In a blink of an eye, it was already the mid-autumn, and the weather had grown increasingly colder day by day.

  A few days ago, the people from Gao fu had come over to visit Xie fu. Upon their arrival, Leng shi went to welcome them at the main hall. As they had arrived early, seeing that Xie Zhen and Xie Xun were still asleep, Leng shi did not wake them up.

  By the time Xie Zhen had woken up, she was already alone in her wing.

  Changing into a high-collared lace cape embroidered with peonies, she went about her usual routine, combing her hair into a neat bun, and placing a few strings of beads and silk flowers in the bun. They moved from side to side as she walked, and made her seem active and cute. She walked around for a while but didn’t find Xie Xun, and only after finding a maid did she then realise that she was with Leng shi in the main hall.

  “Ah Xun, what are you doing?” She ran into the hall with a suspicious look on her face.

  Xie Xun stood on the rose wood drum stool. Facing the mirror decorated with four birds circling a flower branch, the small dumpling shook her head, saying, “Big sis come see, am I pretty or not like this?”


  Going closer to look, Xie Zhen then found that she was wearing Leng shi’s jade cicada hairpin.

  Forcing herself not to laugh, Xie Zhen looked around, and Xie Xun suddenly thought of changing her hairstyle into a spiral bun. She had a hairpin in her bun and her face was still immature, yet she seemed to be pretending to be a grown-up, so she was both funny and cute to look at. All young girls fantasised of being grown-ups, and little Xie Xun was no exception.

  Xie Zhen, in a serious voice, commented, “Really pretty, almost as though you’re flawless.”


  Xie Xun repeatedly asked, “What flaws?”


  She climbed down from the stool, and swayed over to Xie Zhen, intently gazing at her.

  In a flash, Xie Zhen thought of an explanation, and pointed to the makeup on the dressing table. “Ah Niang always puts some rogue and powder on, why don’t you try putting some on?”


  Clapping her hands, Xie Xun agreed, “Of course!”


  Quietening down, the two troublemakers sneakily looked around, both thinking the same thing. Xie Zhen said, “Ah Niang is at the main hall right now, we mustn’t let her know.”


  Xie Xun nodded, and pursed her lips. “Both of us are not allowed to tell her.”


  The two small dumplings were in agreement, and surrounded Leng shi‘sdressing table. The movement in the room actually couldn’t be concealed from the maidservants outside; the two were too naive, actually assuming that no one would know what they were doing. Shuang Yu and Shuang Yan looked at each other helplessly, but alas, could only await Leng shi’s return.

  Xie Zhen opened the lotus lacquered purple box, which contained a bright red piece of rogue. Picking up a piece, she started to draw on Xie Xun’s face, telling her, “Make sure you don’t move.”


  Xie Xun obediently stayed still.

  After she finished drawing on the rogue, Xie Zhen opened another box. Inside were some finely-ground powder, and remembering how Ah Niang’s face always became whiter after patting it on, she then took a handful of it and spread it on her sister’s face. After that she drew on her eyebrows, put on lipstick…… After she finished Xie Xun’s big makeover, Xie Zhen clapped her hands, saying, “I’m done!”


  Xie Xun excitedly looked into the mirror, but with just a glance she was shocked silly by the strange creature looking back at her, loudly crying out, “Ugly!”


  The two sisters had inherited their mother’s skin colour, and originally were already quite pale. After Xie Zhen had spread so much powder, Xie Xun became so much whiter that she looked as pale as paper. In particular, as her cheeks and lips were bright red, coupled with the fact that her eyebrows had been drawn till they were stark black, it almost seemed as though a female ghost had appeared in the world of the living!

  Understandably, Xie Xun felt sad and started crying. Afraid that her sister would make her look like that again, she decided never to return to the dressing table.

  Xie Zhen also thought that she didn’t look that good, and guiltily said, “Why don’t you draw on me too?”


  Whining as she jumped down from the stool, she wouldn’t agree despite whatever Xie Zhen said. “What if I make Big Sis become as ugly as I am?”


  Upon saying this, she cried even harder.

  Hurriedly comforting her, Xie Zhen said, “Ah Xun doesn’t look ugly, Ah Xun’s actually very pretty! No one is prettier than Ah Xun!”


  Hearing the disturbance in the room, the maidservants rushed inside. The moment Shuang Yu caught sight of the mess they’d made of Xie Xun’s face, she couldn’t help but laugh and ask, “What happened?”


  Mumbling, Xie Xun replied, “Big Sister Shuang Yu laughed at me, Big Sis is definitely lying……”


  Xie Zhen immediately pushed the maidservants out, thinking of ways to deal with the situation. “There’s nothing wrong, I just need to say something to Xie Xun, both of you hurry up and leave……”


  The two worriedly looked back and said, “But……”


  Without even finishing their sentences, they were pushed out of the room by Xie Zhen. They were too afraid to retaliate and accidentally injure the precious little descendant, so they stood outside, unblinkingly staring at the big gates in front.

  On the other side of the doors, Xie Zhen ran into the inner room, asking, “Xie Xun? Xie Xun?”


  At that moment, Xie Xun was standing on a wooden stool, blankly staring at the ground.

  She originally wanted to wash her face, but the copper basin was too high up, and she couldn’t reach it no matter how hard she tried. In the end, she had accidentally struck her head against the stool, and the jade cicada hairpin had been knocked loose.

  The jade hairpin had fallen to the ground and broke into two pieces.

  Xie Zhen arrived in front of her, and followed her gaze to the ground. Immediately, she was stunned, and gaped widely.

  Xie Xun was so scared that she actually couldn’t recall how to cry, and looked at her helplessly. “Big sis, what should we do……I accidentally broke the hairpin……”


  That had been Ah Niang’s favourite hairpin; she would definitely scold her! Just thinking of Ah Niang sternly teaching her a lesson frightened her till she shrunk slightly, and large tears came rolling down her cheeks. She cried like she normally would, making herself look pitiful and lovely, but with the strange makeup on her face, her tears smudged he rogue, making her look both embarrassing and ridiculous.

  Xie Zhen was older than her, and so quickly calmed down. Going over to the drum stool, she took a towel from the shelf above it, wet it, and then used it to wash her sister’s face. “Don’t be afraid, let me think of a solution.”


  Saying this, she bent down a little to wipe her face clean, and Xie Xun didn’t dare to move at all, staying still the whole time. She blinked at her sister, face full of hope.

  After Xie Zhen finished wiping the makeup off, she picked up the two broken pieces of the jade hairpin and thought hard for a while.

  What should she do? Ah Niang would come back soon, and if she saw this scene right after returning, she would definitely get angry.

  Why not they throw it away? If Ah Niang couldn’t find it, then it would just be a matter of time before she forgot about it entirely.

  But what if Ah Niang found out……In the end, she didn’t dare to throw it away.

  After all, she was just a small child. In the eyes of young children, their parents’ things were all strange and mystical.

  Just as she was stuck in a dilemma, Shuang Yu called out from outside. “Second young miss, third young miss, the Madame has called both of you to go to the main hall to welcome the guests.” Saying this, she opened the door and entered.

  At that moment, Xie Xun was anxiously pacing around, asking, “Big sis, what should we do? Will Ah Niang beat me?”