The bridal sedan chair carrying Liu and her daughter had barely swung out of the city gate, the morning frost still condensing into white, shattered ice on the bluestone pavement when it was intercepted by two squads of imperial guards. As the leading guard lifted the curtain, the red tassel on his bronze helmet brushed against the edge, startling two sparrows from beneath the eaves. Liu's disheveled face peeked out from the shadows of the sedan, the frayed cuffs of her prison uniform brushing against the guard's iron leaf armor, picking up a few frost flakes.
"By order of the Seventh Prince, you two are being sent to the Purification Department for labor reform." The captain of the guards' iron gloves were clenched until his knuckles turned white, and his sword shone coldly in the morning mist.
"The Purification Department?" Liu spat out of the sedan chair, her spit making a small dent in the frozen stone slab. "I'm the second wife of the general's mansion. How dare you, a bunch of bastards, touch me?"
"General's Mansion?" The captain of the guards sneered, his boot soles rolling over the remaining words of "Exile Package" on the sedan chair curtain, "The master of the General's Mansion is now the Seventh Prince's Consort." He waved his hand, and with the sound of armor rubbing against each other, four burly soldiers stepped forward and dragged the screaming Shen Ruoruo out of the sedan chair. The torn hole in the prisoner's skirt revealed the patched lining.
Chen Weiwan's wedding sedan happened to pass by at that moment. The curtains swished open, and as the pearl tassels swept across the poles, the red-gold and kingfisher hairpins at her temples shone in the morning light. "Cousin, look—" She pointed to the blue-brick and tiled house a hundred meters away, where the smell of pig manure wafted from the walls, shrouded in morning mist. "That's the 'luxurious villa' His Highness has prepared for you. Food, lodging, and even pets are allowed!"
Liu looked in the direction she pointed and saw a spotted pig pushing its nose out of the hole in the wall. She was so angry that she trembled all over: "Chen Weiwan! You little bitch will not die well..."
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Shen Weiwan shook the candied plum in her hand, the amber flesh shining in the morning light, "But aunt, remember to use your ability to steal food, and don't let the pigs steal your rotten water." She pinched the plum core with her fingertips, revealing half a chili pepper hidden inside.
Half an hour later, the gate of the pigpen creaked open. Shen Ruorou leaped to her feet, stepping on the frozen manure. Her brocade shoes were instantly covered in black mud, and the pearl pendant on the upper rolled into the pig's trough. "I won't stay in this stinking place! Let me out!" Her scream startled the sparrows on the beam, but it didn't disturb the large white pigs rooting for food.
"What's the fuss?" the eunuch in charge approached, brandishing a rattan whip. The hem of his purple robe splashed manure as it swept the trough. "The Seventh Prince has orders to sweep the pen three times a day and feed the pigs five times a day." He kicked the tattered straw mat in the corner, and the musty smell mixed with the stench of pigs hit him. "I'll sleep there tonight, keeping the breeding pigs company."
Liu sat slumped on the rotten vegetable leaves, looking at the big white pigs rooting for food and suddenly burst into tears: "I belong to the general's mansion..."
"Stop it!" The eunuch rolled his eyes, shaking his jade ring in the morning light. "You have disgraced the General's Mansion. If you make any more noise, I will lock you up with the boars!" As soon as he finished speaking, the big boar suddenly nudged Liu's skirt, scaring her so much that she rolled and crawled to hide in the corner.
Shen Ruorou suddenly pointed to the distance and screamed: "Mom! Look who's coming!"
Shen Weiwan was seen riding a snow-white horse, Xiao Yu following closely behind, the maids behind them laughing uncontrollably. The half-man-high trough she was holding swung, stale water dripping down the sides, and a few fat white maggots crawled on the rotten vegetable leaves. "Aunt, cousin, I'm bringing you 'afternoon tea'!" Shen Weiwan deliberately dumped the trough into the basin, and the large white pig kicked up mud and water, splashing it everywhere, splashing the hem of Liu's skirt.
Liu watched the pig's snout push against the hem of her skirt, then looked at the pearls trembling on Shen Weiwan's brocade shoes, and her eyes went dark and she fainted. Shen Ruorou had just supported her mother when the boar pushed her against the wall. A silver hairpin covered in pig hair fell out of her bun and tumbled into the cesspool with a clang.
Xiao Yu reined in the horse, and the black cloak swept across Shen Weiwan's shoulders, bringing a gust of wind: "Okay, if you keep teasing me, someone will die."
"I know, Your Highness." Shen Weiwan stuck out her tongue, but when no one was paying attention, she sprinkled a handful of chili powder into the food bowl, "Just think of it as a snack for the pig." The red agate ring on her finger flashed in the morning light, startling the big boar and making it sneeze loudly.
At nightfall, red candles crackled in the bridal chamber. When Shen Weiwan had taken off her third hairpin, Chuntao ran in, holding a piece of oil-paper, the velvet flower on her temples tilted behind her ears. "Miss! The old woman selling flowers in the West Market just gave this to me!"
A jingle was written on the oil paper with charcoal, the ink shimmering damply in the candlelight:
"The Seventh Prince, a wife-protecting madman,
Jailbreak, thrown into the pigpen,
The legitimate daughter laughs, the scumbag cries,
The people of the capital cheered!
Chen Weiwan laughed so hard that she fell backwards. When her hairpin fell on the dressing table, it knocked over her rouge box: "Who made this up? It's even more talkative than a storyteller!" She leaned in front of the candlelight to take a closer look and found that there was a picture of a pig wearing an official hat on the corner of the paper, scratching chili powder with its hooves.
Xiao Yu saw this scene when he lifted the curtain and came in. The Pisces pendant on the jade belt buckle shone faintly: "What are you so happy about?" He took the oil paper and looked at it. Suddenly, he leaned close to Shen Weiwan's ear, and his warm breath brushed her earlobe: "The king also prepared a 'surprise' for them."
"What surprise?" Shen Weiwan tugged at his sleeve and shook it, and the jasmine powder in her hair rubbed against his court robes.
"You'll know tomorrow." He ran his fingertips over the jade pendant on her waist, and suddenly snapped his fingers as if remembering something. "Chun Tao, bring the food box."
The next morning, the pigsty was filled with a sour and foul smell. The Liu family mother and daughter, wearing patched coarse clothes, were mixing food for the pigs with a wooden spoon. Shen Ruorou's hair was clinging to hay, and when she saw Shen Weiwan, the resentment in her eyes was almost dripping, and the wooden spoon made a gurgling sound in the trough.
"Cousin, are you used to living here?" Shen Weiwan shook the food bucket in her hand, and the dried rotten water residue on the bucket wall fell off. "I see this pig is fatter than you."
Shen Ruorou gritted her teeth: "Chen Weiwan, don't be complacent, one day..."
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