When Liu fled back to Roulan Courtyard, the scorching sun was blazing the bluestone slabs. The gilded hairpins at her temples were tilted and threatening to fall off. The nine oriental pearls on her hairpin were stained with dirt, dangling against her cheeks as she stumbled, like a string of dirty tears. Most shocking were her hands—red and swollen like pig's trotters fresh from boiling water, with dark yellow river sand still embedded between her fingers. With every step, the stinging pain in her palms shot up her arms and up her spine, making her grimace in pain, her mouth twitching unconsciously.

"Bang!" Liu kicked open the carved wooden door, her beaded skirt sweeping across the threshold, sending up a splatter of mud that precisely smeared Cui'er's face. Cui'er had just brought bird's nest porridge from the kitchen, but the sudden turn of events frightened her so much that her hand trembled, causing the white porcelain bowl to fall to the ground and break in two. The warm porridge spilled onto the blue bricks, reflecting Liu's contorted face.

"Is someone dead?!" Liu's shrill voice cut through the courtyard. "Hurry up and bring some ice water! Can't you see my hand is almost broken?!"

Cui'er shivered as she ran to scoop up a copper basin of icy water. Without a word, Liu immersed her hands in the water. The biting cold made her gasp. The fine red marks on her fingertips, worn by the river sand, turned white in the cold, like countless small snakes wriggling under her skin. She couldn't help but let out a hissing sound, but she bit her lower lip tightly, not wanting to show any more embarrassment in front of the maid.

"Madam, your hands..." Cui'er looked at those hands, her Adam's apple rolling, "Miss is too cruel. How could she use Yellow River sand to rub your hands? That thing is more abrasive than stones..."

"Shut up!" Liu pulled her hand back abruptly, splashing ice water on Cui'er's face. "What young lady? She's just an uneducated bastard! If you dare mention her again, I'll tear your mouth apart!" She stared at the river sand particles floating on the water, thinking of Shen Weiwan's "innocent" smile, and her chest heaved with anger. "Little bitch! You must have done it on purpose! Isn't it just to break your step-shake? As for torturing me with river sand?!"

As she was cursing, she heard the servants' suppressed laughter outside the window. Liu pricked up her ears and heard the housemaid sweeping the yard whisper, "See? The Second Madam's hands are swollen like steamed buns!"

Another voice chimed in, "Keep your voice down! I heard the servant in the front yard say that the young lady asked her to rub it three hundred times with Yellow River sand!"

"Oh my god! The sand is like sandpaper! Second Madam, is she really trying too hard to support her hairpin?"

"What are you fighting for?! I think you're obsessed with money! I've seen stingy people, but I've never seen someone rub his hands into pig's trotters just for the sake of greed!"

Liu's blood boiled at the thought. She grabbed the blue and white porcelain teacup on the table and threw it. With a clang, the cup shattered into pieces on the porch, startling the sparrows nesting under the eaves. The housemaids sweeping the floor dropped their brooms and fled in all directions. The servants hiding behind the Taihu rocks were so frightened they couldn't hold back their laughter that their shoulders shook. Even the passing old housekeeper couldn't help but turn around and cough twice at the pomegranate tree, his lips tightly pursed in a faint smile.

In Tinglan Courtyard, Shen Weiwan was leaning against the beauty on the porch, chewing on the crisp apple handed to her by Chuntao. Hearing the shouting and the sound of porcelain breaking coming from Roulan Courtyard in the distance, she took a big bite of the apple with a "crack", the juice flowed down the corner of her mouth, and her eyes narrowed into crescents with a smile.

"Miss, listen to the Second Madam's movements. She's like a cat whose tail has been stepped on!" Chuntao peeked through the window, laughing so hard she fell backwards. "Just now, when I passed by the kitchen, I heard the cooks saying that the Second Madam's hand was so swollen that she could stuff it into a wash basin!"

Shen Weiwan wiped the juice from the corner of her mouth and raised her eyebrows, saying, "Bath basin? You're making me hungry. Ask the kitchen to stew some braised pig's trotters tonight. Choose the fattest hind trotters and add plenty of peppercorns and chili peppers to nourish me well."

"Young lady, you really know how to eat!" Chuntao handed over the embroidered handkerchief. "But seriously, your trick is amazing! You've put the Second Madam on the spot time and time again, and now the servants look at her differently. Yesterday, when I went to collect my monthly allowance, the accountant secretly asked me if the eldest lady had finally come to her senses!"

Chen Weiwan wiped her hands, her smile growing colder. "Has she gotten her way? They used to think I was stupid, so they followed Liu's lead in bullying me. Now let them see who has the final say over the eldest daughter of the General's Mansion." She walked to the rosewood wardrobe and pushed open the door. The pink gauze skirt hung quietly inside, its dark pleats undulating slightly in the light. Her fingertips traced the gauze, and she remembered the Spring Festival banquet in her previous life, when she wore the clothes "borrowed" by Chen Ruorou, scratching and itching all over. A cold glint flashed in her eyes.

"Chun Tao," Shen Weiwan suddenly turned around, "Has the invitation for Madam Taifu's Spring Banquet been delivered?"

"Here it is!" Chun Tao quickly pulled out a gilded invitation from her dressing box. On it was written in gold: "The Imperial Tutor's Mansion invites Miss Shen to enjoy the peonies together." "The Imperial Tutor's wife also specifically instructed you to dress nicely, saying she wants to introduce you to the ladies of several other dukes' mansions!"

Chen Weiwan took the invitation and gently swirled her fingertips around the three words "Spring Banquet". A sly smile appeared on the corner of her mouth: "Beautiful? I think someone wants me to embarrass myself in a 'beautiful' way." She shook the invitation and said to Chuntao: "Go, find my plain water green skirt and a half-worn maid's coat."

Chun Tao was stunned for a moment: "Miss, Madam Taifu asked you to wear something nice, why are you wearing half-worn clothes?"

"Why are you wearing new clothes?" Chen Weiwan raised an eyebrow and took out the pink gauze skirt from the depths of the closet. She held it up to the sunlight, and faint glimmers of tiny rose thorns could be seen through the lining. "Someone wants to prepare 'special' clothes for me, so I have to give a 'big gift' in return, right?" She handed the gauze skirt to Chuntao. "Doesn't Chen Ruoruo love to borrow clothes to show off? This time, let her wear her own 'good clothes' and show off at the banquet."

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