The early summer breeze, wrapped in the lotus fragrance of Taiye Pond, drifted gently through the carved wooden windows of Changchun Palace, rustling the pearl curtains hanging from the eaves. The curtains were a string of Hepu pearls, tributed from the South China Sea. Each pearl was as round as a pigeon egg, and the sound of the wind rustling against them was clearer than the jade chimes of a musician's fingertips. Chen Weiwan clutched the silk handkerchief Chuntao had handed her, her fingertips stroking the twin lotus flowers embroidered on the corners. She stared at the golden scroll of imperial decree on the table, her fingertips trembling slightly—not from stage fright, but from a tingling excitement, like the feeling of being stuck to the candy jar as a child.
"Miss! You've already circled the dressing table twenty times!" Chun Tao quickly restrained her shaking arm, nearly knocking the new jasmine hairpin out of her hair. "The Empress Dowager summoned you to discuss your marriage with the Seventh Prince. Is it really necessary to apply rouge and powder all over again? Look, you've almost smeared your lipstick onto your cheeks!"
Chen Weiwan flung aside her handkerchief and sipped her lipstick in the diamond-shaped mirror. It was the rose jelly Xiao Yu had sent the day before, and when she sipped it, a natural crimson hue shone through. The hem of her lilac skirt swept across the golden sunlight, startling the canary pecking at flower petals on the windowsill. "How can I not be excited? Yesterday, Aunt Liu from the kitchen said that the Empress Dowager loves to hear street jokes. She once made the Imperial Censor slap his thigh with laughter after he made a mistake!" She suddenly lowered her voice and leaned closer to Chuntao. The pearl tassels in her hair brushed the maid's nose, startling the little girl. "I've even prepared some jokes for Auntie to rub her hands with. I'm sure the old lady will laugh so hard that she'll drop her teacup on the ground!"
Chuntao covered her face with her hands and sighed, nearly pulling the lotus pattern on her cuffs apart. "My dear lady, that's the Empress Dowager, ruling from behind the curtain, not some old woman eating melon seeds under the overpass... You better take it easy!"
Before he could finish his words, a eunuch's shrill voice suddenly rang out from outside the palace, startling the canaries under the eaves so much that they fluttered their wings: "His Highness the Seventh Prince and Miss Shen—come to see you!"
When Xiao Yu entered, he saw Shen Weiwan practicing a silly grin in front of the bronze mirror, her dark eyes moving like a mouse trying to steal oil. He couldn't help but laugh. The black jade hairpin shone a little at her temple, and her moon-white brocade robe was still stained with the moisture of the Taiye Lake. "With this silly look, are you imitating the way I look at you?"
"Your Highness!" Chen Weiwan turned around and put her hands on her hips. The new magnolia hairpin in her hair almost fell off, revealing a piece of her white wrist. "When we meet the Queen Mother later, please remember to smooth things over for me! Just say that I..."
"I'm just saying you're such a liar, you've made three of the Grand Tutor's daughters cry?" Xiao Yu raised an eyebrow as he adjusted her hairpin. He paused deliberately as his fingertips brushed against her earlobe, where a hint of crimson from the rouge she'd accidentally applied earlier remained. "Don't worry, my Queen Mother was complaining yesterday that the ladies in the palace all looked like freshly kiln porcelain, and it made her gums swell and ache."
The two of them bickered as they passed through the winding corridor. Outside, the pomegranates were in full bloom, their crimson red dripping with fire. The gilded plaques of the Changchun Palace's main hall dazzled in the sunlight, and the glazed tiles with crouching beasts on the eaves reflected a shimmer of gold. The Empress Dowager reclined on a throne covered in nine-curved cushions, her silver-white bun secured only by a single, red-gold hairpin bearing the character "Fu." Upon seeing Chen Weiwan, she suddenly straightened, her jade armor ringing against the rim of her teacup. It was a celadon porcelain from the previous dynasty's official kilns, so thin it revealed the veins on the back of her hand.
"Are you the one from the General's Mansion...Chen Weiwan?" The Queen Mother's voice was hoarse like an old smoker's, but it also revealed an unquestionable majesty.
As soon as Shen Weiwan bent down, she heard the Queen Mother wave her hand, and the jade bracelet on her wrist made a ringing sound: "Don't come with those empty formalities. I have heard that you are not a person who plays by the rules." The old ancestor suddenly patted the armrest, and a sly smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, revealing a gold tooth. "I heard that you are full of crooked tricks. Tell me a joke."
The hall suddenly fell silent, a pin drop audible. The eunuch in charge trembled as he held the teacup, the warm mist from the Biluochun tea shrouding his shocked expression. The attendant palace maids' faces froze, forgetting even to wave the peacock feathers they were sweeping, the eye spots on their tail feathers trembling slightly in the sunlight. Xiao Yu leaned against the vermilion pillar, stifling a laugh, and mouthed the phrase "May you be blessed" to her. The hem of his inky robe brushed against the winding branches of the pillar base, stirring up a fine layer of dust.
Shen Weiwan scratched her head, and suddenly grinned, revealing her small white teeth. The white magnolia hairpin in her hair trembled slightly with her movements: "Then I will tell you a story about my aunt rubbing her hands!"
"Oh?" The Queen Mother leaned forward with great interest, and strings of pearl tassels fell from her sleeves, casting tiny shadows on the bright yellow curtains.
"The year I first came of age, my aunt set her eyes on my mother's red gold hairpin," Shen Weiwan said, deliberately lowering her voice and leaning closer, as if to share a shocking secret. The pearl tassels in her hair brushed against the dragon-patterned brocade handkerchief on the empress dowager's knees. "She held my hand and cried bitterly, saying, 'Wanwan, this hairpin is just gathering dust. It would be great to give it to your cousin as an engagement token.'"
Her eyes suddenly widened as she mimicked her silly behavior back then, even her eyebrows raised like a cat stealing fish. "I nodded vigorously and said 'OK,' and then she brought me a basin of grains mixed with gravel—" She paused deliberately, and seeing the empress dowager's eyes widen, she continued, "I told my aunt, 'You love me the most. You will definitely be willing to use the grains to clean your hands and offer them to me!'"
"Puff!" The Empress Dowager nearly spit out a mouthful of Biluochun onto the rosewood table. The old maid next to her quickly picked up a shark silk handkerchief, but accidentally knocked over the gilded incense burner on the table, causing the incense smoke to twist and turn. Seeing the Empress Dowager laughing so hard, Shen Weiwan simply started dancing, her lilac skirt sweeping across the gold brick floor, kicking up a cloud of dust. "The stone made her grimace, and her hands were rubbing like braised pig's trotters. I even deliberately shouted, 'Look! Auntie's hands are all rubbed raw from the step-shake!"
"Hahahaha!" The Queen Mother laughed so hard she clapped her hands on the armrests. The red gold hairpin on her head swayed askew, and the pearl tassel swept across the teacup, splashing the Biluochun tea and leaving a small stain on the table. "What happened next? Did you give her the hairpin?"
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