Chuntao quickly handed over a stack of account books wrapped in blue cloth. The word "Zhongkui" on the cover had become hairy from being rubbed, revealing the bamboo-green cloth underneath. "The old housekeeper said that Liu gave the key to the storeroom to Madam Zhou, who came with her as a bride, in the middle of the night. She also hid the account books for the silk sales at the bottom of her dressing table, covering them with embroidery."
Shen Weiwan had just flipped open the account book when the sound of a folding fan tapping against stone slabs suddenly emanated from outside the moonlit doorway. The Seventh Prince, Xiao Yu, entered, waving a jade folding fan. The hem of his moon-white robe swept across the rose bushes beneath the corridor, startling a pink and white petal that landed on his black jade belt. Behind him, a young eunuch held a food box. As soon as he removed the carved wooden lid, the aroma of warm cakes wafted out, and sesame seeds sizzled in the oily sheen.
"Your Highness is here to watch the battle again?" Shen Weiwan stood up and bowed, deliberately glancing at the food box. From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the dark dragon embroidered on his sleeve. "Is this a souvenir for the defeated?"
Xiao Yu pushed the food box in front of her, the steam from the candy cake blurring the air between them. "I heard that Mother Li fainted from crying in the toilet. I came to see if Yingjie is free for some snacks." He raised an eyebrow at her, his folding fan making a rhythmic sound in his palm. "Are you going to expose Liu's past next?"
Chen Weiwan picked up a piece of candy cake, her fingertips throbbing with heat, but she remained calm. The sugary juice numbed her tongue as she bit into it, but she smiled like a fox stealing fish. "It's just taking back what's rightfully mine." She raised her eyes to look at Xiao Yu, the sunlight filtering through the grape leaves into her eyes, sparkling like broken diamonds. "For example, the brocade smuggled out of the warehouse by Liu, how many burial clothes would that have made her? And how many coffins would that have bought with the monthly salary she withheld for three years?"
Xiao Yu put away his folding fan, the sandalwood handle rustling in his palm. "Liu's brother is the Minister of Personnel. Are you sure you want to act now? That old man has disciples throughout the six ministries."
"Why not?" Chen Weiwan licked the frosting on her fingertips, her eyes curved with a smile, "While Li Xiu's muddy water hasn't cleared up yet, it's a good time to drag Liu in to drink the foot washing water. By the time the Minister of Personnel reacts, the daylily will be cold."
Xiao Yu suddenly chuckled, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes, and even a bit of appreciation: "Do you need my help?"
"How does Your Highness want to help?" Shen Weiwan raised an eyebrow, the sweetness of the sugar cake melted on the tip of her tongue, mixed with a hint of imperceptible danger.
"Simple." Xiao Yu took a half step closer, the crisp scent of ambergris mixed with the warm steam of the candied cakes reaching her. He lowered his voice, his breath brushing against her ear, "I will have the Minister of Personnel claim sickness tomorrow and not attend court for seven days."
Chen Weiwan's heart fluttered. The Seventh Prince's hand could easily strangle the Ministry of Personnel. She lowered her head in a bow, her fingertips touching the rough edge of the account book, which recorded the amount of Liu's embezzlement over the past three years. "Thank you, Your Highness. When Liu falls, I invite you to the General's Mansion for your final feast."
Xiao Yu waved his hand, and as he turned, his folding fan drew a silver arc in the air: "Remember to invite me to take the main seat, and see how you 'entertain' Liu."
Watching him disappear behind the moon-shaped door, Chen Weiwan stuffed the last piece of cake into her mouth and raised her chin to Chuntao: "Go tell the old housekeeper that tomorrow's monthly allowance will be issued, and I will go to the accounting office to 'check the accounts' in person. Ask the kitchen to prepare some light lotus seed soup. That old woman Liu has seen blood and needs something to calm her nerves."
Chuntao's eyes shone brightly, her skirt sweeping a trail of rose petals as she trotted out of the moonlit gate. Chen Weiwan opened the window and gazed at the dusk descending toward the Li residence, where the setting sun stained the grounds an ominous blood-red. Her fingertips traced the alarming figures in the account book, a cold smile curling her lips—the account book of Liu's embezzlement of household expenses was about to be exposed.
At sunset, news finally arrived from the Li residence. The first words Li's mother uttered upon waking were heart-wrenching cries that threatened to rip the roof off her face: "My son! Our family's century-long reputation has been completely destroyed by you, a homosexual!" She clutched her graying hair and slammed herself against a pillar, only to be held tightly by Wang. The silver hairpin that had fallen from her bun fell to the ground and rolled into a rat hole in the corner. Li Xiu huddled behind a screen, listening to his mother's wails and the servants' whispers. His nails dug deep into his palms, blood seeping out and dripping onto the worn soles of his boots, but he felt no pain, only a gnawing hatred that gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake. He knew that from the moment Shen Weiwan lifted the embroidered handkerchief in the garden, he had already lost, lost to the bone.
At this moment, in the General's study, Chen Weiwan was flipping through the account books by candlelight. The old housekeeper was reporting quietly beside her. Sparks from the candle wick landed on the edge of the account book, burning tiny holes: "Miss, Liu gave the storeroom key to Madam Zhou tonight and also sent two boxes of South Sea pearls to the Minister of Personnel's residence, saying that they were to calm the old lady."
"Got it." Shen Weiwan closed the account book, the candlelight reflected a cold light in her eyes, "Tell the kitchen to put more rock sugar in tomorrow's lotus seed soup. Liu likes it sweet."
As the night wind picked up, a new jingle echoed in the corners of the capital, sung to the heavens by the clapping children: "Mr. Li, how pitiful! His reputation as a homosexual has spread to the skies. His own mother fainted in the toilet from weeping. He now begs for food outside the general's mansion—" This slang drifted through the shattered window frames of the Li Mansion on the evening breeze, reaching Li Xiu's ears. He violently knocked over the medicine bowl on the table. The broken porcelain shards splattered on his lame leg, leaving several bloody streaks. But he seemed insensitive to the pain, staring intently at the lights outside the window in the direction of the general's mansion, his eyes filled with dark waves of despair.
In the Seventh Prince's study, Xiao Yu gazed at the cinnabar-red document on the secret report announcing "Minister of Personnel is ill," a meaningful smile curling his lips. He added "seven days' leave" at the end, his ink dripping onto the rice paper, its smudged trace resembling a crucial move on a chessboard. As the candlelight flickered, he murmured to himself, "Chen Weiwan...is becoming increasingly interesting."
A storm against the Liu family was quietly gathering with the darkness before dawn. The cicadas outside the window had unknowingly become mournful, as if playing a dirge for the impending collapse of the Li family. Li Xiu and his crumbling family were merely the first fallen leaves to be ripped apart by the fierce winds. Shen Weiwan's path to revenge had just begun its most piercing chapter.
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