Shen Weiwan was prepared, dodging behind Madam Taifu. Shen Ruorou missed, her back slamming hard against the gilded lacquer screen. With a loud crash, the screen collapsed, revealing the Seventh Prince, Xiao Yu, leaning against a pillar behind him. He gently waved a folding fan in his hand, a playful smile etched beneath his jade crown, clearly taking in the entire farce.
Shen Ruoruo's pupils suddenly contracted, as if she saw the death-seeking spirit, and the last trace of blood on her face faded away in an instant - her ugly appearance was actually seen by the current prince!
"Your Highness the Seventh Prince..." The Grand Tutor's wife was so frightened that her face turned pale and she bowed hurriedly.
Xiao Yu waved his hand, his gaze passing over the crowd to Shen Weiwan. Coincidentally, he caught her stealthy wink and couldn't help but chuckle. He tapped his folding fan lightly on his palm, "Madam Taifu, there's no need to be so polite. I was just passing by, and I didn't expect to encounter such a 'wonderful' scene."
He deliberately emphasized the word "wonderful," his eyes sweeping across Shen Ruorou's embarrassed appearance like a knife, not disguising the sarcasm in them. Shen Ruorou felt a surge of blood rushing to her head, a buzzing in her ears, and then her vision went black before she fainted, falling beside the broken screen, her skirt spread out like a withered blue iris.
"Cousin!" Shen Weiwan exclaimed and stepped forward. When she bent down, her fingertips quickly stuffed a handkerchief stained with grass debris into Shen Ruoruo's sleeve pocket. Her movements were as fast as a cat stealing fish.
Half an hour later, when Shen Ruorou was lifted onto the carriage, the red bumps on her exposed forearms had become one continuous mass, as if she had been scalded by boiling water. She scratched unconsciously in her coma, repeatedly muttering, "Chen Weiwan has harmed me," but this only earned her the sneers of the coachman and the maids. Everyone knew how domineering this young lady was, and now it seemed like she deserved this fate.
The guard at the second gate of the General's Mansion was so shocked by the sight of his second daughter, her hair disheveled and her face covered in scratches, that he nearly dropped his long stick on the stone pavement. The news spread like wildfire throughout the mansion. When Liu, stepping on her three-inch golden lotus, rushed into her daughter's boudoir, Shen Ruorou was scratching herself like a harlequin cat, her brocade quilt covered with dandruff.
"Waste! Absolutely waste!" Liu looked at her daughter's red, swollen, and pus-oozing skin, trembling with anger. The jade armor scraped across the dressing table, making a harsh sound. "I asked you to set a trap for Shen Weiwan, but you set yourself in the toilet!"
Shen Ruorou lay in bed, tears mixed with rouge dripping down her temples as she choked back tears as she recounted the events of the Spring Festival Banquet. Liu's face grew paler as she listened, especially when she heard that the Seventh Prince was also present. She nearly collapsed, her vision darkening. "What did you say? Did the Seventh Prince see it with his own eyes?"
"Mom! It was Shen Weiwan who plotted against me!" Shen Ruoruo grabbed her mother's hand, her nails almost digging into her flesh. "You have to avenge me! Otherwise, I will be too ashamed to see anyone!"
Liu pulled her hand back in disgust. Looking at her daughter's half-human, half-ghost appearance, she felt a knot in her stomach. "Revenge? What's the revenge? Now the whole capital knows you scratched yourself in public at the Imperial Tutor's mansion, like a madwoman from a brothel! I wonder how you'll ever climb up the social ladder!"
In a rage, she raised her hand to hit, but Shen Ruorou dodged by turning her head.
"Mother!" Shen Ruorou screamed and curled up, "If you don't help me, I will crash into this pillar and die!"
"Do you dare to die?" Liu shook off her hand, her hair full of pearls and jade asked crookedly due to anger, "I, Liu, don't have a daughter as stupid as you!" After saying that, she slammed the door and left. The sound of the gilded door knocker hitting the door frame sounded very much like the sound of Shen Ruoruo's heartbreaking.
Shen Ruorou looked at her mother's resolute back, then at her own red bumps in the mirror, and finally collapsed on her pillow, sobbing. She had carefully maintained a gentle persona for fifteen years, and all her jealousy and calculations towards Shen Weiwan were shattered into dust worthless than grass clippings in today's "scratching drama."
Meanwhile, Shen Weiwan was sitting under the grape trellis in Tinglan Courtyard, slowly and methodically scooping up the chilled mung bean shaved ice sent by the Seventh Prince with a silver spoon. The emerald-colored shaved ice was embedded with bright red honey beans, and the sweet coolness slid into her throat, dispelling the last trace of the heat from the Spring Banquet.
"Miss," Chun Tao leaned close to her ear, her eyes smiling like crescent moons, "Just now the doorman came to report that Miss Shen Er was scolded by Madam Liu when she returned home, and was even confined to the courtyard and not allowed to come out!"
"Confinement?" Shen Weiwan raised an eyebrow, the silver spoon swirling in the white porcelain bowl, creating ripples. "That's too good for her. She should be thrown into the pigpen and left to keep company with the nettles."
"And here's something else," Chun Tao pulled out a piece of plain paper from her sleeve, covered in wild ink calligraphy. "When His Highness the Seventh Prince sent someone to deliver the mung bean paste, he also included this note. He said...that your 'performance' today was absolutely fantastic. Next time you dig a hole, be sure to invite him to watch."
Shen Weiwan's hand trembled, and the silver spoon clattered into the bowl, splashing the icy liquid onto the corner of her lips. She hurriedly wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, her heart racing like a rabbit: "He...he's talking nonsense!"
She scolded him, but her fingertips couldn't help but caress the edge of the plain paper. Since her rebirth, the Seventh Prince has been like a shadow she can't shake off. Every time she digs a pit to bury someone, she can always catch a glimpse of that moon-white figure. Thinking of his half-smile behind the screen, Shen Weiwan felt her cheeks burning, even hotter than the brown sugar ginger tea she had just finished drinking.
“Miss, do you think the Seventh Prince is…” Before Chun Tao finished speaking, Shen Weiwan covered her mouth.
"What do you know, little girl!" Shen Weiwan glared at her, but couldn't hide the smile in her eyes. Being paid so much attention by the prince was like honey mixed with bitter medicine. Although a little embarrassing, it was also sweet.
She put down the porcelain bowl and walked to the window, gazing at the curls of smoke rising from the Liu family's courtyard. A cold smile played on her lips. "Chen Ruorou, this is just an appetizer. The suffering you and your daughter inflicted on me in my previous life, I will transform into thousands of nettles, one by one, piercing the most itchy spot in your heart."
As for the Seventh Prince who always loves to watch the fun... Shen Weiwan touched her hot cheeks. Perhaps, dragging the prince to dig a pit together would be more interesting than fighting alone?
The setting sun shone through the gaps in the grape leaves onto her, tinting her pomegranate-red skirt with a golden crimson hue, like a blazing flame. The light in her eyes was brighter than the sunset glow in the sky. It was indeed these "surprises" that made the days in the capital so exciting.
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