Chapter 6

This was truly an awkward situation. Lin Mo rubbed her nose, feeling a bit embarrassed, and said, “Father, are you okay? I really didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just that I couldn’t sleep last night and was worried that I’d oversleep and miss court in the morning. So, I thought I’d make a bed outside your door.”

Everyone: …What kind of logic is this? How does missing court relate to sleeping outside the door?

Seeing everyone’s puzzled expressions, Lin Mo awkwardly explained, “I just thought that when Father wakes up in the morning, he could wake me up and take me along. Isn’t that a win-win? See, I even changed into my court dress.”

Minister Lin clutched his chest, feeling faint, and said, “Nonsense! How could you, as a young lady, do such a thing? If word of this gets out, what will happen to your reputation? This is the first time you’ve done something like this, so I won’t pursue it further. But if you do something so thoughtless again, just see how I’ll deal with you!”

Lin Mo quickly nodded in agreement: “Looks like I can’t sleep outside the door anymore.”

System: “So you’re not giving up on the idea of sleeping on the floor, are you?”

The Lin family of four: …

Lin Ran shook her head helplessly at her little sister. It’s bad enough that she’s troubling their father, but if she had to take her sister into the circle of noble ladies, her life would be nothing but misery!

Their family has been noble for generations, so how did they end up with such a troublemaker? It’s true that life can’t be too perfect, or else fate will send you a troublesome situation or person.

Lin Qi rolled up the bedding at the door and asked what time it was.

Perfect! It was time to go to court.

None of the Lin family had slept well that night, and the events in the Lin household were all reported to the emperor by the secret guards.

“Hahaha! That little girl from the Lin family is hilarious! What was she thinking, making a bed at her parents’ door? Isn’t she afraid of scaring them to death?”

The emperor, while being dressed, listened to the report. Although he had been in a bad mood when he woke up, his spirits were now lifted.

Eunuch Li was also smiling as he explained, “I heard that the little Miss Lin couldn’t sleep last night and was worried about being late for court, so she did something like that.”

“The key point is that as soon as she fell asleep, she started snoring, which woke up both Minister Lin and his wife. Minister Lin nearly fainted from the shock.”

The more the Emperor Xuande listened, the more amused he became. That little girl from the Lin family really is a character! In all his years, he had never met someone so amusing.

“It was indeed wise to send the secret guards to watch over her. Protecting her is one thing, but mainly, she’s just too entertaining.”

“If my three sons weren’t already married, I’d want her to be my daughter-in-law.”

Eunuch Li: …Your Majesty, are you serious?

With this little Miss Lin’s mischievous nature, if she really married into the royal family, wouldn’t the royal household turn into a grand theater? Anything that happened there would be known to the entire world as soon as she found out.

At that point, court sessions wouldn’t be about discussing state affairs but rather listening to royal family gossip.

“Behave yourself today, do you hear me!”

Minister Lin, still scolding Lin Mo, boarded the carriage with her.

Lin Mo zoned out entirely: “Not listening, not listening, the turtle’s preaching!”

Minister Lin: … You’re the turtle! Your whole family’s turtles!

Wait, that little rascal is his own daughter—he can’t curse her like that.

The coachman outside was barely holding back his laughter; the Second Miss was just too funny.

When they finally arrived at the palace, Minister Lin experienced an unusual warmth from his colleagues for the first time.

“Oh, Minister Lin has arrived! Has little Miss Lin come with you? You’ve really raised a fine daughter, Minister!”

“Exactly! I’ve heard that both your eldest son and daughter are outstanding as well. Minister, you’re truly blessed!”

“Why can’t I have that kind of luck? All my children do is cause trouble. Sigh, everyone’s fate is different.”

Minister Lin: … Are you all okay? What’s gotten into you this early in the morning?

After working with these people for so many years, it’s the first time they’ve been so enthusiastic. They just want to hear some gossip.

Meanwhile, Lin Mo was happily chatting with the officials, navigating the conversation with ease.

Before long, she had coaxed all sorts of personal information from the official she was talking to, like how many people were in his household, how many children he had, and how his family relationships were—showing genuine concern, of course.

System: “Host, host, stop asking! He’s practically given you his underwear! I think you’re in the wrong profession—you should be a professional informant. The guy was just trying to make small talk, and you ended up extracting all his family secrets. Who chats like that?”

Hearing the system’s remark, the official finally realized something was off. Damn it! He had really spilled everything about his household!

Lin Mo sighed internally, “But they started talking to me first. You know what I’m like—if a conversation doesn’t involve gossip, what’s the point?”

“Though this official seems like a decent person, judging by what he said, he’s probably under his wife’s thumb.”

The official: !!! Don’t say that! How could I be henpecked? I’m the head of my household!

The expressions of the other officials who had been eavesdropping were indescribable.

And even those who hadn’t joined in realized that this Lin family girl, even without the system’s help, was quite the gossip connoisseur.

System: “Host, you’ve really honed this skill. No wonder—you’ve trained among all those maids and nannies. While other noble girls were learning the four arts, you were lugging around a small stool to listen to gossip.”

“Where, where—thank you for the compliment! Most noble girls in the capital can play the four arts, so I had to find something different to set myself apart.”

Everyone else was speechless at her words.

Different, indeed. While others excel in the four arts, you excel at gathering gossip. There’s truly no other girl like you.

Minister Lin wished he could dig a hole and crawl into it—this was just too embarrassing! The one making a fool of herself is the little rascal, so why does he feel so mortified?

Why hasn’t court started yet? Why is time moving so slowly today?

Finally, just as Minister Lin was about to lose it, Eunuch Li came to announce the start of the court session.

Lin Mo: “That quickly? It feels like we just got here.”

Minister Lin: Quick? My foot!