After Hearing Her Gossip, the Civil and Military Officials Went Crazy Competing

Novel Info

Author:
春色滿園關不在
Status:Ongoing

Summary

Fang Lingchu is the youngest daughter of Vice Minister of Revenue Fang Yelin, known in the capital not for talent but for her immense wealth and eccentric behavior. Unlike her talented sister Fang Lingyan, Fang Lingchu is lazy, gluttonous, and deeply averse to hard work, having endured grueling exam schedules in her past life. She lives with a Gossip System named Gua Gua, which allows her to hear and broadcast inner thoughts that others can understand. The story begins when the Empress hosts a flower appreciation banquet that serves as a selection process for the Crown Prince’s consort. Fang Lingchu, reluctant to attend, is forced by her father to go. During the poetry composition, she refuses to write and instead uses the System to expose the secret affair of a rival candidate, Lu Chuyu, ruining her reputation. When asked to submit a poem, Fang Lingchu recites a classical Song Dynasty poem she saw in a dream, winning first place despite her lack of literary skill. The Emperor, Chongde, is deeply troubled by Fang Lingchu’s inner voice, which reveals that he has been cuckolded by his concubines and is raising illegitimate children. He summons Fang Lingchu’s father and learns that the girl’s thoughts are always accurate and audible to everyone present. Instead of executing the family, the Emperor appoints Fang Lingchu as the dynasty’s first female official, intending to monitor her. Fang Lingchu is horrified by the prospect of early morning court sessions but is reassured by the System that her new position will allow her to gather more gossip and unlock system rewards. At court, Fang Lingchu’s inner monologues continue to disrupt proceedings. She reveals the Emperor’s poverty, noting his patched underwear, and exposes a complex scandal involving General Han Wei, Prince An’s son, and a spy from the Zhao Kingdom. These revelations cause chaos among the ministers and princes. The System levels up, granting Fang Lingchu a skill called Crow’s Mouth, which allows her to broadcast thoughts more effectively. However, it also reveals a dire prophecy: the Long Kingdom is a fictional setting destined to be destroyed in two years because its characters are merely cannon fodder in a melodramatic romance novel. The Emperor is poisoned with a gu worm by the Empress Dowager and Consort Jing, and the nation’s fortune dragon is dying. To save herself and her family, Fang Lingchu accepts a mission to pluck the beards of seven officials and create a sachet as a gift. She successfully completes the task, and the System swaps the poisoned medicine intended for the Emperor with an antidote pill. The Emperor recovers, unaware of the substitution. Later, a roof beam threatens to fall on the Emperor during court. Fang Lingchu instinctively pushes him out of the way, saving his life but risking execution for her clumsiness. The story ends with Fang Lingchu navigating her dangerous new role as a female official, armed with gossip and system missions, while trying to prevent the impending destruction of her world.

Novel Items

Phoenix Hairpin

Treasure

A precious hairpin from the Empress's personal collection, offered as the prize for the poetry competition at the Flower Appreciation Banquet. Winning it is equivalent to gaining an opportunity to participate in the consort selection for the Crown Prince or other princes.

Five Poems on Chrysanthemums

Manuals

A collection of poems by Shi Zhu of the Song Dynasty. During the banquet, the poem recited by Caiging includes the lines about sensing the west wind transforming nature's splendor and flowers appearing only when all grasses wither. This poem is presented as a contender for the top prize.

Paper and Ink Supplies

Materials

Paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones served by palace maids to the noble ladies during the poetry composition portion of the Flower Appreciation Banquet. Fang Lingchu stared at these items with aversion due to her past-life trauma from exams.

Hairpin

Item

A beautiful hairpin found in the bottom drawer of Shi Jianchuan's study, along with yellowed notebooks and scattered trinkets.

System Mall

Shop

A virtual shop within the system where Si Junni can spend her Energy Value on various items. Fugui enthusiastically encouraged her to spend her newly acquired 10,000 Energy Value there.

Beginner's Gift Pack

Item

A gift pack that belongs to Fang Lingchu but has not yet been unlocked by the System.

