Xiao Yu burst into laughter, suddenly bending over and scooping her up like a princess. Shen Weiwan exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck. The hem of her moon-white skirt swept the "Guide to Preventing Pitfalls" from the railing, and amidst the swirling pages, the students' boos could be heard. Madam Taifu laughed so hard that she dropped the sesame candy in her hand, where it was snatched up by a passing civet cat and scurried off into a crevice in the rockery.
"Xiao Yu! Put me down!" Shen Weiwan hit him with a red face, but was hugged even tighter, and the tip of her nose was filled with the crisp cedar scent of his body.
"No," Xiao Yu looked down at her, his eyes almost overflowing with doting, "I will take my 'Queen of Tricks' back to Tinglan Courtyard and practice how to breed a 'Trick-Defense Combination'."
At that moment, Chuntao's voice rang out from the moonlit gate, trembling with a stifled laugh: "Miss! His Highness the Seventh Prince! The old housekeeper said the Empress Dowager's 'Palace Maid Discipline Package' needs to be expedited, and asked if we could also include the 'Emperor's Trick Prevention Extra'. He said that last night His Majesty used the 'Fake Eye Trick' you taught him, and scared the Prime Minister so much he dropped his memorial into the cesspool!"
Chen Weiwan poked her head out of Xiao Yu's arms and shouted downstairs: "Tell the Queen Mother to pay more! Add ten kilograms of tribute osmanthus candy from Suzhou! In addition, the 'Emperor's Anti-Scam Extra Chapter' requires an additional 'laughing fee'!"
The emperor's voice followed with a helpless smile: "Wan'er! First, teach me how to mix croton powder with icing sugar! The Grand Tutor said the sweetness in my ginseng soup could kill a cow!"
Xiao Yu held her as they walked towards Tinglan Courtyard. The golden glow of the setting sun stretched their shadows far and wide, like a moving gilded scroll. Shen Weiwan leaned against his chest, listening to his steady, powerful heartbeat. Suddenly, she thought of the Liu family of Lingnan. The woman who had once pinched her hand and forced her to hand over the warehouse key was perhaps sighing over the croton fields right now. But so what? Her life had long since turned a page, every page sprinkled with icing sugar and laughter.
"Are you thinking about Liu?" Xiao Yu lowered his head and kissed the top of her head.
Shen Weiwan shook her head and rubbed the buttons on his chest: "I was thinking, fortunately I have you."
When they returned to Tinglan Courtyard, Chuntao had already set dinner on the carved round table. A celadon bowl of steamed custard with sugar was still steaming, the milky white custard sprinkled with osmanthus flowers. As soon as Shen Weiwan picked up the silver spoon, Xiao Yu snatched it away: "I'll feed you."
"I..." Before she could finish her words, a spoonful of sweet and sticky cheese was stuffed into her mouth. The aroma of milk mixed with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms melted on her tongue, so sweet that she squinted her eyes. She puffed her cheeks and looked at him, only to see that his eyes were full of smiles, like a pool of spring water. "Eat slowly, no one will snatch it from you."
The moonlight outside the window gradually climbed up the window lattice, and the silver light sprinkled on the golden sign of "Wei Wan Scam Academy", making the four words sparkle like diamonds. Shen Weiwan looked at the sign, then at Xiao Yu, who was standing beside her with gentle eyebrows and eyes. Suddenly, she put down the silver spoon and said seriously: "Your Highness, what do you think about the next volume...is it time to find a successor for the academy?"
Xiao Yu raised his eyebrows and deliberately put on a stern face: "Why? Do you want me to feel jealous?"
"No!" Shen Weiwan poked his chest, his body temperature warm under her fingertips, "I mean... one of our children has to inherit the 'traitor mantle', right? Look at Madam Taifu's 'sleeve candy technique', it would be a pity if it was lost!"
Xiao Yu was amused by her seriousness. He reached out and pinched her cheek, the skin beneath his fingertips delicate and warm. "First, cheat me out of my losses." He paused, then leaned close to her ear, his voice gentle as melting moonlight. "But... if it were your child, I would be willing to be cheated by you and your son until the end of time."
Shen Weiwan's heart felt like it was filled with honey. She took the initiative to kiss Xiao Yu's lips, tasting the lingering sweetness of yogurt on his lips. From outside the window came the laughter of Chuntao and the young maids, and the old housekeeper's hoarse voice, explaining the classic example of "clean hands and aunt's trap" to the new students. Those words drifted in with the evening breeze, becoming the most beautiful background sound.
In this life, she rose from a wronged soul, slain in the snow, to become the most dazzling legitimate daughter of the capital. Relying on no sorcery, no scheming, only a wealth of devious wit and memories from her past life, she trampled underfoot her wicked relatives, established a world-renowned "School of Tricksters," and married the Seventh Prince, who doted on her like a treasure. Those who had hurt her—Liu, who toiled in the croton fields, Shen Ruorou, who sang tickling songs in the laundry, and Master Li, the perennial laughingstock—had become mere smudges of ink on the canvas of her remarkable life, insignificant.
At this moment, the "Weiwan Cheating Academy" under the setting sun is still bustling with activity: the emperor is arguing with the Grand Tutor about the essence of the "Moran Qinglian Plan", the Grand Tutor's wife is still practicing the "Sugar Hiding in the Sleeve Technique" in front of the bronze mirror, Chuntao is walking through the corridors with snacks in her hand, the sound of the old housekeeper's cane and the laughter of the students are intertwined, composing the most unique music in the capital.
Leaning on Xiao Yu's shoulder, Chen Weiwan gazed at the vibrant sunset, suddenly realizing that the end of Volume 8 wasn't the end, but the beginning of a new legend. What should she write about in the next volume? Perhaps it would be about her and Xiao Yu's daily life of "tricking their children"—like teaching a newborn to stuff sweet osmanthus candies into his father's imperial boots, or watching the twins turn the "Trickster Academy" upside down, and then giving the Emperor a crash course in "grandchildren's trickery."
"What are you thinking about? You're smiling like a little fox that has drunk honey." Xiao Yu scratched her nose.
Shen Weiwan grinned, revealing two neat rows of white teeth, and pointed at the glittering college sign outside the window: "I'm thinking... should I add a 'Parent-Child Trick Class' to the enrollment brochure tomorrow? Buy one, get one free, plus a baby-specific tickling bag and a 'Trick Mom and Dad Getting Started Handbook'!"
Xiao Yu sighed helplessly, but held her tighter and placed a tender kiss on her forehead: "Do whatever you want, my silly daughter, my winner in life."
Under the moonlight, the golden signboard of "Wei Wan Trickster Academy" gleamed cunningly, as if foreshadowing the excitement of the next volume—when the frivolous legitimate daughter becomes a mother, and when the doting prince transforms into a "child-loving maniac," what new story will this deceitful couple write on the canvas of the Dasheng Dynasty, a story that will make the whole capital burst with laughter? Let's wait and see the next volume: "The Legitimate Daughter Becomes a Mother: This Wave of Trickster Operations Will Make the Entire Palace Hilarious!"
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