At the hour of Mao, dew still clung to the sycamore leaves of the general's mansion. Chuntao rushed into the boudoir, clutching a gilded lacquer box, her hair still stained with water. "Miss! The Seventh Prince has sent something!"
Chen Weiwan was drawing her eyebrows in front of a bronze mirror. When she heard the words, the tip of her brush paused, and the ink spread out a small dot on the rice paper: "Another gift? You just gave me peach blossom cakes the day before yesterday, what are you giving me today?" She took the lacquer box, which was surprisingly heavy in her hand. When she opened the lid, she saw a pure gold hoe the size of a palm, with fine lotus patterns engraved on it.
"Golden hoe?" Chun Tao's eyes widened. "What does your highness mean? Could it be..."
"What else could it mean?" Chen Weiwan's fingertips brushed against the cool golden hoe, and she couldn't help but laugh as she thought of the jar of rotten eggs in the west wing last night. "I'm afraid he heard I was short of tools for digging, so he sent me something handy." She picked up the hoe and weighed it. "It's quite heavy, enough to crack open three jars of rotten eggs."
As he was speaking, the old butler coughed outside the door: "Miss, the Seventh Prince's men left a message."
"say what?"
"The young eunuch said," the old butler stroked his beard, trying to suppress his laughter, "His Highness is asking if you need any help digging the pit next time. He can come and watch with a golden hoe."
Chen Weiwan chuckled, picked up the rice paper on the desk, and wrote: "Please tell His Highness that it's a waste to use a golden hoe to dig rotten eggs. It's more practical to give him money directly." She rolled the note into a ball and stuffed it into Chuntao's hand. "Send it, and by the way, ask His Highness if he is in charge of the national treasury."
Chuntao was laughing so hard that she fell backwards. As soon as she ran out of the door, she ran into Liu's personal maid Lu'e, who was craning her neck to look at her.
"What are you looking at?" Chun Tao said, hands on her hips, "Have you never seen a prince give a gift?"
Lu'e curled her lips and walked away with a twist of her waist. Shen Weiwan looked at her back and her smile gradually faded: "Chun Tao, go check who Liu has been close to recently."
"Who else could it be?" Chun Tao muttered. "They must be trying to figure out how to trip you up at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet."
Chen Weiwan said nothing, her fingertips tapping lightly on the dressing table. The Empress Dowager's birthday banquet was approaching, and Liu, who had been tricked during the foundation excavation last time, might be planning a drastic move. She opened the secret compartment under the dressing table, revealing a blue cloth ledger. She flipped to the page that read "Five hundred taels of silver for Chen Ruorou's coming-of-age ceremony." A smiling face painted in fluorescent ink was faintly visible in the morning light.
"Miss," the old housekeeper came in again, his expression grave, "Ms. Liu asked the accountant to pawn all the jewelry in her room."
"Pawning jewelry?" Shen Weiwan raised an eyebrow. "How could she have the nerve to pawn the things from the General's Mansion?"
"It's not from the mansion," the old housekeeper lowered his voice, "it's her own dowry. It seems to me that she is trying to collect money."
Shen Weiwan's heart moved. Liu Shi was as stingy as an iron rooster. She was willing to accept the jewelry as a dowry. She must be planning something "big" to happen. She walked to the window and looked in the direction of the Seventh Prince's Mansion. The golden hoe was still on the dressing table, reflecting the dazzling light.
"Housekeeper," Shen Weiwan suddenly said, "find the piece of brocade in the storeroom. I want to make a dress for the birthday banquet."
"Yunjin?" The old housekeeper was stunned. "That was left for you by the general before he died..."
"Use it," Chen Weiwan interrupted him, "and tell Liu that I want to make clothes with brocade, and ask her if she wants to pick one too?"
The old butler understood instantly, bowed and said with a smile: "Young lady is very smart."
As expected, when Liu heard that Shen Weiwan wanted to use brocade to make a birthday banquet dress, she immediately rushed to the storeroom with Shen Ruorou. She looked at the glittering brocade in Shen Weiwan's hand, her eyes widened, and her nails dug deep into her palms: "Wanwan, this brocade is too ostentatious. The Queen Mother's birthday banquet requires simplicity. Let's give it to Ruorou, right?"
Shen Weiwan pretended to be surprised: "Aunt, you are joking. This brocade was left to me by my father, so naturally I should wear it. But..." She changed the subject, "I heard that Aunt is short of money recently. How about I give you two pieces of plain ones? So that you can make a new dress for Ruorou."
Shen Ruorou had been silent all this time, but at this moment she suddenly covered her mouth and coughed, her face pale: "Sister is thoughtful, but I... I haven't been feeling well recently, and I'm afraid I can't wear new clothes."
Shen Weiwan looked at the corners of her eyes that were turning blue, and sneered in her heart. Perhaps she had gotten sick from staying up all night with Liu to think of bad ideas? She deliberately leaned closer and exclaimed, "Ah! My cousin looks so bad, could she be possessed by an evil spirit? I got a fine jade pendant the other day, which is said to be able to ward off evil spirits. Can I give it to you later?"
Shen Ruorou shrank back in fear and almost fell down. Liu Shi hurriedly supported her and glared at Shen Weiwan fiercely: "No need! Let's go!"
Watching the two people fleeing in panic, Chun Tao couldn't help but ask, "Miss, are you really going to give her the jade pendant?"
"Of course it's fake," Chen Weiwan said, playing with the golden hoe. "That's a glass pendant I had someone buy on the black market. Wearing it for a long time will make your skin itchy." She paused, "But I've changed my mind now. There will be something interesting to watch at the birthday party."
In the evening, the Seventh Prince's reply arrived. Shen Weiwan unfolded it and saw only eight large cursive characters: "Digging a hole is too dirty, it's better to just bury the person."
"Burying someone?" Chun Tao was shocked. "Your Highness, what are you doing..."
"He," Chen Weiwan burned the note, "because I wasn't cruel enough." She walked into the yard, looking at the sunset in the sky, "Chun Tao, go get that box of fluorescent powder. I want to add some color to Chen Ruorou's coming-of-age ceremony."
The day before the birthday banquet, Shen Weiwan received the seventh prince's second "gift"—ten burly servants, each holding a brand-new hoe. The eunuch who brought the gifts said, "His Highness said he heard Miss Shen needed diggers, so he sent them here to be on duty and... to watch."
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