Shen Weiwan burst into laughter: "Your Highness heard everything?"
"Of course," Xiao Yu raised his eyebrows, "I'm curious, how did your cousin react to hearing this?"
"Oh, probably just wanted to hit me with a teacup." Shen Weiwan said lightly.
Xiao Yu laughed heartily. "Miss Shen's mouth is getting more and more powerful." He paused, his expression becoming more serious. "But let's get down to business. Li Xiu's poetry gathering is scheduled for three days from now. How are your preparations going?"
Mentioning Li Xiu, a cold light flashed in Shen Weiwan's eyes: "Don't worry, I have already made arrangements. This time, I will definitely make him lose his reputation."
"What do you need me to do?" Xiao Yu asked.
"Your Highness only needs to attend the event," Shen Weiwan smiled mysteriously, "I will make the rest of the arrangements."
Xiao Yu saw the glint in her eyes and knew she was up to something again: "Okay, I'll be waiting to see your good show."
The two discussed a few more details, and then Xiao Yu stood up to say goodbye. Shen Weiwan saw him to the door, watched his carriage disappear around the corner, and then turned back to the house.
"Miss," Chun Tao couldn't help asking, "What surprise have you prepared for Li Xiu?"
Shen Weiwan raised a wicked smile at the corner of her mouth: "You will know when the time comes. Doesn't Li Xiu want to restore his reputation? I will let him be smashed to pieces when he is most proud."
Three days later, Li Xiu's poetry gathering took place as scheduled. The venue, a quiet courtyard on the outskirts of the city, clearly had been carefully considered. When Shen Weiwan arrived with Chuntao, quite a few people had already gathered in the courtyard, mostly young men, chatting and laughing in groups of three or four.
Li Xiu was wearing a brand new brocade robe and tried to straighten his back to hide the inconvenience of his lame leg. When he saw Shen Weiwan, a complex emotion flashed in his eyes, and then he put on a warm smile: "Weiwan, it's great that you can come."
"Mr. Li, you are too polite," Shen Weiwan smiled faintly, "I heard that Mr. Li is going to show off his talents today, so I naturally want to come and see it."
Li Xiu's smile froze for a moment, then he added, "I'm just trying to be pretentious. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you."
As they were talking, Xiao Yu arrived. His appearance immediately attracted everyone's attention. Li Xiu hurried forward and saluted: "Greetings to His Highness the Seventh Prince."
Xiao Yu nodded, but his eyes fell on Shen Weiwan, with a barely perceptible smile on the corner of his mouth.
The poetry reading began, and everyone took turns reciting their poems. Li Xiu was clearly well prepared, reciting a few fairly coherent poems, earning some applause. He glanced at Shen Weiwan with a smug look, as if to say, "See? I'm not undeservedly honored."
Shen Weiwan just smiled faintly and didn’t care.
When it was Shen Weiwan's turn, she stood up and cleared her throat, but did not recite her own poem. Instead, she looked at Li Xiu with an innocent expression on her face: "Mr. Li, the poem "Spring View" I just heard you recite has a good artistic conception, but for some reason, it always feels familiar to me."
Li Xiu's heart tightened, but he forced himself to remain calm: "Oh? Weiwan, does it sound familiar?"
Shen Weiwan tilted her head, as if trying to recall: "Let me think...I seem to have seen a similar poem in Zuimo Studio last year, also describing spring scenery, and the artistic conception is quite similar to this poem by Master Li."
Li Xiu's face turned pale. "Weiwan, you're joking. This is my original poem, and I've never seen it before."
"Really?" Shen Weiwan pretended to be surprised, "But why do I remember that the author of that poem seemed to be surnamed Wang?"
"Wang?" People around began to whisper.
Li Xiu's forehead began to sweat. "Wei Wan, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say anything you want."
"Of course I wouldn't say anything nonsense," Shen Weiwan smiled slightly, "but I wonder if Mr. Li would allow me to send someone to Zui Mo Zhai to verify it?"
Li Xiu was completely panicked. He hadn't expected Shen Weiwan to suddenly mention Zui Mo Zhai. He had indeed copied the poem from an unknown poetry collection, thinking no one would notice. Unexpectedly...
"No need!" Li Xiu pretended to be calm. "It's just a poem. Why take it so seriously?"
"Are you serious?" Chen Weiwan raised an eyebrow. "I just think that Mr. Li is so talented. If people misunderstand him as plagiarizing, wouldn't it be a pity?"
At this moment, Xiao Yu suddenly spoke up: "Miss Shen is right. Mr. Li, since you said this is original, why don't you dare let someone verify it?"
Li Xiu looked at Xiao Yu's cold eyes, knowing he was doomed today. He gritted his teeth and tried to change the subject: "Your Highness, you're joking. Let's continue with the poetry gathering."
"Continue?" Shen Weiwan sneered, "Mr. Li, do you want to continue plagiarizing, or do you want us to expose you in public?"
"You!" Li Xiu was so angry that he was shaking all over, pointing at Shen Weiwan and unable to speak.
The people around had already started talking, and their eyes looking at Li Xiu became strange.
"I think there's something wrong with Mr. Li's poem."
"Yeah, it sounded familiar to me just now."
"I didn't expect Mr. Li to be this kind of person!"
Li Xiu listened to the discussions around him and felt ashamed. The reputation he had worked so hard to build collapsed at this moment. He glared at Shen Weiwan fiercely and turned around to leave.
"Where are you going, Master Li?" Xiao Yu's voice came coldly, "The poetry gathering isn't over yet."
Li Xiu paused, but didn't dare look back, and almost fled in panic.
Looking at Li Xiu's embarrassed back, Shen Weiwan raised a triumphant smile at the corner of her mouth. Chun Tao came over and whispered: "Miss, you are really amazing. You exposed him in just one sentence!"
Shen Weiwan smiled faintly and looked at Xiao Yu: "Thanks to your help, Your Highness."
Xiao Yu shook his head: "You are so good." He paused, a hint of tenderness flashed in his eyes, "Next, what are you going to do?"
Shen Weiwan looked at the sunset in the sky and said firmly: "Liu, Shen Ruorou, Li Xiu, I will get back everything these people owe me, one by one. Now, it's just the beginning."
Xiao Yu looked at her confident look, his heart filled with admiration. He knew that this woman was destined to be extraordinary.
The poetry gathering ended in discontent, and news of Li Xiu's plagiarism quickly spread throughout the capital. From then on, he became a laughingstock, and he dared not show his face in public again. Meanwhile, Shen Weiwan's reputation grew. People said that the general's daughter was not only intelligent, but also hated evil and was a rare and extraordinary woman.
Shen Weiwan stood in the garden of the general's mansion, looking at the blooming flowers, with a thousand emotions in her heart. All the humiliations of her previous life seemed to be still before her eyes, but in this life, she had already taken control of her own destiny.
"Dad, Mom," she whispered softly, "Did you see? Your daughter did not let you down."
A gentle breeze blew by, bringing with it the fragrance of flowers. Shen Weiwan took a deep breath and a bright smile appeared on her face. She knew that the road ahead was still long, but she was ready to face all challenges. And those who had hurt her in the past would pay the price for their actions.
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