DLERB -Chapter 210 Trying to Laugh at Me? I’ll Show You a Miracle!

The wedding seven days later.

The imperial decree spread throughout Xianyang.

Some rejoiced, others worried.

The happiest of all were the city’s craftsmen.

The most troubled were naturally the noble clans who prided themselves on their status.

Eastern Palace Residence

Ying Ziye’s newly granted residence had now become Gongshu Wan’s bridal preparation courtyard.

Dozens of palace-trained matrons surrounded her.

“Crown Princess, when meeting His Majesty, your steps must be small—pause every three steps.”

“Crown Princess, when eating, your chopsticks must not make any sound.”

“Crown Princess, the patterns on this ceremonial dress represent imperial dignity. Not a single crease is allowed.”

Gongshu Wan sat in front of the bronze mirror, allowing herself to be arranged.

In her hand, she still tightly held a half-completed gear schematic.

A matron with sharp eyes suddenly snatched the drawing away.

“Crown Princess! The wedding is imminent—how can you still touch such crude things!”

Gongshu Wan’s hand was suddenly empty.

She looked at the matron but said nothing.

At that moment, a maid hurried in and handed over a gilded invitation.

“Crown Princess, Miss Li Yannran from the Chancellor’s residence invites you to a flower viewing banquet in the imperial gardens tomorrow.”

……

The next day, Imperial Garden.

Pavilions and waterside terraces, flowers in full bloom.

A group of gorgeously dressed noblewomen had already gathered. Leading them was Li Si’s daughter, Li Yannran.

She had originally been the most favored candidate for Crown Princess—yet now she had to lower herself before an artisan’s daughter.

“Yannran sister, I heard that one… cannot even read properly,” a marquis’s daughter whispered, just loud enough to be heard.

“Mind your words,” Li Yannran said lightly, though there was no real reprimand in her tone.

“I’m just curious. Someone who spends her days with grease and iron scraps—does she even understand poetry, music, incense, or tea?”

“Exactly. I recently obtained a painting by a great master of the previous dynasty. I intended to share it with everyone, but it seems… someone may not understand it.”

“Hahaha…”

A round of knowing laughter followed.

At that moment, a eunuch announced loudly:

“The Crown Princess has arrived!”

The laughter stopped abruptly.

All eyes turned toward the entrance.

Gongshu Wan walked in.

She was not wearing the elaborate ceremonial dress prepared by the palace, but instead a clean plain linen dress.

Her hair was simply tied with a wooden hairpin.

Compared to the jeweled noblewomen around her, she looked like a sparrow among peacocks.

Li Yannran stood and smiled politely.

“Sister has arrived. Please, sit here.”

She pointed to the seat beside her.

Gongshu Wan walked over and sat down.

She was not used to such occasions and did not wish to speak, quietly observing the flowers in the garden.

A brightly dressed girl walked over carrying a tea tray—it was the same marquis’s daughter who had mocked her earlier.

“Crown Princess, please have some tea.”

She offered the cup.

The moment Gongshu Wan reached out—

The girl’s hand tilted.

“Oh dear!”

A full cup of scalding dark tea spilled perfectly onto Gongshu Wan’s skirt.

A large brown stain spread rapidly across the plain fabric, glaringly obvious.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry, Crown Princess!”

The girl apologized with her mouth, but there was not a trace of sincerity on her face.

“It was my clumsy mistake… but this fabric looks rather rough anyway. I suppose… it isn’t very valuable. Washing it should be fine.”

The surrounding noblewomen wanted to laugh but did not dare, their faces turning red from restraint.

Li Yannran stepped forward with feigned concern.

“Sister, come with me to the side hall and change your clothes. I have a clean set prepared.”

It was a trap.

If she changed into their prepared clothes, it would be equivalent to admitting defeat.

Gongshu Wan lowered her head to look at the stain.

She did not get angry.

Instead, she calmly took out a small white porcelain bottle from her sleeve.

Under everyone’s confused gazes, she opened the stopper.

A faint, slightly pungent smell spread through the air.

Gongshu Wan tilted the bottle mouth toward the stain and dripped a few drops of transparent liquid onto it.

Zzzzt…

A faint, subtle sound rang out.

The dark brown tea stain began to fade at a visible speed, as if erased by an invisible hand.

Within just a few breaths—

The stain completely disappeared.

The plain linen skirt was restored to its original cleanliness, without even a trace of moisture.

“……”

The entire pavilion fell into dead silence.

The mockery on the noblewomen’s faces froze.

The girl who had spilled the tea stood with her mouth wide open, and the tea tray slipped from her hands and clattered to the ground.

Even Li Yannran’s composed smile stiffened.

“What… what is this?” she asked, her voice slightly dry. “Some kind of witchcraft?”

Gongshu Wan put away the porcelain bottle and tucked it back into her sleeve.

She raised her head and glanced at the pale-faced women before her.

“Not witchcraft.”

She said calmly.

“Tea stains appear because of plant-based alkalinity. The substance in this bottle neutralizes it.”

She paused slightly.

“Even if I explain further, you wouldn’t understand.”

“This is the study of things.”

Li Yannran’s face instantly flushed from pale to red.

“You!”

That single line—“even if I explain, you wouldn’t understand”—was more humiliating than any insult.

It was outright contempt.

One of the noblewomen, unwilling to accept defeat, forcefully changed the topic.

“Just some petty tricks not worthy of the table!”

She pointed at an exquisitely crafted Boshan incense burner in the center of the pavilion.

“Appreciating incense and antiques is true elegance! Since the Crown Princess is a master of Mohist mechanics, surely she understands incense art as well?”

They were trying to pull her back into their own familiar domain again.

To use decades of so-called “refined arts” to reclaim their pride.

Gongshu Wan stood up.

She walked to the Boshan incense burner.

“Ordinary incense is boring to smell.”

From another sleeve pocket, she took out something else.

Not incense.

But a thin strip of silvery metal that shimmered with a cold sheen.

“What is that?”

“It looks like tin foil.”

The noblewomen leaned forward curiously.

Gongshu Wan did not explain.

She cut off a small piece of the silver strip, clamped it with fire tongs, and placed it into the burning charcoal beneath the incense burner.

“Sister, be careful. That is a tribute item from the Western Regions…” Li Yannran began.

Before she could finish—

BOOM!

A blinding, indescribable pure white light erupted from the incense burner!

It was so intense, so radiant!

In an instant, all colors in the entire imperial garden were swallowed. Heaven and earth were reduced to pure white!

Even the sun itself paled in comparison!

“Ah!”

Screams erupted one after another.

The noblewomen had never seen anything like it!

They covered their eyes, screaming as they stumbled backward, knocking over tables and chairs, rolling into a chaotic heap.

Tea, pastries, fruit, and precious porcelain shattered across the ground.

Li Yannran collapsed as well, trembling all over, her beautiful face as pale as paper.

They looked at the woman standing at the center of the light.

As if she were a deity descending with divine punishment.

Or a demon from hell.

The light came quickly—and vanished just as fast.

When everyone, still trembling, finally looked again through their fingers…

Gongshu Wan was still standing there.

In her hand, she still held the strip of metal, now burned to a pale gray ash-like state.

At her feet lay a mess of overturned, trembling noblewomen.