The early summer sun filtered through the sycamore leaves of Qinghui Courtyard, casting coin-like specks of light on the blue bricks. Chen Weiwan was hunched over the table, checking the account books, her nose almost brushing against the wet pages, when she suddenly heard Chuntao exclaim from outside the moonlit door, "Oh my God! This... is this the pastry box from 'Suxiangju' on West Street?"
She flipped through the account book without looking up. "It's not like I haven't seen this before, so why are you making such a fuss?"
"It's different, young lady!" Chuntao rushed into the room, holding a gilded lacquer box. The three gilded characters "Suxiangju" on the lid dazzled in the sunlight. "Usually there are only two plates, but today there's a whole basket! It's even sealed with the Seventh Prince's Mansion!"
Shen Weiwan then looked up and saw two young eunuchs in palace attire following behind Chuntao, carrying a food box half the height of a man. Inside, it was stacked with layers of oil-paper packages, and the sweet aroma mixed with the aroma of milk filled the air. She raised an eyebrow and took the apricot-yellow slip of paper from Chuntao. On it was Xiao Yu's flamboyant handwriting:
"Hearing Mr. Li's anecdotes has whetted Miss Shen's appetite, so I've prepared some famous Beijing delicacies to cheer her up. Also: If you need to hear about the Minister of Personnel's 'condition,' please wait on the rockery in the west wing."
"Pfft—" Shen Weiwan couldn't help but laugh. Her fingertips brushed over the words "bon appetit," recalling the miserable scene yesterday when Li Xiu was chased by beggars, who called him "broken sleeve." It was indeed a good idea to eat with rice. She picked up a piece of peach blossom pastry and bit into it. The pastry flakes fell onto the account book. She said to Chuntao, "Go get some paper. I need a receipt."
Chun Tao handed over the rice paper. Shen Weiwan picked up the pen and dipped it in ink. She tilted her head and thought for a moment before writing:
"Thank you, Your Highness, for the feeding. If you send me two more baskets of 'Guifei's Laughter,' I can compile Master Li's jokes into 'The Story of the Broken Sleeve,' and title the title page 'For the View of His Highness the Seventh Prince.'"
After the eunuch left with the receipt, Chuntao leaned over to the food box and swallowed her saliva: "Miss, why does His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince always send us food? He just sent us some sweets and cakes yesterday, and now he's sent so much more today..."
"Just to satisfy your greed." Chen Weiwan circled the monthly salary that Liu had deducted from the account book without raising her head, "Or... you want to see me get humiliated?" She thought of the playful look in Xiao Yu's eyes every time he came to watch the show, and the corners of her mouth curled up.
As he was speaking, the old housekeeper hurried in, clutching a greasy, twisted piece of paper. "My lady, Madam Liu sent a message from the kitchen saying... she's on a hunger strike for the third day, and if we don't send for a doctor, she might die."
Shen Weiwan put down the wolf hair brush and looked at the page in the account book that said "Details of Liu's Monthly Withholdings". She tapped the table with her fingertips: "Oh? Can she still hold on until the third day?"
The old housekeeper smiled bitterly: "The lady dumped the rotten rice all over the floor, saying she wanted to 'keep the body intact'. The servants didn't dare to approach."
"Intact body?" Shen Weiwan stood up and patted the pastry on her collar. "Let's go and see this 'chaste' aunt."
[Hunger strike farce in the West Wing]
A foul smell filled the air of Liu's courtyard, and the maids hid in the corridor, not daring to come forward. Shen Weiwan, clutching a handkerchief, pushed open the door and saw Liu lying on the large carved bed. Her face was as pale as paper, but her eyes were rolling around. When she saw Shen Weiwan come in, she immediately groaned, "Wanwan... Auntie is sorry for you... Let me die..."
"What are you talking about, Auntie?" Shen Weiwan walked to the table and picked up a bowl of untouched brown rice. "Yesterday's meal hasn't been touched yet? Even if you go on a hunger strike, you have to do it gradually. How can you not eat a single bite?"
Liu rolled her eyes and coughed twice: "I...I can't swallow it...I feel so choked up..."
"You're feeling stuck?" Shen Weiwan put down her bowl and leaned closer with a smile. "Are you stuck with the sale of the general's family property, or is it because of Li Xiucheng's homosexuality?"
Liu suddenly opened her eyes, shaking with anger: "You...you are slandering me!"
"Am I slandering you?" Chen Weiwan picked up the account book and flipped it open. "Then, Aunt, tell me, where did the twenty pieces of brocade and ten pairs of jade ruyi that were missing from the storehouse in the past three years go? Oh, and my mother's red gold and jade bracelet was pawned at Baochang Hao for three hundred taels of silver, right?"
Liu's face turned from pale to blue, and then from blue to red. Suddenly she sat up and screamed, "You peeked at my account!"
"You are in charge of the household, and the account books should be made public." Shen Weiwan closed the account book, "Tomorrow is the monthly fee. Why don't we check the accounts in front of all the servants in the mansion?"
Liu looked at the cold light in Shen Weiwan's eyes and suddenly realized that this girl was no longer the fool she used to be. Her legs softened and she lay back on the bed, her voice weak: "I... I feel dizzy... I need to call the imperial physician..."
"Call for the imperial physician?" Chen Weiwan raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I'll go get him right away." She turned and winked at Chuntao. "Go to the Seventh Prince's Mansion and ask for the imperial physician. Tell him that my aunt...is dying."
Upon hearing this, Liu suddenly sat up and asked, "What are you doing at the Seventh Prince's Mansion?!"
"My aunt is dying, so naturally I have to invite the best imperial physician." Shen Weiwan smiled innocently, "Besides, His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince cares about my family affairs, so I'm sure he won't refuse."
Seeing Liu's face turn pale instantly, Shen Weiwan suppressed her laughter and walked out of the room. Chuntao followed behind her, suppressing her laughter: "Miss, are you going to scare her to death?"
"It's so boring to be scared to death," Chen Weiwan picked up a piece of lotus cake given by the Seventh Prince, "I want her to live and see me ruined, that would be satisfying."
["Encounter" behind the rockery]
In the evening, Shen Weiwan, carrying her account book, wandered to the rockery behind the west wing. Sure enough, she saw Xiao Yu leaning against a stone cave, playing with a jade chess piece. The setting sun stained the hem of his moon-white clothes orange. He heard footsteps, but didn't even look up. "Which chapter are you at in Miss Shen's 'The Broken Sleeve'?"
"I was just about to ask Your Highness," Shen Weiwan sat down opposite him and shook the account book in her hand, "Should we add the plot of the Minister of Personnel visiting Li Xiu 'during his illness' in the chapter about 'the blood letter from Qingbai Tower'?"
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