After washing herself and changing her clothes, Wei Shuwan was helped out of the clean room by two maids to prevent the glazed tiles from becoming slippery due to moisture.
As Wei Shuwan passed by the window, she glanced into the courtyard. From this angle, she could see the entire pavilion. However, she noticed that apart from a few silver bells hanging from the eaves of the pavilion, there was nothing else on it.
"Miaoxiang, where did you hang that lock of my hair?"
"It's hanging on the east eaves."
Miaoxiang answered, then looked around, but a strange look quickly appeared in her eyes: "Eh? I clearly saw it hanging there..."
Zi Qiao also looked around but didn't find a trace. Finally, she frowned and said, "Could it have been stolen by a naughty cat? The weather has turned cold lately, and cats on the street like to sneak into the courtyards of various mansions. Several cats have gone to the Sheng family too!"
"Then, is the exorcism and blessing still valid?" Miao Xiang looked at Zi Qiao with difficulty, then at Wei Shu Wan.
Zi Qiao wasn't sure either, so she finally said, "How about we cut another strand for the young lady and hang it up? It's always good to be polite!"
Upon hearing this, Wei Shuwan quickly pulled her hand away and covered her hair, her eyes showing resistance: "No, no, if I cut it any more, I'll go bald!"
“Oh girl, it’s better to be bald than to be a prisoner again! Besides, look at your well-maintained hair, so smooth and thick. Even if you cut it ten or eight times, you’ll never go bald.”
As Zi Qiao spoke, she turned back to the washroom to find scissors. Wei Shuwan rushed back to the washroom first and hid the scissors behind her back, saying anxiously, "What if we hang them up this time and the cat steals them again later? Wouldn't we have to cut them again?"
Zi Qiao was speechless this time, and the two sides reached a stalemate.
Miaoxiang then tried to smooth things over by saying, "If that really doesn't work, how about we just cut a few hairs for you this time? It won't hurt if you lose them again."
Wei Shuwan, still hiding the scissors and refusing to compromise, glanced at the wooden comb on the corner table and suddenly had an idea! She plucked some hair from the comb, gathered it into a small bunch, about ten strands, and generously handed it to Miaoxiang:
"Alright, go hang up!"
Miao Xiang smiled and took it: "That's good now. Even if it gets stolen again, it's inevitable that a few strands will fall out every day. You can just hang it up again every day!"
Zi Qiao was both amused and exasperated.
However, this time the hair was hung up very smoothly. When Zi Qiao Miao Xiang brought the copper basin and other items to serve Wei Shu Wan when he got up from bed the next morning, the strand of hair on the eaves was still there.
Hearing the noise, Wei Shuwan, who was still on the bed, frowned first, then reached out and lifted a corner of the bed curtain, asking lazily, "What time is it?"
“Miss, it’s early morning,” Zi Qiao replied softly.
This was Wei Shuwan's usual time to rise and go to bed, but thinking that Wei Shuwan had stayed up late last night, Zi Qiao advised, "Miss, you didn't fall asleep until midnight last night while preparing incense. If you are tired, why not sleep for another incense stick? I'll put the white jade cake that Miao Xiang just made on the copper incense burner for you, so it will still be warm when you get up."
She was tired, especially since Wei Shuwan had been sleeping in a prison-like place for four consecutive days, but she still managed to sit up with difficulty, yawned, and said, "No, the incense wasn't mixed properly last night, so I have to continue today."
"If you ask me, why don't you just follow the old recipe in the incense manual and mix it up? Why bother researching a new recipe?"
"The young prince is meticulous and discerning, not one to follow the crowd; he is very selective about everything he uses..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Wei Shuwan suddenly snapped out of her daze and blinked her eyes. Last night she stayed up late, only saying that she was developing a new fragrance formula, without telling the two maids that it was for Li Qingchen. In her confusion this morning, she had let it slip.
She turned her head guiltily to look at the two maids, and sure enough, they both stopped what they were doing and looked at her, their eyes filled with laughter and a hint of teasing.
Wei Shuwan loosened her grip on the curtain, hiding her blushing face.
"Alright, young lady, I'm not making fun of you. Please come out now," Zi Qiao said playfully.
While Wei Shuwan was washing up and changing, she heard Zi Qiao casually muttering, "Just now when I went to fetch water, I saw Master and Madam heading towards Songhe Residence."
The two of them greeted their grandmother together, something that hadn't happened in a long time; even their mother hadn't gone to greet her grandmother in a long time. Wei Shuwan sensed something strange, and then she recalled what her father had said at Zhaoshui Hall the day before.
She couldn't help but say with delight, "It seems that Father has really made up his mind this time to ask the eldest branch of the family to leave."
"If that's the case, that would be wonderful. It would save Fourth Miss from eating, wearing, and being pampered by Second Sister's things, and from constantly competing with you for your affections!" Zi Qiao spoke frankly, without any regard for the distinction between mistress and servant, and directly voiced her true thoughts.
While Wei Shuwan went behind the screen to change her clothes, Miaoxiang whispered a reminder: "Sister Ziqiao, the Fourth Miss is still a mistress. We servants shouldn't talk about her like that behind her back."
Zi Qiao didn't take it to heart at all, and said disdainfully, "What kind of master are we if we're about to be asked to leave? Besides, Fourth Miss has never been a reasonable person. Even the young master she has her eye on secretly admires our young lady, and she'll hold our young lady accountable for that! Moreover, the eldest young master injured our young master. Now, our second branch and their eldest branch don't seem like family, but rather like enemies!"
Miao Xiang thought about it and realized it made sense. Putting aside everything else, the fact that the eldest young master was now in jail would be a thorn in the side between the two families.
So he said, "If you can persuade the old lady this time to let the eldest son of the family go out and establish his own household, that would be the best outcome."
"We'll soon find out whether my father can persuade my grandmother!" Wei Shuwan said, stepping out from behind the screen. She had already changed her clothes and headed straight for the door.
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