Chapter 1: Reincarnated as the Heartless Scholar Who Killed His Wife and Married Another

“Brother! Brother, wake up!”

As the sun set in the west, cries echoed from the Shen family’s courtyard. “Wuwuwu… Brother, brother, at least move a little, don’t scare me, wuwuwu…”

A boy of twelve or thirteen was sprawled beside the bed, wailing loudly while desperately shaking the unconscious man lying on it.

“Yuanming, be gentle. The doctor said he won’t wake up that easily. Don’t shake your brother into more discomfort,” Madam Zhou said as she dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief, sobbing quietly.

Hearing this, Shen Yuanming immediately let go. No matter how anxious or worried he was, he dared not shake his comatose brother again.

“Who knows when Brother will wake up… What if he never wakes up?”

Shen Yuanming frowned deeply. Although he didn’t usually like his brother’s way of doing things, blood was thicker than water. It was impossible not to worry.

“What kind of unlucky talk is that?” Madam Zhou got up and flicked his forehead. “Peh peh peh, don’t jinx it. Your brother will wake up any moment now.”

Shen Yuanming muttered in defiance, “It’s not like I made it up. That’s what Doctor Wang said just now—if he’s lucky, he might wake up in a few days. If not, then for the rest of his life…”

At that, tears streamed down the corners of the young boy’s eyes again. He suddenly buried his head in the man’s chest and sobbed.

“Wuuu… wuwuwu…”

The sounds of sobbing echoed intermittently in Shen Xiuyan’s mind. Groggy and muddle-headed, he slowly lifted a hand to rub his temple, then opened his eyes.

At that moment, the boy lying on top of him sensed the movement and looked up in disbelief—meeting Shen Xiuyan’s gaze head-on.

Overwhelmed with joy, the boy forgot about the chair beneath him and sprang to his feet. With a thud, the chair toppled over in response.

Madam Zhou heard the commotion and quickly scolded, “Yuanming, be careful. That’s the last good chair in the house. Your brother needs it for studying. If you break it, he’ll be angry when he wakes up.”

But Shen Yuanming couldn’t care less now. He shouted, “Mom! Mom! Brother’s awake!!!”

Hearing this, Madam Zhou hurried over. When she saw the clarity in Shen Xiuyan’s eyes, she sat down beside the bed in delight.

“You’re awake—finally awake! Xiuyan, are you feeling unwell anywhere? Tell me, quickly.”

“Water…” came Shen Xiuyan’s hoarse voice.

His throat burned like fire, and his whole body felt hot and restless.

Madam Zhou immediately turned and said, “Yuanming, go get your brother some water.”

“Yes, yes!” the young boy responded and dashed out without looking back.

Soon, the boy returned with a bowl of water, which Shen Xiuyan drank down. Only then did he feel somewhat alive again.

Seeing that her son looked much better after drinking water, though still clearly tired, Madam Zhou got up and said, “Xiuyan, rest a bit more. Your brother and I will leave you be.”

When Shen Xiuyan nodded, Madam Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and led Shen Yuanming out of the room.

Lying on the bed, Shen Xiuyan could still faintly hear voices from outside.

“Finally awake… Yuanming, go buy a chicken. We’ll stew it later to help your brother recover. I’ll go make his medicine first…”

“Okay…”

Once their voices faded completely, Shen Xiuyan finally breathed a full sigh of relief and began furiously sorting through the information in his mind.

Dear god, thank goodness they left. A few more words and I definitely would’ve blown my cover—I don’t know a single thing right now.

But as he combed through the contents in his head, he couldn’t help but gape in shock.

The amount of information in his brain… was absolutely insane.

This body was named Shen Xiuyan—prideful, narrow-minded, and a thoroughly heartless man.

Though his family scraped by with farming, they were relatively well-off, so they sent him to school from a young age.

He was the first person in their village to attend a proper academy, and for a while he was the center of admiration, surrounded by endless praise and flattery.

But the studying didn’t yield much, and instead he developed an air of superiority, believing himself above others.

The good times didn’t last long—one day, his father and grandfather died in an accident.

His grandmother wasn’t his grandfather’s first wife, and his father wasn’t her biological son. Naturally, for the sake of her own son, she quickly cast Shen Xiuyan’s mother and her children out of the household.

Otherwise, her own son would end up supporting this freeloader who only read books.

With no more income in the household, Shen Xiuyan couldn’t afford to keep studying even if he wanted to.

But somehow, through sheer dumb luck, he passed the county-level imperial exam on his final attempt and became a ‘tongsheng’.

Although his score was dismal—he ranked dead last—a tongsheng was still a tongsheng, which placed him in a class apart from ordinary people.

This should have been something worth celebrating, but his mother, Madam Zhou, an aging widow, had no money to fund his further education.

And Shen Xiuyan, being so full of himself, refused to copy books for money to support his studies.

He thought his hands were too noble to do such degrading work—copying books was something he looked down on the most.

But he was unwilling to give up on the civil service exams, so he set his sights on a big fish.

Su Mingyue—the only daughter of Master Su of Linzhu County.

Su Mingyue had extremely high standards and had rejected countless matchmakers; as a result, she remained unmarried.

If he could marry Su Mingyue, there would be no kind of life he couldn’t live.

The Su family was wealthy enough to give him the best life and continue funding his studies.

Relying on his decent looks, Shen Xiuyan schemed to meet Miss Su.

Sure enough, after a few encounters, Miss Su quickly fell in love with him and was exceedingly generous—he received many fine gifts from her.

Tasting the benefits, Shen Xiuyan set his sights on marrying her and taking control of the vast Su family fortune.

But there was no way the Su family would willingly accept a lowly tongsheng like Shen Xiuyan.

They had money, and all of it would one day belong to Su Mingyue, their only daughter.

With such backing, she could aim for any match—even being a juren’s wife wasn’t out of reach.

So Shen Xiuyan came up with a plan. Under the pretense of inviting her out for a leisure trip, he arranged to ruin her reputation, forcing her to marry him.

The Su family had no choice but to accept the match—otherwise, their daughter’s name would be completely destroyed.

At the time, Master Su still held onto a sliver of hope.

A tongsheng was still better than a commoner.

Perhaps he might one day pass as a Xiucai, even a Juren, and if he had any conscience, he’d remember their support and treat his daughter well.

In any case, they had no shortage of money—hiring the best teachers to support a son-in-law was well within their means.

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Juren (举人), Xiucai (秀才), and Tongsheng (童生) were ranks in the traditional Chinese imperial examination system, which was used to select government officials based on merit:

1. Tongsheng (童生) – “Child Student”:

The lowest rank, usually scholars who had not yet passed the lowest-level exam.

They could attend local government schools but had no official status.

They had to pass the county-level exam (童试) to become a Xiucai.

2. Xiucai (秀才) – “Cultivated Talent”:

The first official rank in the examination system.

Granted upon passing the county-level exam.

Exempted from some taxes and labor, enjoyed social prestige, and could take higher-level exams.

3. Juren (举人) – “Recommended Man”:

A mid-level degree given to those who passed the provincial exam.

Qualified to hold minor government positions or proceed to the highest-level exam (for Jinshi).

Highly respected and often influential in local society.

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These ranks represented steps on the path to becoming a Jinshi (进士), the highest and most prestigious degree.