The early summer sun was as scorching as fire, scorching the bluestone slabs at the corner gate of the General's Mansion. The moss curled up at the base of the wall had already turned a withered yellow, forcing even passing ants to avoid it. Shen Weiwan peeped out through the crack in the door, her nose almost brushing against the dust on the doorframe. But when she saw the scene clearly, she took a half step back, her stomach churning. Li Zhengzheng, dressed in a lake blue satin, repeatedly adjusted his collar against the crack in the door, his carved pearwood cane leaning against his shoulder, his python-patterned jade belt making his already protruding belly look even more bloated. Yet, he still had to put on an affectionate look, a stark contrast to the sinister expression he had on her face in the snow in his previous life, holding up the divorce letter to force her to submit.

"Miss, look at his character!" Chuntao pinched her nose and leaned over to the crack of the door, her embroidered handkerchief covering her mouth as she pouted. "That black jade pendant hanging around his waist was the one you casually gave to his servant last year! And now he's hanging it around his own waist to show off. The rope is made of red velvet thread left over from the mansion's menial servants. He really doesn't mind being shabby!"

Shen Weiwan narrowed her eyes, watching Li Xiu deliberately stretch his lame leg forward, then straighten his back in an attempt to appear dignified. However, the unnatural stiffness of his left leg made him stagger, like a lame peacock that had suddenly twisted its ankle while spreading its feathers. "Heh," she sneered, her fingertips scraping through the years of dust under the door, leaving a shallow mark on the wooden door. "Is this cripple feeling that being called a 'homosexual' wasn't enough? He wants to try his hand at social death again?"

Three days ago, Li Xiu heard from his friends that Shen Weiwan had pulled a trick at the Spring Festival Banquet, causing Shen Ruoruo to be publicly ripped into a monkey's butt while wearing a skirt stained with grass. Far from backing off, he found this legitimate daughter "interesting," concluding that she was merely playing tricks, but at heart she was still the same easily manipulated fool. He had specifically spent ten taels of silver to bribe the kitchen servant in the General's Mansion, and after finding out that Shen Weiwan often went from the corner gate to the West Street bookstore, he calculated the time and waited here on crutches, ready to re-enact the "deeply guarded" drama of his previous life and, by the way, to investigate the details of this "smarter" legitimate daughter.

"Weiwan!" Li Xiu finally caught a glimpse of a skirt flickering through the crack in the doorway, and his expression instantly shifted to one of deep sorrow. He pounded his cane against the bluestone slabs, making a bang-bang sound that startled the swallows nesting under the eaves and sent them fluttering away. "I know you've been wronged. Madam Liu is partial to Ruorou, but how could you humiliate yourself like this? Setting up a chicken-and-rabbit-in-a-cage puzzle in front of your mansion gate, making the whole capital laugh at you?"

Chen Weiwan yanked open the corner door. The resounding clatter of the iron rings startled Li Xiu, causing him to jerk back. His carved cane slipped from his palm and clattered to the ground with a clang. He stumbled back half a step, nearly landing on the scorching stone. She folded her arms, eyeing him up and down, her brow furrowed in a deliberate frown, her voice thick with worry. "Oh, my! Isn't this Mr. Li? You broke your leg last year, and you consulted a quack from the west side of town? How come even now, you still feel like you're walking on cotton?"

Li Xiu's face flushed red, then quickly faded to pale. He feigned composure as he cleared his throat, his fingers nervously twisting the string of the jade pendant at his waist. "Weiwan, stop it. I know you're suffering. Come with me. I've bought a manor outside the city. It's not luxurious, but it can protect you... and keep you safe."

"Protect me?" Chen Weiwan suddenly raised her voice, startling a passing candied haws vendor so much that his hands trembled and the hawthorns on the bamboo sticks fell to the ground. "Protect me like in my previous life, when I married my cousin to you, a cripple, and then you teamed up with the Liu family to frame me for adultery and beat me to death in the snow?"

Those words slapped Li Xiu like a slap in the face. He stumbled half a step, his face pale, and instinctively covered his mouth, as if he could taste the sweet, salty taste of the snow in his past life. People gathered around to watch the excitement. Wang Po, the woman selling Hu Bing, stood on tiptoe to peek through the door, her missing front tooth mouth yelling, "Look! It's that lame Mr. Li! I heard he's trying to marry the general's daughter, but she doesn't even look at him!"

Li Xiu panicked and waved his hands hastily to explain, causing deep wrinkles on the brocade cuffs: "Weiwan, listen to my explanation. It was Madam Liu who plotted against you! I love you... I love you with all my heart, and heaven and earth can bear witness to that. Look at this handkerchief..." He fumbled with his sleeve to take out a handkerchief, but pulled out half a piece of uneaten osmanthus cake, which fell to the ground with a "plop" and broke into two pieces, with the crumbs all over his shoes.

Chen Weiwan's sharp eyes caught sight of a crooked lotus embroidered on the corner of a handkerchief, the gold thread long faded. It was the very handkerchief that Shen Ruorou had complained about being "ruined" at Xiefangyuan last month. "Oh—" She covered her mouth in mock surprise, her fingertips trembling slightly as she pointed at the handkerchief, her almond-shaped eyes widening. "Master Li, this handkerchief of yours... seems to be the one my cousin lost!" She suddenly raised her voice so that the people on the third floor around her could hear clearly, "My cousin was crying at Xiefangyuan the other day, saying that it was a token of love handkerchief she had embroidered for her lover. How come it's here with you?"

Li Xiu's hand trembled with fear, and the handkerchief fluttered to the ground, still stained with the greasy stains left by his sweat. He never imagined that the handkerchief Shen Ruorou had thrown to him three days ago to wipe his sweat would become a death warrant. "No! Weiwan, listen to me!" He was so anxious that his limp became more obvious, and he rubbed his left foot on the ground like an ant on a hot pot. "This is Ruorou... Ruorou saw that I was tired from traveling, so she lent it to me to wipe my sweat!"

"Oh?" Chen Weiwan tilted her head and pretended to be innocent. She circled around Li Xiu, her skirt sweeping the cake crumbs on the ground. "My cousin is so nice. She even uses the token of love handkerchief to wipe her sweat. Unlike me, I can only use a coarse cloth handkerchief to wipe my sweat." She suddenly turned to the onlookers, her voice as clear as a gong. "What do you think, is my cousin particularly 'nice' to Mr. Li? The kind of person who gives away tokens of love?"

"Hahaha!" The people burst into laughter. Butcher Zhang slapped his greasy thighs and laughed so hard that the pork on the shoulder pole swayed. "Mr. Li, what is your relationship with Miss Chen Er? You've even used the engagement handkerchief. When are you going to have the wedding?" Li Xiu was so anxious that his face turned red. His lips trembled as he tried to explain, but he found that his tongue seemed to be tied. He could only watch himself become a laughing stock in the eyes of everyone.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!