6: The Night Rain
The sudden downpour was relentless, beating down and scattering leaves and branches.
The area was nearly deserted, with all the guests having departed. Qiao Shilian stared at the overturned carriage, suspicion growing in her heart.
In her previous life, she hadn’t met Zhou Shu at the banquet at the Luoxia Mountain villa. Instead, she had returned to the estate with her elder brother, and the rain hadn’t started until they arrived home. There had been no incident of a carriage overturning due to a startled horse.
However, the horses from her estate were gentle-tempered and would never panic without reason. Even in the heaviest rain, they wouldn’t be so frightened as to overturn the carriage.
“Second Miss, I don’t know what happened just now—the horse suddenly bolted and overturned in the ditch. The carriage is unusable now; it’s completely soaked in mud and water, and the shafts are broken,” the coachman hurriedly emerged from the other side of the carriage and reported to Qiao Shilian.
“Miss, perhaps we should return to the villa and ask His Highness the Crown Prince for another carriage. The rain is so heavy; you mustn’t catch a chill,” Qiuying suggested.
Return to the villa? But was it even possible now?
Qiao Shilian noticed a wound on the horse’s hind leg, with specks of blood continually seeping out and diluted by the rainwater. It looked as though the horse had been startled and struggled in the ditch, scraping itself on the gravel.
Yet Qiao Shilian was still pondering—why had the horse panicked in the first place?
If this was all orchestrated by someone, with the deep night and heavy rain trapping her on Luoxia Mountain without a carriage, her naïve and unsuspecting nature from her previous life would have led her to respectfully seek help from the Crown Prince. Given her need to rely on him, she would have inevitably returned to the villa to personally ask for his assistance.
This kind of lure felt all too familiar, inevitably reminding her of her past life. It was precisely because she had trusted others too easily and gone to the bamboo pavilion at the princess’s estate to seek out the Crown Prince that she had fallen into the trap. If she wasn’t mistaken, the carriage incident was also meant to lure her back to the villa, repeating the same trick from her previous life.
She thought that since this scheme had been laid out, if she simply sent Qiuying to fetch a carriage, it would be difficult for her to follow the trail and uncover the mastermind behind it.
Fang Yaoyao had already left the mountain, so she couldn’t turn the tables and catch someone red-handed. The schemer’s audacity in arranging all this proved that there was an insider at the villa, laying the groundwork and waiting for her to walk into the trap.
Moreover, Fang Yaoyao alone clearly didn’t have the power to orchestrate such a scheme at the Crown Prince’s villa. The hidden, unseen connections behind this were what Qiao Shilian needed to guard against most.
Qiao Shilian turned around just in time to see a figure in white robes emerging from the villa through the curtain of rain, about to board the Su family carriage.
“Young General Su,” Qiao Shilian called out to him from a distance. Taking an umbrella from Qiuying, she walked alone toward Su Zhuoguang.
Perhaps he would be her chance to break the scheme.
“Master, Miss Qiao’s carriage seems to be broken,” Fenglai spotted the carriage behind Qiao Shilian and reminded Su Zhuoguang.
Su Zhuoguang glanced briefly. “I don’t know how to fix it.”
Qiao Shilian: “…”
Fenglai: “…”
Who was asking him to fix the carriage? Qiao Shilian was speechless.
No wonder the women in the capital who tried to approach him all failed—this man was as cold as ice.
Standing to the side, Fenglai forced a smile toward Qiao Shilian, glancing sideways at the unmoving Su Zhuoguang. He thought to himself: What an unfortunate encounter. Master, you really shouldn’t offend her again.
Understanding the situation, Su Zhuoguang only replied indifferently, “His Highness the Crown Prince is probably still awake.”
His meaning was clear—she should seek help from the Crown Prince. He had no intention of intervening. Qiao Shilian wasn’t angered by this. She knew her sudden request for help was indeed somewhat presumptuous, but she had no better option.
She pressed her lips together, emphasizing her tone. “Does the young general think my carriage broke down on its own?”
