SBCEJM -Chapter 243 Scholar Feng’s Absurd Tactics for Avoiding Romance!

The system’s tone was brimming with schadenfreude.

“Then he immediately wrote a memorial titled On the Administrative Negligence of Lost Items in Public Areas, Their Potential Risks, and Their Impact on Palace Protocols and submitted it to the throne.”

“He proposed that the Imperial Household Department strengthen inspections and register and fine anyone who lost personal belongings, so as to serve as a warning to others.”

Minister Zhang’s vision darkened, and his body swayed.

After his daughter returned that day, she had acted both shy and hopeful. He had thought there was finally a chance.

Who would’ve guessed that the very next day, word spread from the palace that his daughter had been summoned by the Empress for a lecture because she had carelessly dropped her belongings!

So this was the root of it all!

His precious daughter had cried the entire night after returning home and swore she would never step foot in the imperial garden again for the rest of her life.

Beside him, the Vice Minister of Rites muttered quietly,

“Brother Zhang… this is what you call losing both your daughter and your dignity.”

Minister Zhang gritted his teeth but couldn’t say a single word in response.

Feng Zekai lowered his gaze slightly.

He hadn’t named anyone directly.

That memorial truly had been intended to improve palace management. It was just that… the timing happened to coincide.

“My brother is unbelievable! He can even turn this into a memorial?!”

Feng Zexuan laughed so hard she nearly doubled over.

“Miss Zhang must’ve given up after that, right?”

“Nope. She didn’t give up at all.”

The system clicked its tongue twice.

“She thought your brother was the cold, untouchable type, which only made him more challenging.”

“So the day before yesterday, she used delivering pastries as an excuse to visit him at the Hanlin Academy. She said she’d made them herself as a token of affection.”

At that moment, Minister Zhang looked utterly dead inside.

The words retire and return to my hometown filled his mind.

“Your brother took one bite, frowned, and said: ‘The sweetness of this icing is off. The quality of Jiangnan sugar supplies must have declined this year.’”

“He’d already been researching reforms to the grain transport system, and that single bite suddenly helped him identify the core problem.”

“That very night, he wrote a policy essay titled On the Relationship Between Grain Transport Reform and Stabilizing Prices in the Capital Region. Over ten thousand words long. He submitted it to the Emperor the next morning.”

On the dragon throne, Emperor Xiao Juechen silently glanced at the memorial on his desk—the very one he had personally annotated the previous night.

At the time, he had been immensely pleased and had praised Feng Zekai for caring about the nation and uncovering truths from the smallest details.

On a whim, he had even promoted him.

So the inspiration had actually come from… a peach blossom pastry?

Minister Zhang finally understood completely.

Trying to marry his daughter to Feng Zekai was harder than ascending to heaven itself!

This wasn’t marrying off a daughter.

This was delivering writing material for memorials straight to his door!

“Amazing! This is truly amazing!”

Feng Zexuan’s admiration for her brother surged like a mighty river.

“I hereby declare my brother the living embodiment of a ‘romance repellent’!”

Several young officials secretly exchanged looks.

One of them whispered,

“I finally get it now. Scholar Feng isn’t oblivious to romance, it’s just…”

“…all his thoughts are devoted to the nation and the people,” another finished, his tone complicated.

There was admiration in it.

And also relief—relief that they themselves weren’t the women being rejected.

The corner of Feng Huai’an’s eye twitched slightly.

That brat…

“There’s an even better one!”

The system dropped another bombshell.

“Host, remember how the Third Princess Xiao Mingyue used to have feelings for you?”

The moment those words came out, both the Emperor and the Third Princess stiffened simultaneously.

The atmosphere in the hall changed instantly.

Crown Prince Xiao Mingxuan couldn’t help turning to glance at his younger sister.

Several young officials darted looks around while desperately suppressing their laughter.

The older ministers stroked their beards with expressions so subtle they were almost painful.

The Third Princess had once liked the cross-dressing Prince of Zhenbei?

This was the first time anyone had ever heard of such a thing!

Feng Zexuan was also stunned.

“I remember. But didn’t she give up after learning I was actually a woman?”

“That’s true.”

The system continued gleefully spilling tea.

“But later, during a palace banquet, she saw your brother. Looking at that face identical to yours, she developed feelings again.”

“Love me, love my dog, you know?”

