The midday sun was as blazing as fire, baking the golden brick floor of the General's Mansion until it was hot enough to fry an egg. When the Shuntian Prefecture police chief, accompanied by twenty yamen runners, kicked open the corner door of the west wing, the door slammed against the wall with a clang, startling the swallows nesting on the beams. Liu was kneeling before her dressing table, her hands shaking like sieves as she stuffed the last of her red-gold filigree hairpins into her bosom. When she heard the knock on the door, her hands trembled, and the hairpin tinkled and rolled into the crack under the bed.

"Open the door! Shuntian Prefecture is arresting people!" The captain's roar shook the window paper and the bailiffs' swords gleamed coldly in the sunlight.

Liu, pale as a veil, dove under the bed, her embroidered brocade skirt snatched by the yamen runners who had chased her in. "Let me go! I'm the Second Wife of the General's Mansion!" she screamed and kicked, her hair half undone, her rouge smudged into two clumps, like a clown on the stage. Shen Weiwan leaned in the shadow of the moonlit door, watching Liu being dragged out like a dead dog. A sneer curled her lips, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the red gold and jade bracelet on her wrist—the plum blossom pattern, a gift from the Seventh Prince, itched her skin, like a silent reminder.

"Miss, you said yesterday that Liu was trying to hide the jewelry." Chuntao opened the parasol and whispered in her ear, "Look, her arms are bulging. I'm afraid she must have stuffed them with a lot of gold leaves."

"She has always known gold." Shen Weiwan glanced at Liu's chest, which she was desperately trying to protect, and said loudly, "Go call the old housekeeper. It's time to settle the accounts."

Liu was pressed on the hot gold bricks, her hair was covered with dust. When she saw Shen Weiwan approaching, she suddenly burst into a sharp cry: "Chen Weiwan! You little bitch! It was you who bribed the government to frame me!" She suddenly broke free from the yamen runners and pounced on her like a mad dog, scratching Shen Weiwan's face with her nails.

Shen Weiwan dodged sideways, her pomegranate-red skirt brushing against the pomegranate petals on the green bricks, casting tiny red shadows. "Auntie," she said softly, but her voice pierced Liu's ears like an icicle, "how many embezzled accounts have you stuffed into the treasury? How much dirty water have you thrown at my mother's memorial tablet? Do you think everyone in the mansion is blind?"

"You're slandering me!" Liu was pinned down by the yamen runners again, and a half-piece of broken jade fell out of her hair. "You fabricated the evidence! The old housekeeper must have been bribed by you!"

"Falsified evidence?" Shen Weiwan clapped her hands. The old housekeeper trembled as he stepped forward, holding the account book, the edges wrinkled with sweat. "My aunt withheld the servants' wages every month, sold the golden nanmu pillars in the warehouse, and even melted down the general's chain mail for money—" The old housekeeper flipped open the account book, and pawn tickets fell like snowflakes. "Do you want to talk about these things in court, or do you want to admit it now?"

The servants watching were furious:

"Oh my god! You dare to sell the general's armor? It was given to him by the emperor himself!"

"No wonder half the truckloads of rosewood are missing from the warehouse. Turns out she stole them all!"

"The Second Madam looks kind and benevolent, but why is she so cruel..."

Liu's face turned pale when she heard this, and she suddenly screamed: "Old thing! You have been bribed by Shen Weiwan a long time ago! These are all fake!"

The old butler was so angry that his beard was shaking. He grabbed a pawn ticket and thrust it in her face: "Second Madam, please look carefully! Was the 'Liu family's private seal' on this pawn ticket stamped by you yourself?"

Chen Weiwan bent down to pick up the pawn ticket and shook it against the sunlight. The cinnabar ink shone a dark red in the light. Liu stared at the seal, her eyes rolling up as she tried to faint, but the captain kicked her impatiently: "Pretending to be dead? Take him away!"

"Wait." Shen Weiwan stepped forward, looking down at Liu, the shadow of her skirt just covering her twisted face. "Aunt, when you coaxed me to hand over the storeroom key, you said 'it's for my own good'; when you tricked me into marrying the cripple in place of Shen Ruorou, you said 'the eldest sister should be sacrificed.'" She suddenly squatted down, her fingertips almost poking the tip of Liu's nose, her voice cloyingly sweet, "Now it's time to settle the accounts—there's plenty of time in prison, take your time."

This sentence was like a knife stabbing Liu's sore spot, and she suddenly burst into a shrill cry: "Chen Weiwan! Even if I become a ghost, I will not let you go!"

"Be a ghost?" Shen Weiwan stood up and patted the dust on her skirt. "You should first think about whether the steamed bread in the prison is enough to eat."

The captain kicked Liu in disgust and waved for the bailiffs to drag her away. As Liu was dragged out, her hair scratched long lines on the hot gold bricks, she continued to curse, "Little bitch! Die a horrible death!" The sound grew increasingly distant, finally blocked out by the heavy corner door, leaving only the faint scent of powder mixed with dust.

Shen Weiwan looked at the empty courtyard and took a deep breath of the scorching air. Chuntao handed over a wet handkerchief and whispered, "Miss, what you just said made Liu's face turn green."

"We're just getting started." Shen Weiwan wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at Shen Ruoruo's closed courtyard door, which was as quiet as a grave. "Next, it's our dear cousin's turn."

The old housekeeper bowed and said, "My lady, the Liu family's account books have been sorted out. The Shuntian prefect said that they will be submitted to the court after your coming-of-age ceremony."

"The coming-of-age ceremony?" Chen Weiwan suddenly smiled, the sunlight shining on the teardrop mole at the corner of her eye. "That's Shen Ruorou's highlight, how can I miss it?" She thought of the Dongzhu hairpin and ring sent by the Seventh Prince, and a sly glint flashed in her eyes. "Chun Tao, find my pomegranate red woven gold skirt. On the day of the coming-of-age ceremony, I want to wear something brighter than the bride."

"Miss, isn't that your coming-of-age dress?" Chun Tao was stunned. That dress was specially prepared by the general for Shen Weiwan's coming-of-age ceremony. It was embroidered with a flying phoenix.

"Yes," Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows, her fingertips tracing the jade pendant on her waist, "I want to see what Shen Ruorou looks like in a fluorescent wedding dress, glowing in front of all the noble ladies in the capital."

At the same time, in the study of the Seventh Prince's Mansion, Xiao Yu was playing with the jade ring in his hand. He listened to the guards' report on the movements in the General's Mansion and suddenly laughed softly: "This Chen Weiwan is getting better and better at controlling people."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!