"Chen Weiwan! I'm going to kill you--" The curse was stuck in her throat, because she saw Shen Weiwan standing at the door of the warehouse, playing with the warehouse key tied with a red rope in her hand, and the "asking for a beating" curve at the corner of her mouth was particularly glaring in the light and shadow.
"What are you doing, Aunt?" Shen Weiwan walked into the storeroom, her shoes making a "crunching" sound as they rolled over the broken porcelain pieces on the ground. "I heard that you came to the storeroom in person to 'take inventory'? And you even disturbed the 'storehouse-guarding mousetrap' given by the late emperor?" She pointed at the mousetrap in the corner with a look of regret. "This trap was used to prevent spies from enemy countries. It was designed to bite the hands of scoundrels. You pinched it-"
The old butler walked in just in time, leaning on his cane. He cleared his throat and unfolded the account book in his hand. The parchment shone slightly yellow in the light. "My dear young lady, I've just checked. The Thousand Machine Lock cost three hundred taels, the repair cost of the imperially bestowed mousetrap was five hundred taels, and the atonement silver for disturbing the spirit of the general..." He paused, his eyes glancing at the swelling on the back of Liu's head and her bleeding wrist. "Add three hundred taels for the medicine, totaling one thousand one hundred taels."
Liu's gaze shifted from the empty boxes to the faint red mark on Shen Weiwan's wrist, and she suddenly remembered the moment she'd "accidentally" bumped into the corner of the table while sorting boxes and cages this morning. Blood dripped down the mousetrap's teeth. Her vision went black, and she collapsed headfirst into the moldy chaff. The pearls on her skirt tumbled to the ground with a rustling sound.
"What are you still standing there for? Quickly carry the lady back to her room and call a doctor!" Shen Weiwan frowned and waved her hand. After the servants hurriedly carried Liu away, she squatted down to pick up the glass bead that had rolled to her feet, and her fingertips caressed the smooth bead. Chuntao came over with the key to the secret compartment, and her sharp eyes spotted the thin hemp rope hanging from the beam. It was tied by Shen Weiwan this morning when no one was paying attention. The other end was cleverly connected to the wooden box at the back of the warehouse. If anyone touched the mechanism in the corner of the box, it would trigger a mousetrap.
"Miss, the Seventh Prince has arrived and is waiting in the front hall." The old butler's voice came from outside the door. Shen Weiwan stuffed the glass beads into her sleeve pocket and turned to see Xiao Yu leaning against the door frame, his dark hem brushing the copper nails on the threshold, playing with a shimmering red gold hairpin in his hand.
"I heard someone staged an 'empty city plan' in the warehouse?" Xiao Yu shook the hairpin in his hand, and the pearls on the tassels swayed in the light and shadow. It was the relic of Shen Weiwan's biological mother. "I passed by a jewelry store this morning and saw that this hairpin looked familiar, so I bought it for you."
Just as Shen Weiwan's fingertips touched the phoenix wings at the end of her step-shaking ornament, a loud sound of shattering porcelain suddenly rang out from the courtyard next door, followed by Liu's shrill wail that pierced the corridor: "Shen Weiwan! Where did you put my step-out bed?! It was a dowry from my parents!"
"I must have taken it to the pawnshop to exchange for silver." Chen Weiwan tucked her hairpin into her bun and raised an eyebrow at Xiao Yu. The phoenix hairpin in her hair complemented the one in his hand. "After all, one thousand one hundred taels is not a small amount. Auntie has to show some appreciation." She turned and walked towards the noise. She heard a low chuckle behind her. The voice of the Seventh Prince, mixed with the draft, drifted into her ears with a playful tone:
"Next time you set up a trap, remember to inform me in advance. I will bring my own stool to watch."
The setting sun stretched the shadow of the warehouse into a long, narrow strip. Shen Weiwan walked forward, her own shadow treading on her wrist. The red mark on her wrist, painted with rouge, shone a pale pink in the afterglow, like a real wound. Chuntao trotted after her, holding the account book. Inside the account book was a folded pawn ticket, the redemption certificate for Liu's rosewood step-out bed.
"Miss, how did His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince know about the secret compartment? And he just happened to send your biological mother's hair ornaments here..." Chun Tao couldn't help but mutter in a low voice, her eyes following the hair ornaments in Shen Weiwan's hair.
"He," Shen Weiwan touched the hairpin at her temples, remembering what Xiao Yu's personal eunuch had said when he handed her the hairpin this morning - "His Highness said that the mousetraps in the warehouse should be replaced with blunt ones, so as not to hurt the beauty's hands." The smile on her lips deepened, "He also knows about the private gold ingots hidden in the secret compartment of Liu's dressing table."
The shouting and cursing from the neighboring courtyard gradually faded, perhaps because Liu had fainted again upon seeing the empty room. Chen Weiwan paused in front of the moonlit gate, watching the carrier pigeons fly past the Seventh Prince's residence, their wings slicing through the brocade of the sunset. She raised her hand to touch the "scar" on her wrist and suddenly let out a low laugh. This Beijing opera, with the Seventh Prince as a "veteran fan," had become even more exciting.
As for Liu's unfinished curse words? Just wait. Tomorrow, when the embezzlement account books are sent to the Ministry of Justice, there'll be plenty of time for her to slowly "talk" about them in prison. Shen Weiwan turned and walked towards her own courtyard. The red-gold hairpin in her hair gleamed warmly in the twilight, like a spark of revenge, about to ignite the entire night sky of the capital.
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