Latest Release

Date	Group	Release
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c10
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c9
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c8
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c7
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c6
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c5
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c4
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c3
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c2
2026-08-11	shanghai fantasy	c1

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Popular reviews

novelmeisterBy Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ January 24,2025

Okay so can we just talk about Minister Fang for a second because this man is a whole mood. His daughter is standing in the middle of a court assembly, stealthily plucking beards off people like she's some kind of botanical collector, and he's just... playing along? He glares at her, pretends to be angry, takes the sachet of stolen beard hairs from her hand, and whispers nothing while motioning for her to get back to her spot. The man has accepted his fate. He has made peace with the chaos that is his youngest daughter. And honestly? I respect it so much. There's this one moment where Fang Lingchu thinks to herself: [Ahhhhh, thank goodness I still have my father, the Minister. Otherwise, I wouldn't know who to give this to.] And I just... fell in love with that relationship right there. It's not some dramatic father-daughter bonding scene with tears and hugs. It's two people silently communicating across a crowded hall, one plucking facial hair, the other pretending not to notice while his temples throb. That's the kind of family dynamic that feels real. Meanwhile everyone else in the court is just standing there going about their business while a girl is basically committing grand larceny of facial hair and nobody can do anything about it because they're in front of the Emperor. The Crown Prince's Taifu, the Chancellors, the Libu Shangshu — all of them getting robbed of their beard strands without even realizing it until it's too late. The Libu Shangshu pretending to be bitten by a mosquito is honestly one of the funniest character moments I've read in ages.

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Zavia_6318 Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ January 17,2026

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how absolutely DELICIOUS the dialogue is in this book? The System-Fang Lingchu banter is everything. It reads like the funniest podcast I've ever heard. System: [Host, don't you think you're being a bit too boastful?] Fang Lingchu: [Hmph, blaming others for their own incompetence. If they have the guts, should take it up with the Emperor. Too scared of the Emperor, so they pick on a young woman like me. I despise such trash— they don't deserve to be officials.] This woman has ZERO filter and I am OBSESSED. But what's really clever is how the OTHER characters' dialogue contrasts with her. Minister Fang is all formal, polite, embarrassed—"Lord Chang, I'll have to trouble you to look after my daughter from now on." He's trying so hard to maintain dignity while his daughter is out here destroying his reputation one sentence at a time. And Minister Chen! The guy who's already hostile toward her, trying to test her poetry skills, and she just completely shuts him down with "My apologies, sir. I'm not skilled in poetry. You should seek someone else." The passive-aggressive energy is OFF THE CHARTS. The narrative voice itself is also hilarious—those little asides like "The ministers!!!" and "Emperor Chongde: …" and "Everyone: How did this person manage to praise herself while complimenting His Majesty?" It's like the narrator is just sitting there losing their mind alongside the readers. "Your Majesty, Prince Anjin is the only descendant left by Prince An. Do not let the frontier generals and soldiers lose heart." vs "Then should we let the people of the world lose heart over Your Majesty?" Two ministers, two completely different arguments, both using the same emotional manipulation tactic. The dialogue here is doing SO MUCH work—establishing character, conflict, and political tension all at once.

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godofchaosDeQ Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ January 31,2025

Okay so I need to talk about the morning court assembly scene because it is absolutely CHAOTIC and I cannot stop thinking about it. Fang Lingchu gets dragged to court half-asleep, falls down the carriage steps, gets picked up by her collar like a chick—this is the most unhinged entrance I have ever read. And then she proceeds to gossip about the Emperor's UNDERWEAR in front of literally everyone. "Your Emperor is really pitiful. Despite ruling such a vast kingdom, he's as poor as a church mouse. He may look splendid on the outside, but apart from his outer robes, all his inner garments, including his underwear, are patched up and mended year after year." The fact that she says this ALoud in court while everyone is just standing there losing their minds is peak comedy. And then the plot actually THICKENS—Prince An's son commits crimes, there's a whole debate about whether to spare him because his father was a hero, and then we find out the general shouting loudest is Prince An's male favorite who also got cuckolded. The author is dropping bomb after bomb and I am HERE for it. What I love is how the plot keeps pivoting. One moment it's comedy about a lazy female official, the next it's serious political drama about justice vs. loyalty. The Prince An subplot feels like it's setting up something much bigger—this isn't just about one bad prince's son, it's about the whole system of privilege and how the Emperor handles (or avoids handling) his nobles. And that ending with Han Wei kneeling and shouting "I did not!" while everyone is just staring at him—chef's kiss.

