The late autumn north wind was as sharp as a knife, whirling withered yellow leaves against the wooden planks of the prison van, making a crackling sound. Liu huddled in the cold corner of the van, her patched cotton robe barely keeping out the chill. Her nails dug deep into her palms, leaving crescent-shaped blood marks. Suddenly, a child's tender song rang out from outside the van, like tiny needles piercing her eardrums:
"Weiwan is really capable, the emperor gave her cabbage as a reward.
My aunt was so angry that she vomited blood and collapsed in the prison van. Ouch..."
"Shut up!" Liu suddenly flung open the carriage curtain, revealing a sallow, swollen face. Outside, only a few naked children were running away, laughing and waving dogtail grass freshly plucked from the fields. Their crisp laughter echoed like a spell along the empty official road. She felt a sweet sensation in her throat, and a mouthful of blood foamed on the verge of gushing out. She quickly covered her mouth with her torn sleeve, the crimson seeping from between her fingers glaring against her gray cotton robe.
"Old woman, are you alright?" The escort beside her frowned and took a half step back in disgust. This woman hadn't been quiet since leaving the capital. First she cursed until her voice was hoarse, then she cried all day, and now she was vomiting blood at the slightest provocation, making the shabby prison van smell even worse.
Liu was panting heavily, her vision blacking out. Three days ago, while resting at a post station outside the capital, she overheard two businessmen chatting. They said that the deputy examiner for the poetry competition she had bribed with a hundred taels of silver had not only failed to embarrass Shen Weiwan, but that little bitch had instead used a poem "Departure Memorial to the Emperor" to turn the tables, causing the emperor to be so pleased that he rewarded her with a basket of fresh cabbage from the imperial vegetable garden.
"One hundred taels..." she muttered, her voice hoarse as a broken gong. "That was the money I hid in the secret compartment of my dressing table, intended for Ruorou's dowry... And in exchange for her showing off in front of the emperor with a bunch of cabbages?"
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Liu felt as if a huge rock was pressing down on her chest, making it hard to breathe. That little bitch, Shen Weiwan, not only wasn't punished, but was actually praised by the Emperor. I heard the Seventh Prince even personally sent someone to bring her some stir-fried pork and cabbage! And what about herself? Once reduced to a prisoner, sitting in this shabby carriage in prison clothes, bound for a desolate land three thousand miles away, I was afraid I'd never be able to return to the capital.
"Puff--" A mouthful of blood finally spurted out, splashing on the gray wooden board of the prison van, like a red flower that withered in an instant, quickly losing its color in the cold wind.
The escort was startled and hurriedly called the accompanying old doctor. The old doctor took her pulse tremblingly, his brow furrowed like a knot, and shook his head repeatedly: "Madam, your anger is attacking your heart, and you are overly worried, which has caused qi stagnation and damaged your lungs. In my opinion, you must be less angry, especially...especially, you must listen less to the stories of Miss Shen, otherwise your body will be..."
Liu's eyes rolled back, and she nearly fainted. Shouldn't she listen to Shen Weiwan's stories? Everyone on the street was talking about her "heroic deeds" these days. Everyone was singing those rhymes that mocked her. Wasn't this killing her?
Meanwhile, the general's residence was filled with warmth. Shen Weiwan nestled on a soft couch covered in thick fox fur, a warm hand warmer in her arms, listening to Chuntao reciting a newly collected jingle in a vivid voice.
"Miss, listen to this: 'Liu was a calculating shrew, but she made a mistake. She lost a hundred taels and was furious!'" Chuntao laughed so hard that her shoulders shook like sieves. "And there's also the story that Liu vomited blood in the prison van, staining the tattered quilt red. The bailiff thought she had contracted some strange disease!"
Shen Weiwan was chewing on freshly roasted candied chestnuts and almost choked on the chestnut shell when she heard this: "One hundred taels? Didn't she spend three thousand taels to bribe the examiner? How did another hundred taels come up?"
"Hey, young lady, you don't know," Chuntao curled her lips and leaned forward to whisper, "I heard that they bribed the deputy examiner to make things difficult for us, but just as the deputy examiner was about to open his mouth to make things difficult, His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince standing nearby glared at him, and he was so scared that he didn't dare to say a word and retreated like a quail!"
As he spoke, the curtains were lifted, and Xiao Yu walked in, radiating chill. A few snowflakes still clung to his inky cloak. In his hands, he held a food box. As soon as he opened it, a sweet, sticky aroma wafted out—freshly baked sugar-steamed yogurt.
"What are you talking about? You look so happy?" Xiao Yu put the food box on the table, his eyes fell on Shen Weiwan's bulging cheeks, and he couldn't help but curl his lips. "I heard that old hag Liu was so angry that she vomited blood?"
Shen Weiwan's eyes lit up, and she quickly put down the chestnuts, leaned over to the food box and took a deep breath: "Her Highness has heard about it too? The doctor said she should watch less of my 'poetry performance', for fear that she would be furious if she watched more!"
Xiao Yu laughed, pulled out a handkerchief from his sleeve, and gently wiped the icing sugar off the corner of her mouth: "Your 'performance' is too wonderful. If it were me, I would probably be hurt by it." The warmth of his fingertips came through the fine cotton handkerchief, making Shen Weiwan's cheeks slightly hot.
As the two were chatting and laughing, the old housekeeper hurried in, holding a gilded letter in his hand: "Miss, His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince, there's news from the palace that the Emperor wants you to come into the palace tomorrow!"
Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows and looked at Xiao Yu: "Entering the palace again? Is the emperor going to reward you with dried cabbage this time?"
Xiao Yu reached out and helped her tidy up her hair, which had been slightly messed up by the heater. He said with a smile, "You'll know when you get there. But this time, I'll go with you, to prevent anyone from plotting against you."
When I entered the palace the next day, I found a bamboo basket half a person's height in the Qianqing Palace. However, it was no longer filled with green cabbages, but with yellow, round frozen persimmons covered with crystal frost.
"Lord Shen, are you here?" The Emperor sat on the dragon throne, pointing at the bamboo basket and smiling like a child who had been given honey. "Yesterday, I heard from Little Li that you loved frozen persimmons, so I specially asked the Imperial Orchard to pick some of the freshest ones. Would you like to try some?"
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