There's No Rule Saying a Former Emperor Can't Take the Imperial Exams, Is There?

Shen Fei, the youngest daughter of a Duke's household, grew up surrounded by her family's love. Only after her family died for their country did she awaken memories of her previous life and realize that she was living in a nation-building novel.

The Shen family appeared for barely three chapters, but played a major role.

For generations, the Shen family had been loyal, yet the emperor grew suspicious of them and struck them down. They did not die at the hands of their enemies, but at the hands of their own people. As a result, the last foolish emperor completely lost the people's support, giving the male and female leads a just cause to raise an army and restore the realm!

The eldest Shen daughter was the empress, and the male lead's dearly departed first love. She helped advance the romance between the leads. In the end, the male lead had the young former-dynasty emperor, the son of Empress Shen, brutally executed with three thousand six hundred cuts, proving that he had no soft spot for the empress and was utterly devoted to the female lead!

As for Shen Fei, the male lead made her a princess and arranged for her to marry the lovesick second male lead. But the second male lead set her up to be unfaithful. In a fit of rage, she exposed his treasonous intentions toward the empress, allowing the male lead to exile him.

Shen Fei: "??!"

Just then, the foolish emperor abdicated and retired as the Grand Emperor, putting his three-year-old son on the throne to deal with state affairs. Shen Fei thought about the awesome senior-high school head teacher in the novel, the career-minded female lead, the male lead with every combat skill maxed out, and the protagonist team that had already gained a foothold. Looking at her eldest nephew, who had been tortured until he was skin and bones, she listened to her sister and faked her death, fleeing with the child.

How would they survive after escaping? The two-lifetime rich kid was stumped.

They already had egg tarts, cakes, and dessert shops for afternoon tea. Glass, cement, and paved roads had appeared... Even home-buying loans were a thing!

Worse still, when her eldest nephew read the words "Knowledge changes your destiny" on a slogan, he declared with lofty ambition, "Mother, I'll study, become the top scholar, and earn you a title!"

Shen Wenfei, now under a secret identity: "??!"

At first, Shen Wenfei focused on positive reinforcement. She never imagined the kid would turn out to be a prodigy, taking first place in the county-level exam and setting his sights on sweeping all three rounds of the prefectural exams!

Shen Wenfei: "…"

Shen Wenfei smiled on the outside, but inside she was anxious and frantic, wishing she could go back to the modern world and post a question: Can a former emperor sit the imperial exams and become an official?

Many years later, Shen Fei rode proudly through the streets on horseback.

Children should never have to suffer, so first she became a top-ranked woman scholar.

Then she became Minister of Rites, with authority over the interpretation of the rules for imperial exam registration.

Then she became grand chancellor...

Shen Fei, now empress: "Yes, I have to hold the final say on how the rules are interpreted!"

Theme: More than status, serving the people should be the standard for selecting talent through the imperial exams.