SBCEJM -Chapter 53 The System Almost Fumbled! Free Gossip Really Is Poison!

Following the woman’s figure, Feng Zexuan silently landed on the roof of a courtyard.

She gently lifted a roof tile and leaned into the gap. Candlelight flickered below, and the scene inside the room became clearly visible.

The woman stood by the bed.

On the bed lay the person who had just been carried back from the palace—Grand Commandant Wu. His face was deathly pale.

“Master.”

The woman removed her veiled hat, revealing a clean, ordinary face—her eyes carrying a sense of release.

“This servant is the youngest daughter of Madam Qin’s wet nurse.”

“Before Madam passed away, she entrusted me with something and instructed that if one day someone claiming to be her biological child came to the door, I was to deliver this letter to you.”

Grand Commandant Wu struggled to prop himself up. His cloudy eyes suddenly burst with a terrifying light as he stared at the sachet she handed over.

He reached out his thin, trembling hand and used all his strength to take it.

The familiar stitching pattern—it was the first gift he had ever given his wife.

From inside, he poured out a neatly folded letter, already yellowed with age.

He unfolded it, fingertips brushing the elegant handwriting.

The ink remained, but the writer was long gone.

Wu read line by line. When he finished, he froze completely, his eyes turning red in an instant.

Hot tears fell onto the thin paper, spreading into a dark blot of ink.

“Madam Qin… you… in the end… you still didn’t trust me…”

He clutched the letter like a lost child, a beast-like howl escaping his throat.

“Master, the item has been delivered. Madam’s final wish is fulfilled.”

“As for what to do next, I trust Master will make the decision. I only hope… you will treat the real young master kindly.”

After speaking, the woman kowtowed heavily and left without lingering.

On the roof, Feng Zexuan stared in confusion.

【System, what’s going on? What did the letter say to make that old man cry like that?】

The system was silent for three seconds, then spoke with an oddly proud excitement.

【Damn! Host, this gossip was buried too deep! Luckily I dug one layer further, or you would’ve eaten fake gossip just now!】

【What do you mean?】 Feng Zexuan was shocked.

【Your system can even give fake gossip?】

【It works like this,】 the system explained.

【The essence of gossip is information flow. In your past life, online gossip always had reversals—some true, some false. Information naturally has both truth and lies.】

Feng Zexuan suddenly became deeply suspicious that the gossip she had eaten before might not have been entirely real.

She gritted her teeth.

【So tell me honestly… were the previous ones also fake?!】

The system’s data stream flickered.

【No no no! Host, you misunderstood! The previous ones were absolutely real! I verified them with energy—100% pure, natural, and uncontaminated!】

Feng Zexuan narrowed her eyes and caught the key point.

【So this time you didn’t spend energy, and gave me cheap second-hand gossip?】

【It’s because you’re too stingy! You barely spend anything in the system store, my energy reserves are almost empty!】

The system complained bitterly.

【Don’t lie to ghosts! You also gain energy when I eat gossip! Otherwise why keep pushing me to eat it?】

The system stammered.

【Well… I recently upgraded some equipment… a bit short on funds…】

Only then did Feng Zexuan realize this system also had its own “life” and expenses—it wasn’t just a machine.

【Fine, enough whining. Tell me—what did the letter actually say? Show me the original!】

【Got it! Host, this gossip is explosive! High alert incoming!】

The system became excited again, and elegant handwriting appeared directly in Feng Zexuan’s mind:

【Dear husband: by the time you read this letter, I may already be gone. I have long known of Liu’s child-swapping scheme…】

【Wait!!】

Feng Zexuan jolted so hard she almost slipped off the roof.

【Madam Qin knew?!】

【Not just knew!】 the system immediately continued.

【…However, your heart was already biased. I did not dare speak, fearing you would soften due to old feelings and leave behind future disaster. Thus I took this step—countering strategy with strategy. The child taken by Liu is in fact her own biological son!】

【Holy—!】

Feng Zexuan gasped.

【So Wu Zhifeng is Liu’s son?! Then Wu Zhiqian…】

The system promptly displayed the final line:

【…The one kept by my side, named Zhiqian, is the true legitimate heir of our bloodline.】

Feng Zexuan froze completely.

After a long pause, she exploded inwardly:

【Madam Qin is insane—in a good way! This is a top-tier reversal! So Wu Zhiqian is the real young master, and Wu Zhifeng is the fake one swapped in?!】

【Exactly!】 the system said excitedly. 【Wu Zhifeng is Liu’s biological son! Madam Qin said she did this to protect her own child and eliminate future threats—forcing Liu to take her own son far away so they would never threaten her family again!】

Feng Zexuan couldn’t help asking:

【Then why didn’t she just expose the scheme directly? Catch them red-handed?】

The system sighed.

【Probably because Grand Commandant Wu broke his promise of ‘one life, one partner’. From that moment, she no longer fully trusted him.】

【She feared he would soften, so she handled it herself.】

Feng Zexuan understood.

She recalled Wu’s earlier grief-stricken appearance and had thought him deeply devoted.

Turns out he was just a man who couldn’t control his desires when he was young.

The system tried to defend him:

【Host, Wu is actually not that bad. Liu drugged him and set him up—he only took responsibility afterward. He barely even visited her.】

【I don’t buy it,” Feng Zexuan sneered.】

【A man who can’t control himself is still incompetent. Even if he was set up, he still took the concubine in and placed her in the household to constantly remind his wife—coward behavior. If I were Madam Qin, I’d have divorced him long ago.】

The system: “……”

On the roof below, Grand Commandant Wu suddenly froze.

The voice in his ears—those words—pierced him like knives.

Coward…

Yes… he truly was a coward.

If he had not been weak, how could Madam Qin have suffered such grievance?

If he had not been blind, how could villains have succeeded?

Madam Qin had not written a single word of blame.

But this unseen voice had peeled away his false devotion, exposing rot and weakness underneath.

So that was why Madam Qin was disappointed in him.

Why she chose to protect their child alone.

Regret and pain drowned him completely.

But now was not the time to sink into sorrow.

His son—his true and only son—was still in the Eastern Palace!

Still suffering the injustice of having his identity stolen!

And he—the foolish, unforgivable father—had just recently beaten that son and thrown him out of the house!

Wu clenched his fists, nails digging deep into his palms.

He threw off the blanket and forced himself out of bed despite the pain.

“Someone!”

He roared toward the door.

“Prepare the carriage! To the Eastern Palace!”