The early summer sunlight, like molten gold, streamed through the carved window lattices onto the bluestone path in the General's Mansion's back garden. Overhead, the branches and leaves of the century-old locust trees wove a dense net, filtering specks of light across the ground like shattered gold. Occasional breezes sent the specks of light flickering across the bluestone slabs as the leaves swayed, a stark resemblance to the cold glint in Shen Weiwan's eyes. She squatted by the Nine-Curve Fish Pond, half a pine nut and mung bean cake between her fingers. She slowly scattered the crumbs into the water, inviting the koi to leap, their silken tails flaring. The splashing water refracted tiny rainbows in the sunlight.
"Miss," Chuntao said, clutching a can of iced plum soup wrapped in blue cloth, as she shuffled over to her side. Beads of sweat dripped down her neck and into her collar. "Madam Liu has brought the second young lady and Li Xiu here, along with the daughter of the Grand Tutor, the wife of a Hanlin scholar, and several other noble ladies!" She lowered her voice, her tone filled with uncontrollable excitement. "Look at the scene, it's like a boxing match!"
Shen Weiwan raised an eyebrow, and the last bit of cake crumbs fell into the water, startling a plump koi carp to leap out. She wiped her fingertips with a handkerchief and cast her gaze toward the moon-shaped gate. Sure enough, a group of figures appeared there. Liu was wearing a half-worn lilac jacket, the jade belt around her waist strained to the point of breaking under her corpulent frame. The red gold and jadeite hairpin in her bun was tilted to one side, clearly untied in her haste. Behind her, Shen Ruoruo's face was as pale as paper, her usually carefully drawn eyebrows darkened. The muscles at the corners of her eyes twitched uncontrollably. The hem of her lilac gauze skirt, still stained with a few scraps of fresh grass, swayed gently with her trembling legs.
The most conspicuous figure was Li Xiu, limping beside him. He had changed into a royal blue brocade robe today, but had forgotten to fix the wrinkles at the cuffs. A moon-white handkerchief had slipped halfway out of its sleeve pocket, the silver embroidery on the corners particularly glaring in the sunlight. Following behind them, Wang Ruohan was holding the arm of Madam Hanlin. Her almond-shaped eyes, accustomed to painting, gleamed with a sharp light, like a hyena that had spotted the scent of blood, scanning the scene thoroughly.
"Wanwan!" Liu stretched her neck and shouted from a distance, the wrinkles on her face almost crowding out the pearls on her temples. She stretched out her hand adorned with a red gold ring, trying to appear kind and gentle. "You child, why are you squatting by the fish pond? Get up quickly, or you'll stain your new skirt!"
Shen Weiwan slowly stood up, deliberately wiping the cake crumbs on her fingertips on the hem of her skirt, instantly spreading a small oil stain across her snow-white gauze dress. She raised her eyes, clear as a newborn fawn: "Aunt, why are you so anxious? Did you bring me some 'surprise'?" Before she finished speaking, her gaze suddenly fixed on Li Xiu's sleeve, and she exclaimed, "Ah! Master Li, this handkerchief on your sleeve...why does it look so familiar?"
Li Xiu instinctively retracted his hand, but was a beat too late. Sharp-eyed Wang Ruohan had already stepped forward, burying her hand behind her gold-rimmed round fan. She smiled, "Huh? The pattern on this handkerchief looks like something Miss Shen usually wears! Especially the lotus pattern on the corner—it's so beautifully embroidered."
Shen Ruorou shuddered suddenly, taking a half step back as if pricked by a needle, her voice shrill and inflected: "Miss Wang, you've seen it wrong! It's just a common moon-white handkerchief on the market, there's nothing special about it!"
"Common?" A sly smile played at the corner of Shen Weiwan's lips as she pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve pocket and unfolded it. The moon-white satin swayed gently in the wind, and on the edge was embroidered with a graceful silver character, "Rou," which was Shen Ruorou's maiden name. "What a coincidence! The handkerchief my cousin left in my room yesterday is the exact same one on Mr. Li's sleeve. Even the embroidery of the word 'Rou' looks like it was done by the same embroiderer."
The surrounding noble ladies let out a low gasp of surprise, and a few sharp-eyed ones immediately came forward. Madam Hanlin adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses, examined it carefully for a moment, and nodded. "That's right! The twined branches beneath the character 'soft' are a unique needlework technique from the Jinxiu Pavilion in Beijing. I saw Miss Shen using the same handkerchief last month, and she praised its exquisite embroidery then."
Li Xiu's forehead instantly oozes beads of sweat. He hurriedly stuffs the handkerchief into his sleeve pocket and stammers in defense: "I picked this up on the road! Yes, I picked it up at the gate of the general's mansion a few days ago!"
"Picked it up on the street?" Chen Weiwan tilted her head, a mischievous light flashing in her eyes, "But why did I hear that a little maid saw Master Li secretly stuffing something into the crack of the window of the second lady's embroidery room at dusk the other day? Could it be that he also 'picked it up' on the street?"
"You're talking nonsense!" Shen Ruoruo screamed, her cheeks flushed red, and the twitching at the corner of her eye became more and more intense, almost moving half of her cheek. "Li Xiu is my mother's distant cousin! It's nothing strange for cousins to give each other small items!"
"Cousin?" Wang Ruohan tilted her head in feigned confusion, looking at Madam Hanlin beside her. "Why do I remember not seeing this relative in the family tree of the Minister of Personnel? I heard that Master Li has been visiting the General's Mansion frequently lately, and I thought he was trying to marry Miss Shen. How come he's a 'cousin' to the Second Miss?"
These words were like drops of water thrown into boiling oil, instantly exploding in the crowd. The noble ladies around them immediately whispered to each other, their eyes scanning Li Xiu and Shen Ruoruo like searchlights:
"No wonder Miss Shen Er has been going to the garden lately. Turns out she's meeting her lover!"
"Isn't Mr. Li disabled in his legs? How could he have such a romantic affair?"
"Hush... I heard he asked a matchmaker to propose to the eldest daughter. Isn't that two-timing?"
Seeing the situation completely out of control, Liu leaned forward with her fat body, her voice changing in tone with anxiety: "Ladies, don't listen to this girl's nonsense! Ruorou and Master Li are just... just catching up after not seeing each other for a long time! Yes, just catching up!"
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