Chun Tao took the order and left. Xiao Yu looked at Shen Weiwan with a little more appreciation: "You are unwilling to suffer any loss."
"Of course," Shen Weiwan licked the crispy crumbs on her fingertips, "By the way, Your Highness, would you like to come and watch the ceremony tomorrow?"
"Oh?" Xiao Yu raised an eyebrow. "If I go, aren't you afraid that I'll ruin your fun?"
"How can this play be performed well without His Highness?" Shen Weiwan smiled cunningly, the arc at the end of her eyes like a cunning little fox, "Besides, with His Highness here to calm the situation, some people won't dare to throw tantrums, right?"
Xiao Yu laughed so loudly that the parrots in the corridor fluttered their wings. "Very good! Tomorrow the king will come to support you!" As he turned to leave, he suddenly looked back and said, "By the way, that Dharma name 'Jing Gou' is quite well chosen."
Watching Xiao Yu disappear behind the moon-shaped door, Shen Weiwan put away her smile and stretched out her hand to the old housekeeper: "Are the account books ready?"
"Everything is ready, young lady!" the old housekeeper hurriedly presented a stack of account books wrapped in blue cloth. The word "zhongkui" on the cover had been polished to a shine. "Every single thing Liu had withheld from her monthly salary over the past three years, every single thing she had sold of jade and silk, even her theft of Madam's red gold and jade bracelet is recorded!"
Chen Weiwan flipped open the account book, her fingertips running across the shocking figures. The chill of being beaten to death in the snow in her previous life seemed to surge back into her heart. She looked at the closed window lattice in the west wing, a cold light flashing in her eyes - Liu, Chen Ruorou, you owe me, and you're finally going to pay me back.
The collapse of the West Wing
Shen Ruorou cried in her room for the whole afternoon. When she heard Chuntao bring in rotten rice and vegetables, she grabbed the bowl and slammed it against the door: "Take it away! Even if I starve to death, I would rather not eat her food!"
Lu'e knelt on the ground to pick up the broken pieces, and with a sad face, she advised: "Miss, please eat something... Madam is also on a hunger strike. If you fall ill again..."
"She's on a hunger strike?" Shen Ruoruo raised her head suddenly, tears still on her face, "She only knows how to pretend to be pitiful by fasting! If she wasn't so greedy and wanted to grab the general's family property, how could I be implicated by that homosexual Li Xiu?!" Thinking of the Buddhist name "Jing Gou" that Shen Weiwan had said, she suddenly grabbed the gilded scissors on the dressing table and started cutting her hair.
"Miss, you can't do this!" Lu'e screamed and rushed over to hug her arms. The scissors "clicked" and cut off a strand of hair. "If you really cut your hair, you will really become a nun!"
Shen Ruorou was shaking with tears, and her brocade handkerchief was twisted into a knot: "It would be better to become a nun! I don't want to be laughed to death by Shen Weiwan here! I don't want to be scolded by people all over the capital!"
At this moment, Liu's personal maid came running over, panting: "Second Miss! Madam wants you to come over. She said she has something important to discuss!"
Shen Ruorou shook off Lu'e, wiped her face carelessly, and followed the maid to Liu's yard. She saw Liu lying on the bed, her face as pale as paper. Seeing Shen Ruorou, she stretched out her hand and said weakly, "My son... our lives are so miserable..."
"Mom, stop pretending!" Shen Ruorou shook her hand away angrily, "Shen Weiwan is going to drive us to death, why are you still playing the trick of self-torture here!"
Upon hearing this, Liu sat up abruptly, a glint of ruthlessness flashing in her eyes, completely ignoring her previous weakness: "Force us to death? I think she's tired of living!" She lowered her voice and grabbed Shen Ruorou's wrist, "Ruorou, there's news from your uncle. He said the seal of the Ministry of Personnel is still in his hands. When he recovers from his 'illness', he will be the first to report Shen Weiwan for not managing the family properly!"
"Uncle is willing to help us?" Shen Ruorou's eyes lit up with hope, and she grabbed Liu's hand, "Then...then we can take back the household goods?"
"Of course!" Liu gritted her teeth, the fat on her face trembling. "Chen Weiwan thinks she can turn the world upside down just by getting a few tattered account books? Don't forget that your uncle is the Minister of Personnel. If he wants to punish her for being an unfilial daughter and disrupting the family home, it's just a matter of a word!"
Shen Ruorou was relieved at this, but she didn't see the panic that flashed across Liu's eyes - the people she sent to the Ministry of Personnel had been turned back long ago, and her brother refused to see her at all. The so-called "help" was nothing but self-deception.
The protagonist's calculations
Inside Qinghui Courtyard, Chen Weiwan listened to Chuntao's vivid account of the conversation between Liu and her daughter. A sneer curled up at the corner of her mouth as she broke the peach blossom pastry in half. "Minister of Personnel?" She played with the crispy crumbs. "Since the Seventh Prince said he's 'almost well,' then he will be."
Chun Tao scratched her head in confusion: "Miss, why does His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince always help us? He is a prince..."
"Why?" Chen Weiwan raised an eyebrow and sprinkled the snack crumbs into the lotus pond outside the window, attracting several red carp to scramble for them. "Maybe they think I'm more interesting than the chess pieces on the board." She turned around and looked at the account books on the table, her smile gradually cooling. "But that's not important. What's important is tomorrow's monthly salary. It's time for someone to pay the price."
As the night deepened, the General's Mansion fell silent, save for the occasional suppressed arguments between mother and daughter from the west wing. Shen Weiwan sat beneath the lamp, checking each account book page by page, the candlelight flickering her profile. Every entry was like a knife, engraved with the blood and tears of a past life—her mother's dowry, her father's spoils of war, the servants' withheld monthly wages... Her fingertips traced the entry for the "Red Gold Step-Shaping Jewel," the very relic that Liu had swindled away from her in a past life.
"Chun Tao," Chen Weiwan suddenly said, "Prepare some plain clothes for me tomorrow. Remember, you must appear... aggrieved but determined."
"Okay!" Chuntao's eyes lit up, and she immediately understood that the young lady was going to "act" again.
The next morning, Shen Weiwan changed into a moon-white gauze skirt. Her bare face was appropriately haggard. The girl in the mirror had clear eyes, yet concealed a coldness that was inconsistent with her age. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door—the drama of the monthly meeting was about to begin.
When Shen Weiwan entered the main hall, Liu and Shen Ruorou were already seated at the main seats. Liu's face was covered in thick powder, but it couldn't hide the dark circles under her eyes. Shen Ruorou lowered her head, twisting her handkerchief, her nails almost digging into her flesh. They saw the old housekeeper holding the account books behind Shen Weiwan, and the Seventh Prince Xiao Yu standing behind the old housekeeper. Liu's hand holding the teacup shook violently, and the scalding tea spilled onto her embroidered shoes.
"Miss, you've come early today." Liu tried to remain calm, but her voice was trembling.
"Auntie, you're joking," Shen Weiwan bowed, her eyes sweeping across Liu's pale face, and she smiled faintly. "Today is the monthly fee, so of course I can't be late." She gestured to the old housekeeper to place the account book on the table. The brocade cover shone coldly in the sunlight. "Now that everyone is here, let's... get started."
Liu stared at the stack of account books, feeling as if her heart were being gripped by an invisible hand. She knew that from the moment Shen Weiwan opened the account books, the end of her and her daughter had truly arrived. And behind Shen Weiwan's seemingly "kind" smile, hidden was a revenge sharper than a knife.
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