At three quarters past five in the morning, the sun had barely gilded the city walls when a bridal sedan, plastered with mocking slogans, lurched into Pear Blossom Lane. The bearers hummed a tuneless tune as they carried the sedan. The gilded characters on the curtain, "Congratulations, Auntie, on receiving the exile package," shone brightly in the morning light. The portrait of a weeping pig swayed beside it. Liu's stomach churned at the shaking. Suddenly, she flung open a corner of the curtain and hurled a curse, "Stop! You damned bastards, are you trying to throw me to death?"

The curse suddenly got stuck in her throat. Liu's eyes widened, and her pupils reflected the scene of a live sex show under the old locust tree deep in the alley. Her ex-husband, Shen Weiwan's second uncle, Shen Zhong, was hugging a slender-waisted concubine and nibbling on her. The red gold hairpin in the concubine's hair shone with tiny golden glints as she moved. It was the same hairpin that Liu had stolen from the general's storehouse.

"Shen Zhong! You damned bastard!" Liu was so angry that her whole body was shaking. She had long forgotten that she was still in the sedan chair being paraded through the streets. Her nails were almost digging a hole in the curtains. "How dare you keep a mistress behind my back? I stole that hairpin from the general's mansion..."

Before she could finish her words, the sedan bearers in front mistakenly thought she was cheering and ran even faster. The sedan creaked violently, and Liu screamed and fell back into it, her forehead hitting the floor with a thud. She grimaced in pain, and saw stars. Shen Ruorou, standing beside her, was shaken dazed, the hem of her prison uniform tangled in the sedan chair poles. She cried with a mournful face, "Mother! What happened?"

"Still asking!" Liu pointed out the window, her voice shaking with anger, "Your father is cuddling with a vixen! The hairpin on that little bitch's head..."

At this moment, Shen Weiwan's wedding sedan passed by, and the curtains were lifted with a "swish", revealing her face that was rolling with laughter: "Oh! Auntie, is this 'love at the corner'? Your ex-husband is very lucky, and my concubine is much more beautiful than you were when you were young!"

Xiao Yu rode a tall horse beside the wedding sedan, his shoulders shaking with laughter as he hid his lips behind his folding fan. "Weiwan, your aunt's parade seems like a farce you specially arranged, doesn't it?"

"Of course!" Chen Weiwan shook the chili powder sachet embroidered with a pig in her hand, and the cinnabar mole at the end of her eye trembled with a smile. "I had someone calculate her birth date and horoscope a long time ago to ensure that she can catch up with this 'love drama of the year'!"

Beneath the old locust tree, Shen Zhong shuddered at the scolding, and the concubine in his arms screamed and hid in his arms. The red-gold hairpin fell to the bluestone slab with a clang, and the phoenix-shaped hairpin knocked off a pearl. The surrounding onlookers immediately gathered around like sharks smelling blood, pointing and talking one after another:

"Look! It's really Shen Zhong, the Second Master of the General's Mansion!"

"The hairpin that the young lady in his arms is wearing seems to be the one that Liu Shi loved the most back then!"

"That's right! Back then, Liu relied on her power as the housekeeper to steal a lot of things from the warehouse!"

"Now, his wife is parading in a sedan chair, and here he is making out with his concubine. This is karma!"

Shen Zhong was filled with shame and anger. He bent down to pick up the bridal sedan chair and started to throw it at her, but Liu's head poked out again, and his hand trembled in fear. "Shen Zhong! You ungrateful bastard!" Liu's curse was as sharp as a knife. "You're using the money I embezzled to support a woman. Don't you feel guilty?"

The bearers, mistaking her for a hurry, carried the sedan even faster, the bells clanging in unison. Liu's cries, mixed with the bearers' calls, had the onlookers roaring with laughter. Chuntao, sprawled on the edge of the wedding sedan, slapping her thigh with laughter. "Look, young lady! Liu's face is redder than the sugar paintings sold at the City God Temple!"

Shen Weiwan took out a pocket mother-of-pearl mirror to touch up her makeup. The mirror reflected Liu's exasperated look outside the window: "This is just the beginning! I had someone mix itching powder into the rouge of her ex-husband's brother's concubine. I guarantee that the little bitch will be so itchy that she'll scratch her skin off tonight!"

Xiao Yu reined in the horse and leaned closer to the bridal sedan chair, his warm breath coming through the curtains: "Weiwan, when we pass by Zuixianlou later, do you want to give your aunt another 'finale'?"

"That's exactly what I meant!" Shen Weiwan's eyes were bright as if they were filled with stars. "I've prepared a 'surprise gift package' to make sure she won't forget this day for the rest of her life!"

Half an hour later, the bridal sedan wobbled to a stop in front of Zuixianlou. Liu's heart was shaken to its core when she suddenly heard a familiar, flattering laugh emanating from the private room on the second floor. She struggled to lift a corner of the sedan's curtain, only to see Shen Zhong embracing his concubine and drinking. Sitting next to him was the accountant who had helped her with her accounting. The three of them were toasting and drinking, a scene of intense affection.

"Okay! You bunch of parasites!" Liu was so angry that she was shaking all over, her nails almost digging into her flesh. "Shen Zhong! How dare you spend the money I embezzled from the General's Mansion to support a woman! And you, Accountant Wang! You helped me to cook the accounts back then, I will expose you..."

Before she could finish her words, Shen Weiwan had someone throw a packet of specially made "sneezing powder" into the private room. The moment the powder mist dispersed, Shen Zhong and the concubine immediately sneezed, holding their heads in their hands. The accountant even choked and sprayed all the tea in the concubine's face, creating a chaotic scene. The people downstairs laughed so hard that they immediately made up a new jingle and sang it to the beat:

"The jailbreak aunt is busy parading through the streets,

Caught my ex-husband cheating on me,

The stolen money is used to support a concubine,

The daughter of a legitimate wife is crazy when she cheats people!

The General's Mansion is so lively.

He knows all about corruption and concubines.

Today I will parade you through the streets.

It's so satisfying, hahahaha! "

Liu was so angry that her vision went black, but she was carried by the sedan bearers and continued to run forward. Shen Ruoruo huddled in the corner of the sedan, watching her mother's madness, and suddenly burst into tears: "Mom! Are we going to stay in this broken sedan for the rest of our lives?"

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