At three quarters past four in the morning, four dishes and a soup were set on the rosewood dining table in the main hall of the general's mansion. Liu was stirring a pigeon egg in a bowl with a silver spoon when she suddenly slammed the spoon onto the table. Her silver bracelet struck the rim of the bowl with a resounding clang.

"This life is unbearable!" Liu cried at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her face. "The General's family is so huge, but now we can't even afford a hot meal..."

Shen Weiwan was holding a piece of squirrel mandarin fish with chopsticks, and when she heard this, she stopped her chopsticks in mid-air: "Aunt, what are you talking about? The kitchen stewed bird's nest yesterday, and there is mandarin fish today, so why can't we eat?"

"Miss, you don't know!" Liu wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, and the gold and jade armor on her nails dazzled people in the sunlight. "The grain in the warehouse has long been exhausted, and we can't even pay the servants their monthly wages..." As she spoke, she deliberately rolled up her sleeves, revealing the red gold bracelet inlaid with gems on her wrist.

Chun Tao couldn't hold it in any longer and whispered, "Miss, I saw the warehouse just yesterday deliver 20 dan of rice..."

"Chun Tao!" Shen Weiwan glared at her, then turned around with a worried expression, "Oh, auntie, you said you can't pay the monthly allowance? This is terrible!" She put down her chopsticks and counted on her fingers, "Aunt Zhang wants to marry her son, Uncle Li wants to get medicine, and there's also Old Wang, the gatekeeper..."

"Who said it wasn't!" Seeing that Shen Weiwan had taken the bait, Liu cried even harder, "As your aunt, I'm really sorry to the general's spirit in heaven..."

"Aunt, don't panic!" Shen Weiwan suddenly slammed the table, startling everyone, "I have an idea!" She pointed at Liu's wrist, her eyes flashing with "innocence", "Aunt, your bracelet looks valuable! Why not pawn it and give everyone a monthly allowance?"

The crying on Liu's face froze instantly, as if she had been covered with plaster. She subconsciously covered the bracelet and shrank back: "This, this bracelet..."

"What's wrong, aunt?" Shen Weiwan took a step closer, "Didn't you say that the general's mansion was about to break even? If you give up this bracelet, how many servants can be saved!" She turned to the old housekeeper next to her and said, "Housekeeper, how much do you think this bracelet is worth?"

The old butler stroked his beard and pretended to examine it: "Judging from its quality, it must be at least two hundred taels."

"Two hundred taels!" Shen Weiwan pretended to be surprised, "That's enough to pay three months' salary! Aunt, just think of it as a grievance for the general's mansion!"

Liu's face turned from red to white, then from white to blue. She had just redeemed this bracelet from the pawnshop yesterday, spending 180 taels of silver on it. How could she possibly pawn it again? Her eyes rolled, and she forced a smile uglier than crying: "Wanwan, this bracelet... is fake!"

"Fake?" Shen Weiwan opened her eyes wide, "Impossible? I see the gold is golden yellow, and the gems are sparkling..."

"It's really fake!" Liu said with a determined heart, took off the bracelet and threw it on the table, "Look, it's just a copper-plated silver thing, it's worthless!"

The servants around had been listening intently for a long time, and couldn't help but chuckle at the words. Chuntao even burst out laughing and quickly covered her mouth with a handkerchief.

"Oh, auntie," Shen Weiwan picked up the bracelet and held it up to the sunlight. "It doesn't matter if it's fake! Pawnshops sometimes have poor eyesight, maybe I can get a few taels of silver from it." She suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right! I heard that the best way to tell if gold is real is to bite it with your teeth!"

"Bite it with your teeth?" Liu was terrified. If the bracelet was bitten and left marks, how could she wear it?

"Yes!" Shen Weiwan handed the bracelet to Liu, "Aunt, try biting it. If it's real gold, the tooth mark will slowly disappear on its own."

Liu looked at Shen Weiwan's innocent face, and then at the servants' eyes watching the show, and she wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. If she didn't bite, it would be confirmed that the bracelet was real; if she bit it, the good gold bracelet would be ruined!

"I... I suddenly remembered," Liu stood up suddenly, "There's still bird's nest stewing in the kitchen! I'll go and take a look!" After saying that, she ran out of the main hall without looking back, without even taking the bracelet on the table.

Shen Weiwan looked at her embarrassed back, a hint of "you deserve a beating" appeared at the corner of her mouth. She picked up the bracelet on the table and winked at the old housekeeper.

The old housekeeper understood and coughed: "Miss, since Madam Liu said this bracelet is fake, why don't you..."

"Why not give it to Chuntao!" Shen Weiwan stuffed the bracelet into Chuntao's hand, "Haven't you always wanted a bracelet? Even though it's fake, it's nice to wear it for fun."

Chuntao took the bracelet and felt how heavy it was. It was clearly made of real gold! She suppressed her laughter and bowed: "Thank you, Miss!"

When the servants saw Liu being humiliated, they couldn't help but whisper about it.

"Tsk tsk, isn't Madam Liu quite wealthy? How come she can't even pawn a bracelet?"

"Why not? I saw a new fox fur cloak in her room yesterday!"

"Shh...be quiet, don't let her hear..."

Shen Weiwan listened to the servants' discussions and nodded secretly. The more Liu cried poor, the more greedy and hypocritical she seemed. Next, she would make Liu spit out every bit of the family property she had taken!

"Butler," Shen Weiwan turned to the old butler and said, "Since the storehouse is running out of food, let's practice strict economy from today on."

"What does the young lady want to do?" asked the old butler.

"It's very simple," Shen Weiwan said with a smile on her face, "Start with Madam Liu's monthly allowance! Didn't she say she didn't have money to pay her monthly allowance? Then use her monthly allowance to make up for it. And the rouge, powder, silk and satin in her room, save whatever you can."

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