The early summer breeze, wrapped in the fragrance of the old locust tree's blossoms, rustled the puzzle sign hanging in front of the general's mansion. Shen Weiwan lay on the soft couch by the window, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the lotus pattern carved into the window frame. The sunlight filtered through the carvings, casting tiny specks of light on the back of her hand, but it couldn't warm her turbulent mind—all filled with the Seventh Prince Xiao Yu's words, "First, find a chef who can make the osmanthus cake you love."
"Miss, you've been staring at that sign for almost an hour!" Chun Tao walked in, carrying a white, blue-patterned ice tray filled with freshly cut, chilled watermelon. Water droplets still condensed on the red soil. "Are you still pondering the Seventh Prince's 'cook theory'?"
Shen Weiwan snapped back to her senses, grabbed the pillow beside her and threw it at Chuntao, but the tips of her ears flushed uncontrollably: "Go to hell! I was just thinking... thinking that his answer was completely out of line!"
Chun Tao deftly caught the cushion and smiled as she looked at her mistress's reddened earlobes. "But I see that your Highness's answer, while crooked, is particularly endearing. It's nothing like Chen Bianxiu from the Hanlin Academy, who goes on and on about all sorts of nonsense, making my temples throb."
Shen Weiwan forked a piece of watermelon and stuffed it into her mouth. The cool juice slid down her throat, but it couldn't suppress the inexplicable heat in her heart. Thinking of Xiao Yu's deliberately drawn-out tone when he said this, and the sly smile in his eyes, her heart felt like it was being gently tickled by a kitten's paw, itching. "Likeable?" she mumbled vaguely, watermelon juice dripping from the corner of her mouth, "Just a royal child who knows how to talk..."
Even so, her mind couldn't help but flash back to the face of that lame scumbag Li Xiu from her past life—all he could do was pretend to be affectionate while holding sage books, but how could he have the wit to make her laugh with just a casual remark like Xiao Yu? In comparison, Xiao Yu's "silly wisdom" was like a pure lotus blooming in a filthy quagmire!
"Miss, there's been another noise of smashing things in Xiefang Courtyard!" the servant came running in breathlessly, beads of sweat still on his forehead. "I heard it was the Seventh Prince who came to your rescue yesterday. Liu was so angry that she smashed the jade hairpin on her dressing table!"
Chen Weiwan sneered and threw the watermelon rind into the fruit bowl. The crisp sound of the watermelon rind was full of disdain. "Go ahead and smash it. It would be best if you smash all the jade in her room." She stood up neatly and adjusted her moon-white skirt. The silver-threaded lotus flowers embroidered on the hem of her skirt shone with her movements. "Chuntao, come with me to the front yard. Don't let some people think that I, Chen Weiwan, am a soft persimmon that can be easily manipulated."
In front of the red lacquer gate of the General's Mansion, Liu was blocking the porch with Shen Ruoruo, waving a frayed marriage certificate in her hand, her makeup falling off in anger: "Chen Weiwan! Your father clearly arranged a marriage with the Wang family when he was still alive. Don't think you can break off the engagement just because you have the Seventh Prince's support!"
Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows and looked at her, her eyes full of teasing: "Oh? Which Wang family? Is it the butcher Wang who sells pork in the east city, or the young master Wang who walks with a limp in the west city?"
Liu's face flushed the color of liver. "Don't be so unreasonable! He's the son of the Minister of Personnel!"
"Minister of Personnel?" Chen Weiwan covered her mouth in feigned surprise, but her voice was deliberately raised high. "But why did I hear that Prince Wang just took in an eighth concubine last month? I heard that she was the top pick redeemed from the Qinhuai River!"
The onlookers burst into laughter, pointing and talking like a tide. Liu was trembling with anger. Just as she was about to retort, a clear voice suddenly interrupted, with a somewhat lazy smile: "Is Liu trying to embarrass Miss Shen again?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the Seventh Prince Xiao Yu riding a tall horse. His dark brocade robe fluttered in the wind, and the black jade on the jade belt buckle at his waist shone coldly in the sunlight. In his left hand, he was holding a food box, and a faint sweet fragrance emanated from the crack in the box lid. It was obvious that he had brought food to Shen Weiwan again.
Seeing this, Liu's eyes rolled around, and she suddenly slapped her thigh and cried, "Your Highness, please help me! Chen Weiwan, relying on your support, actually wants to break off her engagement with the Wang family. How can I explain this to the general in the afterlife?"
Xiao Yu dismounted and handed the food box to Chun Tao beside him. He glanced at the marriage certificate in Liu's hand and said, "Oh? I wonder when it will be your turn to decide the marriage of the general's daughter?"
Liu was choked by the question, but she still insisted: "I am her aunt, so naturally I have to worry about her lifelong affairs!"
"Aunt?" Xiao Yu's lips curled up in a cold arc. "As far as I know, the general's household finances should have been managed by my mother, but now it has fallen into the hands of my aunt. I'm afraid there is another hidden reason behind this, right?"
These words were like thunder. Liu's face turned pale in an instant. She subconsciously took a half step back and could not utter another word. Shen Weiwan watched from the side and laughed secretly. The Seventh Prince's seemingly casual words always hit Liu's sore spot accurately. It was much more powerful than her noisy "sand sculpture operation"!
Xiao Yu turned to look at Shen Weiwan, and the coldness in his eyes instantly melted into a gentle smile, like the warm spring sun: "Miss Shen, I have some new milk ice cream. Would you like to taste it with me?"
Shen Weiwan met the anticipation in his eyes, her heart racing uncontrollably. She deliberately put on a stern face, twisting the hem of her skirt with her fingertips. "Your Highness's answer yesterday was quite 'brilliant,' but unfortunately... it wasn't the answer I had in mind."
Xiao Yu raised an eyebrow and asked with interest, "Oh? Then Miss Shen, could you please tell me what the correct answer is?"
Shen Weiwan's eyes rolled, and a plan came to mind. She cleared her throat and said loudly: "My correct answer... requires answering the next question correctly first."
"Any more questions?" Xiao Yu raised his eyebrows, the smile in his eyes becoming even more intense.
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