Zhang sank to his knees with a thud, his forehead banging heavily on the blue bricks, making a thud-thud sound. "Your Majesty, spare me! It was... it was Madam Liu who ordered me... I was confused for a moment and accepted her money..."
The entire room erupted in a deafening uproar. Liu, seemingly drained of all her strength, collapsed into her chair, her face ashen. Shen Ruorou screamed, her eyes rolled back, and she nearly fainted, relying on the maid's support to keep her on her feet.
"What a brilliant 'using history to satirize the present'!" The Emperor suddenly clapped his hands and burst into laughter, shaking the dragon throne slightly. "My dear Minister Chen not only has a good memory, but he's also a master at using history to illustrate the present! Compared to those sour poems that groan without reason and pile up rhetoric, this 'Chu Shi Biao' truly reveals the true meaning of political intrigue!"
Xiao Yu stepped forward, standing tall and graceful, his voice clear and clear: "Your Majesty, Father is absolutely right. Miss Shen uses the writings of sages to warn the world and criticize current ills. She is truly a rare example of great wisdom and courage."
The Emperor nodded repeatedly, his eyes sweeping over Liu's pale face. His tone suddenly turned cold: "Come here! Reward Chen Weiwan with one hundred taels of gold and one thousand pieces of high-quality Hangzhou silk! As for Liu..." He paused, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, "You dared to bribe the examiner and frame a relative. You must immediately hand over the general's household supplies and be confined to the mansion to reflect on your mistakes! Lord Zhang accepted bribes and will be dismissed from his post and investigated. You will never be employed again!"
Liu let out a shrill scream and collapsed completely on the chair, her hair disheveled and her pearls and jadeite scattered all over the floor; Shen Ruoruo hid behind her mother, shaking like a sieve, not even having the courage to look up.
As the setting sun dyed the lake a golden red, Shen Weiwan, holding a heavy gold ingot, followed Xiao Yu out of the waterside pavilion. The ingot hurt her arm, but her face was full of smiles.
"Your Highness," she shook the gold ingot in her arms, her eyes curved, "How many strings of candied haws can I buy with this gold? I want the kind with walnuts wrapped around it!"
Xiao Yu laughed, reached out and gently rubbed the top of her head, and said in a doting tone: "It's enough for you to buy from the street to the end of the street, and eat different kinds of food every day until your teeth fall out."
Shen Weiwan slapped his hand away, her nose wrinkled: "Who wants to eat so many candied haws! I want to save them to buy the best roast duck in the capital, and also buy rouge and powder, so that I can dress myself up more dazzling than my aunt's gold brocade dress!"
As the two were laughing and joking, Chuntao came running in, breathless, her face pale: "Miss! This is bad! Liu is making a scene in the mansion, trying to bang her head against the pillar, and shouting... shouting that she wants to die with you!"
Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows and looked at Xiao Yu beside her: "Oh? Auntie, are you desperate?"
A cold murderous intent flashed in Xiao Yu's eyes, but it instantly turned into tenderness when he looked at Shen Weiwan: "This king has sent people to keep an eye on the Liu Mansion. She can't make any waves." He paused and softened his voice, "As for you, don't go out these days. This king asked the imperial kitchen to send you roast duck to the general's mansion every day."
Shen Weiwan looked at the undisguised worry in his eyes, and her heart warmed, but she deliberately curled her lips: "No way! I still have to go to the streets to listen to the new jingles, otherwise what will I do if I have no material for my doggerel poems?"
Sure enough, within three days, the new nursery rhyme was sung in every street and lane of the capital, and even the vendors selling candied haws followed suit:
"Weiwan is really amazing, she used "Model Teacher" as a poetry competition.
Liu bought an examiner for three thousand taels and smashed it.
The emperor laughed heartily, and all the treacherous villains were defeated.
Who is the most powerful? The General's daughter!
Inside the Liu Mansion, Liu Shi listened to the tender voices coming from outside the wall. She was so angry that she trembled all over. She grabbed the mirror box on the dressing table and smashed it to the ground, shattering the delicate mother-of-pearl mirror box. Shen Ruoruo knelt on the ground, with the slap mark still clearly visible on her cheek. She cried and asked, "Mother, now the household expenses are gone, and father has been impeached by the censor... What should we do?"
Liu suddenly looked up, her eyes flashing with a crazy red light. She grabbed a sharp golden hairpin, the tip of which gleamed coldly in the candlelight. "What should we do? We must do it once and for all!" Her voice was hoarse and resentful. "Chen Weiwan, Xiao Yu... Even if I turn into a fierce ghost, I will drag you down with me!"
As the night deepened, Shen Weiwan sat beneath the sycamore tree in the general's mansion, listening to Chuntao reciting a newly-acquired jingle while playing with the red-gold hairpin sent by the Seventh Prince. The pearls on the hairpin swayed gently with her movements, reflecting the flowing moonlight and shimmering brightly.
"Miss, the Seventh Prince told you not to worry, he will take care of Liu." Chuntao said, secretly observing her young lady's expression.
Shen Weiwan smiled, tucked her hairpin into her hair, and said slyly, "Deal with it? I hope my aunt makes a bigger fuss, otherwise I won't have any new material for my doggerel."
The sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell on her face, illuminating her sparkling eyes as if filled with starlight. She knew that Liu's struggle was nothing more than a trapped beast's struggle, and that she, Shen Weiwan, was no longer the foolish legitimate daughter who allowed herself to be slaughtered in her previous life.
The sound of hurried horse hooves could be heard in the distance. The Seventh Prince's personal guard arrived on horseback, handing over a secret letter sealed with wax. Shen Weiwan unfolded it and saw only eight powerful words on it: "The Liu family hired a murderer. Be careful in the dark."
She held the letter to the candle flame, watching the ink words curl up in the flames and turn to ash. A cold smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and she turned to Chuntao and said, "Go, bring me my 'wolf-proof stick' - the sugar cane that I sharpened last time!"
Chuntao burst out laughing, but still walked away quickly.
Shen Weiwan gazed out the window at the deepening night, recalling the biting cold of the snow in her past life, then looking at the warmth of the sun in this life, a determined glint flashed in her eyes. No matter what tricks Liu had in store, she could handle them. After all, she was the only one in the capital who could turn "The Memorial to the Emperor on Leaving the Capital" into a poem and a killer move.
Meanwhile, in the study of the Seventh Prince's residence, Xiao Yu, examining the secret report in his hand, solemnly addressed the Secret Guard Commander, Mo Shu, "Send more men to apprehend all the assassins hired by the Liu family. Leave no one behind." He paused, his ears flushing slightly as he added, "Send two more jars of ten-year-old daughter's red wine to the General's residence and say...say it's for Miss Shen to calm her nerves."
Mo Shu suppressed a smile and agreed. Looking at his prince's rare awkward look, he thought to himself: This is not to calm the nerves, it is clearly an excuse to send wine to the future princess to apologize.
The night in the capital deepened profoundly. Shen Weiwan drifted off to sleep, her head resting on her newly completed "Collection of Sand Sculpture Poems," her dreams filled with the aroma of roast duck and the sweetness of candied haws. Unbeknownst to her, the Seventh Prince's secret guards had spread like a spider's web to every corner of the capital, and that Liu's final madness was about to unfold in the darkness before dawn. Yet, she slept soundly, knowing that no matter how stormy the weather, there would always be someone to shield her from the elements, someone who would appreciate her clever, unconventional ways of playing cards.
In this life, she not only wants to win, but also win beautifully, winning so that all those who have bullied her will be convinced - or even terrified.
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