Su Zhuoguang pondered for a moment. “If Miss Qiao suspects something, why not go along with the scheme?”
“I value my life too much to take such a gamble,” Qiao Shilian clenched her sleeve tightly.
To use herself as bait and hope to escape unscathed, she needed his help.
Now, more than anyone, she wanted to live well. The thought of becoming a ghost after death, with endless loneliness forever following her, made her shiver all over.
If Su Zhuoguang hadn’t appeared here tonight, she could have simply sent her maid into the villa to fetch a carriage and leave. But what about the future? Would she have to live in constant fear? She had to uncover all the connections behind this and learn the truth.
Just then, the slender fingers holding the bamboo umbrella tilted it slightly backward. Through the curtain of rain, like jade droplets and pearl foam, the icy face beneath it softened slightly as a trace of confusion flickered in Su Zhuoguang’s eyes.
This look in her eyes was something he had seen before.
Three years ago, while still stationed in the northwest military camp, Su Zhuoguang had been ambushed by the enemy and pushed to a desperate situation. When the city walls were breached, the soldiers defending the city had worn that same expression—terrified of death, yet desperate to survive. It was under that very pressure that he had led them in a final stand, turning defeat into victory.
Everyone fears death, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But why would a young lady born into wealth and luxury in the capital, untouched by cruelty or bloodshed, have such a look in her eyes? Su Zhuoguang couldn’t understand it.
Could it really be as she said—that there was a scheme within this villa that threatened her life?
But hadn’t the Crown Prince always treated her like a treasure? How could he ever harm her?
Seeing Su Zhuoguang remain silent for a long time without outright refusal, Qiao Shilian knew there was room for negotiation.
“I’ve heard that Young General Su’s bodyguard, Fenglai, is known as the ‘one who hears whispers from miles away,’ with hearing far beyond ordinary people. If you don’t believe me, I will return to the villa alone. If anything unusual happens along the way, it will prove that what I said is true.”
Qiao Shilian wanted to force the person lurking in the shadows to reveal themselves. Even though she was still terrified, this was a step she had to take.
Fenglai tilted his head to look at Su Zhuoguang, who nodded in agreement.
“Qiuying, wait for me here. I’m going to the villa to see His Highness,” Qiao Shilian said to her bewildered maid before turning and entering the villa.
The guards at the villa didn’t stop Qiao Shilian when they saw it was her. The Crown Prince had instructed them that the Qiao family’s second young lady was free to come and go as she pleased, without needing to be announced.
As she stepped inside, she saw someone waiting under the flickering lanterns along the corridor.
“Miss Qiao,” an elderly eunuch called out softly through the rain, holding a lantern and an umbrella as he approached her with small, hurried steps.
“The rain is so heavy. Thank you for waiting here for me, Eunuch Jiude,” Qiao Shilian replied politely, feeling a momentary sense of relief.
She would never suspect this kind old man. Eunuch Jiude, as the Crown Prince’s personal eunuch, acted solely on the Crown Prince’s orders and understood his intentions better than anyone. For now, following Eunuch Jiude into the villa was the safest course of action.
“Ah, Miss Qiao, you flatter me. This is only my duty. As soon as His Highness saw the rain outside, he immediately sent this old servant to check if you were still at the villa and whether you needed anything. And here you are, just as I arrived,” Eunuch Jiude said with a bow and a smile.
“My family’s carriage broke down, and with the late hour, my parents are surely growing anxious waiting at home. That’s why I had no choice but to trouble His Highness, hoping to borrow a carriage to return to the estate,” Qiao Shilian explained, casually observing the rain-soaked surroundings. Aside from the occasional patrolling guard, there was no one else in sight.
“Please wait here, Miss Qiao. This old servant will fetch one for you. His Highness has been busy with many matters today and has had quite a bit to drink, so he couldn’t come to meet you in person. Still, he remains concerned about your health and has instructed me repeatedly to fulfill your needs as much as possible.”
With that, Eunuch Jiude departed, leaving two guards to watch over her.
