Shen Weiwan looked at her back, a sly smile on her lips. Chuntao leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Miss, I'm afraid Liu won't dare to go out for three days now. Didn't you see her face when she fell into the pit just now? It was uglier than eating shit!"
"That's just the beginning," Chen Weiwan said, covering her mouth and nose with a scented handkerchief, her eyes brightening surprisingly. "Go, ask the kitchen to boil two buckets of mugwort water and send it to Auntie, and also prepare ten pieces of scented soap - don't let the stench ruin the flowers and plants in the mansion. If word gets out, people will think the general's mansion has a skunk."
The old butler stroked his beard, a gleam in his eyes: "Miss, Liu has suffered several serious losses in succession, I'm afraid she's desperate and will do something desperate."
"Jumping over the wall?" Chen Weiwan sneered, her fingertips gently stroking the jade pendant at her waist. "If she doesn't jump, I think this show isn't exciting enough." She turned to the old housekeeper, "How are the treasury accounts going? How much did that old hag Liu embezzle?"
"My dear young lady," the old butler pulled out a blue cloth account book from his sleeve. On the cover were the words "Neifu Zhidu" written in cinnabar. "Over the years, Liu has been embezzling money from the imperial household and misappropriating funds from the treasury. She even dared to touch the remaining military pay that the general left behind. This old servant calculated that the total amount is a whopping 17,300 taels!"
"Seventeen thousand three hundred taels?" Shen Weiwan took the account book and tapped the cover with her fingertips, making a rhythmic sound. "The Empress Dowager's birthday banquet will be held in a few days. All the noble ladies in the capital will come to the palace to attend the banquet. This is a good time to give this 'gift'."
Before she finished her words, a faint sneer suddenly emanated from outside the courtyard wall. Shen Weiwan turned sharply and saw the Seventh Prince, Xiao Yu, leaning against the moonlit doorframe. The cuffs of his dark brocade robe were embroidered with silver threads, casting a cool luster in the moonlight. In his hand, he toyed with a broken jade fan, its ribs intricately carved with bamboo patterns.
"Miss Shen is quite resourceful," Xiao Yu raised an eyebrow and tapped his folding fan against his nose. "I smelled this 'fragrance' from outside the wall and thought the General's Mansion was making some secret sauce."
Shen Weiwan's heart trembled, but her face showed surprise: "Why is Your Highness here?"
"Just passing by." Xiao Yu took two steps closer, casually pointing his folding fan at the pit, "I came to see which expert managed to make Liu Shi so 'sexy'." His eyes fell on the account book in Shen Weiwan's hand, "Is this evidence of Liu Shi's embezzlement?"
Shen Weiwan subconsciously hid the account book behind her and said with a smile: "Your Highness is joking, it's just an ordinary account book."
"Oh?" Xiao Yu's eyes were filled with inquiry. "You wouldn't hide ordinary account books in your sleeves in the middle of the night, but you brought them all the way to the west wing to admire them?"
Shen Weiwan was speechless after being asked, so she had to change the subject: "Your Highness has come to visit you late at night, I wonder if you have any advice?"
Xiao Yu put away his folding fan, his eyes suddenly becoming serious. "I'm here to remind you—even though Liu is stupid, there might be someone behind the scenes. The Queen Mother's birthday banquet is a place of controversy. You need to be more careful and don't let others use you as a pawn."
Shen Weiwan's heart moved, remembering that in her previous life, Liu was indeed very close to the Second Prince's Mansion: "Your Highness means..."
"I'm just reminding you." Xiao Yu looked at her deeply, the moonlight flowing in his eyes, carrying a hint of imperceptible concern, "Protect yourself, don't let those dirty things dirty your hands." After saying that, he turned and left, the black hem of his clothes drew a smooth arc in the night wind, and soon disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Shen Weiwan looked at his back, lost in thought. Why did the Seventh Prince suddenly appear? How much did he know about the inside story?
