The early summer sun, like molten gold, poured down upon the vermilion gate of the General's Mansion, radiating warmth to the pair of majestic stone lions that stood before it. The moss beneath the lions' claws flickered in the light and shadow, like someone had accidentally knocked over an inkstone, smearing it with varying shades of green. Shen Weiwan leaned against the carved doorpost, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the mottled lacquer, her gaze following the shrinking cloud of dust on the distant official road.
The Liu family's motorcade was lurching out of the city gates, its twelve battered mule carts jolting along the bluestone pavement like a string of toads with their tails stepped on. A corner of the curtain of the lead carriage was lifted by a draft, revealing Liu's graying hair and half her sallow face. Dust clogged the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, and her cloudy eyes stared fixedly in the direction of the general's mansion. The look in her eyes was like that of an old dog chased out of the backyard woodshed, filled with resentment and a hint of unwillingness.
"Miss, look at her behavior. She's like a lost dog." Chuntao tiptoed over, handing over a dish of iced sour plum soup. Water droplets condensed on the bottom of the celadon dish, reflecting tiny rainbows in the sunlight. She watched the convoy disappear into the dust at the street corner, her eyes smiling like two crescent moons. "Yesterday, I heard from the Shuntian Prefecture constable that the exile journey will take a full six months. Even Liu's delicate skin, raised in seclusion, will probably be worn down by the northwest wind and sand before she even reaches Yanmen Pass."
Chen Weiwan took the sour plum soup, her fingertips touching the icy surface of the dish. The coolness spread along her fingertips, dispelling the last trace of depression in her heart. She thought back to this time in her previous life, when she was locked in the courtyard by Liu Shi, gnawing on a stone-hard steamed bun, and listening through the window paper as Liu Shi and Shen Ruorou discussed how to sell her to the lame Li Xiu in the front hall. Back then, the sunlight outside the window was as bright as today, but it couldn't reach her heart at all.
"Bark?" She scooped up a black plum with a silver spoon, squinting her eyes at the sourness, but a smile played on her lips. "To me, she looks more like a dried-up toad from the saline-alkali lands of the north, wrinkled and unremarkable. By the way, did the abbot reply to the radish seeds I asked you to send to Jingxin Temple last time?"
"You're back early!" Chuntao laughed so hard she nearly dropped her handkerchief. "The abbess sent a little nun to the General's Mansion to tell her that Miss Shen had planted radishes in pots, and they all grew into crooked, twisted melons and dates. The smallest one wasn't even as thick as a finger! The nuns laughed at her for not being able to tell leeks from weeds, and made her copy the Heart Sutra a hundred times as punishment. I heard her hands are swollen from doing it."
Shen Weiwan burst out laughing, her sour plum juice nearly splattering on her moon-white skirt. She couldn't help but picture Shen Ruoruo, dressed in a coarse monk's robe, squatting in the vegetable garden—the delicate young lady who couldn't even hold a needle steady in the past, now sighing over a field of misshapen radishes, her face stained with dirt from the vegetable patch. The scene was more captivating than any opera, and it was deeply heartwarming.
As she smiled, the old butler trudged out, leaning on a jujube-wood cane. His snow-white beard blew slightly in the wind, resembling a fluffy white chrysanthemum. He clutched a thick account book, his knuckles white from the strain. "Miss, the inventory is finally complete! We've found every one of the twenty boxes that shrew Liu hid in the wall!"
"Oh?" Shen Weiwan raised an eyebrow, and the silver spoon spun around in the dish, creating ripples. "Did you find anything interesting? Did you hide some moldy snacks again?"
"Oh my dear, that's a lot!" The old butler's beard was shaking with excitement. He opened the account book and pointed to a page. "A whole box of luminous pearls from the Western Regions, and the old general's tiger-head token! Oh, and there's also a rosewood box filled with rouge and powder that Miss Shen secretly saved up, such as South Sea pearl powder and Persian rose cream. The pile is taller than she is!"
Chen Weiwan's eyes suddenly lit up, as if two stars had fallen into them. "Pack up all the rouge and powder, and have the carriage company send them to Jingxin Temple tomorrow."
"Send it to the nunnery?" The old housekeeper was so shocked that he almost dropped the account book on the ground. "Monks wear plain clothes, what do they need all this red makeup for?"
"Who said it was for the nuns?" Chen Weiwan raised the corner of her mouth with a mischievous arc, like a little fox stealing fish. "Of course it's for my cousin to entertain her. Let her apply the rose cream in front of the bronze mirror in the nunnery and look at her face that has become sallow from eating cabbage stalks. Isn't it interesting?"
Chuntao clapped her hands and slapped her thigh with laughter. The old butler, observing the cunning glint in his eldest daughter's eyes, couldn't help but stroke his beard and shake his head in laughter. Just then, the crisp sound of horse hooves echoed from the street corner, shattering the afternoon tranquility. The Seventh Prince, Xiao Yu, rode a snow-white Zhaoyebai, the jade belt around his waist gleaming in the sun. In his hand, he held a food box, wrapped in the oil-paper packaging of Shen Weiwan's favorite "Tianxinzhai" (Sweet Heart House).
"Oh, Your Highness, are you here at dinner time?" Shen Weiwan came forward, deliberately raised her eyebrows, and rubbed the sour plum juice at the corner of her mouth with her fingertips, "Are you trying to bribe me with lotus seed soup?"
Xiao Yu dismounted with the grace of an ink painting. He handed the food box to Chun Tao beside him, his gaze settling on the brown stain at the corner of Shen Weiwan's mouth. He instinctively reached out and wiped it with the handkerchief from his sleeve. "Bribe? Am I such a cliché?" He paused, his voice low and soft, a hint of subtle tenderness. "But if Miss Shen is willing to let me bribe her for the rest of her life, I can make an exception."
Chen Weiwan's cheeks suddenly heated up, like a peach scorched by the summer sun. She slapped Xiao Yu's hand away, her ears still bright red. "Slippery tongue! Who wants you..." Before she could finish her words, Chuntao gently poked her in the waist. She turned around and saw Chuntao winking at her. Suddenly, she remembered Xiao Yu's words in the garden, "From now on, I'll protect you." Her heart rippled like a small lake with a stone thrown into it.
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