She instinctively pulled her collar tight, feeling waves of heat rising up her neck.
Mm, there really was a mark—a whole patch of them, in fact.
Thankfully she was wearing a cross-collared robe that covered the marks on her neck.
“Shen Chu only stumbled into this place by mistake early this morning and saw nothing. I have matters to attend to at home. Farewell.”
She pushed away the jade-bone fan pressing on her shoulder and fled, somewhat flustered.
Pei Yuan stroked the jade-bone fan, his gaze sweeping over the disheveled bed.
This was a hidden chamber behind the main hall of Jingguosi, normally used to store offering incense and candles, with rather dim lighting.
Yet a faint fragrance lingered in the air.
It was not the scent of incense.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he used the jade-bone fan to lift the covers.
On the mattress bloomed a blood-red plum blossom, and a blurry image flashed through his mind.
“It hurts—be gentler.”
His eyes could not see at night, so he hadn’t been able to see the woman’s face, but he could tell that her voice was soft and delicate, and her skin smooth as snow.
Strange. He usually had great difficulty falling asleep, yet last night, holding that woman in his arms, he had slept unusually deeply—not even a dream.
His gaze sharpened as he picked up a lake-blue pouch from the foot of the bed. A medicinal scent mixed with an elegant fragrance wafted up to him.
Calming medicine. That was why he had slept so soundly.
Had the woman from last night left it behind?
Pei Yuan rubbed his fingers together and called his personal guard in. “You have two days. Find out who the woman from last night was.”
Shen Chu, her whole body aching, climbed back through the window into her own chamber without alerting anyone.
The moment her feet touched the floor, she smelled a thick scent of blood.
When she saw the state of the bed, she couldn’t help drawing a sharp breath.
Lying on the utterly disheveled bed was a woman, pale-faced and completely naked.
The woman’s eyes were wide open, and a fist-sized wound on her chest was gushing blood, the crimson stain soaking the mattress beneath her.
Shen Chu reached out to check her breath—she was already dead. Only the bruises covering her body showed what she must have suffered before death.
A fierce gust of wind came from behind. She was about to duck to evade it when her eyes suddenly shifted, and she collapsed limply to the floor.
A cold snort sounded above her head. “You can only blame your bad luck, walking right into this.”
Shen Chu didn’t move a muscle.
So her stepmother, the Marchioness of Changning, had failed with one scheme and now devised another.
Murder, framing, staging the scene—a chain of traps.
With a corpse in her room, she would have no way to defend herself, however many mouths she had.
What a vicious scheme!
Feeling a dagger pressed into her hand, the man dragged her to the bedside, and while he was at it, ran his hand over Shen Chu’s face.
“A man with skin fairer and smoother than a woman’s. With looks like these, rather than letting him rot in prison for the jailers’ benefit, I might as well have a taste first.”
The man laughed viciously and reached out to tear at Shen Chu’s clothes.
Shen Chu’s eyes snapped open, and she drove the dagger straight into the man’s chest.
His eyes bulged, his face full of shock, and he fell dead to the ground.
Death had come too suddenly—he’d had no time to react at all.
Shen Chu lowered her eyes. She recognized this man: Zhao Er, a guard her stepmother, the Marchioness of Changning, had brought from her natal family.
A month ago, on her way back to the capital for the examinations, Zhao Er had led men to assassinate her—and more than once.
It seemed that after she won the title of Zhuangyuan, her stepmother’s jealousy had grown even fiercer, to the point of wanting her dead at any cost.
In that case, she would settle old scores and new grudges all at once.
Just as the sun rose, the Marchioness of Changning, Madam Chen, was giving instructions to her trusted confidante, Nanny Wang.
“Take some people and keep watch outside Shen Chu’s room first. I’ll lead the Empress Dowager over in a moment. I want the Empress Dowager to see the scene with her own eyes and pin the crime of torturing and killing a maidservant squarely on Shen Chu.”
As Nanny Wang dressed Madam Chen’s hair, she smiled. “This servant offers Madam her congratulations in advance—your greatest worry will soon be resolved.”
A smile curled at the corner of Madam Chen’s mouth. “That little wretch. She was merely born two months before my son, yet she dares think she can overshadow him. Hah!”
“Isn’t that the truth? Madam is simply too kind-hearted. Back when you were carrying, you never should have let Concubine Qiao give birth to that wretch at all.”
At the memory of those years, a flash of viciousness crossed Madam Chen’s sallow face.
“Back then, the Marquis agreed to send her to a Daoist temple in our Huzhou ancestral home to be raised. Who could have known that wretch would secretly sit the imperial examinations—and pass, no less. If I’d known, I should have strangled her on the road to the temple. Enough. Go make the arrangements now. I want Shen Chu, the new Zhuangyuan, to become the prison’s newest resident today.”
Once mistress and servant had settled their plan, they quickly departed.
Everything proceeded according to plan. Nanny Wang led her people on a circuit of the courtyard, quietly spreading word as she went.
When Madam Chen passed by with the Empress Dowager and saw the commotion, she asked deliberately, “What is going on here?”
