Shen Weiwan's eyes lit up, like a small firecracker that had just gone off: "Great! Now I have a reason to trick her!"
Xiao Yu looked at her eager appearance and smiled helplessly: "What bad things are you planning to do?"
Shen Weiwan leaned close to him and muttered a few words in a low voice. When she was proud of herself, she laughed so hard that her shoulders hit the stone table and shook. Xiao Yu raised his eyebrows after hearing this: "You are really becoming more and more like a little fox."
Three days later, Lin Wanrou hosted a banquet in the Taifu Mansion garden. The invitation she handed over was gilded with gold foil, and the words between the lines exuded a sense of ostentation. When Shen Weiwan received the invitation, she was munching on candied haws with Xiao Yu in the West Market. The red hawthorns were coated in a glistening sugar coating, and the bite was sour and sweet.
"Do you want to go?" Xiao Yu used a handkerchief to wipe the sugar residue from the corner of her mouth. His fingertips touched her warm lips, causing her cheeks to feel slightly hot.
"Of course!" Shen Weiwan bit off the last hawthorn and said vaguely, "By the way, I'll give Miss Lin a 'return gift'."
On the day of the banquet, Shen Weiwan deliberately wore a plain white skirt with only a few inconspicuous orchids embroidered on the hem with silver thread, and a half-opened white magnolia inserted in her hair. Lin Wanrou saw her from afar, and a hint of pride flashed in her eyes. She thought that she must be too embarrassed to use those luxurious jewelry, so she dressed so plainly.
"Sister Chen, why are you dressed so plainly today?" Lin Wanrou held a gilded teacup and smiled hypocritically. The red gold hairpin on her head shone with her movements. "Could it be that you didn't receive any decent jewelry? If you don't mind, I have a few pearl hairpins in my box..."
Shen Weiwan blinked and sighed in a wronged manner: "That's right, unlike Sister Lin, who still has people eagerly giving her expensive rouge."
Lin Wanrou's hand holding the teacup froze, and the smile on her face almost disappeared: "Sister, you're joking. I don't have any expensive rouge."
"Oh?" Shen Weiwan opened her eyes wide in feigned surprise, turned to look at Xiao Yu who was accompanying her, and pointed at his lips. "I thought that box of rouge containing lead powder was a gift from my sister! Look, a few days ago, Your Highness kindly helped me test the color, and my lips have been purple for several days!"
The whole room erupted in an uproar, dozens of eyes simultaneously directed at Xiao Yu's lips. Xiao Yu cooperatively raised his hand and touched his lips, a look of helplessness on his face. "Indeed, that rouge is a unique shade. Fortunately, Wei Wan didn't use it, otherwise her face would have looked like a palette."
Lin Wanrou's face turned pale instantly, as if someone had poured a basin of ice water over her head. Her voice trembled: "You, you are talking nonsense! I didn't..."
"Am I talking nonsense?" Chen Weiwan pulled out the gilded lacquer box from her sleeve and turned it in her palm. "I've asked someone about the pearls on this box. They were made by the same craftsman as the jewelry box inlaid with pearls in Sister Lin's room!"
Lin Wanrou suddenly looked at the lacquer box. The patterns on the pearls on the box were exactly the same as those on the jewelry boxes she usually used. She was immediately panicked and spoke incoherently: "No, it's not me... Maybe someone else made it..."
"If it's not you, then who is it?" Shen Weiwan took a half step forward, her white skirt sweeping across the fallen flowers on the ground. "Could it be that this box grew legs and ran into my house under the dark and windy sky?"
The surrounding noble ladies' voices surged like a tide, and their eyes were full of contempt and disdain towards Lin Wanrou. Lin Wanrou was so anxious that her eyes turned red and tears welled up, but she couldn't say a word in defense.
Xiao Yu stepped forward at the right moment, blocking Shen Weiwan. His voice was low but chilling: "Ms. Lin, if you want to give something, just give it. Why give something like this poisonous substance containing lead powder? Fortunately, Weiwan was smart. Otherwise, your face would be ruined. Can you bear it?"
Lin Wanrou trembled all over at his cold gaze and could no longer hold back. She cried out "Wow" and stumbled away, covering her face. The hairpin on her head almost fell to the ground.
Shen Weiwan looked at her embarrassed back and winked at Xiao Yu triumphantly. Xiao Yu shook his head helplessly, picked up a piece of osmanthus cake from the food tray beside him and stuffed it into her hand: "Be less jealous, look how powerful you are."
"Who's jealous!" Shen Weiwan snatched the osmanthus cake, her cheeks puffed up like a little hamster, "I'm getting rid of harm for the people!"
Chun Tao laughed so hard that she couldn't straighten her waist: "Miss, your trick of 'killing with a borrowed knife' is superb. Which noble lady in the capital will dare to mess with you from now on!"
Chen Weiwan bit the osmanthus cake and said vaguely: "That's it! Don't you see who I am..."
Xiao Yu reached out and rubbed her hair, his eyes full of pampering: "Yes, yes, you are the best."
The banquet ended in discontent, and the news of Lin Wanrou sending poisonous rouge spread like wildfire, spreading throughout the capital within half a day. People were gossiping about Lin Wanrou's ill intentions and that she deserved to be slapped in the face by Miss Shen. However, Shen Weiwan and Xiao Yu's relationship took a step forward, and the daily life of "pitting her husband" became even more colorful:
"Your Highness, please help me test this preserve to see if it contains croton seeds."
"Your Highness, please check if there are any fleas hiding in this sachet for me."
"Your Highness, can this box of vanishing cream be used to wipe the table..."
Xiao Yu always played along reluctantly, sometimes being tricked by her to the point of laughing and crying, but he always let her go. Chun Tao watched her young lady leaning in the Seventh Prince's arms, eating chestnuts he had peeled himself, the setting sun stretching their shadows far out. She couldn't help but laugh secretly, thinking that in the days ahead, there would be endless hilarious dramas to watch every day.
As dusk deepened, the garden of the Seventh Prince's Mansion was dyed a warm golden color. Shen Weiwan watched Xiao Yu's slender fingers pinch the chestnut shell, gently exerting force to reveal the golden flesh, and suddenly felt soft in her heart.
"Your Highness," she suddenly said, her voice lower than usual, "If I cheat you again, will you be angry?"
Xiao Yu looked up at her, his eyes reflecting the light of the setting sun, as gentle as unmelted honey: "Are you trying to trick me?" He put down the chestnuts and reached out to hold her hand. "It only makes you, this little fox, even more adorable."
Shen Weiwan's face flushed red, like clouds dyed by the setting sun, and she hit him: "Slippery tongue!"
Xiao Yu grabbed her hand, placed it on his lips and kissed it gently, his eyes serious and focused: "Wei Wan, as long as it's you, I like whatever you do."
Shen Weiwan looked into his deep eyes, which reflected her own image clearly. Her heart seemed to be filled with something warm and sweet. She knew that in this life, she had not only avenged her blood feud, but also found someone who was willing to let her "cheat" him wantonly and happily accept it.
And what kind of "tricky" fun awaits her on the upcoming trip to the royal hunting grounds? Shen Weiwan licked the lingering sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance from the corner of her lips, a cunning glint in her eyes. With Xiao Yu by her side, the capital's sky is about to be turned upside down by them.
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