From the gilded bronze crane incense burner in the Forbidden City's Hall of Supreme Harmony, curls of ambergris smoke billowed, casting eerie patterns in the morning light. A bright yellow curtain draped from the hall's ceiling, framing the imperial throne as a cloud-bound wonderland. The emperor reclined on a carved red sandalwood dragon throne, a scroll of imperial memorials with imperial seals tucked between his fingers. His eyes, as if hooked, occasionally glanced at the Seventh Prince, Xiao Yu, standing below. The golden brick floor was mirror-perfect. The eunuch on duty, carrying a tea tray, treaded lightly, cat-like, yet evoked a subtle sense of tension in the silence.
"Ahem." The emperor suddenly placed the memorial on the dragon table, his jade ring clacking against the rosewood. "I heard your unmarried daughter-in-law has built some kind of 'museum' in the general's mansion?"
Xiao Yu lowered his eyelids. The silver cloud pattern on his dark brocade robe shone as he bowed, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up. "Father, it's the 'Chen Weiwan Counter-Trap Record Museum.' The ticket price is ten taels, and we've already taken in over a thousand taels in the first three days."
"Ten taels?!" The emperor sat up abruptly, the golden dragons on his bright yellow robe gleaming with his movements. "It's three taels more expensive than a spring viewing ticket in my imperial garden! What treasures did she put in there?"
"Replying to Father," Xiao Yu paused, as if weighing his words, his knuckles unconsciously rubbing the jade pendant at his waist, "There's the ceramic bowl of grains that Liu rubbed her hand against, with half a fingernail still stuck to the bottom. There's also Chen Ruoruo's lilac-colored silk skirt with itchy grass stitched in, the grass debris still hasn't been shaken out. And there's Li Xiu's jade-inlaid jujube wood walking stick. It's said that she plucked the jade Pixiu off the top of the stick and exchanged it for a candy figurine..."
Before he could finish his words, the emperor burst out laughing, nearly dropping the jade ring in his hand. The sun, streaming through the carved window lattices, bathed the wrinkles of his eyes in golden dust. "This girl is really good at saving trouble, displaying all the belongings used by her enemy!"
Before he finished speaking, the eunuch's drawn-out announcement was heard outside the hall, like a fine needle piercing the laughter inside: "The Empress Dowager has arrived..." The emperor hurriedly straightened his clothes, even smoothing out the wrinkles at the hem of his dragon robe three times; Xiao Yu turned around, but saw the Empress Dowager leaning on a dragon-headed cane, followed by a large group of palace maids and eunuchs. The pearl tassels on her phoenix crown swayed with her steps, but her face was colder than the icicles hanging from the eaves.
"My son!" The empress dowager plopped down on the jade-inlaid couch beside the emperor, leaving a deep dent in the gold velvet cushion. "You've got to keep a good eye on your daughter-in-law!" She pointed at the palace maid holding a brocade box behind her, her pearl armor gleaming coldly in the sunlight. "Yesterday I received the 'beauty-nourishing honey cream' she sent me. She said it was made with the first peach blossoms picked in March and mixed with South China Sea pearl powder. But this morning when I woke up—" The empress dowager turned her face to the side, and sure enough, there were a few dense red pimples floating under her temples, which were particularly conspicuous on her face covered with three layers of powder.
The emperor leaned forward to take a closer look. The smell of ambergris was suddenly mixed with a subtle hint of peppercorns. "What's going on? What's that girl Shen Weiwan doing?"
Xiao Yu's heart skipped a beat, his fingertips curled slightly, but his face remained calm: "Mother, maybe Weiwan got the prescription wrong..." Before he finished speaking, Liu Ma, who was beside the Queen Mother, stepped forward and opened the lid of the gold-painted lacquer box. On the pink paste inside, there were a few brown-red particles floating.
"Seventh Prince, look!" Matron Liu's voice trembled, nearly dropping the brocade box. "How can this be pearl powder? It's clearly Sichuan pepper powder used in the kitchen! We asked Miss Chuntao, who delivered the gift, and she said it was a 'secret recipe to dispel bad luck,' specially given to the Empress Dowager to 'refresh her mind'!"
"Peppercorn powder?!" The emperor was so shocked that he half-raised himself from the dragon throne, causing the bright yellow curtains to rustle as he pulled them. "She uses cooking seasonings as a beauty recipe?" Xiao Yu suppressed a laugh, and suddenly his mind flashed back to what Chen Weiwan had said in his ear yesterday: "The Queen Mother always thinks I'm too wild, so I'll give her a 'smokingly wild' beauty cream. I guarantee she'll avoid me when she sees me!"
The Empress Dowager snorted, the kingfisher phoenix on her phoenix corona trembling slightly with her movements. "I think she did it on purpose! The other day, she sent a box of 'health pills' to the virtuous concubine, saying they would refresh her mind. But she ended up running to the toilet eight times in the middle of the night. The imperial physician, after examining her pulse, said, 'This croton oil is even stronger than the one in the Imperial Pharmacy!'"
"Puff—" The emperor couldn't help laughing, and the tea he spilled almost splashed onto the memorial. He quickly covered his mouth with his bright yellow sleeves, and the gold thread on his dragon robe was stained by the tea, leaving a small dark mark: "The virtuous concubine is so picky every day. I'm afraid Weiwan will teach her a lesson?" Xiao Yu smiled secretly, thinking of Shen Weiwan's smug look when she sprinkled osmanthus frosting on the meatballs: "Sweet first, then bitter. As a person, you must understand the taste of life, right?"
Seeing that the emperor not only did not join in the discussion but was laughing so hard that he fell backwards, the empress dowager clenched her dragon-headed cane in anger and said, "I don't care! After this marriage is completed, I will definitely stay eight feet away from her, so that she won't trick me into falling into the Taiye Lake one day without knowing it!" The emperor looked at the empress dowager's angry expression, and suddenly turned his head, his eyes with three parts curiosity and seven parts worry, looking straight at Xiao Yu: "Yu'er, tell me the truth - your wife is so troublesome, will she set her sights on me one day?"
Xiao Yu finally couldn't help but laugh out loud. He stepped forward and bowed, his dark robe sweeping across the golden brick floor. "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Given Weiwan's personality, she'll definitely hand over the shareholding agreement before she scams anyone, and ask if you want a 30% share of the profits." The Emperor was so amused by his amusement that even the eunuchs standing nearby smiled secretly. The Empress Dowager couldn't help but smile, her pearl armor tapping a brisk rhythm on the armrest of the couch. "You child, all you know is to protect her!"
As the noise was going on, another announcement came from outside the palace, more joyous than the previous one: "Miss Shen from the General's Mansion, requests an audience with the Seventh Prince—" The Emperor and the Empress Dowager exchanged glances, each seeing curiosity in the other's eyes. Xiao Yu smiled fondly and turned to greet her, only to find Shen Weiwan, dressed in a goose-yellow lotus-patterned skirt. The silver threads on the hem gleamed in the sunlight, peeking through the palace door like a kitten stalking a fish.
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