The hanging flower gate in the west wing of the Prince's Palace has recently become a popular check-in spot among Beijing's aristocracy. Kengkeng and Wawa carried two small, gilded stools and sat inside the doorway, effectively setting up the admissions office for the "Scam Academy." Kengkeng hung a wooden board on his chest, with "Admission Instructions" scrawled in cinnabar, and a ferocious monster painted at the bottom. Wawa held a bamboo basket filled with pearl and jade hairpins, each one adorned with a glittering icing—of course, beneath the icing lay a further "surprise."
"Hey, hey, hey! New students are signing up!" Kengkeng waved the fake gold in his hand. It was a pebble coated in gold dust, dazzling in the sunlight. "If you want to join our academy and learn real skills, let me trick you first! This is the entrance test!"
The servants passing by crowded around the door to watch the fun, pointing at the "gold" in Kengkeng's hand and laughing: "Young prince, why does your gold look like the copper lump from the silversmith Wang next door?"
"You know nothing!" Kengkeng hugged the gold to his chest, his chubby face tense like a little adult. "This is called 'The Art of Making a Fake Look Real', a required introductory course in our school! Want to sign up? Let me trade this gold for one of your treasures first. Only if you win will you pass the test!"
As they were talking, Lin Yueru, the daughter of the Minister of Personnel, passed by carrying a jade-studded hand warmer. Seeing the scene in the doorway, she curled her lips. The maid beside her whispered, "Miss, these are the little devils in the Seventh Prince's Mansion. I heard they specialize in ripping people off..."
"Hmph, what kind of trouble can a little brat like that make?" Lin Yueru raised her chin and deliberately raised her voice, "What kind of wild kid is making trouble here? He's blocking my way!"
Wawa immediately jumped down from the bench, like a small animal pouncing on its prey, and held up a hairpin inlaid with pink tourmaline: "Sister, would you like to buy a hairpin? Wearing it can attract a prince consort! This is a special 'son-in-law-attracting artifact' made in our hospital!"
Lin Yueru looked down and saw that the hairpin was crudely made and the tourmaline looked like glass. She burst out laughing: "You little fool, how dare you sell such a crude thing? The pure gold hairpin on my head is enough to buy your basket of junk a hundred times!" She deliberately shook the jewelry on her head, and the gems glittered dazzlingly in the sun.
"Oh?" Kengkeng's eyes suddenly lit up, like a wolf cub seeing fat meat. He held the biggest piece of "gold" and came over. "Sister, can I exchange this heirloom gold brick for your hairpin? Look at this gold, it's so shiny!"
Lin Yueru almost laughed out loud, thinking that this little brat was really stupid. She picked up the "gold" and weighed it: "Little fool, this broken stone is worthy of exchanging for my red gold hairpin?" She deliberately took off the hairpin and shook it, "See? It's an heirloom from my ancestors. I won't sell it for less than 1,000 taels of gold!"
"Then let's switch!" Hekeng suddenly stuffed the "gold" into Lin Yueru's hand and quickly grabbed her hairpin. Lin Yueru was eager to take advantage of the situation and was not prepared for the child's quick hands. With a "click", the hairpin was in Hekeng's hand.
"Hey! You're stealing something!" Lin Yueru finally reacted and reached out to grab it.
"Mom! Someone stole my heirloom gold bricks!" Kengkeng ran to the yard holding his hairpin, shouting as he ran. Shen Weiwan had been hiding behind the door to watch the excitement. When she heard the shouting, she immediately rushed out and pointed at Lin Yueru and scolded: "You are so shameless, Lin Yueru! You stole the child's things in broad daylight, do you still have any shame?"
Lin Yueru's face flushed with anxiety: "Who stole it? He exchanged it for a stone!"
"This is a gold brick sent as tribute from the Western Regions!" He raised his "gold" and knocked it against the stone steps. Gold dust fell down, revealing the gray stone inside. "Look! You broke it! Pay me one thousand taels of gold!"
The servants watching burst into laughter. Lin Yueru then realized she had been deceived and trembled with anger: "You...you little liar!"
"Our school's motto is 'fight fraud with fraud!'" Kengkeng raised his little face and hung the red gold hairpin around his neck. "Want to enroll? Here's the tuition! Next!"
Lin Yueru was about to argue when she suddenly felt an itch on the back of her hand. Looking down, she saw a cricket nestling there. "Ah!" she screamed, shaking her hands, and the other jewelry in her hair fell to the ground. Wa Wa had slipped a hairpin into her hairpin, startling the cricket in its center and allowing it to scramble out.
"Don't be afraid, sister," Wawa blinked her innocent eyes and pinched a cricket out of Lin Yueru's hair. "This is called 'Insect Attack Technique', an advanced course in our school!"
Lin Yueru was so frightened that her face turned pale. She didn't even bother to pick up the jewelry. She covered her hands and ran away, and the maid followed her, rolling and crawling. Kengkeng and Wawa chased after her, shouting, "You haven't paid the tuition yet! Bring pearls and jade next time!"
Shen Weiwan walked out from behind the door, slapping her thigh with laughter, picked up the red gold hairpin on the ground and weighed it: "Okay, son, this hairpin can be worth fifty taels of silver!"
"That's it!" Kengkeng hung the hairpin on Shen Weiwan's neck, "Don't you even look at who my mother is!"
At this time, Xiao Yu came back from outside. Seeing the chaos at the gate and the hairpin on Shen Weiwan's neck, he sighed helplessly: "Are you blackmailing me again? Minister Lin just saw me in the palace, his face turned green with anger, saying that your son cheated his daughter of the family hairpin."
"What do you mean by cheating?" Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows, took off her hairpin and stuffed it into Xiao Yu's hand. "This is called business negotiation! Look..." She shook the purse in her hand, and it jingled. "Today I received three broken hairpins, two fake jade pendants, and this red gold hairpin! Our business is booming!"
Xiao Yu looked at the colorful things in his purse and didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Just indulge them. I'm afraid they will cheat the Prince's Mansion out of it in the future."
"This is called a disciple surpassing his master!" Shen Weiwan stuffed the purse into Xiao Yu's pocket, "Go, buy preserves for the children, and the rest will be used as our hospital development fund!"
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