SBCEJM -Chapter 7 The Truth-Telling Talisman Strikes! The Top Scholar Refuses to Become a Ready-Made Father!

【System, how do I use this “Truth-Telling Talisman”? Stick it directly onto her forehead?】

The system replied: 【Host only needs to touch any part of the target’s body and silently recite “activate” in your mind.】

【The effect lasts five minutes, so make good use of the time.】

A faint smile curled at Feng Zexuan’s lips.

【Five minutes? More than enough to judge a clown like her.】

At this moment, Li Zhenzhen had finally recovered from her initial panic.

She realized her earlier reaction had been far too extreme and had already exposed her guilt.

She had to salvage the situation!

Raising her head, tears instantly filled her pitiful face like pearls falling from a broken string as she cried out in grievance:

“Cousin! Uncle! Auntie! How could you treat me like this?!”

“I’m just a helpless woman with nowhere to go. I traveled thousands of miles seeking refuge with you. Fine if you won’t take me in, but why humiliate me with something as degrading as a ‘virginity inspection’?!”

She cried hysterically as though she had suffered the greatest injustice in the world.

“I may come from the countryside, but even I know shame and propriety! The Feng family is supposed to be a prestigious scholarly household, yet you use your power to bully an orphaned girl like this!”

“Wuwuwu… I can’t go on living! How can I ever face the world again?!”

As she spoke, she pretended to dash toward a nearby pillar.

Feng Zexuan felt absolutely nothing inside.

In fact, she almost wanted to laugh.

【Oh wow, can’t handle losing already?】

【She’s really pulling the whole crying, tantrum, and suicide act now? With acting skills like this, she should be performing The Injustice to Dou E in the opera house. What a waste of talent.】

Feng Huai’an and Li Yunluo’s faces had already darkened like the bottom of a pot.

Even at death’s door, this vicious woman still dared to bite back, trying to ruin the Feng family’s reputation through a staged suicide!

Li Yunluo trembled with rage and was about to shout at her when she saw her “son” move first.

Feng Zexuan’s figure flashed forward. Just before Li Zhenzhen’s forehead could intimately meet the pillar, she precisely reached out and pressed down on her shoulder.

Her movements flowed smoothly, perfectly embodying a gentleman’s grace.

“Cousin, what are you doing?”

Feng Zexuan’s tone remained gentle. “If there’s something to say, let’s talk it out properly. Why resort to seeking death?”

Li Zhenzhen immediately took the opportunity to collapse into Feng Zexuan’s arms, crying miserably while her shoulders shook.

“Cousin… they’re all bullying me… only you… only you still believe me…”

Suppressing the urge to kick her flying across the room, Feng Zexuan kept one hand on her shoulder while her fingertips seemingly casually brushed against the smooth skin at the back of Li Zhenzhen’s neck.

Silently, she recited in her mind:

【Activate — Truth-Telling Talisman!】

In an instant, Li Zhenzhen’s earth-shaking sobbing stopped abruptly.

Her eyes became vacant and unfocused.

Success!

Feng Zexuan steadied Li Zhenzhen upright, cleared her throat, and stared directly into those hollow eyes.

Her voice remained mild, yet carried an irresistible force.

“Cousin, stop crying.”

“Let me ask you this. Earlier, you said you admired me and were willing to become my bedwarming maid. Was that true?”

Li Zhenzhen nodded blankly, her lips moving mechanically.

“It was true.”

Feng Zexuan continued steadily:

“Then let me ask you another question. Did you really come to the Feng family only because your hometown suffered a flood and you had nowhere else to go?”

For a split second, struggle flashed across Li Zhenzhen’s face. Instinctively, she tried to lie, but her mouth completely disobeyed her.

“No!”

“I ran away overnight because I got caught sleeping around, and the whole village wanted to drown me in a pig cage!”

The hall fell into dead silence.

The maids and old servants standing nearby all sucked in sharp breaths, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

Good heavens! What shocking gossip had they just heard?!

This delicate-looking young lady was actually… actually this kind of woman?!

Feng Zexuan was very satisfied with everyone’s reactions and pressed on.

“Sleeping around? With whom?”

A strange blush spread across Li Zhenzhen’s cheeks as she answered dreamily and without restraint:

“With Wang Ergou, the village chief’s son.”

