SBCEJM -Chapter 45 This Crown Princess Selection Is Basically a Mass Casualty Event

【Oh ho! A textbook-grade green tea bitch has arrived!】

Alarm bells instantly went off in Feng Zexuan’s head.

【See those tears? One drop more would be too fake, one drop less too dry. Just hovering in the eyes without falling—that’s the essence of a top-tier white lotus!】

【This Miss Li has already mastered the art of “playing weak” and emotional manipulation to perfection.】

The hand holding the teacup froze midair once again in Liu Mengli’s grip.

Just moments ago, she had thought the girl looked innocent and pure. Now, that pitiful expression seemed more like a carefully woven trap.

【Here it comes, here it comes! Her full résumé, uncensored HD edition!】

The system instantly perked up, its voice trembling with gossip-fueled excitement.

【This girl’s achievements could fill an entire book titled The Rise of a Green Tea Queen. Growing up under her legitimate mother’s oppression, she relied on tears and “accidents” to paint herself as the innocent victim.】

【Over time, everyone in the Assistant Minister’s manor came to see her as the fragile, kind-hearted little darling, while her actual legitimate elder sister became the embodiment of viciousness.】

【Last year, her elder sister was engaged to the eldest son of Marquis Anyuan’s household. Then Li Xiuning merely “accidentally” fell in front of the heir, tearfully saying, “It’s not Sister’s fault, I was just careless.”】

【That one sentence convinced the heir that her sister was cruel and malicious, and he immediately broke off the engagement.】

【Then he turned around and fell head over heels for poor, delicate Li Xiuning. Even now, he refuses to marry anyone else.】

Feng Zexuan’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

【Holy crap! That’s a high-level player!】

Compared to Zhang Wan’er’s table-flipping brute-force tactics, this was a whole different league of technical skill.

【If Zhang Wan’er flips the table, this girl makes you smile while eating the table yourself—and thank her afterward!】

【Her goal is crystal clear too: become Crown Princess, then use her top-tier CPU-overclocking manipulation skills to turn the Crown Prince into a dog that only obeys her!】

【She wants to become the true power behind the throne of Great Xia!】

Empress Liu Mengli felt chills crawling up her spine hard enough to freeze into icicles.

This… this wasn’t selecting a Crown Princess.

This was choosing the Queen of Hell.

Had Great Xia’s dragon veins been dug up or something? Why were all these living disasters gathering here?!

Li Xiuning never expected that attending one banquet would expose all her secrets.

Several burning gazes pinned onto her—the very “fish” she had been stringing along were now glaring at her furiously.

Still, she merely dug her nails into her palm and let out a cold snort.

People were forgetful.

Give it a few days. She’d cry a little, act vulnerable again, and these fools would obediently come crawling back.

【Ding! Crown Princess audition contestant number three has entered the stage—eldest legitimate granddaughter of the Duke Zhenguo’s estate, Liu Siying!】

Feng Zexuan’s gossip radar buzzed loudly as her gaze snapped over instantly.

A girl dressed in black martial attire stepped forward, her long hair tied high behind her head.

She walked with steady confidence, her sharp eyes like an eagle’s. Even her salute to the Emperor and Empress was clean and decisive, radiating heroic spirit.

【Whoa! Sudden genre shift! This big sis is so cool! I love her already!】

Empress Liu Mengli’s eyes lit up immediately.

This was her niece—her elder brother’s daughter.

Even Emperor Xiao Juechen’s expression finally softened a little.

This child resembled the Empress in her youth. A good kid.

【System, system! Quick! What’s this big sis’s secret gossip?】

Feng Zexuan brimmed with anticipation.

【Don’t tell me she wants to raise troops, stage a coup, and become Empress herself?】

【Host, you’re overthinking it!】

The system held back laughter.

【Miss Liu comes from a clean family background, has excellent character, and values loyalty and justice. Her only… little secret is…】

The system deliberately dragged out the suspense.

【She doesn’t like men.】

Feng Zexuan: !!!

Everyone secretly eavesdropping in the imperial garden: !!!

The expressions of Xiao Juechen and Liu Mengli instantly froze.

【What the hell?! If she doesn’t like men, why is she participating in the Crown Princess selection?! Is this some kind of patriotic self-sacrifice?!】

Feng Zexuan’s brain nearly short-circuited.

【Well… that’s a long story.】

The system leisurely switched into storytelling mode.

【Miss Liu grew up practicing martial arts. She preferred armor to pretty dresses and always looked down on the frail young masters of the capital.】

【But hidden in her heart is an unforgettable “fairy big sister.”】

【Six years ago, while taming a wild horse outside the city, she fell off and nearly got trampled. A passing “young lady” suddenly leapt forward and struck the horse’s leg with a folding fan, saving her life.】

【That “young lady” wore moon-white robes and had a cold, ethereal temperament like an immortal descended from heaven.】

【Miss Liu fell in love at first sight with this divine savior. Sadly, the other person left without even giving a name, becoming her unresolved longing for the past six years.】

Feng Zexuan listened in stunned silence.

【Wait a second! Moon-white robes, breathtaking beauty, cold and ethereal, uses a fan as a weapon…】

A flash of realization struck her.

Wasn’t the Crown Prince today wearing… moon-white too?

【Holy shit! Don’t tell me that “fairy big sister” is actually the Crown Prince?!】

【Congratulations, Host! Correct answer!】

The system confirmed triumphantly, like an award presenter.

【The one who saved her back then was indeed the Crown Prince traveling incognito. In his youth, his appearance was so beautiful that people mistook his gender all the time.】

【So originally, Miss Liu only came today because her family forced her to. She planned to put on a lazy performance and deliberately ruin her chances.】

【But when she saw the Crown Prince at the entrance to the imperial garden today…】

The system paused dramatically.

【She completely lost her mind.】

【She thinks the “fairy big sister” she’s searched for all these years is actually the Crown Prince—and believes the Crown Prince is secretly a woman disguised as a man!】

【So right now, her brain is full of this—】

The system switched to Liu Siying’s excited inner monologue:

【“So Sister is the Crown Prince! Wonderful! As long as I marry her, we can finally be together openly and honestly! I must win! I’ll help Sister protect this empire and build an era where women can stand proudly beneath the heavens too!”】

Feng Zexuan had gone completely numb.

What karmic sins had the Crown Prince committed?

【Wait, hold on! Aren’t they cousins? They never met growing up?!】

【Miss Liu loves freedom and spends most of her time roughing it in border military camps. Aside from meeting once around age seven or eight, they’ve never seen each other again.】

【This is so ridiculously melodramatic!】

One candidate wanted to make him childless forever.

One wanted to brainwash him into becoming her obedient puppet.

And the third…straight-up thought he was a gender-swapped soulmate she could build a glorious future with.

Feng Zexuan could not help throwing a deeply sympathetic glance toward the legendary flawless Crown Prince reclining gracefully nearby.

Bro… are you okay?

Every candidate in this Crown Princess selection was crazier than the last.

Its main theme was apparently emotionally annihilating everyone involved.

【Host, stop eating everyone else’s gossip for a second!】

The system suddenly became excited, its voice cracking.

【Do you think today’s biggest scandal is these three candidates?!】

Feng Zexuan froze.

【No!】

The system shouted in a tone like a thunderclap splitting the heavens apart.

【Today’s true ultimate bombshell is your big brother!】

Feng Zexuan’s heart skipped violently.

The joy of gossiping vanished instantly, replaced by sudden panic.

She instinctively searched through the crowd.

Only then did she realize—

Her brother, Feng Zekai, had disappeared at some point…