"Hey? This is good!" Shen Weiwan's eyes lit up, and she pulled his sleeve and shook it. A jasmine flower in his hair fell on his hem. "Your Highness is still thoughtful! But...how did you know that pepper can be mixed into rouge?"
Xiao Yu's eyes flickered, and he coughed lightly to mask his guilt. "This prince...this prince also listened to the secret guard's report." In fact, last week, when he passed by the Imperial Garden, he overheard two noble ladies discussing Shen Weiwan's "silliness." That evening, he had someone tinker with a trace of pepper in one of their rouge cases. The next day, at a flower-viewing banquet, the noble lady sneezed violently while applying rouge to the Third Prince, spraying him with powder. She was immediately nicknamed "the pink-faced, peach-blossom sneezer" and didn't dare leave the house for half a month. Naturally, he couldn't tell his little devil about such a sinister act.
Shen Weiwan didn't think much about it, she pulled his wrist and shook it: "Your Highness, take me with you to 'practice' next time! I promise to only pass the pepper next to me and never do it myself!"
"No." Xiao Yu immediately refused, his palm covering the back of her hand, feeling delicate and warm. "For such a small matter, I can just let the secret guards handle it. Why would I let you show up in public?" He remembered Chen Ruoruo's poisoning last month, and his eyes darkened. "If you want to punish someone in the future, tell me. You can just sit in the mansion and watch the fun while eating candied haws."
"Oh..." Shen Weiwan lowered her eyelashes in frustration, but when she saw the worry in his eyes, she couldn't help but curl her lips, "Well, after all, Your Highness is my exclusive 'pit protection bodyguard'."
As he spoke, the old butler hurried through the moonlit door, holding a wax-encrusted letter in his hand. "My lady, the Empress Dowager has sent a decree from the palace, announcing a flower viewing banquet in the Imperial Garden tomorrow. You and His Highness the Seventh Prince are invited to attend."
Chen Weiwan raised her eyebrows, her fingertips tapping on the stone table: "The Queen Mother is holding a banquet? I'm afraid there is another ignorant noble lady who wants to show off in front of the Queen Mother and make trouble for me?"
Xiao Yu sneered, his folding fan making a crisp sound in his palm: "No matter whose daughter she is, I want to see who dares to play tricks in front of you." He suddenly leaned close to Shen Weiwan's ear, and his warm breath brushed her earlobe, "Do you want me to prepare some pepper in advance to add some flavor to their almond cakes?"
Shen Weiwan laughed out loud and patted his arm: "Your Highness is now more like a professional swindler than I am!"
The next day, at the banquet in the Imperial Garden, a number of glamorously dressed noblewomen arrived. Liu Ruolin, the daughter of the Minister of Personnel, dressed in a pomegranate-red dress with gold embroidery, frequently flirted with Xiao Yu. She then deliberately approached Shen Weiwan, covering her lips with a smile and saying, "Miss Shen, I heard that you were playing with the Seventh Prince in the mansion yesterday, and even used pepper powder to make His Highness sneeze repeatedly. You're truly full of childish fun."
Shen Weiwan sneered in her heart, but tilted her head and pretended to be ignorant, twisting the handkerchief with her fingertips: "How did Miss Liu know? Could it be that His Highness even shared such interesting boudoir stories with you?"
Liu Ruolin's face froze, and she forced a smile, "Of course it was...Of course it was spread by the palace maids."
Just then, the Empress Dowager ordered some snacks to be served. Shen Weiwan spotted three exquisite almond pastries on a white porcelain plate in front of Liu Ruolin. They were exactly the favorites she had inquired about from the Imperial Kitchen yesterday. She immediately signaled Xiao Yu with her eyes, a sly smile curling the corners of her mouth.
Xiao Yu understood and pretended to adjust his cuffs, quietly opening the small packet of pepper he had prepared in his sleeve. He casually passed behind Liu Ruolin, flicking his fingertips, and a few drops of fine powder landed precisely on the almond pastry.
Liu Ruolin, completely oblivious, took a large bite out of a piece of almond pastry. The next second, she suddenly covered her mouth with her hands. "A-choo! A-choo! A-choo!" She sneezed a dozen times in quick succession, her face covered in tears and snot. Her delicate makeup instantly turned into a clown's, and her gaudy lip balm rubbed against the tip of her nose, making her look like a clown who had just escaped from a troupe.
The surrounding noble ladies were initially stunned, then erupted in laughter. The daughter of Grand Tutor Li slapped her thigh in laughter, "Miss Liu, what's wrong? Are you allergic to almond cookies?" Many more people whispered and pointed. Liu Ruolin blushed crimson with shame. She screamed, covering her face and running from the banquet, her pomegranate-red skirt sweeping over the teacup beside her.
The Queen Mother laughed so hard that she clapped her hands on the armrests and pounded her dragon-headed cane against the ground. "This child, choking like this on a simple snack, what a fool!"
Shen Weiwan and Xiao Yu exchanged a glance, each seeing a mischievous smile in the other's eyes. Xiao Yu calmly placed a piece of pea yellow on her plate and whispered, "See? This is what happens when you mess with me."
Shen Weiwan ate the snacks in small bites, her heart sweet, as if soaking in a honey pot. With such a prince who was willing to play with her and protect her at all times by her side, this life was three times sweeter than the candied fruits in the imperial kitchen.
On the carriage back to the mansion, Shen Weiwan leaned on Xiao Yu's shoulder, looking at the street scene passing by outside the window, and suddenly remembered something: "Your Highness, do you think Liu Ruolin will hate us to death?"
Xiao Yu rubbed the top of her head and said nonchalantly, "Hate her if you want. As long as she doesn't dare to frame you again, what's the harm in hating her?" He paused, then suddenly took her hand, his palm warm and dry. "Weiwan, after we get married, you can do whatever you want to 'cheat' people. I'll be your accomplice and build you a 'prop library for cheating people', okay?"
Shen Weiwan's cheeks flushed, and she glared at him angrily: "Who wants to marry you...you're just talking nonsense."
Xiao Yu chuckled softly, hugged her tighter, and rested his chin on the top of her head: "Oh? Could it be that my little princess doesn't want to marry me?"
"You wish... you wish!" Shen Weiwan said stubbornly, but secretly raised the corners of her lips. The carriage rolled over the bluestone road, and the laughter and noises overflowing from the carriage, mixed with the hawkers' cries outside the window, drifted away in the early summer breeze.
For Shen Weiwan, her greatest fortune wasn't avenging her blood feud or marrying into the royal family, but meeting Xiao Yu. This man, willing to play pranks and play dirty tricks with her, and even pampering her to the skies, made her realize that life could be so much more fun and sweet than revenge. As for those blind, naive women? Let them fend for themselves in her and His Highness's "sweet, treacherous daily life"! After all, this "wife-protecting maniac" and "stupid daughter" pairing is the most formidable pairing in the capital.
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