"This..." Ren Wanyun hesitated. If she shared quarters with Shen Miao, she would find it nearly impossible to avoid blame should anything happen to the girl. Before she could settle on a better approach, Shen Miao pressed on: "If Auntie refuses, then the question becomes whether Elder Sister or Second Sister would be willing to share with me."
Shen Yue's eyes shifted, but she said nothing. Shen Qing had no clear idea of her mother's intentions, though she sensed vaguely that this entire trip had been arranged with Shen Miao in mind. On top of that, her dislike for Shen Miao had grown too deep to bother with pretense. She said coldly, "I am accustomed to sleeping alone."
"In that case..." Shen Miao appeared to think it over.
"Then I will stay with Fifth Niece in the North Pavilion." Before Shen Miao could finish her sentence, Ren Wanyun cut in and volunteered. She reasoned that living together, even at a distance from the main hall, gave her some measure of control. If anything went wrong, she could hardly be blamed. Whatever had been said at the time was one thing. What the truth was, was another.
Shen Miao smiled faintly. "Thank you for keeping me company, Second Aunt."
The polite words made Ren Wanyun's brow twitch before she smoothed her expression into warmth. "We are all family."
With the sleeping arrangements settled, what remained was unpacking. Shen Qing and Shen Yue both claimed fatigue and skipped the communal meal, having food sent to their rooms instead. When they arrived at the North Pavilion, Shen Miao spoke before Ren Wanyun could open her mouth: "I am also quite tired. I will not dine with Second Aunt tonight. I will go straight to my room."
Ren Wanyun blinked, then smiled. "Then rest early. I will do the same."
Shen Miao nodded.
The young novice monk assigned to show them the way led Shen Miao and her two maids to their room, and Shen Miao paused just inside the doorway.
For a temple as remote and spare as Wolong, this room was strikingly refined. A small grove of trees pressed close on one side, and the quiet it produced was dense and unbroken. The furnishings were simple but chosen with care, each piece sitting exactly where it should. It was the sort of room that made a person want to linger.
"The view here is lovely," Gu Yu said, genuinely pleased.
The novice monk lowered his head. "This room is reserved for the temple's honored guests. The lady of the manor gave instructions that it be prepared for the donor's use."
"Please thank my second aunt for her thoughtfulness," Shen Miao said, her tone light. Her eyes moved steadily around the room. This was the innermost chamber of the North Pavilion. Surrounded on all sides by trees and silence, it was as good as sealed off from the rest of the compound. A person could shout herself hoarse here and no one would come.
How thorough of them, she thought, to have even considered her means of escape. As for the room's careful arrangement, she suspected its comforts had been selected with someone else's enjoyment in mind entirely.
Jingzhe picked up several sticks of incense from the small table near the window and held them beneath her nose. "What is this scent? It resembles orchid, but richer. Sweeter." Her gaze settled on the incense burner, which had been crafted in the shape of an orchid blossom. "And the burner itself is quite lovely."
Gu Yu leaned over to look and smiled. "It seems the temple has done its homework. Miss always burns incense before sleeping. Once she is tired tonight and ready to rest, she can light these. She will sleep soundly."
"I may have to revise my opinion of Wolong Temple," Jingzhe said, grinning. "No wonder Second Madam insisted on making the trip out here to pray. The place has its charms."
Shen Miao's brow drew together slightly. She crossed to the table, took the incense from Jingzhe's hand, and held it under her nose. When she lowered it, the furrow between her brows had deepened.
Her two maids exchanged a glance. "Miss, is something wrong with the incense?"
Where things seem most right, danger tends to hide deepest. From the moment she had entered Wolong Temple, Shen Miao had not let her guard down by a fraction. The more carefully prepared everything appeared, the more clearly she could read the threat beneath it.
She did have the habit of burning incense before sleep, that much was true. And any ordinary young woman would have been charmed by a burner as delicate as this one, in a setting as tranquil as this, and thought nothing of lighting it. But Shen Miao was not an ordinary young woman.
The women who survived the inner palace had used every means available to claw their way upward. Shen Miao had sat at the head of the six palaces for years. She had seen too much to be easily fooled. Aphrodisiac incense in particular was a trick the consorts had worn threadbare. Any girl who had spent her life within proper household walls would never have recognized it. Shen Miao recognized it immediately.
"This is not something good," she said, and let the incense drop back onto the table.
Gu Yu and Jingzhe startled, staring at each other.
After a moment, Jingzhe said, "Should I throw it out?"
"No." Shen Miao's gaze rested on the table. Ren Wanyun and her accomplice had gone to considerable trouble to prepare this gift. It seemed a waste to discard it before it had served any purpose. The corner of her mouth curved into something cold. "Leave it. It will come in useful."
In a room not far from Shen Miao's, Ren Wanyun sat on the edge of her daybed. A hunched old woman stood before her: Gui Mama, the servant who had been closest to Shen Miao for years.
"You know what tonight requires," Ren Wanyun said. "If it goes well, you will be rewarded. If it does not..." She let out a short, soft sound that carried no warmth at all. "You already know what that means. I do not need to spell it out."
When she spoke like this, there was nothing left of the pleasant, even-tempered woman she showed the household each day. Her eyes were cold enough to make the air feel different.
Gui Mama smiled in the fawning way she had perfected over years of service. "Madam need not worry. Your servant will handle everything without a single misstep. Tonight will go exactly as planned."
Ren Wanyun's expression eased slightly. "I trust you. You have been closer to Fifth Girl than anyone. What we are doing, we are doing for the Shen family. When Fifth Girl grows older and comes to understand where her interests truly lie, she will see that you acted in her favor. You will not be forgotten."
Gui Mama nodded along, though inwardly she felt only contempt. If Shen Miao ever learned the truth of tonight, she would not forgive her, let alone thank her. The thought of what was about to happen made Gui Mama's chest tighten. She had not expected the mistress, with her perpetually pleasant face, to have devised something so vicious. What was being arranged for tonight was the sort of thing that could ruin a woman's life beyond all repair.
Then Ren Wanyun glanced at her attendant Caiju, and Caiju stepped forward with a small sachet, pressing it into Gui Mama's hands with a smile. "We are grateful for Gui Mama's help tonight."
Gui Mama closed her fingers around it. The sachet was heavier than it looked. Her face broke into a wide smile. "Madam will be more than satisfied."
A few more words were exchanged before Gui Mama rose and left.
"Madam truly intends to sleep here tonight?" Xiang Lan asked. "This room is right beside Fifth Miss's."
"It is of no concern," Ren Wanyun said, waving her hand without particular interest. "By tomorrow morning, whatever I say will be what happened. And depending on how the night goes, there may be one less person in this world by the time the elder brother returns. Nothing to fear." Her smile sharpened. "Elder Brother, Sister-in-Law, you had no one to blame but yourselves for standing in Qing'er's way."