The early summer sun was at its peak, its scorching rays scorching the bluestone pavement of the General's Mansion, the steam rising from it threatening to melt the soles of shoes. Shen Weiwan, wearing a pair of three-inch bow shoes woven from soft satin and embellished with pearls, her skirt brushed the wisteria blossoms draped beneath the porch as she sauntered towards Tingzhu Courtyard. The pomegranate tree outside the porch was in full bloom, its fiery red petals falling onto the bluestone pavement, a striking resemblance to the irritating red bumps on Shen Ruoruo's body.
"Stop! The second young lady is recuperating, no one is allowed to get close!" The old woman at the gate of the bamboo courtyard stopped her with a frown, the wrinkles on her face like dried orange peels.
Chuntao quickly slipped a piece of silver into the woman's hand and said with a smile, "Madam Zhang, my young lady is here to visit the Second Young Lady. She brought some mung bean paste to cool off. She won't be away for a moment." The silver felt heavy in the woman's palm. She weighed it twice before reluctantly stepping aside, muttering, "This is retribution! A good girl is now covered in rashes..."
Walking around the moss-covered Taihu rocks, the air was filled with a strong herbal scent, mixed with a faint scratching sound, like a cat's claws scraping against the window lattice. Shen Weiwan lifted the half-worn Xiangfei bamboo curtain and saw Shen Ruoruo lying on the large carved bed. Her lake blue nightgown was wrinkled into a ball, and her exposed forearms were covered with dense red bumps. From a distance, it looked like a handful of dried red beans were scattered on them. Some places were even scratched so hard that blood was seeping out.
"Cousin, I'm here to see you!" Shen Weiwan smiled, her eyebrows curved, like a sunflower facing the sun, and the gilded food box in her hand flickered with tiny gleams of light. "I heard you weren't feeling well, so I asked the kitchen to make some chilled mung bean paste. It's the best for clearing heat and relieving itching."
Shen Ruoruo raised her head suddenly, the loose hair on her forehead stuck to her sweaty temples, her eyes were red and swollen like ripe peaches, with bloodshot eyes: "Stop pretending! Are you here to laugh at me?" She struggled to sit up, and suddenly felt a strange itch in her lower back. She couldn't help but arch her body and rub it against the bedpost. The hem of her pajamas was lifted up, revealing scratches on her exposed calves, as if they had been scratched by a wild cat.
"Look at what you said," Shen Weiwan covered her mouth in feigned surprise, the emerald armor on her fingertips flashing a cold light in the sunlight, "We are sisters who are connected by bones, so I am worried about you." She took two steps closer, sniffed deliberately, and frowned slightly, "Ah, cousin, you smell really strong, did you move the medicine shop into the house?"
"Who cares!" Shen Ruorou turned over and sat up, the quilt slipping off to reveal more red bumps. She no longer cared about her image and scratched her forearm fiercely with her nails, "Get out! Who asked you to be so kind!"
"Cousin, what happened to you?" Shen Weiwan tilted her head, her apricot eyes full of "concern", "It doesn't look like an ordinary mosquito bite to me, but more like... an allergy?" She suddenly clapped her hands, a look of sudden enlightenment on her face, "That's right! The other day I learned a folk remedy from the old nanny in the mansion, which is specially used to treat allergic red bumps. It works very well!"
Shen Ruoruo paused in her scratching motion and subconsciously asked, "What recipe?" She regretted it as soon as she said it and wanted to bite off her tongue - how could she ask her enemy for advice!
Chen Weiwan, however, seemed oblivious to her embarrassment. She took a half step forward and lowered her voice mysteriously, saying, "The old lady said that applying the wet mud from the corner of the wall to the itchy area would remove the poison and relieve the itching instantly!" As she spoke, she pretended to take off her shoes. "Wait a minute, I'll go get you some wet mud from the east corner. The soil there is the most nourishing..."
"You dare!" Shen Ruoruo screamed and backed away, her back slamming hard against the carved railing at the head of the bed with a dull "bang". "Chen Weiwan, what are you planning? You want me to make a fool of myself by being covered in mud, right?" She was so angry that her whole body was shaking, but the itch in her lower back started again, and her fingers uncontrollably reached into her clothes.
"Cousin, why do you miss me so much?" Shen Weiwan pursed her lips in grievance, her eyes slightly red. "That mud is a good thing. Last year, I got a big mosquito bite and it was cured with this method. Look, it's like this..." She bent down and pretended to pick at the cracks in the bricks at the foot of the bed. The hem of her pomegranate-red skirt swept across Shen Ruoruo's brocade quilt, bringing up a gust of wind.
"Get out! Get out of here!" Shen Ruoruo grabbed the mutton-fat jade pillow beside her and threw it at her, but Shen Weiwan dodged it lightly by leaning sideways. The jade pillow fell to the ground with a "bang", leaving a crack.
"Oh, cousin," Shen Weiwan hid behind Chuntao, her voice filled with tears, "It's okay if you treat my kindness as a donkey's liver and lungs, but why did you still hit me? Let's go, Chuntao, don't disturb my cousin from 'recovering from her injuries'."
As the master and servant reached the door, they ran into Liu, accompanied by a group of maids, who rushed in aggressively. She wore a scarlet-gold headband with emerald greenery, and the golden peony on the hem of her skirt trembled with anger. "Chen Weiwan! Are you bullying Ruorou again? I knew you had bad intentions!"
"Aunt, you've wronged me!" Shen Weiwan immediately put on a tearful expression, her eyes red like ripe cherries, "I was just thinking about my cousin, so I specially sent some mung bean soup. Who knew that my cousin would treat me like an enemy when she saw me, and even hit me with a jade pillow..."
"You still dare to quibble!" Liu pointed at her nose, the jade armor almost poking Shen Weiwan's face, "Ruorou is fine, why is there a bump all over her body? If it wasn't you who did it, who did it?"
"Aunt, you can't say that," Shen Weiwan took a half step back, her voice suddenly rising, choking with a hint of grievance, "How many pairs of eyes were watching at the Spring Banquet? It was my cousin who hid grass scraps in her skirt that caused this, how can you blame me?" She paused, as if remembering something, and added, her voice as light as a mosquito's hum, "Besides, if I really had that ability, why don't I let you grow some bumps too? So that you can have a taste of this..."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
