Xiaolian squatted down to pick up the comb, choking with sobs, "But that was you, Miss..."

"Shut up!" Shen Ruorou grabbed the quilt and covered her head. The scene in the pavilion replayed in her mind - Shen Weiwan's smug smile, Xiao Yu's cold eyes, the noble ladies' unbridled ridicule... These images burrowed into her ears like venomous snakes, gnawing at her last bit of dignity. She suddenly threw back the quilt and screamed, "Shen Weiwan! Xiao Yu! Even if I become a ghost, I won't let you go -!"

[The "Cotton Banquet" Farce at the General's Mansion]

Three days later, the old butler came in holding the account book, his goatee quivering with laughter. "Miss, the warehouse has discovered ten pounds of new cotton missing. The accountant has been checking for three days and finally found out..."

"Did Chen Ruorou ask her maid Lu'e to buy it?" Chen Weiwan flipped through the deed without looking up, her fingertips running across the yellowed rice paper. "Record it in Liu's monthly account and deduct double the amount from the share she withheld from the servants."

The old housekeeper slapped his thigh and said, "Great! It's really great! This not only makes up for the deficit, but also makes her feel the pain!"

Chun Tao interrupted, "Master Butler, you don't know this yet! Yesterday, the kitchen was stewing bird's nests. The young lady specifically asked the kitchen to make a bowl, saying it was for the 'pregnant' second young lady to nourish her body!"

The old housekeeper laughed so hard that he coughed: "Great! The second young lady is now as angry as if she has seen a ghost when she sees cotton. I'm afraid she will never dare to touch it again in her life!"

Shen Weiwan put down the deed and looked out the window. The setting sun gilded the old locust tree in the courtyard, its leaves rustling in the wind. She knew that Shen Ruoruo's era had finally come to an end, and her life was about to unfold a new chapter.

Xiao Yu's voice came from the moon-shaped door: "What tricks are you planning, Miss Shen? I have heard about the wonderful things about 'replenishing the body'."

Chen Weiwan turned around and smiled, walking to the carved window: "Your Highness, you've come just in time. I've had someone make a new 'cotton feast' - candy fried with the cotton wool left over from the west wing. Would you like to try it?"

Xiao Yu raised an eyebrow and walked closer, taking her hand in his, his fingertips brushing against the jade bracelet on her wrist: "This prince thinks you are sweeter than all the snacks."

Chuntao exchanged a glance with the old housekeeper, then tactfully retreated outside. The farce at the waterside pavilion had long since settled, but Shen Weiwan's excitement had only just begun. And the figure trapped in the west wing would eventually pay the ultimate price for her greed amidst endless ridicule.

【Beijing's latest "cotton wool" gossip】

- "Have you heard? Miss Shen has gone berserk after being grounded! When the maid brought her a quilt yesterday, she was so frightened that she threw it out the window, shouting, 'The cotton is going to eat me!'"

"That's right! My cook said that the General's Mansion's small kitchen now has to face the west wing, for fear that the Second Young Lady would bang her head against the wall if she heard the word 'cotton'!"

"Miss Shen is truly amazing! She ripped the skin of a white lotus to shreds with just a basin of tea. It's truly delightful to watch!"

As dusk fell, Shen Weiwan stood atop the corner tower, listening to the sounds of laughter and chatter emanating from the distant streets, her sleeves ruffled by the evening breeze. The chill of the snow in her previous life seemed to linger in her bones, but now, the warmth of the hustle and bustle of life permeated her. She knew that those who had pushed her into the abyss were now dust beneath her feet. And she, Shen Weiwan, would eventually tread upon this thorny landscape, carving out her own path to prosperity. The setting sun stretched her shadow long, overlapping the eaves of the general's mansion behind her, like a newly colored brocade scroll, slowly unfolding in the twilight of the Great Sheng Dynasty.