"Thank you, Father!" Chen Weiwan kowtowed profusely, "I promise that next time I will learn to recite 'Zhenguan Zhengyao'! For example, I will teach the parrot to recite 'Increase Income and Reduce Expenditure', and I will definitely not disturb your morning court!"

The morning court session ended in chaos. The emperor returned to his chambers to change. Little Li held the removed dragon robe and shook it for a long time. First, a piece of croton candy wrapped in gold foil fell out, followed by a half-piece of gold dust—the "Xiang" character for "Auspicious" on the toad's back. Little Li held the candy, not daring to eat it, watching the emperor's expression, fearing his wrath.

The emperor suddenly smiled, wiping the gold powder off his robe with his fingers, and raised the corner of his mouth in a helpless arc: "This girl has deceived everyone and has even deceived me... Little Li, keep this candy and give it to her next time she comes."

In the afternoon, in the main hall of the Prince's Mansion, Chen Weiwan piled two hundred thousand taels of silver into a small mountain, each one tinged with the faint scent of croton powder. Kengkeng and Wawa came running in, carrying the "auspicious" toad. On its back, a new line of crooked characters appeared: "Long Live the Emperor Father." The gold powder had been rubbed off, missing strokes, resembling the emperor's angry beard.

"Mom!" He put the toad on the table, his brocade waistcoat stained with croton powder from the bottom of the table. "Grandpa asked Little Li to tell us that next time we can sing!"

"We have to teach it to sing 'The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, decrees the same.'" Chen Weiwan pinched the toad's chin, and it croaked twice, causing gold powder to fall down and land right on the pile of banknotes.

Xiao Yu came in, his dark brocade robe still stained with the red paint of the palace walls. He frowned when he saw the toad on the table. "Madam, my father sent Little Lizi to tell you that if you dare to stuff a living thing into your mouth again, you will be confined to your house for three months and forced to copy the "Instructions for Women."

"Under house arrest?" Chen Weiwan raised an eyebrow, the clatter of banknotes between her fingers reminiscent of the sound of memorials being scattered during the morning court session. "It's just the right time to teach the children how to make a 'talking auspicious sign'—stuff croton powder into the stomachs of pigeons, and when they fly, they'll spread the words 'Peace and Prosperity for the Country and the People'. How festive! Then let them fly through the Meridian Gate. Father will surely like it."

Xiao Yu sighed helplessly, walked up behind her and rubbed the croton powder in her hair: "If you keep cheating like this, I'm afraid you'll empty the national treasury. Yesterday, my father told me that he wanted to sew a layer of iron gauze into the dragon robe to prevent you from stuffing things into it."

"How could that be possible?" Chen Weiwan smiled, her eyes curved into crescents, the croton flower hairpin in her hair swaying. "I'm helping my father share his worries. Otherwise, why would those corrupt officials keep the money? It would be better to buy croton powder for the children to experiment with. Maybe one day we can develop a 'clean pill' that will make them hand over the stolen money."

Meanwhile, in the Yangxin Hall of the Imperial Palace, the Emperor was fretting over his newly made dragon robe. Little Li, holding a robe embroidered with golden dragons, cautiously suggested, "Your Majesty, how about we sew a layer of iron gauze inside the robe? Or perhaps soak the lining in croton powder, so she won't get covered in powder when she stuffs anything in it?"

"Go to hell!" the emperor cursed with a smile. He picked up the croton cake on the table and took a bite. It was indeed mixed with three times the amount of croton powder. It was so spicy that he stuck out his tongue. "Next time she comes, I will choke her to death with this cake - let's see if she dares to cheat me again!"

The setting sun dyed the gardens of the Prince's Mansion a honey-colored hue. Shen Weiwan was teaching Wawa how to bathe a toad, while Henkeng squatted nearby, drawing a Bagua formation with croton powder, claiming it could trap any stray cats trying to steal snacks. Xiao Yu leaned against a porch pillar and watched them. The setting sun gilded his wife and children, and Henkeng's laughter startled the sparrows under the eaves. He suddenly felt that sooner or later, the Dasheng Dynasty would be manipulated by these three women in new ways. But that was all well and good; at least the days wouldn't be as boring as the morning court. He touched the croton candy in his sleeve pocket. It was the "auspicious" candy Shen Weiwan had given him this morning. It was sweet and spicy, just like his wife's temperament.

At this moment in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, a new eunuch was worrying about the memorials scattered all over the floor, but he heard the old eunuchs muttering: "See? This is the method of the Seventh Prince's wife. Even His Majesty has to pay obediently..." The young eunuch seemed to understand, but when he was sorting out the memorials, he found a crooked toad drawn on the back of a household account book, with small characters written in croton powder next to it: "Two hundred thousand taels in exchange for three croaks of a toad, not a loss." The handwriting was crooked, just like the emperor's angry beard during the morning court session, but at the end was a smiling croton face.