"The Top Scholar enters the court directly as a rank-six official, but the runner-up and third place can only get rank-seven! The starting point differs by a full official rank! A face-saver? To be pressed down by two people inferior to me, what face do I have left?!"
Perhaps because of Song Lin's harsh tone, Meng Wan was somewhat startled.
The Song family did not dare to chime in.
After a long pause, Mother Song cautiously comforted him: "With your ability, Second Son, you'll be promoted in no time. Don't worry, alright?"
Song Lin gritted his teeth: "Of course! It must be that my rejection of the marriage angered Grand Tutor Lu, which is why he put in a bad word with His Majesty behind my back. Someday... I will make him apologize in person!"
Seeing that Meng Wan was frightened, Song Lin softened his tone a little: "I don't expect you to understand the court, but you must understand some basic common sense. Otherwise, you're bound to make a laughingstock of yourself when you go out to socialize, bringing shame upon our entire household. You'll have to learn to manage the mansion from now on, and you must learn how to handle social interactions properly. Right now... you are far too petty."
Meng Wan's face turned pale.
In Song Lin's heart, a rare irritation stirred.
If it were Lu Wanwan, she would have already gone to beg Grand Tutor Lu to pull strings for his official post, and then investigated the preferences and temperaments of his future colleagues for him. Even Prince Ping and his son would have actively paved the way for him. Lu Wanwan would never have uttered such foolish words as the third-place finisher having more face than the Top Scholar, because she understood what the difference between the two meant.
Meng Wan... still fell a bit short.
At this moment, Song Xiaomei also asked excitedly: "But Second Brother, does the Grand Tutor's daughter really like you?"
Meng Wan hurriedly said: "It's her clinging to him shamelessly! Second Brother despises her!"
"That just shows our Second Son's ability, to be able to make even the Grand Tutor's daughter cling to him shamelessly," Father Song said, beaming from ear to ear. "Another day, I will go to their residence in person to propose marriage!"
"Father!" Song Lin said with a heavier tone. "That poisonous woman who ruined my future—I could never possibly marry her in this lifetime. You can give up on that idea!"
Meng Wan tightly grasped his hand, feeling both moved and worried.
...
When Lu Wanwan and the Eldest Princess entered the palace, the Third Prince was already kneeling inside the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Emperor Yongguang sat in the seat of honor, his face showing anger.
"The victory parade was abruptly cut short, making the people of the capital watch our imperial family make a fool of themselves—unfilial son! Speak, who told you to insult a court official in broad daylight?!"
As soon as she stepped into the hall, Lu Wanwan heard these words.
Unlike Emperor Yongguang's usual composed tone, his voice this time was extremely slow, almost word by word, which somehow seemed to dilute his anger quite a bit.
"The third-place finisher is not an official!" the Third Prince said stiffly.
Emperor Yongguang slammed his hand on the desk in anger: "Even if he isn't a court official, he is still the third-place scholar personally appointed by Us. You publicly insulted him—are you expressing dissatisfaction with Us?"
"Your Majesty, please see the truth!"
The Eldest Princess hurriedly knelt down to plead for him: "That Scholar Song advocates for war, and his written phrasing was extremely aggressive and excessive. If Third Younger Brother had heard of this and remained indifferent, wouldn't he be a cold-blooded and heartless wretch? If he secretly sought revenge, wouldn't he be failing Father's teachings? It was precisely because of his pure and innocent heart that he vented his anger right there in public!"
Lu Wanwan also did not want the kind-hearted Third Prince to be punished.
She spoke insincerely: "My father has taught me since childhood: if the monarch wants a minister to die, the minister must die. If Third Highness had smashed things at me today, your humble subject would only kneel and thank the grace of Heaven.
But that Scholar Song... Everyone in Great Chu knows that Third Highness has a language barrier, yet he deliberately used a rapid pace to set a trap, questioning whether Third Highness harbored treasonous intentions. Clearly, he was dissatisfied with Your Highness for throwing things at him. But Your Highness is His Majesty's own flesh and blood. If he makes a mistake, only Your Majesty can discipline and teach him. For him to brazenly seek revenge—isn't that overstepping his bounds, and isn't it also showing disrespect to the Emperor?"
Lu Wanwan had lived in the palace frequently since childhood and was watched by Emperor Yongguang as she grew up. She understood this monarch quite well, so she poked directly at the point he cared about most.