Standing beside the Crown Prince, Third Princess Xiao Mingyue’s face turned bright red.

What nonsense about love me, love my dog?!

Ridiculous!

She… she had merely thought his face looked nice!

“At the banquet, the Third Princess took the initiative to chat with your brother and asked what books he usually liked reading.”

“Guess how your brother answered?”

“He replied: Lessons for Women, Biographies of Exemplary Women, and Admonitions for the Inner Court.”

Crown Prince Xiao Mingxuan recalled that his third sister hated those stale teachings that restrained women more than anything else.

Could Feng Zekai have done it on purpose?

“The Third Princess’s expression changed on the spot. Suppressing her anger, she demanded to know why he enjoyed reading such books.”

“Your brother answered in a perfectly serious and gentle tone: ‘As a man, one should thoroughly study women’s virtues in order to better understand and respect women, and avoid offending them through ignorance.’”

“Then he added: ‘If men do not understand women’s hardships, how can they truly respect them?’”

“The Third Princess was rendered speechless by his grand-sounding logic.”

“Later, she tried continuing the conversation a few more times, but every sentence from your brother revolved around classical teachings and the welfare of the nation.”

“In the end, the Third Princess concluded that your brother was just a pedantic bookworm full of moral platitudes.”

“Compared to your frank and free-spirited personality, he was worlds apart.”

“That tiny budding crush was strangled to death on the spot.”

At that moment, Xiao Mingyue clenched her sleeves tightly.

Recalling that awkward banquet scene, her toes practically dug through the soles of her shoes from embarrassment.

Back then, she really had believed Feng Zekai was just some wooden-headed scholar…

After round after round of these “public executions,” the officials who had once entertained thoughts of matchmaking finally gave up completely.

Scholar Feng was practically an impenetrable fortress.

No matter what method anyone used, it would eventually either become material for his governance essays or end with them being solemnly talked out of it.

The Vice Minister of War suddenly whispered to the person beside him,

“Why do I feel… Scholar Feng’s methods resemble those of the Censor-in-Chief back in the day?”

The moment he said that, several old ministers’ eyes lit up.

That’s right!

Back when Feng Huai’an was young, he too had been one of the capital’s legendary figures!

The corner of Feng Huai’an’s mouth twitched.

He wasn’t angry anymore.

He was simply curious whether this son of his was truly born a stone—impossible to stir and impossible to warm.

Still…

This style really did resemble his younger self.

“Hahahaha, my brother is incredible!”

After laughing enough, Feng Zexuan suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

“Wait… could all these god-tier tactics my brother uses possibly be…”

A bold idea emerged in her mind.

“System! Quick, investigate my father’s romantic history!”

“I seriously suspect my brother inherited this personality genetically!”

“Hurry and see whether my dad was this ridiculous when he was young too!”

Feng Huai’an’s eyelid twitched.

Yet his face still maintained the dignified authority expected of the Censor-in-Chief, though his eyes quietly flicked toward his daughter.

What was destined to come would eventually come.

Xiao Juechen’s lips curved slightly upward as he looked at Feng Huai’an with great interest.

I’d quite like to hear what romantic tales Beloved Minister Feng had in his youth.

The eyes of the entire court instantly turned toward Feng Huai’an.

The Minister of Rites stroked his beard, a nostalgic look flashing through his eyes.

Meanwhile, the Vice Minister of War muttered softly,

“I just remembered—back then, Lord Feng was actually…”

Before he could finish, the colleague beside him jabbed him with an elbow.

Don’t say it out loud. Hearing the system expose it would be even more entertaining!

What kind of father could raise a son as hopelessly dense as Scholar Feng?

Prime Minister Lin suddenly coughed lightly and cast Feng Huai’an a meaningful look.

He remembered that back then, even his own wife had once…

The system’s excited voice rang out.

“Hehe, Host, you guessed correctly! Your father’s outrageous methods for avoiding rotten romances back then were even more absurd than your brother’s!”

“It was a legendary chapter in the capital’s history!”

“He even dragged several officials currently standing in this very court into the mess…”

The moment those words landed, several elderly ministers stiffened simultaneously.

What did it mean by “dragged into the mess”?!

Feng Huai’an closed his eyes.

He let out a long sigh inwardly.

There was no hiding it anymore.

Xuan’er… you’re really about to expose all of your father’s old secrets!