She turned to leave, but suddenly remembered something and turned back, a sweet smile on her face again. "By the way, Auntie, I forgot to tell you that your reputation as the 'Moving Fountain' is now known throughout the capital. Yesterday, I went to the West Market, and a vendor selling candied haws made up a story about your deeds, 'The Croton Fairy Makes Trouble at the Imperial Hospital,' and it's selling like hotcakes!"
Liu was so angry that she was shaking all over. She suddenly grabbed the broken toilet bucket beside her and threw it at Shen Weiwan. Shen Weiwan was prepared and dodged flexibly. The toilet bucket hit the iron bars with a loud "clang" and the remaining filth inside splashed all over Liu herself. The prisoners around laughed so hard that they fell over. A blind old prisoner slapped his thigh and shouted: "Good! Good job! Hit another one!"
Shen Weiwan laughed so hard that her shoulders shook as she pulled Chuntao out of the prison. Chuntao muttered softly as they walked, "Miss, you're being too ruthless. If you keep going like this, I'm afraid Liu will really die of anger in prison."
"Angry to death?" Shen Weiwan raised an eyebrow. The sunlight shone on her face through the crack in the cell door, making her eyes sparkle. "That would be such a blessing for her. I want her to live and listen to her own jokes every day. She can't live or die. That's what I call happiness!"
As soon as I walked out of the dark prison area, I saw Xiao Yu leaning against the corridor pillar. The hem of his dark brocade robe was stained with cobwebs, and it was obvious that he had been waiting for quite some time. He was playing with a mutton-fat jade ring in his hand. Seeing Chen Weiwan come out, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you going to your aunt to show off again?"
"How can this be called showing off your presence?" Chen Weiwan naturally took his arm, her fingertips brushing against the silver cloud pattern embroidered on his sleeve, "I'm going to 'visit the patient' and give her a bowl of 'Love Coptis Soup' to show my filial piety as a niece~"
Xiao Yu chuckled softly and reached out to brush away a piece of straw stuck in her hair. "I heard you gave her a pair of couplets?"
"Yes, yes!" Chuntao answered quickly, her face dimpled with a smile. "The first line reads 'Failed to escape prison, ended up being diabolical,' and the second line reads 'Attempted poisoning, one's own damnedest,' with the horizontal banner 'Serves you right!' The prison warden said it's been posted on the door to Liu's cell. It's become a new attraction!"
Xiao Yu laughed even harder, and couldn't help pinching Shen Weiwan's cheek: "You are the one with the most tricks. But seriously, Liu's case will be finalized tomorrow. You are exiled three thousand miles away, don't you really want to go and see it?"
"No, no," Shen Weiwan shook her head quickly, her tone filled with disdain. "It's so boring to watch her being taken away in such a dusty state. It's better to go to our 'Museum of Tricks'. I heard that they've added a sound effect device for the 'Croton Fountain'. If you stand in front of the display case, you can hear my aunt's 'wonderful performance' at the Imperial Hospital!"
Xiao Yu sighed helplessly, but let her drag him out. When they reached the prison gate, the dazzling sunlight shone on the two of them. Shen Weiwan suddenly stopped, looked back at the deep prison area, and a sly smile curled her lips. The pain and betrayal she had once inflicted on her now turned into the pleasure of revenge, like willow catkins flying in the sky on a spring day, light and floating, yet everywhere.
"Your Highness," she suddenly spoke, her eyes sparkling like diamonds, "when Liu is exiled, shall we go and see her off?"
Xiao Yu raised an eyebrow, his tone filled with doting helplessness: "How do we send it? Do we need to prepare a farewell banquet?"
Shen Weiwan leaned close to his ear, smiling like a fox that had stolen a chicken, her warm breath brushing against his earlobe: "I plan to give her a cart of croton seeds, so that she can slowly make up for it on the way. What do you think? If I cook croton porridge for her every day, can I make her walk three thousand miles into a 'mobile fountain line'?"
Xiao Yu was amused by her and laughed heartily. He reached out and rubbed the top of her head, and the pearl hairpin in her black hair made a crisp sound. "Okay, okay, I'll do as you say. But you have to promise me, don't put coptis root in her rice anymore. It's really annoying me. Who would want to be a laughing stock for you?"
"I know, I know!" Chen Weiwan stuck out her tongue and pulled him towards the carriage parked at the alley entrance. Inside, sweet osmanthus cakes and warm tea had already been prepared, dispelling the bad luck brought by the prison. She leaned against Xiao Yu's arms, inhaling the crisp cedar scent on him. Thinking of Liu's resentful look just now, she felt an immense sense of relief.
In this life, she was no longer the foolish daughter of a noble family who let herself be manipulated. She would gradually reclaim what was owed to her and what had hurt her, with interest. And this was only the beginning.
As for Liu? It was said that during her exile, she became a celebrity in the escort team due to her "croton pod syndrome." She had to find a place to relieve herself before dawn every day, often delaying the entire team's journey and being beaten black and blue by the escorting officials. The fellow exiles even coined a rhyme: "Croton Fairy Liu, wherever she goes, stinks. She can't finish the three thousand miles, and spends every day in the toilet..." The cart of croton pods that Shen Weiwan had specially sent to her was discovered hidden in a luggage cart by the escorting officials on the tenth day of her exile. Furious, they hung her up and gave her thirty lashes. From then on, the nickname "Moving Fountain" spread throughout the prefectures and counties along the exile route.
This was probably what Shen Weiwan meant by "finishing the fight"—not only to inflict pain, but also to make you the laughingstock of the world, a life of ridicule. Meanwhile, Shen Weiwan herself, under Xiao Yu's doting gaze, nibbled on a sweet osmanthus cake and began to ponder her next target. After all, in her life's thrilling drama, the climax had just begun.
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