An early summer breeze, laden with the fragrance of lotus, swept through the Imperial Garden, dispelling some of the summer heat from the glazed tiles. Schools of koi fish in Taiye Pond hid beneath the dense lotus leaves, occasionally flicking their tails and splashing water, startling dewdrops from the leaves. Chen Weiwan crouched behind a delicate Taihu stone, her bamboo dragonfly gently poking a curled-up hedgehog. The little creature was pure white, save for a hint of mud on the tip of its nose. It hissed impatiently, hissing like a mosquito.
"Miss!" Chuntao came over, holding a celadon plate with wisps of white steam rising from the iced mung bean cake. She was so anxious that she kept tugging at her moon-white apron. "Lin Wanrou is complaining to His Highness the Seventh Prince over at the waterside pavilion again!"
"Oh?" Chen Weiwan raised an eyebrow. The bamboo dragonfly plopped onto the hedgehog's back, startling the white fur and causing it to suddenly flex. Its sharp spines brushed against her fingertips. She rubbed her itchy fingertips, looking towards the waterside pavilion with a raised eyebrow. "What are you complaining about? Are you saying I robbed her candy and cake stall in West Market yesterday?"
"No, no!" Chun Tao took two steps closer, lowering her voice until it brushed past Shen Weiwan's ear. "She told His Highness that you stole her limelight at the banquet at the Princess's Mansion the day before yesterday, and she also said that you were short and ugly!"
"Puff—" Chen Weiwan picked up a piece of mung bean cake and stuffed it into her mouth. The cool cake mixed with the bean paste melted on her tongue. She laughed so hard that her shoulders shook, and crumbs stuck to the corners of her mouth. "She is more talented and beautiful than Wuyan, and the lead powder on her face is thick enough to cover three layers of city walls! Come, take a look. Today, I will let her see the ultimate secret of 'reverse green tea'."
The two men crouched, skirting a flower wall covered in pink roses. The vermilion beauty of the waterside pavilion leaned against it. Xiao Yu leaned against the railing, his dark-black dress cascading like a waterfall. The mutton-fat jade ring in his hand shone with a cool, cool light. Across from them, Lin Wanrou wore a moon-white, embroidered orchid skirt, the hem of which swept across the scattered peony petals on the steps. Her eyes, red as a rabbit's, sobbed and twisted her handkerchief, "Your Highness, I do not mean to stir up trouble. It's just that Miss Shen was too flamboyant at the banquet yesterday. Not only did she steal my dance partner, she also pointed at my face and said... that my makeup looked like the clown in the opera troupe!"
Shen Weiwan couldn't help herself any longer, and jumped out from behind the rockery, still holding half a piece of mung bean cake in her hand. The mung bean residue on the cake fell off with her movements: "Hey, hey, hey, you can't make up this story!"
Lin Wanrou turned around in shock. Seeing the cake crumbs at the corners of Shen Weiwan's mouth and the mung bean stains on her fingertips, her eyebrows immediately raised and her handkerchief was almost twisted into a knot: "Shen Weiwan! You...you eavesdropped!"
"I'm just passing by in broad daylight." Shen Weiwan approached, shaking the mung bean cake in her hand, and deliberately shook the crumbs onto the hem of Lin Wanrou's carefully embroidered skirt. "Miss Lin, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. I clearly said that the powder on your face is thicker than the rammed earth of the north wall of the imperial palace!"
The peeping ladies around burst into suppressed laughter, covering half their faces with round fans, but their eyes gleamed with excitement through their fingers. Lin Wanrou's face flushed red like a steamed shrimp, and she reached out to touch her cheek. "Nonsense! This is pearl powder tribute from Hangzhou. One tael of silver only buys half a tael!"
"Really?" Chen Weiwan pulled out a palm-sized mother-of-pearl mirror from her sleeve and handed it over like a treasure. The mirror surface flickered in the sunlight. "Miss Lin, please look carefully. When you shed tears just now, the powder dripped down. If you didn't know better, you would have thought it was a pearl snow!"
Lin Wanrou took the mirror with trembling hands. She saw two tear marks beneath her eyes, covered in white powder residue. A powder pimple dangled precariously from her eyelashes, swaying slightly with her movements. She screamed, "Ah!" and frantically wiped at it with a handkerchief, but the more she wiped, the more smudged it became. Her once delicate makeup was smudged, like a cat that had stumbled into a jar of flour.
"Oh, Miss Lin," Shen Weiwan patted her shoulder thoughtfully, her fingertips rubbing against the hibiscus pattern on her sleeve, "I'm afraid you bought fake foundation? Do you want me to teach you a secret recipe to save money?"
Lin Wanrou had a sad face and a nasal voice: "...What secret recipe?"
"Use stove ash to apply on your face!" Shen Weiwan smiled, her eyes narrowed into crescents, revealing her pointed little canine teeth. "I have it in my kitchen every day. Once the firewood burns, I can sweep out half a basket of it. It's economical and natural. When you apply it on your face, it looks like you were born with fair skin!"
"You——!" Lin Wanrou was so angry that her whole body was shaking. The fingers she pointed at Shen Weiwan were trembling, but she couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.
Xiao Yu, who had been watching from the sidelines, finally couldn't help laughing. He reached out to wipe the mung bean residue from the corner of Shen Weiwan's mouth. His fingertips touched the corner of her warm lips, and his tone was filled with helpless pampering: "Okay, Weiwan, don't tease her anymore."
Shen Weiwan, however, refused to give in. She tilted her head and stared at Lin Wanrou's smudged makeup: "Miss Lin, if you're short on money and can't afford a good foundation, tell me and I'll ask His Highness to approve some rouge and powder for you." She deliberately dragged out her words, her eyes sweeping across Lin Wanrou's pale face, "But... you have to pay 10,000 taels of silver as tuition first. I'll teach you how to apply powder as thin as a cicada's wing~"
"Pfft!" Liu Ruoyan, hiding behind the rockery, finally couldn't hold back her laughter and slapped her thigh. The noble ladies around her could no longer maintain their dignity, and their laughter startled the swallows nesting under the eaves. Lin Wanrou was so embarrassed by the laughter that she stamped her foot and turned to Xiao Yu, her voice tingling with tears: "Your Highness! Look at her!"
Xiao Yu raised an eyebrow and stood up, calmly blocking Shen Weiwan's way. The wind from his dark robe rustled the strands of hair on her forehead. His tone was calm yet intimidating: "I think she's quite good. But Miss Lin, instead of dwelling on other people's makeup, you should focus on studying your words so that every time you speak, the atmosphere won't freeze."
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