Qiao Shilian remained where she was, the sound of rain growing more urgent in her ears, the damp air pressing heavily against her. In the darkness of the night, she stared fixedly at the rain-soaked ground and the deep shadows of the trees, doing her best to conceal the unease in her heart.
She kept thinking—if she were the one setting this trap, where would she place it? And it had to be a single, decisive strike, pushing the target into a corner with no way out.
Before long, a palace attendant rushed over to report, “The stables are leaking.”
The two guards beside her exchanged glances, and one of them followed the attendant to investigate.
Just as expected, things would not go smoothly.
Qiao Shilian tightened her grip on her umbrella, her eyes scanning her surroundings without blinking.
Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind blew, flipping her umbrella over. In the moment Qiao Shilian turned to retrieve it, all the nearby lanterns were extinguished at once, plunging her vision into darkness. The panicked cries of palace attendants pierced through the rustling of the rain and the violent beating of the downpour against the branches, striking rhythmically and urgently at Qiao Shilian’s heart.
Stripped of her sight, Qiao Shilian stood frozen in the rain, holding her breath, not daring to move.
So, this was where it all began?
“Miss Qiao… Miss Qiao…”
The guards’ anxious calls seemed both distant and near, indistinct and muffled.
Now, Qiao Shilian realized that she had been separated from them in the darkness without even noticing.
“I’m here.”
The icy rain soaked through her clothes, chilling her to the bone. Struggling to locate the guards’ voices amidst the relentless downpour, Qiao Shilian found it impossible to determine their whereabouts.
Carefully, she began to retreat, hoping to make her way back toward the villa’s main gate. If she wanted to lure the hidden figure out, coordinating with Su Zhuoguang from inside and out was her best option.
But as she hadn’t anticipated, in the pitch darkness, she soon lost her sense of direction.
Shortly after, a swift and powerful set of footsteps broke through the steady sound of the rain, advancing unmistakably toward her location. Qiao Shilian could hear the sound growing closer and clearer with each passing moment.
The person was coming for her.
Her heart leaped into her throat, but she forced herself to remain calm, pretending to be unaware while subtly moving away from the ghostly footsteps that seemed to trail her.
Yet, aside from those footsteps, she could hear nothing else.
Her heart pounded fiercely as she stumbled through a puddle, her legs growing weak and her palms turning cold. Over and over, she tried to convince herself not to be afraid, but the heat behind her eyes betrayed her.
Of course, she was terrified.
In this pitch-black, lightless place, if that person caught her… she would be utterly powerless to resist. They could even push her into the pond to drown her, and later claim she had accidentally fallen into the water in the dark of night.
This scheme was simpler and more brutal than the one in her previous life, sending chills down her spine. But she wanted to live. She refused to relive that tragedy. She had to survive!
Her heart pounded violently as she ran, no longer feeling the cold rain on her skin, focused only on escaping the ever-closer footsteps.
A faint glimmer of lamplight appeared ahead. Clutching her skirt, Qiao Shilian quickened her pace, breaking into a frantic run. Yet, in this pitch-dark, rainy night, with her usual poor sense of direction, she had no landmarks to guide her.
Suddenly, she stumbled over a stone step, colliding with a swaying, blurred tree shadow. Cold rainwater from the branches cascaded over her.
Panicked, she grabbed the tree trunk to steady herself, but a forceful hand suddenly seized her shoulder.
“Ah—”
Qiao Shilian instinctively let out a sharp scream. In her extreme panic, she sensed the person trying to cover her mouth, so she bit down as hard as she could.
But the person only hissed softly in pain, their grip on her shoulder tightening even more, forcing a cry of pain from her as she released her bite. Tears began to well in the corners of her eyes.
Then, the person firmly covered her mouth again. All she could do was tilt her head back and struggle with all her might.
As long as she made enough noise, she could hold on until Su Zhuoguang arrived. She believed—no, she was certain—that the man who had uncovered the truth and cleared her name in her past life would not stand by and watch her die.
As rainwater flooded her nose and mouth, she caught a faint scent.
—It was that same fragrance from her past life, the one that had left her body weak and powerless.
**