The Eldest Princess frowned. "How does our third younger brother know that Song Lin instigated Father to attack Northern Qi?"
She looked down at the silent street below.
The people living under the shadow of the Imperial City were street-smart. Upon hearing the address of "Father," they dared not utter a word, having clearly guessed the Third Prince's identity.
Meanwhile, bathed in the strange, scrutinizing gazes of the entire street, Song Lin’s face turned leaden. He was practically maddened with rage.
With a sinister glint in his eyes, he glared up at the Third Prince. "I am a new top scholar personally appointed by His Majesty. For your Highness to be so dissatisfied with me—could it be that you are dissatisfied with His Majesty? Could it be that you are colluding with bandits and harboring intentions of treason and rebellion?!"
His words were more venomous than the Third Prince's, and he spoke with extreme speed, clearly counting on the Third Prince’s poor grasp of the Great Chu language to trap him into admitting to such a grave charge.
The Eldest Princess’s expression changed instantly.
Just as she was about to speak to stop him, the Third Prince pelted him with eggs and vegetables from above, cursing viciously, "You are a wolf in sheep’s clothing! You will surely be struck by lightning! You will die a gruesome death! You will come to a bitter end! You will die without an heir!"
As Song Lin had anticipated, he did not refute the unfounded accusations.
However, Song Lin’s expression still soured.
Because in his past life, he truly had died a gruesome death, failed to have a peaceful end, and died without an heir!
Those two adopted sons who were his sons in name only were, to him, nothing more than nephews.
His face turned deathly pale in an instant. His tightly clenched fists made his knuckles turn white, the veins in his arms bulged, and the sinister aura around him became suffocatingly thick.
"You dare—"
"Thud—"
The guards could not stop the Third Prince, who had grown up in the saddle, and the eggs and vegetable leaves landed on Song Lin’s head from all sorts of tricky angles.
Lu Wanwan couldn't help but applaud. "His Highness is doing a marvelous job!"
"You're just adding fuel to the fire!" the Eldest Princess said, anxious. "Someone, quickly go bring the Third Prince over here!"
The Third Prince was still busy throwing eggs.
Aside from the Song family, the second-place scholar, Xiao Heng, was one of the few who dared to help him. While blocking the onslaught, he advised the Third Prince, "Your Highness, perhaps you should stop after having your fun with the new top scholar. The commoners are watching; it would be unseemly to make a scene."
The Third Prince had no intention of involving the innocent. Seeing Xiao Heng shielding Song Lin, he ceased his attacks.
Fortunately, he had used up the entire basket of eggs, so it wasn't a waste.
Lu Wanwan now greatly admired the Third Prince. Seeing Song Lin in such a pathetic state and having lost so much face made her feel even better.
The Eldest Princess frowned, worried. "Where are his attendants? How could they let him come out alone? Besides, the imperial examination papers were only just made public; by all rights, he shouldn't have received the news so quickly!"
Lu Wanwan remarked, "Plenty of people have seen the examination papers. It's possible someone tipped off the Third Prince."
The Eldest Princess immediately thought of the Second Prince. That petty, trouble-making younger brother!
At that moment, her maid hurried inside. "Princess, the Third Prince has just come downstairs, but he has been taken into the palace by men from the Eastern Depot!"
The hounds of the Eastern Depot were everywhere in Great Chu; they likely noticed the Third Prince attacking Song Lin the moment it started.
"The Third Prince is simple-minded. If he is truly successfully framed by Song Lin, I fear Father will be furious!" The Eldest Princess stood up in a hurry. "I am going into the palace now!"
Lu Wanwan added, "I will go with you."
They couldn't let the Third Prince's good intentions go unrewarded.
After the two descended, they saw Song Lin wiping egg residue off his face and clothes with a dark expression, looking utterly disheveled.
Meng Wan and the Song family arrived quickly.
The Song family dared not scold a prince, so they could only fuss over Song Lin. Only Meng Wan had red-rimmed eyes. "Can a prince just bully people like this? How dare he offend Brother Lin so blatantly?!"
Song Lin’s face remained dark, and he didn't say a word.
When the Eldest Princess and Lu Wanwan stepped down, they heard these words.
Seeing Lu Wanwan, Song Lin became even more incensed. "Lu Wanwan, you poisonous woman! How dare you steal my title as top scholar!"
Lu Wanwan was stunned. "I stole your title?"
"Stop acting! Even Duan Zhixing has admitted it!" Song Lin roared. "I will tell you clearly today: even if you use your power to pressure me and threaten my future, I will never marry you! Give up this delusion!"
Lu Wanwan frowned, raised her hand, and slapped him across the face.
"Slap—"
The crisp sound left Song Lin momentarily dazed.
Lu Wanwan wiped her hands and said, "The top three were all personally chosen by His Majesty, with no favoritism whatsoever. You failed to become the top scholar because your skills were inferior. You say I robbed you of your top ranking; did I also rob you of second place, forcing you to settle for third?"
"Wake up. You aren't that sought-after, and you aren't worth my notice!"
With that, she turned and walked away.
She didn't take Song Lin’s mad ramblings to heart; she just felt it was a stroke of bad luck. But what the heck was a Duan Zhixing? And what had he admitted?
The Eldest Princess, trailing a step behind her, was about to leave when Meng Wan grabbed her hand.
"Is the Princess here to stand up for Brother Lin?"
She was crying bitterly. Feeling both envious and pained that Lu Wanwan could summon the Eldest Princess, she could only bow her head helplessly. Everything was for Brother Lin’s sake.
"The Princess is truly virtuous. Thank you for being willing to stand up for Brother Lin. This commoner is deeply grateful!" She wept, performing a deep bow in thanks.
Hearing this, the somewhat timid Song family members also hurriedly thanked her.
"Thank you, Princess."
"The Princess is such a kind person!"
The Eldest Princess found this whole family baffling, but she was more worried about the Third Prince, so she left in a hurry without offering any explanation.
Ignored, Meng Wan bit her lip.
"Brother Lin... did the Eldest Princess have some misunderstanding about me?"
"Lu Wanwan is close to her; she must have said some bad things about you."
Although still enraged, Song Lin suppressed his emotions to comfort her. "Don't take it to heart. Even if she invited the Eldest Princess to the palace to seek justice for me, I wouldn't change my opinion of her. My heart only holds you!"
Meng Wan broke into a smile through her tears.
"Brother Lin is the best!" she said, pulling at Song Lin. "I knew you were brilliant and would surely make the gold list. Sure enough... you placed as the third-place scholar!"
Song Lin’s expression darkened. "What is there to be happy about? I should have been the top scholar!"
"Brother Lin, of course you are more talented than them. Even though the Lu girl tried to sabotage you, you still placed third. This is the top-tier scholar title praised in all the plays; it sounds even more prestigious than the top scholar title!"
Seeing Meng Wan still so joyful, Song Lin’s expression grew cold.
He had just realized how truly ignorant Meng Wan was.