Questioning whether an imperial prince was committing treason?
Even if a prince truly committed treason, it should not be exposed amidst the grand crowds to air the imperial family's dirty laundry—let alone by someone who hadn't even entered officialdom yet. That was essentially slapping the Emperor in the face.
Hearing this, Emperor Yongguang indeed turned his head to look at Xie Yanxi beside him.
The latter nodded slightly: "Song Lin did indeed speak improperly and harbored extreme hostility and dissatisfaction toward Third Highness."
Emperor Yongguang's face darkened slightly.
The Eldest Princess hurriedly tugged at the Third Prince: "Why aren't you quickly explaining to Father Emperor? This is someone deliberately trying to drive a wedge between you and your father!"
Ever since their conversation began, the Third Prince had worn a completely bewildered expression—Emperor Yongguang had spoken too fast in his anger, and he hadn't understood a single word his biological father had said, only seeing that he was angry.
Later on, the Eldest Princess and Lu Wanwan had spoken at great length, and his grammar and listening comprehension simply weren't enough to support him in understanding any of it.
The Eldest Princess had no choice but to repeat it slowly once more.
The Third Prince suddenly understood, waved his hand and said: "My father and I are as close as father and son. He knows me, no explanation needed."
Emperor Yongguang's fingers instantly tightened around the arms of the dragon throne.
"Your Majesty, the Eldest Princess and Miss Lu are still kneeling," Xie Yanxi frowned and reminded him.
Emperor Yongguang took a deep breath.
"Rise."
Lu Wanwan and the Eldest Princess expressed their gratitude and stood up. Seeing this, the Third Prince stood up as well.
"Unfilial son, did We give you permission to stand?!"
Looking completely bewildered, the Third Prince was once again pulled down to his knees by the Eldest Princess.
Emperor Yongguang looked at him, speaking word by word: "Who instigated you to deal with Song Lin?"
The Third Prince understood this time, but kept his mouth tightly shut.
Emperor Yongguang stopped asking, gritting his teeth as he commanded: "Get back and reflect behind closed doors! Copy the *Great Learning* ten times, the *Analects* ten times, and the *Erya* twenty times!"
He was probably so angered by that remark about being "as close as father and son" that he penalized him with the most copies of the *Erya*.
The Third Prince obediently nodded.
And so the matter was considered over.
To put it bluntly, it was just a few eggs and vegetable leaves. As long as Emperor Yongguang didn't dwell on it, it wouldn't amount to anything serious.
Ordering the Third Prince to reflect behind closed doors was also a way to shield him from the censors' impeachments in the coming days.
Song Lin had simply made a fool of himself for nothing.
At the palace gates.
After the Eldest Princess gave the Third Prince strict instructions and told his attendants to keep a close eye on him, she finally watched him leave.
This kid was entirely the type to slip away and vanish the moment you let go, yet he was completely unfamiliar with the place in her homeland; if he were sold off, he wouldn't even know how to count his own share of the money.
Seeing her gaze fixed on the departing carriage of the Third Prince with a worried expression, Lu Wanwan comforted her: "Take the advice you gave him to heart yourself. The Emperor loves his son, and the Third Highness... will certainly be fine."
Her gaze turned complicated.
In her past life, one year after the palace examination, war broke out because a Northern Qi envoy was assassinated at the borders of Great Chu while coming to negotiate peace, sharply increasing the conflict between the two nations.
During times of peace, the Third Prince could not touch the core of power in either his motherland or his paternal country, but once war broke out, he became the very first person to be caught in the crossfire.
If the Second Prince hadn't secretly sent him back to Northern Qi, he likely would have been sacrificed to the battle flags by the radical faction led by the Fourth Prince long ago.
Yet the Third Prince's treatment in Northern Qi was only slightly better than in Great Chu; at best his life was spared, but his days were difficult. As the crystallization of love between two nations, his very existence was a mistake.
A child who should have been vibrant and full of life was thus silenced, ultimately dying of depression in his youth.
Thinking of this, Lu Wanwan knitted her brows tightly.
She also knew the advantage of foresight; in this lifetime... perhaps she could save the Northern Qi envoy, save the Third Prince, and save the soldiers and people at the border.
"By the way, what was that Song Lin said about you wanting to marry him?" The Eldest Princess frowned, saying with subtle reservation, "I remember your taste has always been quite good." Surely she hadn't really taken a fancy to Song Lin?