"What about Chen Ruoruo?" Chuntao asked.
"Chen Ruorou?" Shen Weiwan curled her lips into a cold smile, "Doesn't she love beauty? Doesn't she want to be a model of noble ladies in the capital? I want to let her know how uncomfortable it feels to be jealous of others." Thinking of the humiliation of being married off in her previous life, a cold light flashed in her eyes, "As for that lame scumbag Li Xiu... Ha, he's probably hiding at home now and dares not go out, right?"
Chuntao thought of the recent rumors in the capital, the joke about Master Li being a "homosexual" that was going viral, and couldn't help but say, "Miss, you are really cruel."
"Cruel?" Shen Weiwan looked up at the azure sky. The sunlight was blinding, but she smiled brightly. "Compared to what they did to me, this is nothing."
The snow, the clubs, and the despair before death in her previous life were etched into her heart like a brand. In this life, she not only wanted to survive, but also to live a prosperous life and make all those who hurt her pay the price!
"Let's go, Chuntao," Shen Weiwan patted Chuntao's shoulder, "Let's eat! For the next meal, I want to eat sweet and sour pork ribs, braised lion's head, and lotus cake, none of which can be missing. Let Liu spit out everything she withheld from me before!"
"Hey!" Chuntao responded with a smile and followed her.
The master and servant disappeared at the end of the corridor. The evening breeze blew, stirring up fallen leaves. Not far away, the old housekeeper was walking towards the storeroom with the accountant, the account books in his hands rustling in the wind.
Outside the General's Mansion, in a humble blue-cloth carriage, the Seventh Prince, Xiao Yu, toyed with a white jade chess piece as he listened to the guard's report: "Your Highness, at the General's Mansion, Miss Shen has taken control of the household affairs, the Liu family has fallen from power, and Li Xiu... is still in hiding."
Xiao Yu's lips curled up into a smile: "Oh? Chen Weiwan is quite quick." He thought of the girl who rolled into a mud monkey in Hanshan Temple, and the determined look in her eyes holding the step-shaking ornaments in front of the mourning hall. A hint of admiration flashed in his eyes, "It seems that the days in the capital are going to be lively."
The guard saw his highness's rare interest and couldn't help asking, "Your Highness, what about Miss Shen..."
"She?" Xiao Yu put down the chess piece and looked towards the general's mansion. "She's an interesting person. I want to see what other tricks she can come up with."
As the sun set, the corner door of the general's mansion opened a crack, and a servant sneaked out with a package in his arms. It was the man Liu sent to the pawnshop.
Shen Weiwan stood upstairs, taking it all in. Chuntao came in with the freshly cooked snow pear soup: "Miss, why haven't you gone to have dinner yet?"
Shen Weiwan took the bowl of soup, the heat shrouding her brows and eyes. "No hurry, let's see what else my aunt wants to pawn for silver." She scooped a spoonful of soup and drank, the sweet taste sliding into her throat. "Chun Tao, what do you say? What should we do when Liu has pawned everything she can?"
Chun Tao thought for a moment and said, "Maybe he will beg you, young lady?"
"Beg me?" Chen Weiwan smiled, but there was no warmth in her eyes. "When she used my mother's hairpin to pay off her gambling debts, she didn't even think of asking me for help." She put down the soup bowl, walked to the window, and looked at the sunset in the sky. "Chun Tao, remember, being kind to your enemies is being cruel to yourself."
Chuntao nodded, not quite understanding.
Shen Weiwan turned around, her face regaining that quirky smile: "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore! Let's go eat! I'm going to the small kitchen to see if there's too much sugar in today's sweet and sour pork ribs!"
"Why!"
The master and servant chatted and laughed as they descended the stairs, their shadows stretched long by the sunlight. Passing the garden, Shen Weiwan spotted several valuable peonies transplanted by Liu Shi. Due to poor care, they were beginning to wither. She squatted down, poked at the soil, and said to Chuntao, "Move these flowers back to my mother's yard and take good care of them."
"yes!"
Watching Chuntao carefully transplant the peonies, Shen Weiwan stood up and patted the dirt on her hands. The haze of her past life seemed to still linger in her heart, but the sunshine of this life was so real and warm. She looked up at the sky, as if she saw her mother's gentle smile.
"Mother, look," she muttered to herself, "I have saved your hairpin, and I will protect the General's Mansion as well."
At dinner, Shen Weiwan found sweet and sour pork ribs with extra sugar and lotus cake sprinkled with nuts in the small kitchen. She ate with satisfaction and watched the servant Liu sent to the pawnshop return dejectedly, presumably because he didn't get any money.
"Miss, the light in Liu's room is still on," Chuntao peeked from the windowsill, "she seems to be arguing with Shen Ruorou."
Shen Weiwan wiped her mouth and burped: "Let them quarrel, the more fierce the better." She stretched, "Chun Tao, let's go shopping tomorrow. I heard that a new rouge shop has opened. I want to buy some good things. I can't let down the jade hairpin given by the Seventh Prince, right?"
Chun Tao covered her mouth and laughed: "Miss, you are thinking about the Seventh Prince's jade hairpin?"
"Of course," Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows, "Such a beautiful jade hairpin must be paired with the best rouge!"
As the night deepened, the General's Mansion gradually quieted down. Shen Weiwan lay on the bed, clutching the red gold hairpin in her hand, feeling its coolness. So much had happened in the past month, from the panic of her rebirth to the cautious steps she was taking now. She had finally earned a place for herself in this cannibalistic harem.
Liu's conspiracy failed, Shen Ruorou's calculations fell through, and Li Xiu became the laughing stock of the capital. And she, Shen Weiwan, was no longer the foolish daughter who was at the mercy of others.
Stupid? That's right, she wanted to be a silly daughter who was not to be messed with!
Anyone who dares to mess with her again will be punished!
Volume 1, finished.
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