Chen Weiwan laughed so hard she almost broke the oil paper: "Isn't this storyteller the one who has clairvoyance and super hearing on me? He even knows that the braised eggs are marinated with imperial concubine wine!"
Xiao Yu looked at her smiling face with eyes reflecting the sunshine, and couldn't help but scratch her nose: "Okay, let's go back to the palace. The emperor is still waiting to taste your chili eggs."
Back at the Seventh Prince's Mansion, Shen Weiwan had just taken off her pearl hairpin when Chuntao came in holding a bright yellow envelope: "Miss, an expedited letter from the palace!"
The envelope was inscribed with the Emperor's flourishing calligraphy, and stained with a few ink smudges:
"My daughter-in-law, I heard you asked the noble lady to learn to crow like a rooster? Excellent! I reward you with a golden whistle (see attachment). Next time, bring a hen that lays golden eggs into the palace and have her crow at the dawn every day at the Concubine's door! Also: send me ten pounds of chili eggs, I want to eat them with Korean ginseng."
The attachment was a brocade box. When it was opened, a pure gold whistle lay inside. The whistle was engraved with a plump hen, and the hen's claws were stepping on a golden egg. Shen Weiwan laughed so hard that she couldn't straighten her waist. She handed the golden whistle to Xiao Yu: "Look at your father, you are becoming more and more like an old naughty boy. Can you blow this golden hen whistle?"
Xiao Yu took the golden whistle, his fingers heavy from the weight. "I'm afraid Father wants to turn the harem into a chicken farm." He shook his head helplessly. "I understand now. If you two get together, this Forbidden City will turn into a vegetable market sooner or later."
"Isn't that good?" Shen Weiwan raised an eyebrow and hung the golden whistle on her waist. "In the future, we can open a chicken farm in our mansion. The eggs will be perfect for making braised eggs, and we can also pay tribute to our father."
Xiao Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he held her in his arms and smelled the jasmine powder in her hair. "Okay, okay, I'll do as you say. But next time you use the whistle, remember to tell me in advance, so as not to scare me too much."
"I know!" Shen Weiwan agreed, but secretly stuffed a bamboo whistle into his sleeve. "When you blow this, it sounds like a duck, 'quack'. Isn't it fun?"
Xiao Yu sighed, pinching the whistle in his sleeve with his fingertips, feeling both amused and helpless: "I've really fallen into the hands of you, little devil."
At night, Shen Weiwan was researching a new braised egg recipe in her study when Xiao Yu pushed the door open, holding a secret report. "Lady Liu locked herself in her room after returning home and reportedly smashed three sets of tea sets."
"Oh?" Shen Weiwan sprinkled chili powder into the marinade without raising her head, "Then where are the tea eggs in her skirt pocket?"
"It's said she threw it into the courtyard, where it hit a passing eunuch." Xiao Yu placed the secret report on the table. "Father also told you to bring more eggs next time you go to the palace, saying he wants to see 'hen fighting phoenix'."
Shen Weiwan choked with laughter and coughed, "Father's metaphor... is absolutely amazing." She raised her head, a cunning glint in her eyes, "Your Highness, do you think it would be more interesting if I brought a real rooster into the palace next time?"
Xiao Yu held his forehead and said, "I suggest you bring hens that only lay bad eggs, so that my father won't fight for them."
From outside the window came the sound of the night watchman's clapper, signaling the second watch, mingled with the faint murmur of a children's rhyme. A new jingle drifted into the study on the night breeze: "The imperial concubine's whistle blew relentlessly, and the nobles were frightened and spun in circles. Clack-clack, clack-clack, the harem has become a chicken farm!"
Shen Weiwan leaned against Xiao Yu's chest, listening to his steady heartbeat and recalling Concubine Liu's humiliation during the day. She couldn't help but laugh. She knew that life in the harem was destined to be turbulent, but with Xiao Yu's indulgence and the emperor's "support," those green tea girls who tried to harass her would sooner or later be defeated by her "silly tactics." And her legend of "deceiving others" would continue to write more absurd and interesting chapters in this deep palace, accompanied by the aroma of braised tea eggs and the "cluck" of whistles. After all, in the Dasheng Dynasty, what could be more satisfying than watching your enemies be humiliated by your own whims?
At that moment, in Concubine Liu's palace, the maids were carefully cleaning up the scattered debris. Concubine Liu looked in the mirror, her face pale with anger. She suddenly grabbed the tea egg on the table and threw it at the mirror, "Chen Weiwan! I will never let you go!" The mirror shattered, and the cracks reflected her distorted face, but no trace of her former dignity was visible. Meanwhile, in the streets outside the palace walls, the story of "The Concubine teasing the Concubine with the whistle" had spread throughout the streets and alleys, becoming the most talked-about joke among the people after dinner.
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