When Liu Shi entered Tinglan Courtyard for the third time, she had traded her gilded food box for a full bolt of brocade. The lake-blue material, embroidered with lotus flowers, was the tribute she had withheld from the treasury the previous month. Knowing Shen Weiwan's love of beauty, she had deliberately chosen this most ostentatious piece of fabric, intending to use the pretense of "making new clothes" to coax the red-gold step-shake.
"Wanwan, your aunt has brought you something wonderful!" Liu strutted through the moon-shaped doorway, her gaze fixed intently on Shen Weiwan's wrist—empty indeed, the red-gold hairpin was still in its rosewood box. Behind her, a maid unfolded the brocade, its lake-blue light illuminating her cheeks. "Look at this material! A new kimono will look amazing on you. Pair it with your mother's red-gold hairpin. You'll definitely be the most stunning of all!"
Chen Weiwan was squatting in the corridor feeding the parrot. Upon hearing this, she turned around, her eyes shining like falling stars: "Wow! Auntie is so kind to me!" She dropped the bird food and pounced over, her fingers touching the brocade, "It's just... this material is so precious, wouldn't it be a waste to match it with the plain silver hairpin on my head?"
Liu was secretly delighted, the fish had taken the bait! She patted the back of Shen Weiwan's hand, her tone sweet: "Silly child, good things should be worn out to avoid waste. Your mother's red gold hairpin is just sitting there anyway, why not..."
"Ah!" Chen Weiwan suddenly jumped up, frightening Liu so much that she almost dropped the brocade in her hand. "If Aunt hadn't told me, I would have forgotten! I dreamed of mother again last night!" She blinked and leaned close to Liu's ear, her voice lowered to a whisper. "Mother said that the red gold hairpin is the apple of her eye. Who wants to touch it—" She deliberately dragged out the words and suddenly raised her voice. "You have to go through the 'Five Grains Cleansing Hands Ceremony' first! Otherwise, you'll be struck by lightning!"
Liu's eyelids twitched violently, the pain from the previous two hand rubbings still spreading through her palms. She looked at the familiar earthenware basin in the corridor behind Shen Weiwan. Inside, millet was mixed with black beans. Floating on top was no longer dry mud, but a few sharp pieces of broken porcelain! Her jade hairpin swung at her temples, and she almost twisted with anger.
"Aunt," Chen Weiwan dragged Liu towards the pottery basin, her moon-white skirt sweeping across the moss on the ground. "Look at how precious the 'five grains' I prepared this time are! I even added broken jade pieces. Rubbing them can remove bad luck, ensure safety, and even remove dead skin on your hands!" She picked up a handful of grains mixed with broken porcelain and enthusiastically stuffed them into Liu's sleeves. "You love me the most, so you will definitely be willing to wash my hands for me to present to mother, right?"
The cold grains mixed with sharp porcelain shards pricked Liu's palms, causing them to tighten. She tried to pull her hand away, but Shen Weiwan held it tight. The women sweeping the floor and the servants watering the flowers had already gathered around, their brooms and kettles suspended in mid-air, their heads lowered as they stared at the ground, their shoulders shaking like leaves in the autumn wind. Chuntao stood beside the pottery basin, pinching her waist, a branch in her hand as a "counting stick."
"Auntie, rub it harder!" Shen Weiwan raised her innocent face and shouted loudly enough for the whole courtyard to hear. "Nanny said that I have to rub it a full 200 times this time, otherwise my heart won't be sincere! Look how precious these broken porcelain pieces are. Rub them until bubbles form to show my sincerity!"
"One, two, three..." Chuntao began to count in a hoarse voice, deliberately dragging out the "three" into three tones, which made the little maid next to her burst out laughing, and then quickly covered her mouth with a handkerchief.
Liu's hands, rubbed raw by the broken porcelain pieces in the muddy water, felt like needles piercing her flesh with every rub. Mud mixed with grains of rice splattered on her woven gold skirt, a few specks even landing on her carefully painted eyebrows. She caught a glimpse of the servants' stifled laughter, then glanced at Shen Weiwan's wide, "expectant" eyes, her nails practically digging into her palms. If she stopped now, wouldn't that be a clear sign of disrespect for the late Madam?
"Ninety-nine, one hundred, one hundred and one..." Chuntao's counting stick made a clanging sound as it tapped against the ceramic basin. Blood oozed from Liu's palms, the cuts from the broken porcelain shards soaking in the muddy water making her grimace in pain. Her expression, initially loving, gradually twisted, her brow furrowed, the corners of her mouth twitching as if cramping, giving her the look of constipation.
"One hundred and ninety-eight, one hundred and ninety-nine, two hundred!" Chun Tao counted loudly. Before she finished speaking, Liu suddenly pulled back her hand. Her palm was red and purple, with several bloodstains winding down, and a few stubborn grains of millet were stained. She no longer cared about her manners and pointed at Shen Weiwan and screamed: "Shen Weiwan! You little bitch! You deliberately added broken porcelain pieces in it!"
Shen Weiwan shrank back in shock, tears welling up in her eyes, and her voice was filled with tears: "Aunt, why are you angry again? Didn't you agree to help me honor my mother?" She turned and shouted to Chuntao, "Quick! Bring the best wound medicine and wipe it for Aunt - such precious hands, if scars are left, how can you wear your pair of jade bracelets in the future?"
Chuntao suppressed a laugh and pulled out an oilcloth bag from her sleeve. Inside was the unused mugwort ointment from last time—this was the medicine that Liu had withheld from her servants, and now it was once again "returned to its original owner." Liu looked at the black ointment, trembling with anger. She waved Chuntao's hand away and said, "Get out! Get out!" She stomped her feet and ran out of the yard. The hem of her beaded skirt swept across the ceramic basin under the corridor, splashing mud all over her skirt. The gilded hairpin on her head was completely tilted to one side, and the jade pendant on the hairpin swayed back and forth, as if she were doing a funeral dance.
Shen Weiwan looked at her back, and the smile on her lips gradually cooled down. Chuntao came over and asked in a low voice: "Miss, this time with the addition of broken porcelain pieces, will the second lady's hand..."
"It's just a little skin breakage," Shen Weiwan patted the grains on her hands and kicked the pottery basin at her feet, making the broken porcelain pieces clatter. "Compared to her using my dowry to please her lover in her previous life, this little pain is nothing." She squatted down and used a branch to poke the broken porcelain pieces in the basin. "Next time you come, I'll mix it with river sand and see if she dares to have the idea of buying a hairpin again."
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