Over the past few days, aside from familiarizing herself with the palace environment, Meng Yunwan spent most of her time learning etiquette from the instructing matrons.
She studied diligently and carried herself with humility, so the matrons taught her with particular care, and she made significant progress in palace rules and etiquette.
On her first day at Shangshufang, just after classes ended, Ling Qianche came over.
“Hey, country bumpkin, you probably didn’t understand a single thing the teacher just said, did you? And you still want to outscore me? Tsk tsk, if you admit defeat now, maybe I’ll consider letting you off!”
Meng Yunwan smiled. “Your Highness, I understood most of it.”
Ling Qianche didn’t believe her.
Today’s lessons were particularly difficult. He had only understood half of it himself—how could Meng Yunwan possibly be better than him?
“I think the only thing hard about you is your mouth,” he said disdainfully. “When you fail to outscore me and have to crawl on the ground like a dog, we’ll see if you’re still so tough!”
Ling Qianche walked away with his gang of good-for-nothing friends.
Meng Yunwan smiled noncommittally. In her previous life, she had attended the marquis’s mansion’s clan school, studying day and night with relentless effort, kneeling to beg great scholars to come out of seclusion, and running around everywhere to find exam predictions—all to finally achieve success in the imperial examination.
Meng Yunwan hated the three brothers of the marquis’s mansion intensely, but in terms of academics, she was deeply grateful.
Power and wealth could be taken away, reputation and status could be stripped, but the genuine knowledge and skills she had acquired over the years were firmly rooted within her. No one could ever take away what was in her mind.
Meng Yunwan picked up her book bag and was about to leave when Ling Shuo abruptly asked from behind, “Miss Meng understood most of it?”
Meng Yunwan paused.
Turning around, she met the man’s penetrating gaze, which seemed to see through everything, reminiscent of the times when they were intimate and he seemed intent on devouring her whole.
She curled her fingers slightly and replied meekly, “Prince Yi flatters me. How could I possess such talent? I only said that in front of the Crown Prince earlier to save face.”
The suspicion in Ling Shuo’s eyes never faded.
He stared intently at Meng Yunwan, but the young girl’s gaze remained clear. After bowing to him, she turned and left on her own.
Only after a long while did he withdraw his gaze, his expression inscrutable.
After two days of intense review and the imperial examination,
on the day the results were announced,
Meng Yunwan didn’t want to stand out too much, so she deliberately held back while answering the questions, estimating Ling Shuo’s level and scoring just slightly below him.
Not too flashy, but not too poor either—moderation was best.
Ignoring Ling Qianche, who kept making smug faces at her, Meng Yunwan focused entirely on Grand Tutor Zhou as he walked in with the exam papers and announced the results.
Meng Yunwan scored first place.
Ling Qianche scored last place.
The sky had fallen.
Ling Qianche clamored to recheck Meng Yunwan’s exam paper, but after seeing it and finding that every answer was detailed, familiar, and cited classics, he then insisted that Meng Yunwan must have copied from Ling Shuo, who came in second—otherwise, how could a country bumpkin like her achieve such excellent results!
Grand Tutor Zhou was a strict teacher.
He rapped a ruler on Ling Qianche’s forearm and said sternly, “Your Highness, do not make baseless accusations against your classmates. Although Prince Yi and Miss Meng sit together, their answering styles and approaches are completely different. There is no suspicion of copying. It is simply that Miss Meng is clever and grasps things quickly.”
The last two sentences carried Grand Tutor Zhou’s appreciation.
In all his years of teaching, he had never encountered a student with such natural brilliance, so he now felt a particular fondness for Meng Yunwan.
Meng Yunwan quickly stood up and thanked him. “You praise me too highly, sir. I am unworthy of such praise.”
The students kept their eyes downcast, minds focused inward.
Originally, aside from Ling Shuce, many of them harbored doubts about Meng Yunwan’s results. But with Grand Tutor Zhou’s definitive statement, it instantly silenced everyone.
These results were earned by Meng Yunwan through her own abilities!
…
Ling Shuce’s face instantly flushed a mottled purple.
How could this be? Meng Yunwan was merely the daughter of a marquis’s mansion, having previously attended an ordinary clan school—how could she possibly come in first?
Thanks to Ling Shuce’s daily clamoring over the past few days about making Meng Yunwan crawl like a dog,
everyone in the study knew about their bet.
As soon as classes ended, an arrogant young princess slammed the table, “Crown Prince, quickly crawl like a dog!”
Ling Shuce’s face flushed crimson, standing awkwardly in place.
He was nearly twenty years old.
Though unruly, he was undeniably the eldest among all the princes and princesses.
He didn’t want to lose face in front of them…
Meng Yunwan took in the young man’s flustered appearance.
In truth, in her past life, she had crossed paths with Ling Shuce once.
At that time, the struggle for the throne was at its fiercest. Inviting Ling Shuce to a banquet by the back lake under the guise of being his sister-in-law, she took advantage of his relaxed guard for Ling Shuo to lead troops and capture him. Before being taken away, Ling Shuce struggled to pull a pair of earrings from his pocket, smiling bitterly, “I didn’t know what my sister-in-law liked, so I specially picked a pair of crimson gold hoops…”
Ling Shuce wasn’t a bad person.
But his status destined him to sacrifice certain things.
…
In the Shangshufang, Ling Shuce’s face was flushed with anger, hesitating between crawling or not, nearly on the verge of tears.
At that moment, a soft, gentle voice reached his ears,
“Perhaps the Crown Prince misremembered. Our bet wasn’t about the loser crawling like a dog, but rather a chessboard carved with the twelve zodiac animals, right?”
The girl winked at him.
Her eyes shone like heavenly light, as if she were a savior descending from the heavens.
Ling Shuce was stunned for a moment, then nodded repeatedly, saying in a rush, “Yes, yes, yes, look at my memory! Yun Guan and I are both refined people—how could we make such a vulgar bet? It was a chessboard! Just a chessboard! Yes! That’s right!”
Meng Yunwan smiled sweetly and obediently.
For the first time, Ling Shuce felt she wasn’t so detestable after all.
After leaving the Shangshufang, he awkwardly thanked the young girl. Meng Yunwan smiled faintly, “Perhaps my memory is poor, and I truly remembered it as a chessboard. If Your Highness is sincere, gifting me a gold set would be even better.”
“Absolutely! Gold chessboard, gold necklace, gold earrings, gold pendants, gold bracelets—I’ll have ten of each made for you! I’ll look after you; from now on, you’re my own sister!”
The young man was sincere and simple, his raised eyes free of any impurity, like a large, well-groomed dog.
After this examination, Meng Yunwan’s popularity in the palace improved significantly.
Not only did Ling Shuce treat her like a sister from then on, but even the Empress specially summoned her and bestowed a great many fine gifts.