1. A surprising turn of events at the flower viewing banquet: Green tea offers a snake as a gesture of “tenderness”
In late spring, the peony garden of the Imperial Tutor's Mansion was in full bloom. Carriages of all colors lined the street corners, and bejeweled ladies, hand in hand with their maids, stepped through the falling petals into the moonlit gate. Today, Chen Weiwan wore a lilac-colored skirt embroidered with gold magnolia blossoms. Her dark hair was tied up in a loose bun, and she wore only a single red gold and kingfisher hairpin—a simple touch compared to the dazzling array of jewels and jadeite that filled the room.
But this plainness was irritating to Lin Ruoxue, the daughter of the Minister of Revenue.
Lin Ruoxue had chosen a goose-yellow dress embroidered with butterflies for the day. The rouge at the corners of her eyes was perfectly applied, and with every step she took, the silver butterflies on her skirt trembled with her steps. As soon as she sat down, she approached Shen Weiwan with a teacup in hand, her voice almost cloyingly sweet: "Sister Shen, your color complements your skin beautifully today, but this hairpin... looks a lot like the one my mother gave me two years ago."
Shen Weiwan raised her eyes and saw the maid following behind her holding a gilded lacquer box, with a hint of emerald green faintly visible through the cracks in the lid. She sneered in her heart, but smiled with her head tilted, "Really? This is what my mother left behind. It can't compare to Sister Lin's novelty."
"Sister, you're joking." Lin Ruoxue clapped her hands before she finished speaking, and the maid immediately presented the lacquer box. She lifted the lid, revealing a forearm-long bamboo snake curled up inside. Its body was as green as newly sprouted bamboo shoots, and its red, tongue-spitting core shone brightly in the sunlight. "Look at how beautiful this snake is! It's the 'Emerald Jade Spirit' I brought from the south. It's non-venomous and docile, perfect as a pet for your boudoir."
The surrounding noble ladies retreated with cries of "Ah!", and the timid ones hid behind the maids. The eldest daughter of Li Taifu's family clutched her handkerchief and trembled as she said, "How dare Sister Lin raise such a poisonous creature? Just looking at it makes my scalp tingle."
"Oh, Sister Li, don't be afraid." Lin Ruoxue covered her mouth in surprise, "This snake, I had its fangs pulled out a long time ago. It is more obedient than a cat or a dog. Sister Chen, can you touch it?" As she spoke, she reached out to pinch the snake's vital point, pretending to put it into Shen Weiwan's palm.
Chuntao was so frightened that her face turned pale. She subconsciously shrank behind Shen Weiwan, and her nails almost dug into the young lady's sleeve. But Shen Weiwan suddenly grabbed Chuntao's wrist with her backhand, pushed it forward, and smiled innocently: "Chuntao, don't you always say that you have seen snakes in the village and want to see the "rare goods" in the city? Come on, Miss Lin is kind enough to touch it."
"Miss..." Chuntao's voice trembled like a leaf falling in the autumn wind, "I, I am afraid..."
Seeing this, Lin Ruoxue's eyes flashed with pride, but her mouth was more "considerate": "Sister, don't make things difficult for the maid. She is just a servant, how could she have seen such precious things? Why not... try it yourself?" She deliberately moved the snake forward, and the snake's tongue almost licked Shen Weiwan's cuffs.
Shen Weiwan nodded “reluctantly”, and just as her fingertips were about to touch the snake scales, she suddenly retracted her hand, covered her mouth and exclaimed: “Ah! How…why did this snake shed its skin?”
2. Snake sloughs suddenly appear: the scheme is exposed
Following her gaze, everyone saw the Bamboo Green Snake writhing frantically within the lacquer box. Its emerald green scales flake off like leaves blown by the wind, revealing its dark red, spotted skin beneath. Its tongue flickered more rapidly, its body tensed like a bowstring, clearly in extreme fear.
The smile on Lin Ruoxue's face froze instantly. She subconsciously took a half step back, the handkerchief in her sleeve deformed by her grip: "This...this snake may be shy..."
"Shy?" Chen Weiwan blinked her innocent eyes, her tone tinged with cunning. "But I once heard the old nanny at home say that the bamboo-leaf green snake has the most aggressive temper. It doesn't shed its skin easily on ordinary days. It only does so when it's frightened or... when toxins surge in its body." She paused, her voice suddenly rising. "Didn't Sister Lin say that this snake had its fangs pulled out? How could it still..."
"Sister Shen, stop talking nonsense!" Lin Ruoxue interrupted harshly, her cheeks flushed abnormally with panic. "My brother is in charge of the canal transportation. The rare things from the south must have been handled by him. How could they be poisonous?"
"Oh? Miss Lin's brother..." A cold male voice suddenly interrupted with a nonchalant smile, "But is he the eldest Master Lin who was impeached by the Censor last month for 'smuggling of strange poisons from the Western Regions'?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the Seventh Prince, Xiao Yu, standing beside the rockery. His moon-white brocade robe was stained with scattered petals, and in his hand was a half-bitten piece of osmanthus cake. He glanced at Lin Ruoxue, a hint of a smile on his lips. "I'm curious, how did the 'poison' from Young Master Lin's storeroom end up in Miss Lin's lacquer box?"
Lin Ruoxue's face turned pale as rice paper, and she stumbled back two steps, nearly falling. Seeing this, Shen Weiwan immediately stepped forward, pretending to smooth things over: "Your Highness, please be careful with your words! Sister Lin gave me a pet out of kindness, how could it be related to a poisonous creature? Perhaps... perhaps the snake was just frightened on the way."
Xiao Yu raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze towards the nearby flowers. "Oh? If it's truly non-toxic, then why is Miss Lin's personal maid hiding this behind the rockery right now?"
Everyone looked in the direction he pointed and saw Lin Ruoxue's maid stealthily stuffing a purple glass medicine bottle into a crevice in the stone, her movements as flustered as a frightened rabbit. Lin Ruoxue screamed, not caring about her manners, and turned to run, but she didn't notice that Shen Weiwan's skirt had been extended intentionally or unintentionally. With a "plop", she fell into the lotus pond next to her, and her goose-yellow skirt floated in the water like a messy flower.
“Oh!” Shen Weiwan covered her mouth, her face full of “worry”, “Sister Lin, why is she so careless? Quick! Go get the imperial physician! Also, bring some ginger soup, don’t get cold!”
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