"Your ears are getting better and better!" Wei Shuwan raised her hand, wanting to pat her younger brother's head like she did when they were little, but found that he was now a head taller than her, making it a little difficult to reach him.

Wei Chengxiu was quite sensible, bowing slightly with a smile. Although he was the younger brother, his smile contained a hint of elder's doting affection.

Wei Shuwan finally got to touch his head, but instead of stroking it, she patted it lightly and teased, "I'm afraid your black hair won't be able to hold up any longer!"

Wei Chengxiu frowned. "What do you mean by that, elder sister?"

Wei Shuwan pretended to be mysterious and didn't say anything. Instead, she turned around and took a pear wood board from the box that Zi Qiao and the others had carried in. "Come on, let's see what this is!"

Wei Chengxiu reached out and gently touched the pear wood board. Her unfocused eyes immediately lit up: "Sister, you've engraved a new book for me again? What is it this time?"

“Zi-zhi-tong-jian.” Wei Shuwan enunciated each word clearly, her tone playful.

The gleam in Wei Chengxiu's eyes reached its peak for a moment, but then quickly vanished. He asked incredulously, "Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian?"

"Who else could it be?"

Wei Chengxiu looked puzzled. He knew that his sister had just finished carving the "Book of Lord Shang" for him a month ago. Even if a god descended to earth, it would be impossible to carve another set of "Zizhi Tongjian" in such a short time.

But when he reached out and touched it again, he was certain that it was indeed the Zizhi Tongjian. Although he had not yet had the honor of reading it, he had heard his teacher mention the famous opening lines, which left a deep impression on him.

After a moment of stunned silence, Wei Chengxiu could only think of one possibility: "Sister, you just finished carving the first piece and want to show it to me?"

Wei Shuwan chuckled softly, then took his hand and led him a few steps forward, guiding him to touch the neatly stacked pear wood planks in the box. Wei Chengxiu's hand trembled slightly, feeling utterly shocked.

"Where did this come from?" Now he naturally knew that it couldn't have been carved by Wei Shuwan herself. Besides, the handwriting was too formal and not Wei Shuwan's delicate small regular script.

Wei Shuwan's smile froze. She was so focused on showing it to Axiu to surprise him that she forgot to prepare her explanation beforehand. After all, Axiu was unaware of her relationship with Li Qingchen.

Licking her slightly dry lips, Wei Shuwan mumbled, "Where else could it come from? As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. Sister has her own way of buying it with silver."

As she said this, Wei Chengxiu's hand happened to touch the seal of "Chongwen Academy," and she thought to herself, "How can the things of Chongwen Academy be used with money?"

But since his sister didn't want to talk about it, he didn't want to press her further and make things difficult for her, so he just smiled slightly.

"Sister, you've gone to a lot of trouble."

...

On the way back to Fuquxuan, Wei Shuwan was very excited for the first half of the journey, feeling happy for Ah Xiu. However, she began to ponder how to repay such a huge favor in the second half.

Zi Qiao advised, "Miss, there's no need to repay him. You saved the life of the young Prince Qiaochuan! You can accept any reward he gives you."

"I saved his life? You underestimate him too much." Wei Shuwan laughed self-deprecatingly.

In her past life, she had no connection with Li Qingchen and hadn't done anything for him, yet he still lived a good life, living until the day he looked down upon the world. So her intervention that night was nothing more than stealing someone else's credit.

"This servant would never dare to underestimate the young Prince Qiaochuan!" After saying that, Ziqiao sighed again: "It's just that the young prince is so powerful, if only he could also stop those rumors outside."

"Rumors originate from scheming individuals, flourish with fools, and cease to spread among the wise. It is better to guide than to suppress gossip."

Zi Qiao listened to these profound words, still feeling unwilling: "Are we just going to let them talk nonsense and let it spread wider and wider?"

Wei Shuwan sighed softly, helpless about the situation. She had suffered enough from rumors in her past life, but she couldn't possibly go around explaining to everyone that the person last night wasn't her, but someone impersonating her.

Finally, they had no choice but to resign themselves to their fate: "Forget it, these unfounded rumors will only last for three to five days before they die down. We'll just stay home these days."

*

As the last rays of sunlight faded and the lanterns were lit, Xunfang Pavilion, which had been quiet all day, became bustling with activity once again.

As the rumors of the third daughter of the Wei family appearing at Xunfang Pavilion last night continued to spread, there were many more guests at Xunfang Pavilion tonight, turning this bleak late autumn into a human steamer!

Grandma Zheng was overjoyed. In fact, she had played a part in making the rumor spread so widely. And tonight's grand gathering of guests proved how clever her methods were, and also proved that the Third Mistress of the Wei family's gimmick was indeed effective!

At midnight, the most exciting time of the night arrived, with shouts of price being made and jeering rising and falling outside the brothels.

In the end, a young man surnamed Gu won first place. Grandma Zheng hurriedly invited him up and asked which courtesan she wanted to dress up as that night. The young man surnamed Gu then took out a scroll and said, "Dress up as her and dance a Green Waist Dance!"

Granny Zheng glanced at the painting and saw that the woman in it was in her prime, with a slender figure, graceful bearing, and an air of nobility. She assumed it was the woman this young master Gu admired and wanted to ease his longing with a fake. Without suspecting anything, she turned and handed it inside, instructing the newly crowned courtesan, who had won the title of "Goddess" the previous day, to dress up properly.

The crowd outside the brothel couldn't see the woman in the portrait, but they figured that a woman worth such a high price must be an exceptional beauty, so they began to speculate and eagerly awaited her arrival.

Before long, the few lamps in the hall gradually went out, leaving only the hazy glow of the lanterns. But above the brothel, huge candles shone brightly, illuminating the space.

The courtesan gracefully emerged, holding a feather fan. As she slowly walked to the center of the brothel, facing the young master surnamed Gu, she gently moved the fan aside, revealing a face that bore an uncanny resemblance to the woman in the painting.

The young master surnamed Gu was clearly satisfied, and nodded in a "please" gesture, indicating that she could begin.

The courtesan then took off her thick cloak, revealing only a gossamer-green dancing skirt, and began to dance gracefully.

With a graceful twist and turn, her alluring steps circling the brothel, she was finally recognized by someone with worldly experience:

"Isn't this...Princess Yun'an?!"

Others who had seen Princess Yun'an in high society rubbed their eyes wide, carefully examining her, and more and more voices echoed, "That's right, this is Princess Yun'an from Prince Jing's mansion!"

Suddenly, several burly men appeared out of nowhere and ran into the street, shouting loudly, "Princess Yun'an has come to Xunfang Pavilion to dance the Green Waist Dance!"

Guests from the red-light district kept pouring into Xunfang Pavilion from all directions, once again crowding the pavilion to the point of being impassable. The scene was exactly the same as last night.

At this moment, in the private room on the second floor, Yuan Que stepped forward to report: "Young Prince, everything has been arranged. A large number of people will spread the news first thing tomorrow morning."

"The crisis of the third daughter of the Wei family should be resolved."