"Huh?" Afraid of dropping it, Chen Xiang instinctively caught it, and both her hands sank heavily.
Looking closely, she saw an elaborate peony carved in the center of the red-lacquered wooden box. A small column of characters in the lower-left corner read "Crimson Rouge Studio."
"This..." Holding a cosmetics box from what was said to be the finest shop in the Divine Capital, Chen Xiang did not know what to do.
"Open it and have a look." Li Qingxian smiled at his cousin.
Chen Xiang looked at Li Qingxian and froze for a moment. She could not explain why, but although she had only gone two months without seeing her little brother, he suddenly seemed all grown up, with a presence he had never possessed before.
As Chen Zhu sawed through a bamboo tube, he said, "Qingxian's different now. The head of that Street Patrol Office is a high-ranking Seventh Rank official, just like the county magistrate back home, but he was especially warm toward me. He kept calling me Brother Chen and personally sent a carriage to bring me home."
Zhang Fang hastily wiped her son's face clean, walked over to Chen Xiang, and craned her neck for a look. Her eyes widened. "I recognize that peony. Is this from the Crimson Rouge Studio? A box like this must cost at least..."
Zhang Fang simply did not dare say the figure aloud.
"It's... it's too expensive..." Chen Xiang slowly set the cosmetics box on the table, but she could not tear her eyes away. Her pretty face flushed slightly.
Zhang Fang hurriedly said, "Right, don't open it. It can still be returned..."
Li Qingxian reached out, snapped the seals open, and lifted the lid.
The bright silver mirror on the lid, treated with magic, gleamed brilliantly. Rouge and face