Sandalwood incense burned brightly in the copper incense burner in the General's Mansion's mourning hall. Curls of green smoke rose like dragons, forming a hazy mist in front of the shrine of Shen Weiwan's father, General Shen. The hall was so quiet that one could hear the soft rustle of incense ash falling onto the tray. The old butler, hunched over, meticulously wiped the copper incense burner's legs at the edge of the altar with a half-worn blue cloth, not sparing even the specks of dust etched in the crevices of the carvings. His graying beard trembled slightly with his breathing, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemed to hold the frost and snow of time.
"Squeak—" The heavy door of the mourning hall was pushed open a crack, and Shen Weiwan walked in, holding up her moon-white skirt. The hem of her skirt swept across the threshold, creating a breeze that made the candlelight sway gently. The old housekeeper turned around at the sound and hurriedly stuffed the blue cloth into his sleeve. As he straightened his hunched back, he felt a familiar pain in his waist, and he couldn't help but let out a soft "hiss."
"Grandpa Butler, are you secretly wiping away tears again?" Shen Weiwan walked to the ancestral tablet, took three incense sticks from Chuntao's hand, and bowed respectfully three times. The firelight reflected a flickering light in her eyes. The jade bracelet on her wrist swayed gently with her movements. It was a glass-type jade with excellent water content, a relic of her biological mother that she had taken back from the Liu family's private storehouse. Now, it glowed with a warm green light under the candlelight.
The old butler's cheeks flushed, and he waved his hands like a child caught in a crime. "That's nothing... I just heard the doorman say that the incident in West Lane has spread throughout Zhuque Street, and my heart is filled with warmth..." He suddenly turned to face the memorial tablet, his voice suddenly choking with sobs, "General... please open your eyes and look at the young lady!"
Shen Weiwan inserted the incense into the incense burner and turned to see the old butler's shoulders tremble slightly, a sob he was trying hard to suppress. In her memory, this old butler, who had watched her grow up, always stroked his beard and sighed after she got into trouble, saying, "When will the young lady learn to be sensible?" It wasn't until she was reborn, repeatedly plotting to embarrass the Liu family, reclaiming the storehouse key, and even outsmarting the assassin, that the old butler's eyes gradually turned from worry to amazement.
"Grandpa Housekeeper," Shen Weiwan pulled out a handkerchief from her sleeve and handed it over. The handkerchief was embroidered with a half-opened magnolia flower, "You always talk to Dad's spirit tablet. If Dad heard you, he would say you are old and confused."
The old butler took the handkerchief and wiped his eyes, pointing to the celadon offering bowl in front of the ancestral tablet. He sighed, "This old servant is truly moved! The young lady has not only safeguarded the General's Mansion's century-old foundation, but now she can even outsmart assassins!" He suddenly lowered his voice, as if to reveal a shocking secret. "Just now, the concierge said that the two assassins were so frightened by your use of a basin of firecrackers and a 'female ghost' that they wet their pants on the spot. Now the beggars in West City have made up a jingle about it!"
"Master Butler," Chuntao, whose shoulders were shaking from trying to hold back laughter, couldn't help but interrupt, "That's not a beggar, that's me in disguise! Look, I've taken the tassels off the Kitchen God's portrait and used them as hair, and smeared my face with soot from the bottom of a pot. Doesn't it look very like him?"
The old housekeeper suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly, "It's like that! It's so like that! Miss Chuntao's cry of 'Give me back my life' was like a real ghost, it scared the two strong men out of their wits!" He suddenly slapped his thigh, his eyes shining, "What's the name of this trick, young lady? It's like Zhuge Liang's 'Empty City Strategy' in the Three Kingdoms. It drove back the enemy without a single soldier! Brilliant! Truly brilliant!"
Shen Weiwan was a little embarrassed by the praise, and reached out to hold the old housekeeper's arm: "Grandpa Housekeeper, this is nothing compared to the Empty City Strategy, it's just a little cleverness." Her fingertips touched the rough green cloth in the old housekeeper's sleeve, and her heart warmed slightly, "Besides, it was thanks to Chuntao's good cooperation."
"Why not?" The old butler's voice rose an octave with excitement. "Back when the general was at the border, didn't he often say 'the art of war is deception'? The young lady's brain is even more agile than the general's back then!" He suddenly realized he had spoken out of turn and hurriedly looked towards the memorial tablet. "General, please forgive me. I didn't say you are inferior to the young lady, but that she is worse than you..."
Shen Weiwan watched the old housekeeper frantically explaining himself, and suddenly remembered the time in her past life when Liu tricked her into handing over the storeroom key. The old housekeeper was so anxious that he stamped his feet, but couldn't say anything. At that time, she only thought the old housekeeper was pedantic, but now thinking about it, it was the pain of being disappointed in one's parents.
"Grandpa Housekeeper," Shen Weiwan said with a smile, "If you keep praising me like this, I'll ask Chuntao to buy a ladder so that I can climb to the sky with your praise."
"She deserves praise! She deserves praise!" the old butler said, his gray beard rising in excitement. "And that Liu, who hired someone to commit murder but failed, has now been sentenced to death by the Ministry of Justice. It's truly a relief! Yesterday, when I went to the prison to deliver something, I saw her hair was completely white. She looked like an old monster..."
When mentioning Liu, the smile in Shen Weiwan's eyes faded a little, and a hint of coldness flashed across her eyes. She changed the subject: "By the way, Grandpa Butler, is there any new movement from Li Xiu?"
The old housekeeper immediately dropped his smile and replaced it with a serious expression. "My dear young lady, that lame fellow has been like a tortoise lately, hiding in the Li Mansion all day and not daring to go out. But the servant I sent out yesterday came back and said that he secretly asked someone to invite a number of literati, and he plans to hold a poetry gathering in his garden in three days."
"Poetry gathering?" Chen Weiwan raised an eyebrow, tapping the edge of the altar with her fingertips, making a soft clatter. "Has he forgotten so quickly about the time he was caught copying poems at the Taifu Mansion poetry gathering?"
"That's right," Chuntao curled her lips in disdain. "I heard he even had someone spread the word that he was framed by a villain last time, and this time he's going to write a poem in public to avenge his previous humiliation!"
A sly smirk appeared on the corner of Shen Weiwan's mouth, like a little fox that had successfully stolen something fishy. She approached the old housekeeper and Chuntao, lowering her voice and saying a few words. When she got to the key point, her eyes lit up like falling stars.
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