Quick Wear Dream Qiqi

In the early summer of the 27th year of the Qianlong reign, "Snow Orchid Eyebrows" suddenly became popular in the rouge shops in the capital.

The women held fragrant ink and painted their long eyebrows in front of the bronze mirror. The air was filled with the fragrance of camphor and orchid.

"Aqiao, why is this ink stick smoother than ordinary eyebrow pencils?" Chuntao frowned in front of the mercury mirror in the embroidery workshop, and drew an arc between her eyebrows with the scented ink stick in her hand.

"Fujin said this ink contains donkey-hide gelatin and rose oil," Ah Qiao showed off a specially made eyebrow brush with a copper plate shaped like a butterfly wing. "Follow the strokes of the female script character 'eyebrow' and apply it in three strokes."

Meng Qiqi stood at the door of the embroidery workshop, looking at Chuntao and others' makeup, and suddenly remembered the "Research on Ancient Cosmetics" provided by the system - "ink eyebrows" were popular among women in the Tang Dynasty, and they used pine soot ink to draw eyebrows. The scented ink she improved was not only non-toxic, but also had nourishing effects.

"Girls," she said, holding up her newly made "butterfly eyebrow stickers" with brows outlined in fluorescent powder, "let's go to the City God Temple tonight and let the people see our 'Moonlight Eyebrows'."

At three quarters past midnight, under the lanterns of the City God Temple, the girls took off their veils, and the fluorescent eyebrow pencil between their eyebrows flickered in the night like stars.

The people cried out in surprise, and immediately rouge shop owners came over to ask for scented ink eyebrow tattoos.

"This eyebrow pencil is called 'Magpie Bridge Fairy,'" Meng Qiqi showed the butterfly pattern on the eyebrow sticker. "It's painted with the fragrant ink of a female scholar. It's not only beautiful, but also brings blessings."

What she didn't mention was that the curvature of the eyebrow sticker coincided with the "normal intelligence" fold angle of the butterfly folding method.

----

On the day after the Dragon Boat Festival, Natasha, wife of the Russian ambassador, visited the Forbidden City. She wore a silk dress embroidered with butterflies, and her leather boots, which were exposed between the hem of her skirt, also had butterfly buckles on them.

"I've heard that praying for blessings with butterflies is popular in your country," Natasha said in Russian, unfolding her folding fan to reveal a painting of Madame Butterfly by an Italian artist. "In the West, butterflies symbolize the freedom of the soul."

Meng Qiqi noticed that the butterfly wings on the fan were painted with complex geometric patterns, which were highly similar to the "Russian intelligence code" provided by the system.

She smiled and responded in Russian: "What a coincidence! In our country's Nüshu, the character for butterfly is '? (with a 蛳 on top and a 虫 on the bottom),' which means 'insects and birds fly together, and heaven and earth shine together.'"

Little Swallow suddenly rushed in, holding a butterfly whistle. "This is our 'Madame Butterfly'! She can blow the whistle and fly three miles!"

She demonstrated how to make the butterfly whistle play the melody of "Moscow Evenings", and Natasha's face froze instantly.

That night, in the secret room of the Shangyi Bureau, Ziwei pointed at the gift list from the Russian delegation and said, "The amber butterfly they sent contains a miniature secret letter tube."

Yong Qi displayed the spectrum scanned from Natasha's fan, "These geometric patterns correspond to the seven colors of Xiangmo Meidai."

Meng Qiqi touched the fluorescent eyebrow ink between her eyebrows and recalled the strange thing she saw in the rouge shop during the day - Eunuch Li's goddaughter Xiao Cui actually used scented ink to draw the Russian "double-headed eagle" eyebrow tattoo.

The system prompt sounded suddenly: "Russian spies have been detected using beauty trends to transmit intelligence. Danger level: ★★★★☆."

On the eve of the summer solstice, Meng Qiqi deliberately "ran into" Yongqi in the imperial garden. The golden swallow hairpin in her hair was changed to a butterfly shape, and her eyebrow pencil was gradient with seven colors, which was exactly the pattern on Natasha's fan.

"Fifth Prince, do you know?" she flicked her sleeve, revealing the fluorescent butterfly tattoo on her wrist. "'Seven-color eyebrows' are popular among the people recently. They are said to be able to summon Madame Butterfly from the West."

Yongqi frowned, he knew that the "seven-color eyebrows" corresponded to the level of Russian intelligence.

Last night he discovered in the rouge shop that Eunuch Li secretly purchased a large amount of scented ink, saying that it was for "praying for the Empress Dowager."

"Follow me," Meng Qiqi led him into the darkroom of the Shangyi Bureau. On the wall were projected butterfly blessing photos from various places. "Look at the eyebrows of these women. The double-headed eagle pattern appears very frequently."

