Xiao Yu squatted down in surprise, and gently touched the tip of Liu Ruolin's red and swollen nose with his folding fan: "Oh? Weiwan's wedding dress has this effect?" He leaned close to the hem of Shen Weiwan's skirt and smelled it, and suddenly laughed softly, "Well, it is quite fragrant, but it smells like pepper, a specialty of the northwest - could it be that the embroiderer of Jinxiu Pavilion sprinkled it when cooking?"
Chen Weiwan immediately answered, her eyes curved into crescents: "Your Highness has a good nose! The embroiderers must have been hungry after staying up all night, so they used the wedding dress as a chopping board to roll noodles." She turned her head and bowed to Liu Ruolin and the others, "Sisters, if you are fine, please go back. My wedding dress is precious and can't withstand a sneeze, let alone someone rubbing it on your face."
Liu Ruolin was so angry that she was shaking all over, but she was blocked by the sneeze and couldn't speak. She could only glare at Shen Weiwan with a resentful look and stumbled out with her people. Before leaving, Lin Wanyue tripped over the wedding cake and fell flat on her face. The golden hairpin on her bun fell to the ground, causing the onlookers downstairs to laugh.
"Hahaha! Look at Lin Wanyue's butt, it's like it was kicked by a donkey!" As soon as Liu Ruolin left, Shen Weiwan squatted on the ground with laughter, and the golden phoenix on her wedding dress bloomed a radiant flower under her.
Xiao Yu pinched her red cheek helplessly, and rubbed her burning earlobe with his fingertips: "Next time someone comes to make trouble, I will have someone plant a chili powder mine at the door, and see who dares to come in."
"That's so boring," Shen Weiwan raised an eyebrow, grabbed the chili powder tassel hanging from his waist and shook it, "If you want to trick them, you have to do it clearly, so that they will come to you willingly - for example, stick chili powder on the soles of their shoes, and every time they take a step and sneeze, it will be like stepping on a firecracker, how festive!"
Xiao Yu laughed and pulled out a small gilded box from his sleeve. "I've prepared a gift for you. I promise it's better than chili powder."
Shen Weiwan opened it and saw a palm-sized sachet inside. A crooked piglet was embroidered on it with red thread, and the pig's nose was embroidered in the shape of a chili pepper. The sachet exuded a strong peppery smell. "Your Highness, are you asking me to hang the sachet around my neck and choke wherever I go?" She laughed so hard that tears came out.
"Almost." Xiao Yu helped her tie the sachet around her waist, his fingertips brushing against the phoenix eyes on her wedding dress. "Next time, if anyone upsets you, just wave it in front of them three times. I guarantee it will be more effective than an imperial decree."
The two of them walked out of Jinxiu Pavilion, chatting and laughing. The sunset stretched their shadows far out. People on the street saw Shen Weiwan's wedding dress and gathered around. An old man selling candied haws shouted at the top of his voice: "The Seventh Prince's Consort is so beautiful! Those ladies just now were like they were possessed by a demon. Their sneezes were louder than my donkey's!"
Another woman holding a child chimed in, "I heard they wanted to mess things up, but ended up getting screwed over! Hahaha, the Seventh Prince's wife is even smarter than the clever ghosts in the City God Temple!"
Listening to these discussions, Shen Weiwan felt sweeter than eating honey. She leaned on Xiao Yu's shoulder and looked at the chili powder tassel hanging from his waist - it had been hanging there since yesterday and hadn't been taken off yet, like a walking spice stall. "Your Highness," she suddenly tugged at his sleeve, "Do you think our future children will be like us, born with the gene to cheat people?"
Xiao Yu looked down at her, the tenderness in his eyes could drown one. "As you wish." He paused, deliberately putting on a stern face. "But if anyone dares to deceive me, I will punish him by sending him to the clan office to drink croton soup for three months."
"That's not necessarily true," Shen Weiwan smiled slyly, poking his chest with her fingertips, "Maybe he's even better than you and can trick you into drinking croton soup on his own initiative."
As the sun sets, the laughter of the two, mixed with the shouts of street vendors, drifts towards the Seventh Prince's Mansion. The lights there are bright, like a starry sky filled with stars. Shen Weiwan knows that after tomorrow she will be the Seventh Prince's Consort, but she is still the same Shen Weiwan who loves to argue and dig holes. And the man beside her who is willing to play along with her is her greatest support in this life.
Back at the general's mansion, the old housekeeper leaned against the doorframe to look at her wedding dress, his turbid tears falling on the lapels: "General... the eldest lady is finally getting married in grand style... If your spirit is in heaven, please look at this cloud brocade, look at this phoenix..."
"Grandpa Housekeeper!" Chen Weiwan quickly took two steps back. "Don't let your tears fall on your wedding dress. The pearls will change color if they absorb salt!" She winked at Chuntao. "Go get a clean handkerchief and make a pot of chrysanthemum tea for Grandpa Housekeeper, so he doesn't cry himself to death."
Chuntao ran away, laughing. Chen Weiwan walked to the window and looked at the Chiwen on the roof of the Seventh Prince's residence. The lights there were lighting up one by one, as if someone had scattered a handful of stars in the night sky. She touched the chili powder sachet at her waist, and a familiar smile rose at the corner of her mouth. Tomorrow, when she got married, she had to hide the chili powder in her sleeve. Who knows, some ignorant "sneezer spirit" might come to cause trouble.
On the day of the wedding, red silk covered the streets of the capital. As Liu Ruolin, indeed, tried to disrupt the ceremony by blending in with the crowd, Shen Weiwan "accidentally" flicked her sleeve, sending the chili powder she had hidden scattering in the wind. Soon, a flurry of sneezes erupted in front of the viewing platform. Liu Ruolin was the first to be hit, her nose running. Guards mistook her for a lunatic and dragged her out, making her the latest laughingstock of the capital.
During the ceremony, Xiao Yu lifted up Shen Weiwan's red veil. Under the candlelight, she smiled with her eyebrows curved: "Your Highness, from now on, our 'deceiving' business must be taken to a higher level!"
He lowered his head and kissed her, his voice filled with laughter: "As you command, my treacherous princess. From now on, I will be your accomplice, take the blame for you, and pass you the chili powder."
From then on, a new legend spread throughout the capital: the Seventh Prince's wife was not only stunningly beautiful, but also a master of deception, capable of sending sneezes cascading down her spine with a simple flick of her sleeve. The Seventh Prince was her most loyal accomplice. Together, the two of them lived a life more lively than a play, a source of endless amusement for the people of the capital. As for those clueless rivals? They had long since been left behind, barely even worthy of being a laughingstock.
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