The early summer sun scorched the cobblestone streets of Beijing. Chen Weiwan sat on the second floor of a street-facing teahouse, a piece of pea yellow between her fingers, watching the vendors shaking their rattles downstairs, laughing heartily. Chuntao, leaning over the railing, pointed at the children skipping across the street and laughed, "Look, young lady! The children are singing Blind Wang's jingle so well!"
"Miss Shen Er is really capable. After stealing the bracelet, she copied poems and tried to seduce the Seventh Prince, scaring His Highness to whip him."
"Second Miss, you're so shameless! You stole something with shaking hands, and copied an ancient poem as if it were a new work. The gentleman was so angry that he slammed his head on the table~"
The clear chirping of children, mixed with the clatter of rattles, drew passersby to stop and take notice. A man selling candied haws nearly dropped his string of candied haws with laughter, while the silk shop owner covered her mouth and shook her head, "That's a really mean rhyme, but it's the truth!"
Chen Weiwan stuffed pea yellow into her mouth and mumbled, "That old blind man Wang is quite good at making up lyrics." She took out a silver ingot and placed it on the table, saying to the waiter, "Give me another pot of jasmine tea, and tell the singing downstairs that if they sing well, they'll get a tip."
Chun Tao's eyes sparkled: "Miss, is this considered buying a 'hot search'? It's like the storyteller's talk about 'paper is sold out in Luoyang'!"
"That's about right," Shen Weiwan wiped the corner of her mouth, "but we are in the capital, where people are very expensive, so we spend money to buy something exciting." She looked at the figure that suddenly jumped out from the alley across the street, and a sly smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, "Look, our 'heroine' is here."
Shen Ruorou, dressed in a half-worn blue cloth dress, her hair haphazardly tied up with a wooden hairpin, was hurrying along. As soon as she left the alley, she was surrounded by a group of children, who shouted, "Second Miss Shen! Sing a jingle about 'stealing the bracelet'!"
"Yes, yes! How do you sing 'His Highness was so frightened that he whipped his horse'?"
Shen Ruorou's face turned pale as she screamed, pushing the children away: "Get out! Get out of here!" She tried to run, but tripped over a stone and tore the hem of her blue skirt, revealing the patched lining. The onlookers burst into laughter, and someone pointed at her and shouted: "Look! The second young lady is wearing a patched skirt!"
"That's right, you spent all the stolen money on cosmetics, didn't you?"
"I heard her mother is nearly starving to death in prison, yet she still has the energy to seduce the prince!"
Shen Ruorou crawled to her feet, covered her face and rushed into the teahouse next to her, but she happened to run into Shen Weiwan who was sitting by the window on the second floor. The moment their eyes met, Shen Ruorou seemed to have seen a ghost, and turned around and wanted to run, but was stopped by Shen Weiwan:
"Cousin, don't be in a hurry to leave," Shen Weiwan picked up the teacup and smiled innocently, "The children downstairs are waiting to hear you sing 'Ten Major Sins'."
"You plotted against me!" Shen Ruorou turned around abruptly, her hair sticking to her face. "Did you ask someone to make up those jingles? And the blackboard writing in the teahouse!"
Shen Weiwan pretended to be surprised: "What are you talking about, cousin? It's just something that ordinary people made up when they have nothing to do. How could I do such a thing?" She paused and pointed to a piece of white paper that had just been posted downstairs. "Cousin, look at what that is?"
Shen Ruorou followed her finger and saw the notice board at the entrance of the teahouse, with the words "Shen Ruorou's Ten Sins" written in eye-catching cinnabar:
One crime: stealing and replacing the jade bracelet of the eldest sister, framing her with malicious intent;
Second crime: plagiarizing Wang Anshi at a poetry gathering, and the plum blossoms in the corner are in the wrong season;
The third sin: smashing the Buddha statue in Ciyun Temple, showing disrespect for the gods and Buddha and showing filial piety;
The fourth crime: seducing the Seventh Prince in the street, as shameless as a brothel;
The fifth sin: withholding monthly wages from servants, treating slaves harshly and without conscience;
Six Sins: ...
Each one was accompanied by a simple sketch, showing Shen Ruorou stealing a bracelet with a sly look, or seducing the prince with a face covered in white powder, accompanied by a doggerel poem. The scholars watching read it, nodding their heads and occasionally laughing.
"Well written! These ten sins are truly brilliant!"
"Especially the 'shameless brothel' part, it's absolutely amazing!"
Shen Ruorou looked at the blackboard, her eyes went dark, and she almost fainted. She suddenly looked at Shen Weiwan, only to see that she was sipping tea slowly, as if everything had nothing to do with her.
"Chen Weiwan! I'm going to kill you!" Shen Ruoruo screamed and rushed to the second floor, but was stopped by Chuntao.
"Second Miss, please respect yourself!" Chun Tao stood in front of Shen Weiwan with her hands on her hips. "This is a public place. Do you want to commit a crime?"
The tea drinkers around him accused:
"This is crazy! You can't let people talk about the ugly things you did?"
"That's right! You dare to do it but not take responsibility, what kind of person are you!"
Shen Ruorou was pierced by everyone's gaze. She looked at Shen Weiwan's half-smiley face and finally realized that she had completely lost. This silly daughter who had been trampled under her feet was now the one who controlled her fate.
"I won't let you go..." Shen Ruoruo murmured to herself, turned away with empty eyes, and her steps were so weak that she seemed like she would fall down at any time.
"Miss, she seems to be really crazy." Chun Tao looked at Shen Ruoruo's back and said in a low voice.
Chen Weiwan put down her teacup, her eyes cold. "It's better if he goes crazy, so he won't make trouble again." She took out a silver ingot and handed it to the waiter. "Go, make a hundred copies of the blackboard book and send them to various bookstores and teahouses. Say... they are free for everyone's entertainment."
"Okay!" The waiter took the money with a smile on his face.
Xiao Yu appeared at the stairs at some point, waving a folding fan in his hand. "Miss Shen, you're really good at waging this war of public opinion."
Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows: "Your Highness, please forgive me for laughing. I just want everyone to know the truth."
Xiao Yu sat down opposite her and lowered his voice: "I heard that Liu heard about my daughter's situation in prison and was so angry that she vomited blood."
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com