At three o'clock in the night, the inky sky pressed down on the eaves of the west wing of the General's Mansion. The branches of the old locust tree cast a sinister shadow in the moonlight. Liu, wrapped in a starched, stiff blue cloth cloak, gripped the rusted handle of a hoe with her fingertips, her knuckles white from the pressure. Her nose nearly brushed against the cracked earth, her cloudy eyes darting around in the halo of the oil-paper lantern. "Lue'e, take a closer look—are you sure the treasure map in the account book is this tree?"
"Madam, it's absolutely true!" Lu'e's hand, holding the lantern, trembled slightly. Wax dripped down the lamppost and formed lumps on her silver-trimmed cuffs. "That blue cloth account book has three circles of tree patterns painted on it, and the words 'Old Sophora japonica in the West Wing' are written next to it. It's exactly the same as here!"
The two servants standing nearby were already impatient. One of them, a strong woman named Wang Ma, grabbed the hoe and bared her yellow teeth, saying, "Madam, look at me! Back in the countryside, I dug up my ancestors' graves. I've dug everywhere. In less than three hoes, I'm sure you'll be blinded by the three thousand taels of gold!"
The hoe slammed into the earth with a thud, a dull "puff," like a water-filled cowhide bag being punctured. Liu was craning her neck to peer when a strong, sour, rancid smell suddenly hit her, a stench of rotting vegetable leaves and spoiled egg whites. It made her stomach churn and she nearly vomited her dinner. "What's that smell?! Is it a dead rat rotting in the ground?"
Wang Ma's hand gripping the hoe was shaking violently. A dark yellow mass of sticky matter hung from the tip, glistening in the lantern light. "Husband... Madam... looks like... rotten eggs?"
Liu's pupils suddenly constricted, and she grabbed the hoe and began digging frantically. As the loess flew, a broken pottery jar emerged from a half-man-high pit. The seal fell away, and two dozen blackened eggs tumbled out. The thick egg liquid, mixed with rotten cabbage leaves, splashed onto her moon-white skirt, instantly staining it with greasy stains.
"Where's the gold? Where's my three thousand taels of gold?!" Liu was like a madman, poking the jar with a hoe. With a crisp "crack", a big hole was broken at the bottom of the jar. A stronger stench rose to the sky, making her tears flow. "Chen Weiwan! It's you little bitch who's doing this again!"
"What the hell is going on, Auntie?" A clear female voice suddenly rang out from behind the old locust tree. Shen Weiwan sauntered out, carrying a glazed hydrangea lantern. The pearl pendant on the wick swayed gently in the night breeze. Behind her came the old housekeeper, leaning on a jujube wood cane, and a dozen sturdy servants holding torches. The bright flames illuminated the entire west wing.
In the torchlight, Liu was covered in dark yellow egg liquid, a few wisps of rotten vegetable leaves clung to her carefully combed hair, and the hoe in her hand was still dripping with foul juice. The servants around her were stunned at first, then they all lowered their heads, their shoulders shaking uncontrollably, obviously trying to suppress laughter.
"You...when did you guys get here?" Liu was so startled that she let go, and the hoe fell to the ground with a clang, splashing egg liquid onto the hem of Shen Weiwan's embroidered gold skirt. Only then did she realize that Shen Weiwan's moon-white skirt was spotless, and it was obvious that she had been waiting here for a long time.
"I just got here," Shen Weiwan said, her almond-shaped eyes widening in mock surprise, her fingertips pointing at the pit. "I heard some noise in the west wing and thought there were thieves! Auntie, is... digging the foundation in the middle of the night? Could there be some treasure buried under the ground of the general's mansion?"
The old butler coughed lightly at the right moment and poked the cracked jar with the tip of his cane. "My dear Miss, this looks to me like... rotten eggs that the kitchen steward buried last month, saying they were fermenting to make fertilizer for the peonies in the west wing."
"Fertilizer?" Shen Weiwan immediately covered her mouth and nose, took a half step back, and looked at Liu with disgust, "Ah, aunt, why are you digging this? Smell the smell on you - tsk tsk, it's three times stronger than the smell of the cesspool in the south of the city!"
Liu looked down at her body covered in filth, and then glanced at the servants around her who were smiling red with fear. She felt a surge of anger. She pointed at Shen Weiwan, shaking with anger: "You plotted against me! Did you lose that account book on purpose?"
"Aunt, where do you get that from?" Shen Weiwan spread her hands, looking innocent. "I just lost a book with recipes in it. How did it become a treasure map? Besides," she deliberately raised her voice, "everyone saw it. Aunt stayed up late at night and ran to the west wing to dig up rotten eggs for fertilizer! This kind of care for the flowers and plants in the mansion is really touching!"
"No! I am..." Liu was eager to explain, but she caught a glimpse of Lu'e quietly retreating back, clearly unwilling to be implicated. The servants around her could no longer hold back, and their laughter echoed, like countless needles piercing her face.
"Enough!" Liu screamed, turning around and running. She lifted her skirt, which was covered in egg liquid, and took just two steps when her foot slipped and she fell into the pit with a "thump!" The rotten eggs at the bottom of the pit were crushed by her, and the dark yellow liquid covered her head and face, and even her mouth was filled with a few mouthfuls of the stinky juice.
"Oh, Auntie!" Shen Weiwan screamed and stepped back three feet, almost dropping the glass lamp in her hand. "Please be careful! This pit is full of rotten eggs, don't fall - if you get some strange disease later, don't say I didn't warn you!"
The old housekeeper quickly ordered the servants, "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and help Auntie up, take her back to her room and wash up! Remember everything—" He deliberately dragged out his voice, "Auntie accidentally fell into... uh, a cesspool when she got up at night. If anyone spreads this rumor, you'll be in trouble!"
The servants, stifling their laughter, hurriedly dragged Liu out of the pit. She was soaking wet, rotten vegetable leaves clung to her hair, and her face was stained, a stain unidentifiable as egg ooze or tears. Two maids held her up, unable to even lift her head. One of her embroidered shoes had slipped away, and she stumbled and disappeared through the moon-shaped gate.
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