"Your Highness, Liu has been imprisoned, and as for the Second Prince..." the guard asked in a low voice.
"Don't worry about it." Xiao Yu put down his ring, walked to the window, and looked in the direction of the general's mansion. "I'm more curious about how she plans to deal with Shen Ruoruo at the coming-of-age ceremony." He remembered Shen Weiwan's eyes, shining like a cunning fox when she tilted her head and pretended to be innocent. The corners of his mouth curled up. "Go to the storehouse to get the pair of oriental pearls and phoenix hairpins. On the day of the coming-of-age ceremony, I will go to congratulate her in person."
The guard took his orders and left. The only sound in the study was the gentle tapping of Xiao Yu's fingertips on the windowsill. Sunlight filtered through the carved window lattices, casting tiny specks of light on his dark brocade robe, like the curtain being drawn for the upcoming play.
Shen Ruorou hid in her room, listening to the servants' chatter outside. She was so angry that she slammed the embroidery frame to the ground. She poked the lotus flowers on the frame, leaving them riddled with holes and the threads tangled into a tangled mess. "Chen Weiwan! Just wait!" She grabbed her rouge and smeared it on her lips. The person in the mirror had red lips, but her eyes were like those of a poisonous snake. "On the day of your coming-of-age ceremony, I'll make you know what it means to live a life worse than death!" Little did she know that, according to Shen Weiwan's instructions, Chuntao had already sewn fluorescent powder, which would illuminate under the phoenix embroidery, into her carefully prepared wedding dress, waiting for her to become the laughing stock of the entire capital at her peak of glory.
In the evening, Shen Weiwan stood at the door of the warehouse, watching the old housekeeper lead the inventory of property. The setting sun shone through the window lattice, shining on the pile of account books and illuminating the twenty sealed wooden boxes in the corner. "Old housekeeper," she suddenly said in a low voice, "Have you found all my father's military books?"
"We've found them all, Miss." The old butler pointed at the wooden boxes. "Twenty in total, not a single one missing."
Shen Weiwan walked over and stroked the faint military inscription on the wooden box. It was carved by her father himself. Remembering her father's death on the battlefield in her previous life while she was embroidering Shen Ruorou's dowry, her throat suddenly tightened. "Move these books to my room," she whispered. "I want to study them carefully in the future."
The old butler looked at her back, his gray beard trembling. The foolish daughter of the firstborn, once used as a pawn, now stood in the sunset, her figure thin but upright, like a tree re-rooted in the wind and rain.
Late at night, Shen Weiwan sat beneath the lamp, flipping open her father's copy of The Art of War. A yellowed note fell from between the pages, bearing her father's vigorous handwriting: "Warfare is the art of deception." She looked at the five words, suddenly smiled, and in the blank space beside them, wrote: "Aunt, I'll take my time to settle the prison account." The ink words, in the light, shone playfully, yet with a subtle chill.
Outside the window, a crescent moon climbed over the willow branches, its light shone on the eaves of the general's mansion. Shen Weiwan picked up the oriental pearl hairpin and ring given by the Seventh Prince. The beads emitted a soft halo under the lamp. "Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu," she whispered softly, her fingertips tracing the oriental pearls on the hairpin, "Are you ready to see how I finish this scene?"
In the distance, in the study of the Seventh Prince's residence, Xiao Yu unfolded a map of Langya Mountain that Shen Weiwan had sent him and suddenly chuckled. In the corner of the map, a small sun was painted in cinnabar, and next to it was written: "After the coming-of-age ceremony, go treasure hunting~" He picked up his pen and drew a crooked smiley face next to it. The ink spread across the rice paper, resembling Shen Weiwan's cunning expression.
The next day, the discussions on the streets of the capital were even louder:
"Have you heard? The second wife of the General's Mansion was captured by Shuntian Prefecture!"
"That's right! The eldest lady herself stood on the steps, pointed at her nose and said, 'Go to jail and settle your account!'"
"Oh my god! Why didn't I realize that the eldest lady is so powerful before? She is a master at outsmarting Auntie!"
"That's good. The General's Mansion is finally quiet. Now we can wait to see Miss Shen's coming-of-age ceremony."
Shen Ruorou hid in her room, listening to these discussions, and was so angry that she smashed the mirror. She looked at the fragments on the floor, suddenly grabbed the scissors on the table, and stabbed Shen Weiwan's name on the embroidery frame. "Shen Weiwan," she said to her own distorted face in the fragments, word by word, "On the day of your coming-of-age ceremony, I will make you regret coming into this world!"
However, she was unaware that Shen Weiwan had already laid a tight net. The fluorescent pink wedding dress, the fake account book documenting "huge embezzlement," and the Seventh Prince's personal "congratulations" were all part of a grand "surprise" she had prepared for her. The final showdown surrounding the coming-of-age ceremony was about to unfold under the gaze of the entire capital, and Shen Weiwan stood center stage, already anticipating every twist and turn of the script.
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