“He’s strong, sweet-talking, and knows how to treat women well. Much better than that short-lived husband of mine who drowned.”

Hearing such filthy words, Li Yunluo nearly vomited in disgust.

Shameless! Disgraceful!

Feng Zexuan’s gaze sharpened further.

“Li Zhenzhen, whose child are you carrying?”

Without hesitation, Li Zhenzhen answered proudly, even carrying a twisted hint of boasting in her tone.

“Of course it’s Wang Ergou’s!”

“He promised me that once he divorces that yellow-faced hag at home, he’ll marry me properly in a grand sedan chair!”

“But that tigress was too fierce. She brought her entire family over, broke Ergou’s leg, and wanted to sink me in the river…”

Feng Zexuan pressed step by step.

“So what exactly was your real purpose in coming to the capital to seek refuge with our family?!”

Greed and calculation flashed through Li Zhenzhen’s eyes as she spilled her entire vicious scheme like beans pouring from a bamboo tube.

“My belly’s getting bigger every day. I had to find my child a stepfather.”

“My aunt’s family is wealthy and influential, and Cousin is the newly appointed Third-Rank Scholar with a brilliant future ahead of him. He’s the perfect candidate.”

“My plan was to climb into Cousin’s bed tonight. Once the deed was done, your Feng family would have no choice but to accept me for the sake of your reputation.”

“Then I’d just claim the child was born prematurely and make Scholar Cousin happily raise Wang Ergou’s son!”

“Once I secure my position, I’ll become the honorable wife of the top scholar! Hahaha…”

As she spoke, she actually started laughing smugly. The sound echoed harshly throughout the silent hall.

Smack!

Li Yunluo could no longer suppress her towering fury and slammed her palm violently onto the table before her!

She shot to her feet. Her usually gentle and virtuous face was now covered in frost, and the rage in her eyes looked ready to burn Li Zhenzhen to ashes on the spot.

“Good! Excellent! So this is your ‘helpless suffering’! So this is your ‘sincere admiration’!”

Li Yunluo trembled with fury as she pointed at the woman crumpled on the floor. Every word seemed squeezed out through clenched teeth.

“My Feng family kindly took in an ungrateful wretch like you, and you dared harbor such venomous intentions—trying to ruin my son’s reputation and mix filthy blood into the Feng family line!”

Feng Zexuan walked over and gently patted her mother’s back to calm her down, whispering softly into her ear:

“Mother, don’t ruin your health over this. Your ‘son’ has an idea. To avoid future trouble, why not just send Cousin back to her hometown in Cangzhou?”

【Heh. Didn’t she run away from her village? Then let her go back and have a nice ‘reunion’ with the villagers. As for whether they drown her in a pig cage or sink her in the river… that’s none of our concern.】

After hearing her daughter’s words, murderous intent flashed briefly through Li Yunluo’s eyes before she made her decision.

That’s right.

This was the best punishment for this poisonous woman!

“Men! Seize Li Zhenzhen!” she shouted sharply.

Two burly old servants immediately stepped forward and roughly grabbed Li Zhenzhen.

Looking at her now, Madam Li’s eyes held not the slightest trace of pity—only cold disgust and determination.

“For the sake of your dead mother, who shared a tiny bit of distant kinship with me, I’ll spare your worthless life.”

“Tomorrow morning? No—right now! Tie her up tightly and send her back to Cangzhou overnight! Return her exactly as she came and let the villagers deal with her themselves!”

“Let her face the consequences she deserves—with that bastard child in tow!”

At that moment, the five-minute duration ended, and the Truth-Telling Talisman’s effects quietly disappeared.

Li Zhenzhen suddenly shuddered, clarity returning to her eyes.

As she recalled every single thing she had just confessed, she instantly felt as though she had fallen into an icy abyss. All the blood drained from her body.

She… what had she just said?!

She had revealed every secret and every scheme in public?!

“N-No! Auntie! I-I was possessed just now! Everything I said was nonsense!”

The two old servants didn’t care what she screamed.

One of them stuffed a filthy rag into her mouth.

Then, like dragging away a dead dog, they hauled her straight out of the main hall.

Her muffled cries gradually faded into the distance until they disappeared completely.