At three o'clock in the morning, sunlight splattered like molten gold on the carved window lattices, scorching the window paper with a warm yellow. Liu lay sprawled on a brocade quilt embroidered with twin lotus flowers, her ears catching the suppressed sneers from the outer corridor. Her nails dug deep into the pillowcase, pulling at the satin embroidery threads, leaving several frayed edges. She had spent the entire night by the gilded clean bucket, having accidentally ingested croton powder mixed with rose preserves. Her limbs ached as if they had been ripped from her bones, and even the strength to lift her eyelids had collapsed, scattering across the brocade quilt.

"Madam...the eldest lady is here." Lu'e's voice floated into the room with a crying tone, like a sparrow caught by a cat.

Liu fluttered her eyelids, the gilded sunlight piercing her pupils. She saw Shen Weiwan stroll in, carrying a black lacquer lunch box. Her moon-white, gold-embroidered jacket swayed with each step, and the red-gold and kingfisher-embroidered beads on her temples trembled with tiny shimmers, making the smile at her eyes and eyebrows seem even more innocent. But to Liu, that smile concealed the tip of a poisoned needle.

"Aunt, are you feeling better?" Shen Weiwan gently placed the food box on the bedside. When she opened the blue and white bowl, the steam rising from it, wrapped in the strong smell of coptis root, rushed straight into Liu's nose. She stared at the dark brown soup bubbling in the bowl, and her stomach suddenly felt like it was being hammered. The cramps from yesterday's diarrhea returned.

"Take it away!" Liu struggled to shrink back into the bed, the quilt rubbing against the corners of her dry lips, "I won't drink this dirty stuff!"

"What are you talking about, Auntie?" Shen Weiwan scooped up a spoonful of soup, the silver spoon gleaming coldly in the sunlight. "Didn't the doctor say yesterday that diarrhea is to expel foul air from the body?" She suddenly leaned in, her fingertips touching Liu's sallow cheek, feeling the coolness. "Look at your complexion, it's much brighter than yesterday—it's called detoxification and beauty care, it's a good thing."

Chuntao, whose shoulders were shaking from trying to hold back laughter, chimed in, "That's right, Madam. The eldest lady specifically instructed the kitchen to use the finest coptis root imported from South Guangdong, saying it would clear all the bad fluids in your intestines."

"Coptis?!" Liu screamed, waving her palm to knock over the soup spoon, the gold-inlaid jade bracelet on her wrist making a sharp sound. With a flick of her wrist, Shen Weiwan dodged the silver spoon nimbly, and the brown soup splattered onto the brocade quilt, leaving a deep, winding streak that perfectly matched her distorted expression.

"Aunt, how could you waste it?" Shen Weiwan frowned slightly, suddenly holding Liu's shoulder and forcing the silver spoon into her mouth while she was off guard. The bitter soup poured into her throat like magma, and Liu coughed violently, tears and snot all over her face, but Shen Weiwan held her jaw firmly, "Aunt, be good. Drink this tonic soup made with three pounds of coptis root to completely cure your illness."

In the outer corridor, Aunt Zhang was peeking through the window, her handkerchief covering her mouth as she trembled with laughter. She gestured to Uncle Li beside her: "Did you see that? Miss, this is called 'fighting poison with poison'! Yesterday it was croton, today it's coptis, how cruel!"

Uncle Li laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, his cane thumping against the brick floor. "I think it's 'using hardship to combat greed'! Who's the one who always wants to pick the young lady's pocket?"

Halfway through the Huanglian water, Liu finally broke free and pointed at Shen Weiwan with her fingers trembling like sieves: "You...you little bitch did it on purpose!"

"What are you talking about, Auntie?" Chen Weiwan put down the soup bowl and took out a silk handkerchief to wipe the corners of her mouth, her fingertips deliberately brushing against her chapped lips. "I'm just being filial." She suddenly changed the subject, her eyes sweeping across Liu's suddenly tense face. "By the way, for Sister Ruorou's coming-of-age ceremony, I've asked the old housekeeper to prepare a red gold headpiece and a cloud brocade wedding dress—I guarantee it will be even grander than the one for the Taifu family's legitimate daughter."

Liu stared at the cunning light in her eyes, and suddenly remembered that Shen Ruorou's wedding dress was still in the hands of this little bitch. She bit her teeth until they ached, and squeezed out the words from between her teeth: "What tricks are you trying to play now?"

"That's what my aunt said." Chen Weiwan shook the remaining coptis chinensis water in the bowl. "I just want my sister Ruorou to have a grand coming-of-age ceremony. Look at this soup, it's so nourishing."

Liu looked at the bowl of black soup, then at Shen Weiwan's half-smile, and suddenly her mind was spinning. She knew clearly that she had once again fallen into the trap carefully woven by this little bitch, like a turtle in a jar.

"Miss," Chun Tao said at the right moment, her tone filled with just the right amount of urgency, "His Highness the Seventh Prince has arrived and is waiting in the garden."

Chen Weiwan raised an eyebrow when she heard this and bowed to Liu: "Aunt, take good care of yourself. I'll be back soon. Don't forget to finish this soup, otherwise you will let me down."

Watching Chen Weiwan's retreating figure, Liu suddenly grabbed the jade hairpin beside her pillow and threw it at the door, but her strength ran out mid-air, and the hairpin landed on the threshold with a clang. She collapsed on the bed, listening to the servants' undisguised laughter outside, her eyes boiling with resentment: "Chen Weiwan! For Ruorou's coming-of-age ceremony, I will make you pay with blood!"

When Shen Weiwan passed through the moonlit gate, Xiao Yu was leaning against a Taihu stone. A corner of his stone-blue brocade robe was lifted by the draft, and the jade belt around his waist outlined his slender waistline. He was toying with a warm jade in his hand. Seeing her approach, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "I heard someone used coptis root as ginseng in a soup, and it made my aunt complain bitterly?"

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Your Highness." When Shen Weiwan bowed, she caught a glimpse of the edge of the half-covered secret report sticking out from his sleeve, and her heart moved slightly.

Xiao Yu took a half step closer, his voice low and tinged with the scent of pinewood, "I heard that the Second Prince's Mansion sent over a list of gifts for his coming-of-age ceremony this morning." He shook the jade pendant, the jade glistening in the sunlight. "They said it was to add to Miss Shen's makeup, and it contains quite a few rare treasures from the Western Regions."

Shen Weiwan curled her fingertips slightly: "What does the Second Prince mean?"

"What do you mean?" Xiao Yu chuckled, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes spreading. "Of course, I want to use this as an excuse to set you up in the royal temple." He pressed the jade pendant into her palm, the jade body warm. "Pray for blessings tomorrow. I'll wait for you in the Guanyin Temple."

Watching Xiao Yu's departing figure, Shen Weiwan tightened her grip on the jade pendant. The word "Yu" was engraved on the back of the pendant, and a slight scratch on the corner resembled the curve of his lips, a smile that seemed to be half a smile. The Second Prince couldn't contain himself anymore; this coming-of-age ceremony was about to become a dangerous place.

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