Yongqi stared at the projection and saw that many women had eyebrow tattoos similar to the Russian national emblem between their eyebrows.

He suddenly remembered the amber butterfly Natasha had given him, and the secret letter tube inside was sealed with scented ink.

"What is Eunuch Li doing?" He clenched his fists.

"He's using the butterfly blessing as a pretext to sell out his country." Meng Qiqi pulled out Eunuch Li's purchase list. "A large amount of scented ink has flowed into the Russian embassy, ​​and they're using eyebrow ink to transmit intelligence—color corresponds to the level of secrecy, and eyebrow shape corresponds to coordinates."

At three quarters past midnight, the candlelight in the Qianqing Palace illuminated Qianlong's face. He stared at the fluorescent eyebrow ink sample presented by Yongqi. The shape of his eyebrows revealed the Russian word "attack" under the fluorite lamp.

"What is this...?" Qianlong's voice was filled with anger.

"My Lord," Yongqi unfolded a map of the Russian intelligence network. "Eunuch Li colluded with the Russians, using folk folding techniques like butterflies to pray for blessings and scented ink to transmit intelligence. They even tampered with the folding technique for praying, using the 'double-headed eagle spreading its wings' to transmit military secrets."

Qianlong slammed his hand on the table, and the scented ink ingot rolled to the floor, revealing the female character "密" (secret) written on the bottom. He suddenly remembered Meng Qiqi's talk of the "butterfly effect." It turned out that behind the rumors was such a sophisticated spy network.

"Issue an order," he gritted his teeth, "that the Fifth Prince be given full authority to investigate this case, with Concubine Xinrong cooperating. Eunuch Li...will be taken to the Ministry of Punishment for the time being, awaiting his sentence."

Meng Qiqi knelt outside the hall, listening to the movements inside, secretly calculating in her heart - after Eunuch Li's conspiracy was exposed, the Russian side would definitely speed up its actions, and she had already added a tracer to the scented ink. Every piece of ink that flowed into the embassy would become evidence of conviction.

On the day of the beginning of autumn, in the cellar of the Russian embassy, ​​Eunuch Li was teaching Natasha how to use scented ink to draw a "double-headed eagle" eyebrow pencil.

"Remember," he wrote on the parchment with an eyebrow pencil dipped in fluorescent powder, "green represents food and fodder, red represents military strength, and the angle of the brow peak corresponds to the height of the city wall."

Natasha looked at her reflection in the mirror with satisfaction when she suddenly heard a butterfly whistle coming from the roof - three long and one short, which was the signal to evacuate.

Just as she was about to stand up, Yongqi and his guards broke in through the window, aiming the butterfly crossbow in their hands at Eunuch Li.

"Eunuch Li is so bold," Yongqi said, kicking the scented ink bottle off the ground. Fluorescent powder flew up, revealing a secret Russian letter in the moonlight. "Using our own scented ink to collaborate with the enemy and betray our country?"

Eunuch Li wanted to argue, but he saw Meng Qiqi walk in. The eyebrow ink between her eyebrows was exactly the "double-headed eagle" style he taught her.

She gently turned her wrist, revealing the female character "lur" (lured) written on the inside - it turned out that she deliberately used eyebrow ink as bait to lure the snake out of its hole.

During the Autumnal Equinox, in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Eunuch Li was brought into the hall. His white hair was disheveled and he no longer had the arrogance of the past.

"Do you admit your guilt?" Qianlong stared at the fluorescent eyebrow ink remaining on his brow.

"Your Majesty, please understand!" Eunuch Li tried to deny it, "This is just a popular beauty trend..."

"Shut up!" Meng Qiqi held up the scented ink she'd found at the Russian embassy. "This ink contains special fluorescent powder that can only be developed with our fluorite lamps, and yet you're using it to transmit intelligence!"

She turned to Natasha and asked, "The ambassador's wife's fan with the image of 'Madame Butterfly' isn't about freedom, it's about our country's cities, isn't it?"

Natasha's face turned pale, and she suddenly screamed in Russian: "This is a trap! You knew it a long time ago..."

"Yes, this is a trap," Yongqi showed the translated copy of the Russian secret letter. "You thought you could hide your tracks by exploiting popular trends, but you didn't know that our scented ink had already been spiked with a tracer."

Qianlong looked at the butterflies flying in the sky outside the palace and suddenly remembered Meng Qiqi's words: "When the butterflies are covered by dark clouds, the breeze will come and blow them away."

He stood up suddenly and shouted, "Eunuch Li is guilty of treason and betrayal. His crime is unforgivable! The Russian delegation is plotting rebellion and must be expelled!"