Chen Weiwan put down the lychee and looked at the smoke curling up from the west wing. Her eyes were as cold as ice. "Liu is still trying to match her with Li Xiu? She's really desperate." She turned to Chuntao and raised her chin. "Go tell the kitchen to send a pot of bird's nest with rock sugar to the west wing. Say...sister is in a bad mood, and I'm just saying this to show my appreciation."
Chun Tao's eyes lit up: "Miss, are you adding fuel to the fire?"
"No," Shen Weiwan shook her head, crushing a lychee shell with her fingertips, "I want her to remember clearly what happens if she offends me."
In the evening, Lu'e brought a bowl of snow-white bird's nest into Chen Ruorou's room. She was wiping tears in front of a broken mirror, and the sight of the white porcelain bowl made her feel sick. "Take it away! Who wants to buy into her hypocrisy?"
Lu'e whispered, "Miss, this bird's nest seems to have been sprinkled with osmanthus flowers."
Shen Ruorou's fingers paused, suddenly remembering Shen Weiwan's favorite sweet-scented osmanthus in her desserts. She grabbed the bowl and wanted to smash it, but froze when it touched the wall. Beneath the bowl lay a piece of plain white paper, inscribed in Shen Weiwan's elegant handwriting. Each stroke pierced her heart like a needle: "If you marry Li Xiu, I will give you a generous gift. If you don't, please stay calm and behave yourself."
"Behave yourself?" Shen Ruorou was so angry that she trembled all over and threw the bird's nest to the ground. The soup splashed from the porcelain shards and sprinkled on the moon-white skirt, like countless mocking eyes. She stared at the mess on the ground and felt a chill to her bones for the first time - Shen Weiwan was not joking, she really wanted to push herself to the brink of despair.
"Lü'e," Shen Ruorou suddenly calmed down, her voice hoarse as if it had been rubbed by sandpaper, "Go to my closet and find that blue cloth dress. I'm going to the family temple to pray for blessings."
Lu'e was startled and twisted her handkerchief to persuade her: "Miss, the conditions in the family temple are difficult, and your health..."
"I've had enough!" Shen Ruoruo turned around suddenly, a fierce flash in her eyes, and the golden hairpin on her temples shone with a cold light, "Instead of being laughed to death by Shen Weiwan here, it's better to go to the family temple and hide in peace! When the storm is over, I will make her pay a hundredfold!"
Inside Qinghui Courtyard, Chen Weiwan's smile deepened as she looked at the list of plain clothes Chuntao handed her. She circled the words "blue cloth plain skirt," the ink spreading across the rice paper. "Tell the gatekeepers that not even a fly is allowed to leave the west wing without my order."
Chuntao took the order and left. Shen Weiwan walked to the window, watching the lights in the west wing gradually go out, a cold glint in her eyes. Shen Ruoruo, this is just the beginning. In your previous life, you watched me marry Li Xiu for you, and watched me get beaten to death in the snow. Now, I'm just letting you taste the feeling of being scorned by the world. What does it matter? She touched the account book in her sleeve, which the old housekeeper had sorted out overnight. Every number on it was soaked with Liu's greed. Tomorrow is the monthly bill, and it's time to settle the accounts.
In the Seventh Prince's residence, Xiao Yu listened to the guards' report that Shen Ruorou wished to become a nun. The jade chess piece in his hand clattered onto the chessboard, shattering the remaining pieces. He raised an eyebrow, gazing out the window at the deepening dusk, a playful smile playing on his lips. "Interesting! Shen Ruorou is finally afraid."
The guard whispered, "Miss Shen had the gate to the west wing blocked and a bowl of bird's nest with osmanthus flowers delivered."
"Osmanthus?" Xiao Yu played with the chess piece, its jade-colored color gleaming warmly in the candlelight. "She's quite the vindictive person." He slapped the chess piece on the center of the board. "Tell the secret guards to keep a close eye on Liu. Don't let her get desperate and ruin Shen Weiwan's plan."
Late at night, Shen Ruorou sat at her dressing table, gazing out the window at the gloomy night. The jade bracelet her mother had given her jarred her wrist, and for the first time, she felt a surge of regret. If she hadn't listened to her mother and snatched Shen Weiwan's hand, if she hadn't accepted the handkerchief Li Xiu had handed her in the garden, would she not have ended up in this situation? But it was too late. Outside the door came the sound of patrolling footsteps, each one akin to trampling on her heart. She knew she had become a prisoner of the general's mansion, a prisoner trapped by the rumors of her homosexuality and Shen Weiwan's revenge.
Shen Weiwan stood in the corridor, looking at the crescent moon in the sky, with only cold pleasure in her heart. Li Xiu collapsed, Shen Ruoruo was sleepy, and now it was Liu's turn. She stroked the corners of the account book in her sleeve, which was the evidence that the old housekeeper had worked through three nights to sort out. Tomorrow, at the monthly meeting tomorrow, she would expose all the shady dealings of the Liu family to the sun. A storm against the Liu family is quietly gathering, and Shen Ruoruo's collapse is nothing more than the last powerless whine before the storm arrives. Shen Weiwan's road to revenge has already stepped onto the most critical step. Every step will make those who owe her pay the price in blood.
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