The old butler's eyes widened at first, then he clapped his hands and laughed, coughing from laughter. "My dear Miss, this trick of yours... this trick is even more brilliant than Zhuge Liang's brilliant plan! Even I, this old servant, have to give you a thumbs up!"
Chun Tao laughed so hard that she almost knocked over the candlestick next to her: "Miss, you are so mean! I'm afraid Li Xiu will be so angry that his limp will become even worse. He might even have to use a cane to go out!"
Shen Weiwan raised her chin proudly and was about to speak when a voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Miss, the Seventh Prince is here to visit——"
Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she subconsciously adjusted the silver butterfly hairpins on her temples and smoothed the wrinkles on the hem of her skirt. Seeing this, the old housekeeper tactfully bowed and retreated to a corner of the mourning hall, pretending to arrange the offerings.
Xiao Yu walked into the mourning hall in a moon-white brocade robe, the jade belt buckle around his waist gleaming warmly in the candlelight. He saw Shen Weiwan standing beside the memorial tablet, her profile softly outlined by the candlelight, and a gentle smile appeared in his eyes: "What are you talking about with uncle again?"
"I was listening to the housekeeper praising me," Shen Weiwan turned around and happened to meet Xiao Yu's eyes. Her heart felt itchy as if a feather had brushed against it. "He said that I am better at using troops than you... than my father."
The old butler hurried forward and saluted: "Greetings to His Highness the Seventh Prince. The eldest lady was just talking about preparing a 'surprise' for that cripple Li Xiu. That idea is..."
Xiao Yu raised his eyebrows and looked at Shen Weiwan with interest: "Oh? What kind of 'sand sculpture operation' is this time? Tell me about it, so that this prince can learn from you."
Shen Weiwan blinked playfully, her long eyelashes casting a small shadow under her eyelids: "Your Highness, guess what?"
Xiao Yu opened his folding fan with a swish, tapping it lightly against his palm. Suddenly, he laughed and said, "Are you up to your old tricks again, spreading some interesting 'rumors'?"
"Your Highness is really a worm in my stomach!" Shen Weiwan clapped her hands and laughed, taking an oil-paper bag from Chuntao's hand, "Look at this——"
Chuntao quickly opened the oil paper, revealing several sheets of thin rice paper. On the painting was a charcoal drawing of a sneaky, lame man peeking out of the boudoir window, with a limerick next to it: "Mr. Li, with a lame leg, is secretly looking at the young lady. He is either a homosexual or a lecher, drooling at the sight of the girl!" The painting was exaggerated, especially the man's limping posture, which was exactly like Li Xiu's usual pretentious appearance.
Xiao Yu stared at the portrait, startled at first, then burst into laughter, nearly dropping his folding fan. "It's incredibly lifelike! Especially that sneaky look with his shoulders hunched and head crouched down. It's exactly like how Li Xiu usually peeks at girls!"
The old housekeeper watched from the side, shaking his head, and couldn't help laughing: "Miss, what's wrong with your brain? How can you come up with so many tricks to punish people?"
Shen Weiwan shrugged, with a hint of helplessness in her smile: "There's nothing I can do. I was forced by my 'good relatives'. Look at Liu and Shen Ruorou, which one of them didn't try to harm me in various ways?"
Xiao Yu put away his smile, took a step forward, his eyes fell on the jade bracelet on Shen Weiwan's wrist, and his voice was low and firm: "With me here, no one will be able to hurt you again."
Shen Weiwan looked up into his deep eyes, which held an unquestionable seriousness that warmed her heart. She nodded gently, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the cool surface of the bracelet: "I know."
The old butler watched the two men smile at each other, his eyes warming again. He quietly wiped his eyes, bowed, and withdrew. The moonlight outside the mourning hall cast a silver veil over his hunched back. He knew that the general's mansion finally had a leader. The eldest daughter not only protected the family business, but also found a loving man who could protect her.
After seeing Xiao Yu off, Shen Weiwan returned to her own courtyard. The sound of a midnight clapper could be heard from afar. Moonlight streamed into the room through the carved window lattices, casting delicate flower shadows on the blue brick floor. Chuntao brought a bowl of soothing soup, steam still rising from the rim.
"Miss, Li Xiu's poetry gathering is scheduled for three days from now, and everyone we arranged for is already in place," Chuntao put down her soup bowl and leaned closer. "That portrait... are we really going to have vendors hawking it outside the Li residence?"
Chen Weiwan took the bowl of soup, the heat shimmering in her eyes. "Of course. Let them shout louder, saying, 'See the true face of the flower-stealing thief. One penny per ticket. Buy ten and get a free jingle.'"
Chuntao burst out laughing: "Miss, your business acumen is even better than that of the silk shop owner!"
Shen Weiwan drank a mouthful of soup and looked out the window at the dark night. Recalling the misery of being deceived into marriage by Li Xiu in her previous life, a cold light flashed in her eyes: "To deal with such a person, you have to make him lose face completely. Isn't he the most concerned about face? I want to make him become a flower-stealing thief who is hated by everyone in front of the literati."
Chun Tao looked at the determination in her young lady's eyes and couldn't help asking, "Young lady, what do you think Li Xiu's expression will be when he finds out? Will he faint from anger?"
Shen Weiwan raised a mischievous smile at the corner of her mouth: "Maybe he wants to find a crack in the ground to crawl into and then break his lame leg."
They both laughed, their laughter ringing out in the stillness of the night. The magnolias outside the window, rustled by the night breeze, wafted a delicate fragrance, as if cheering for the upcoming spectacle.
Shen Weiwan walked to the window and looked at the old locust tree in the courtyard of the general's mansion. Its shadow in the moonlight looked exactly like her father in armor. She whispered softly, "Dad, Mom, did you see this? I didn't let you down. Liu is about to be executed, Shen Ruorou is suffering in Ciyun Temple, and Li Xiu is about to be ruined. I will take back everything you owe me."
The night wind rustled the leaves of the old locust tree, as if responding to her words. Shen Weiwan took a deep breath, her eyes gleaming with determination. She knew this was just one stop on the road to revenge, and there would be more challenges ahead, but she was no longer the helpless and foolish daughter of the first wife. She had wisdom, courage, and people like Xiao Yu, Chun Tao, and the old housekeeper who truly cared about her.
"Chun Tao," Chen Weiwan said cheerfully, turning around, "go call the painter and have him draw twenty more pictures of the 'Flower Thief' in different poses. Make sure Li Xiu's limp is rendered perfectly."
"Okay!" Chuntao responded and ran out with light steps. The moonlight stretched her shadow very long.
Meanwhile, back at the Li Mansion, Li Zhengzheng was practicing what he thought was a gentle and elegant smile in front of a bronze mirror. He stroked his newly crafted lake-blue brocade robe, imagining the stunned stares of the crowd at the poetry gathering three days later. His lips couldn't help but curl up. Unbeknownst to him, a vast web meticulously woven by Shen Weiwan had quietly unfurled, and at its center hung the very reputation he valued most. When the gongs and drums of the poetry gathering sounded, what awaited him would be a collapse even more devastating than the rumors of his "homosexuality." All this was merely another note in Shen Weiwan's quest for revenge.
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