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Dream_Lord14r6 Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ April 10,2026

I need to talk about the meta-commentary in this text because it's actually pretty sharp. Fang Lingchu describes this entire plot structure — she runs, he chases, second male leads from every country fall in love with the female lead, the male lead attacks their country to win her back, uses her as a tool, destroys her homeland — and the System confirms it's even MORE clichéd than that. This is a novel that knows exactly how ridiculous the romance genre can be and it's holding up a mirror to it. The fact that 'all the other Imperial Princes are second male leads' and 'none of them have a good ending anyway, so your country is just used as cannon fodder' is such a clean satire of how female leads in these stories often come from somewhere that exists solely to be destroyed for romantic drama. But then the story flips it. Fang Lingchu's presence CHANGES the fate of her entire family. The original plot would have been pure tragedy — betrayal, death, madness — but because she's there, she's actively rewriting outcomes. She saves the Emperor from poison. She prevents the beam from crushing him. The system itself seems almost concerned for her: 'Why didn't this Host care at all about her own life?' There's this theme running through about agency versus fate. These characters are trapped in a story structure that wants them dead or destroyed, but Fang Lingchu keeps finding ways to claw her way out of it. Even her method of saving the Emperor is absurdly underhanded — swapping a poisoned pill with an antidote without anyone noticing. She's playing a different game entirely from the one the 'plot' wrote for her.

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DreamLord14Oko Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ July 2,2025

This chapter is a masterclass in tonal whiplash and I am here for it. You start with Fang Lingchu learning that her entire country is basically cannon fodder in some interdimensional romance novel, that her family would have been absolutely destroyed by the original plot — eldest sister sold to a brothel, second brother beheaded, mother dying of shock, father turning dark and slaughtering a city. That is HEAVY. Like, genuinely traumatic worldbuilding stuff. And then what does the narrative do? It pivots so hard I almost got whiplash myself. One moment we're discussing the complete annihilation of an entire family line, and the next it's like 'hey remember that antidote mission? let's go pluck some beards.' The System comes back with this absurd daily mission — pluck seven beards, put them in a sachet, give it to a lord — and suddenly the stakes are still life-or-death but the method is pure comedy. The pacing between the court assembly dragging on for two hours, the medicine arriving, the beard-plucking heist, and then BOOM — the beam about to fall on the Emperor — it all moves at this breathless clip. There's no dead air. Every scene pushes you forward. And that ending? She knocks the Emperor down to save him from a falling beam, and her first thought isn't 'am I okay' but 'do you think he'll put me in the harem now?' The chapter goes from apocalyptic family tragedy to rom-com daydream in three sentences flat. I couldn't look away.

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DaoistxjmnAv Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ April 17,2025

The tension in these chapters is INSANE. Let me count the ways Fang Lingchu is one wrong move away from execution: 1. She gossips about the Emperor's patched underwear in FRONT of him and the entire court 2. She laughs about it 3. She praises herself right after praising the Emperor in the most unhinged way possible 4. She asks the System for MORE gossip during a serious legal proceeding about a prince's son committing murder 5. She reveals a general's secret affair to literally everyone And the Emperor is just sitting there going "..." while his face turns red. Minister Fang is literally planning where the family grave should be. The ministers are all just multitasking between actual state affairs and listening to this woman's mental gossip sessions. But here's what's actually scary—beneath the comedy, the stakes are REAL. Prince An's son has murdered commoners. The law is being debated. The Emperor knows about it and has been turning a blind eye. When Fang Lingchu asks "What heinous deeds has this Prince An's Son committed?" while people are literally arguing about life and death, it shows how detached she is from the gravity of the situation. And that's what makes me nervous for her. She's walking around thinking this is all a joke, but the court is full of people who would kill her for what she said. "Couldn't he have given a little warning? My kneecaps are practically shattered!!!!!!" — this line made me laugh so hard but also, bro, you just knelt on the floor in front of the EMPEROR without warning. The stakes are literally life and death and she's complaining about her knees.

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