The gilded bronze bells of the Taifu Mansion's waterside pavilion trembled softly in the draft. Thirty-six latticed windows filtered the fragrance of the lotus pond into the room, but they couldn't dispel the awkwardness that hung heavy in the air. Shen Ruoruo sat slumped on the blue brick floor, her plain white skirt deeply stained by the hot tea. Several clumps of water-soaked cotton tumbled from the hem, like wads of cotton wool trampled in the snow, leaving messy watermarks on the smooth brick surface. The daughter of Minister Li's family, the pearl earrings she held onto, chuckled as she collapsed. The South China Sea pearls on the earrings spun around, reflecting Shen Ruoruo's pale face.

"I was talking about the other day at Ciyun Temple," the noblewoman in a pomegranate-red jacket said, clutching her handkerchief to her lips, her gold-threaded sleeves brushing the table. "Second Miss climbed over the wall to pick apricots from the old nun, her legs lifted higher than a monkey's. How come she suddenly got so sick she couldn't get out of bed?"

"I'm afraid she stuffed all the new cotton from the warehouse into her skirt!" one of the young ladies chimed in, and the laughter that erupted from the room startled the swallows perched on the beams. Under the pavilion's veranda, the maids serving tea and water hunched over the railing, their shoulders shaking like bamboo trees in the autumn wind.

Shen Ruoruo raised her head suddenly, her sweaty hair sticking to her cheekbones, and bloodshot eyes spread like spider webs: "What are you laughing at?! It was Shen Weiwan who plotted against me! She was jealous that I could have the prince's child..."

"Jealous you used cotton to impersonate a dragon fetus?" The Grand Tutor's wife slammed the teacup down on the mother-of-pearl table. A few drops of nectar from the cup splattered, wetting the lotus pattern on the tablecloth. "Second Miss Chen, do you know what the punishment is for falsely accusing the prince?"

Shen Weiwan let out a soft cry at the right time and hid behind Xiao Yu, her fingertips grasping the cuffs of his black brocade robe, and the fabric embroidered with dark patterns was wrinkled: "Your Highness...cousin, could it be that you are crazy?" She looked up at Xiao Yu, and the teardrop mole at the end of her eye trembled slightly in the candlelight.

Xiao Yu lowered his eyes to look at her, tapping his folding fan lightly on his palm, and deliberately raised his voice: "This prince is also wondering - how did Miss Shen's 'dragon fetus' turn into a cotton ball?"

These words were like an ice-hardened dagger, piercing Shen Ruorou's final disguise with pinpoint accuracy. She screamed and lunged at Shen Weiwan, only to be stopped by Chuntao's arm. In the chaos, the ash from the bottom of the pot on her temples fell, drifting into the teacup before her, creating a circle of gray-black ripples, just like her now cracked skin.

"Look! There's beggar's dust on her face!"

"Could it be that you're pretending to be a beggar and haven't washed your face?"

"To climb the social ladder, they've lost all their dignity!"

The noble ladies' gossip pierced her like a dense stream of needles. Shen Ruorou looked around, and the gazes filled with contempt and ridicule were like countless ropes, tying her to the pillar of shame. She realized with shock that she had become the biggest laughing stock in the capital—a mad woman stuffing her stomach with cotton and trying to rely on the prince.

"Enough!" The old clan leader trudged in, leaning on his dragon-headed cane, his silver beard standing on end with anger. "Chen Ruorou, listen to my command! You are a corrupt person and a disgrace to our family. From this day forward, you are confined to the west wing. Without a written order from our elders, you are not allowed to leave the house!"

Shen Ruorou fell straight back, the back of her head hitting the cold blue bricks, her eyes staring blankly at the carved caisson ceiling. House arrest? Even if she were released now, the rumors on Suzaku Street would skin her alive.

【"" craze in the streets and alleys】

The farce at the Imperial Tutor's Mansion spread faster than the lanterns at Changxin Palace. Even before Shen Ruorou was carried back to the General's Mansion, rumors were already swirling through the streets of Suzaku Street. Uncle Wang, a candied haws seller, carried a straw target through the streets and alleys, shouting at the top of his voice: "Hey—Second Miss Shen has a cotton belly, a splash of hot water will reveal all! Try a bite of this freshly brewed stuff, it's sweeter than Second Miss's fake dragon fetus!" The candied haws on the straw target rattled, the syrup reflecting a mocking light in the sunlight.

In the Qingfeng Teahouse, the storyteller snapped open his folding fan and slammed the gavel on the table: "Ladies and gentlemen! The 'Fake Pregnancy' performance at the Taifu Mansion yesterday was ten times more exciting than 'Romance of the West Chamber'! Second Miss Shen stuffed ten pounds of new cotton into her skirt to pretend she was pregnant, and then her eldest sister accidentally spilled a cup of hot tea, sending the cotton balls rolling all over the courtyard..." As spit flew, the audience burst into laughter. Someone slammed the table and shouted, "Sir! Tell us more about how that cotton belly got exposed!"

Chuntao rushed into the room carrying a plate of sugar cakes, her silk flowers fluttering in the wind as she ran: "Listen, young lady! The little kid at the corner is making up some rhymes again!"

Sure enough, a child's voice drifted in from outside the window, accompanied by the rhythm of a rattle:

"Miss Shen Er loves to be vain, stuffing her belly with cotton to pretend to be precious.

My elder sister accidentally spilled the hot tea, and the cotton balls rolled all over the floor.

The Seventh Prince frowned. Who would pursue a woman like this?

White lotus, black heart, the whole city laughed at her for a whole year!

Chen Weiwan was drawing her eyebrows in front of a diamond-shaped mirror when she heard this. She chuckled, and her eyebrow pencil with green bird ink drew a red tinge at the corners of her eyes. "Blind Wang's rhymes are getting more and more slick. I'll have Chuntao send him two pounds of stove sugar tomorrow."

Xiao Yu, who was sitting by the window reading, raised his eyes, his gaze landing on the jade bracelet on her wrist. "This prince has already reported Liu's bribery of the midwife to perjure her to the Ministry of Justice. This time, I'm afraid she won't be able to escape." He paused, his tone softening. "But next time you encounter trouble, don't risk it yourself."

"How can that be?" Shen Weiwan turned around, the tear mole at the end of her eye trembling with a smile, "Tearing off the mask of Bai Lianhua with my own hands is more refreshing than drinking iced sour plum soup!"

[The trapped beast fight in the west wing]

The crabapple trees in the west wing of the General's Mansion were in full bloom, their rouge-colored petals falling on Shen Ruorou's window lattice, but they couldn't illuminate the gloom within the room. She curled up on the hardwood bed, listening to the faint children's rhymes drifting from outside the courtyard wall, her nails digging deep into her palms, leaving crescent-shaped blood marks.

"Miss, please have some porridge..." The maid Xiaolian came over with a coarse porcelain bowl with a chip on its top. The rice in the bowl was so thin that you could see your reflection in it.

"Get lost!" Shen Ruorou sat up suddenly, grabbed the pear wood comb beside her pillow and threw it at him, "If you hadn't gone to the cloth shop to buy cotton, how could it be found in your account?!"

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