Nanny Wang hurriedly knelt. “Madam, Chunxing from our household didn’t return all night. Someone saw her being called over by the Eldest Young Master last night. This servant came to ask the Eldest Young Master about it, but he refuses to open the door, and this servant wouldn’t dare barge in.”
The noble ladies accompanying Madam Chen began murmuring among themselves.
“Gone all night? Don’t tell me…”
“Young people may run hot-blooded, but this is sacred ground of the Buddha nonetheless. Such behavior is sure to anger the Buddha.”
“To think Young Zhuangyuan Shen looked as gentle as jade, yet he’s nothing but a lecher.”
“Oh dear, I was considering marrying my daughter to Young Zhuangyuan Shen. Thank goodness I never brought it up—a man like that is no good match.”
Listening to the chatter around her, a gleam of satisfaction flashed in Madam Chen’s eyes.
The Empress Dowager’s face darkened. “Outrageous. This is sacred ground of the Buddha—how dare he carry on like this. Have Shen Chu come out and explain herself.”
The room was utterly silent, as if no one were inside at all.
The Empress Dowager gave the order: “Someone, break down that door and see what mischief Shen Chu is up to.”
A flicker of triumph sped through Madam Chen’s eyes.
The moment that door opened, Shen Chu would become a murderer.
By then, even the Zhuangyuan title would not save her.
Just as the Empress Dowager’s attendants moved to break down the door, a clear, gentle voice suddenly sounded behind them.
“Shen Chu pays her respects to the Empress Dowager.”
Everyone turned to see Shen Chu approaching in a long azure robe embroidered with bamboo patterns.
With elegant brows and fine eyes, tall and slender, she walked toward them with unhurried grace, like a tall, verdant stalk of bamboo, drawing every gaze.
Madam Chen was somewhat taken aback to see her.
To think that wretch had escaped by chance last night—how galling.
Fortunately, she had adjusted her scheme on the spot, and the thought of what had been arranged inside the room dispelled her resentment. the Empress Dowager’s face was full of displeasure. “Young Zhuangyuan Shen, you arrive at just the right moment. I hear you took the Marchioness of Changning’s maidservant away, and she hasn’t returned all night. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Shen Chu blinked. “Chunxing? This official has never seen Chunxing at all.”
The Empress Dowager flew into a rage. “The people around your mother can testify to it, and you still dare deny it?”
Madam Chen smiled with kindly gentleness, tinged with a touch of helplessness.
“You child, if you’ve taken a fancy to Chunxing, just say so. Would I, your mother, really begrudge you a maidservant?”
“Oh, no need. The maidservants around Mother aren’t even as good-looking as I am. I truly can’t be bothered with them.”
Pfft.
A few low chuckles rose from the crowd.
Madam Chen’s face turned livid with anger. She wanted to retort, but the moment her gaze fell on Shen Chu’s handsome, jade-like face, she found herself at a loss for words.
“Dare you open the door and let us take a look, to prove Chunxing isn’t in your room?”
Shen Chu hesitated slightly. “Chu was drunk last night and didn’t return all night. The room is probably a bit of a mess.”
Hearing that he hadn’t returned all night, Madam Chen grew all the more certain that Zhao Er had already set things up inside the room.
“A little mess is nothing to fear. Open the door, and your innocence will be restored.”
Shen Chu reached out to stop Madam Chen. “Mother, listen to me—”
The more he tried to block her, the more eager Madam Chen became to open the door.
“Mother, let me do it—”
Madam Chen shoved Shen Chu aside and flung the door open.
A basin of cold water toppled from above the door, pouring down in a torrent and drenching Madam Chen to the bone.
“Ahh!”
The weather in early April was still rather chilly. Soaked like a drenched chicken, Madam Chen glared at Shen Chu with a face full of fury.
“Shen Chu, you did this to me on purpose?”
“Chu was raised in a Daoist temple from a young age and was often bullied by the priests, so he developed a habit of placing a basin of water above the door at night. That way, if any bad person came in, the basin would fall and wake him. Just now, Chu tried to stop you, Mother, precisely because he wanted to explain this—but alas, Mother simply wouldn’t listen.”
Shen Chu wore a look of utter innocence, the very picture of helplessness—as if to say, you insisted on opening the door, and I failed to stop you.
“You!” Madam Chen was cold, wet, and furious.
Heh.
A snort of laughter came from behind her.
She turned and saw that at some point, Pei Yuan had been leaning lazily against a pear blossom tree, now dressed in a pale green silk robe that made him look even more dazzling than the pear blossoms covering the tree.
His rippling, peach-blossom eyes regarded her languidly, as if seeing through every one of her schemes, an undisguised mockery lingering in them.
Something occurred to her, and a chill ran down her spine.
Could this fellow know something?
Just as she was growing anxious, she heard the Empress Dowager ask, “Xiao Liu, what are you doing here?”
Pei Yuan shot Shen Chu a glance, then snapped open his jade-bone fan with a flourish. The painting of dancing maids on the fan was so graceful it was hard to look away.
“Last night, this grandson favored a young lady. Who knew the little thing was so playful and shy—she ran off as soon as we were done. So here I am, come to catch her myself.”
Shen Chu’s heart trembled.
Could this fellow have discovered that the person from last night was her?