"Miss," Chun Tao asked softly, "Is His Highness the Seventh Prince... interested in you?"
"Don't guess blindly." Shen Weiwan shook her head and clenched the account book in her hand, "Let's finish the things in front of us first. Liu, Shen Ruoruo, and the people behind them..." A cold light flashed in her eyes, "I will let them know that if they provoke me, Shen Weiwan, they must be prepared to pay the price."
Back in her bedroom, Shen Weiwan spread the account books out on the rosewood table. Under the candlelight, every record of embezzlement was like a needle, piercing her heart. Liu had not only withheld funds from the family, but had even set her sights on the military pay of the border soldiers. This was simply insane.
"Chun Tao," Shen Weiwan suddenly said, "bring me my box of fluorescent ink."
"Miss, are you going to punish Liu again?" Chuntao's eyes lit up, and she took out a small vermilion lacquer box from the depths of her dressing table.
Chen Weiwan opened the box, revealing a dark red ink pad that glowed an eerie blue-purple in the candlelight. She picked up her wolf-hair brush and gently ticked the entry in the account book: "Chen Ruorou's coming-of-age ceremony for five hundred taels of silver." The tip of the brush left a faint purple mark where it passed.
"This time, it's not just Liu, but also her precious daughter." Shen Weiwan raised the corner of her mouth, revealing a sly smile, "The day of the Queen Mother's birthday banquet happens to be the pre-banquet for Shen Ruorou's coming-of-age ceremony. I have to prepare a 'big gift' for her so that she can show off in front of all the noble ladies in the capital."
Chun Tao leaned over to take a look, and saw the purple mark faintly visible in the candlelight, like a tiny poisonous snake: "Miss, what's wrong with you..."
"I've marked the account book," Shen Weiwan closed it, tapping the cover lightly with her fingertips. "Someone will 'accidentally' find this account book, and then..." She paused, a calculating glint in her eyes. "What do you think the Queen Mother will look like when she sees that Liu used the embezzled military funds to hold her daughter's coming-of-age ceremony?"
Chun Tao suddenly understood, clapped her hands and laughed, "Miss, this trick is brilliant! Not only did you bring down the Liu family, but you also made Shen Ruorou lose face in front of others. It really kills two birds with one stone!"
Outside the window, the moonlight gradually faded, and the sky in the east was turning pale. Shen Weiwan walked to the window and looked towards the direction of Liu's courtyard. It was quiet there, as if the farce of last night had never happened. But she knew that a bigger storm was brewing.
At this moment, Liu was soaking in a tub filled with mugwort water. She'd changed the water countless times, but the stench still lingered. Lu'e knelt beside the tub, carefully wiping her hair, only to be slapped in the face.
"Chen Weiwan!" Liu looked at her own disheveled appearance in the bronze mirror, her eyes gleaming with resentment. "I'm not done with her! Lu'e, go check on Ruorou's coming-of-age ceremony preparations! Especially her gold and silver dress, it must be made to look better than anything Chen Weiwan has worn! We can't let her outshine Ruorou at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet!"
Lu'e covered her burning cheeks and responded in a low voice, but she was wondering in her heart: Madam has been treated like this, and she is still thinking about the young lady's coming-of-age ceremony.
Liu looked at her haggard face in the mirror, her nails digging deep into her palms. She knew she couldn't defeat Shen Weiwan, but she still had her daughter, Shen Ruorou. If Ruorou could win the Empress Dowager's favor at her birthday banquet and secure a good marriage, she might still have a chance to turn things around.
"Chen Weiwan, just wait," Liu murmured to herself in a voice only she could hear, facing the bronze mirror. "Ruorou's coming-of-age ceremony will be the day of your death!"
Unbeknownst to her, Shen Weiwan has already laid a net, waiting for her and Shen Ruorou to fall into it. A battle over the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet is about to begin among the capital's powerful. This time, Shen Weiwan, armed with evidence and a clear plan, vows to make all her enemies pay with blood.
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