The whole family is insanely eavesdropping on my thoughts Chapter 607
Chapter 607: What Use is Excellence?
The small mountain village lay in eerie silence, yet the air was filled with heart-wrenching cries.
As Lu Chao Chao and her companions arrived, they saw women seated on the ground, wailing in agony, pounding their fists against the dirt. The village men, their hands trembling too much to hold their pipes, stumbled forward to the ox cart, their cries tearing through the heavens.
On the cart, several boys dressed in girls’ garments sat in a daze, their eyes hollow, the ground beneath them soaked in blood.
One man, braving himself, lifted the hem of a dress—and immediately blacked out, collapsing to the ground.
“My Chen family had only this one heir!” A man wailed desperately, turning to the village chief, “Chief, what in the world happened?!”
“Weren’t they going to enroll in school?” The old women beat their thighs as they sobbed, as if the sky itself had fallen.
“Help! Somebody help! Mercy, Buddha, mercy! This is my only son—I drowned six useless girls just to have him! Who could be so heartless to harm even children?” The old woman howled, calling for divine intervention, as if the lives she had discarded were never lives at all.
“Grandmother, Grandmother…” One of the boys clutched onto his grandmother’s hand, his tears falling like rain. “It hurts… it hurts so much… please save me…”
Blood once again pooled beneath him.
“Hurry and summon the village doctor!” A villager scrambled off in a panic.
The villagers surrounded the village chief, pulling at him, their emotions spiraling into rage. “Chief, you must give us an explanation! These are our precious sons—how could they leave the village in one piece and return like this?!”
Tears choked their voices.
The village chief, his face deathly pale, glanced up to see Lu Chao Chao and her companions watching from the side, amusement flickering in their eyes. Any thought of keeping their shame hidden was now meaningless.
“Shut up! Gather your things and leave the village at once!” The village chief bellowed.
“What do you mean by that, Chief? Our sons were harmed, and now you want us to leave?!” Anger flared instantly.
Seeing their furious expressions, the village chief could only sigh heavily. “If you don’t leave now, you won’t be able to leave at all.”
His voice trembled with fear. When the imperial officers had arrived to deliver their message to the villages, they had spoken only one sentence: The Women’s Academy only accepts female students. Any boy who assumes a false identity shall be rooted out, and the entire family will be held accountable.
At the time, no one in the village had paid it any heed.
A son was invaluable—he could inherit the family name, carry on the bloodline. Ten daughters could not compare to a single son.
How could anyone bring themselves to punish their sons?
The village chief had felt uneasy then, but the thought of their sons studying under great scholars and cultivators—bringing glory to their ancestors—had overshadowed his doubts. So he steeled himself and took the risk.
Who would have thought that on the day of enrollment, the very immortal master, rumored to soar through the heavens and vanish into the earth, would personally select the students?
With a single glance, the master saw through the deception.
That gaze had frozen the village chief’s blood.
The immortal was merciful. His first words were, “Leave now, and I shall pretend you were never here.”
The village chief had been ready to bow and scrape, eager to retreat. But the boys—spoiled and coddled in the village, used to getting their way—had instead stepped forward and declared, “Immortal Master, I am a boy! Let me be your disciple!”
“Girls are useless! They’re just a waste of money—worthless wenches!”
“Exactly! Immortal Master, girls aren’t even worth as much as a pig. In the end, they exist just for us men to enjoy!” Wang Tian Ci, who had taken the identity of Wang Zhao Di, had declared smugly.
Their words—so full of arrogance, so deeply ingrained with contempt—had stunned even the immortal master.
Some in the crowd frowned, while others laughed in agreement. Some even clamored to have their sons take the place of the girls who had already been enrolled.
The situation quickly spiraled out of control.
The most chilling moment had been when Wang Tian Ci, pampered beyond reason, had noticed the immortal’s brief look of shock and hesitation. Emboldened, he puffed out his chest and grinned.
“See, Immortal Master? Everyone supports boys taking the girls’ places.”
“Why not just allow it?”
“Besides, what good is a girl? Clever? Hardworking? It doesn’t matter! In the end, they’ll still marry off and belong to a man. They are mere playthings, worthless! I am different! I am a boy! I can bring honor to my ancestors, continue my lineage!”
The crowd erupted.
The village chief’s heart plummeted.
It was over.
The immortal master would surely make an example out of them. If he did not, this disgraceful trend would spread unchecked.
Without hesitation, the immortal acted. The county magistrate, standing solemnly at the side, immediately commanded, “Men! The families of the offenders shall be punished as well! Carry out justice at once!”
The village chief had fled as fast as he could, taking hidden trails back to the village. Even now, he remained pale with terror.
Hearing his account, the villagers turned ashen.
“The immortal master has lost his mind… what will happen to our Tian Ci? The Wang family’s lineage is doomed!” The women sobbed in despair.
One of them suddenly turned and kicked Zhao Di, who had been curled up to the side.
“You wretched girl! It’s because you were enrolled that my son suffered! This is all your fault! Even ten deaths wouldn’t be enough for you!”
On the cart, Wang Tian Ci sobbed through his snot, “Why?! Why should I suffer while that useless girl gets to live well?!”
“Mother, kill her! Throw her into the Infant Ditch!”
“If I can’t have a good life, neither can she!”
The woman lunged at Zhao Di, her hands reaching to tear her apart. But before she could, Zhu Mo moved like a shadow, kicking her away. She crashed into the wall with a heavy thud.
Lu Chao Chao beckoned to Zhao Di, who, without hesitation, darted behind her.
“I did nothing wrong… I did nothing wrong…” Zhao Di finally broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.
Lu Chao Chao’s expression darkened.
Just as tensions were about to boil over, the clatter of hooves echoed from beyond the village.
“The magistrate’s men have come for judgment!” A panicked voice shouted, sending the elderly and women scrambling into the mountains.
Chaos erupted. Cries, shouts, and the sounds of hurried footsteps filled the air.
In these remote lands, village rules often held more power than imperial law. Even in grave matters, they would rather seek the village chief’s judgment than report to the authorities.
This had led to countless deaths of newborn girls.
If the government did not step in now with an iron fist, the cycle would never break.
The Women’s Academy—meant to uplift girls—would instead become nothing more than a stepping stone for men.
Any attempt to usurp a girl’s rightful place must be punished severely!
This village was doomed to face a heavy reckoning.
Some elders and the weak fled into the mountains, while the young men grabbed their farming tools, prepared to resist.
But they were quickly subdued, their knees forced onto the ground before the imperial guards.
The officer atop his steed read from a scroll, “Wang Tian Ci, Wang Zong Bao, Li Tian Ze… Wang Xian Zu… the families of these offenders, step forward!”
The entire village trembled.
The officer’s eyes fell upon Lu Chao Chao’s group. Their presence was imposing, and their guards clad in armor spoke volumes of their status.
“And you are?” He inquired cautiously.
Zhu Mo lifted his chin arrogantly. “This is Princess Sunshine, personally conferred by His Majesty.”
“This is the Heir of Prince Jing Xi.”
“We were merely passing through and stayed the night here.”
At those words, the villagers exchanged horrified glances.
P-Princess…?
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation