [So it's one of those fake-versus-real prince plots. Boring.] System: [No! Here's the important part! The fake prince she took in is descended from the previous dynasty's royal family. He's already joined forces with a descendant of the previous dynasty's great general, and they're planning to dig up the previous dynasty's treasure so they can recruit troops and seize the throne.] Emperor: ??! Officials: ??! The third prince is a remnant of the previous dynasty, plotting to overthrow the current regime and restore the old one? He must die! Chu Hua: [Same old story. Boring. If only you could draw the treasure map...] System: [What's so hard about that? I'll take you to dig up the treasure!] The emperor, with many children but no money in his private treasury: !!! The officials, with an empty treasury and no money to use: !!! Take us with you! Money isn't important. Digging up treasure is just fun:) * Thanks to Chu Hua and the Gossip System, the Great Sheng Dynasty successively acquired treasure from the previous dynasty, experts in river management, a cowpox vaccine, and high-yield sweet potatoes. The emperor and his officials coasted for three months, waking from dreams with smiles on their faces. However, once the three months were up, Chu Qin returned. The emperor and officials: Their smiles gradually vanished. After discussing it among themselves, everyone decided that having a woman disguise herself as a man and attend court in her brother's place could continue. And so... Chu Qin had only just returned when he was sent away again for six months. He had only just returned when he was sent away again for a whole year. Three years later, Chu Qin hugged the emperor's leg and wept. "Your Majesty, please let me stay! I'm already twenty-three, and I still don't have a wife!" The emperor guiltily rubbed his nose. "How about letting your younger sister help you marry one?" Chu Qin: "..." Chu Hua: "..." Does that sound right to you? At the very least, it should be two:) Theme: Women can take the imperial examinations and become prime ministers too, shouldering half the sky.