In the mountains of Wolong Temple, when the sky turned dark at dusk, a light rain started to fall. The rain brought cold air and hit people in the face. Gu Yu closed the window and said to Shen Miao: "Miss, be careful not to catch a chill."

  Jing Zhen helped Shen Miao put on her cloak, and with a worried expression, she said: "The mountain road is not easy to walk on, if it rains all night, tomorrow morning after breakfast, I don't know if we can set off. The muddy road is unpredictable, who knows, we might have to rest here for another day."

  "Let's take a break for one more day." Gu Yu smiled and said, "The scenery here is great, the environment is also quiet and peaceful, it's all good...". She swallowed back the rest of her words, thinking that she was better than those hypocritical people in the Shen household.

  Shen Miao sat in front of the desk, fiddling with the chessboard. Nowadays, she loved playing chess more and more, but unfortunately, the few maids by her side didn't know how to play, so she was always playing alone. Occasionally, Gu Yu and Jing Xuan would also find it strange that when their young lady was playing chess alone, sometimes a strange expression would appear on her face, making people feel a chill in their hearts.

  The door was pushed open, and Gui's nanny walked in with a smile on her face. She held some food in her hands and smiled: "Miss, this is the vegetarian meal from the temple. Although they are all vegetarian, the vegetarian meals at Wolong Temple are not bad. I specially went to get a bowl of water crystal osmanthus dessert. The eldest and second eldest young ladies have already had it, and they both said it's good."

  "Oh, just put it there." Shen Miao said calmly.

  "It's best for you to eat it while it's hot, or it won't taste good when it gets cold." Gu Lao Tai Tai warmly picked up the bowl and was about to hand it over to Shen Miao.

  "Mother, what's wrong." Jing Zhen took the porcelain bowl from Gui's hand without any signs of surprise, and smiled: "Miss didn't say to put it there. Just now she was still a bit uncomfortable, let's wait for a while before using it."

  Madam Gui was somewhat annoyed in her heart, but she saw Shen Miao's expression of neither approval nor disapproval towards Jing Xuan's words, and secretly gritted her teeth. In the past, Shen Miao had always taken Madam Gui's words seriously, if Madam Gui had a dispute with several maids, she would definitely scold the maids first, but at some point, Jing Xuan, Gu Yu, and these few maids had won over Shen Miao's favor.

  While lost in thought, Shen Miao suddenly said: "Nanny has been with me for fourteen years now."

  Madam Gui's heart skipped a beat as she looked at Shen Miao. Shen Miao happened to look over, her clear and bright eyes were as innocent as ever, like a child, Madam Gui was also taken aback for a moment.

  Unbeknownst to her, the infant who used to cry for milk had grown into a delicate and lovely young girl, now standing before her as a slender and elegant maiden. Gu Yini felt a pang of nostalgia in her heart, remembering how Shen Xin and his wife were always away at war, entrusting her with the care of Shen Miao, and yet fourteen years had passed in the blink of an eye.

  "Since I was a child, she has been close to me," Shen Miao said softly: "I remember one night when I had a fever, it was raining outside like now, and the servants in the mansion went to invite the doctor with a note, but he didn't come for a long time. The nanny was worried, so she ran out to find him herself, slipped on the road, fell and hit her head, but still insisted on finding another doctor."

  The old lady was taken aback, and her expression softened: "You still remember these things."

  "Naturally, I've had Ah-yi by my side for over a decade; not even my parents have spent as much time with me. I regard Ah-yi as family."

  "The young lady has finally taken pity on this old slave." Guan's mother sighed inwardly, not expecting that Shen Miao, who had been cold to her for some time, would suddenly become so affectionate today. As she sighed, a wave of sympathy rose in her heart - people weren't always like this from the start; when Shen Xin and his wife first made her Shen Miao's nanny, her own son was still unmarried and didn't have any grandchildren yet, so naturally she treated Shen Miao as if she were her own granddaughter. There had indeed been times of genuine affection... but people wouldn't do things for others without a reason; after all, Shen Miao wasn't her biological granddaughter, whereas the first wife's promise was that if things succeeded, her son and his family would benefit.

  Wealth and honor are hard to come by, and Shen Miao can't bring her anything. The expression in Gui's eyes changed slightly, but she still smiled and said: "Miss, the night is cool and heavy, it's better to have dinner and rest early, when you're tired, light a stick of incense, sleep beautifully, and tomorrow morning, burn incense for the old master and mistress to pray for blessings."

  "Thank you, Nanny, for your concern." Shen Miao also smiled, but her smile seemed to hold some unclear meaning. She said: "Nanny can go down first, I'll eat by myself."

  Gu Yan's mother wanted to stay a little longer, but seeing Shen Miao's expression of not allowing her to linger, she had no choice but to retreat with a humiliated look. After leaving the room, however, she didn't go far and instead walked to the window, carefully listening to the movements inside.

  After a while in the room, Gu Yu's voice sounded: "Girl, the meal is going to get cold."

  "Let's have rice."

  Immediately afterwards, there was a clinking sound of bowls and chopsticks, as if someone had sat down at the table to eat. Jing Zhen asked: "Miss, do you think this Osmanthus flower soup is good?"

  "Not bad." Shen Miao's voice sounded: "Very much to my taste."

  "Then have some more." said Yu Wu with a smile.

  After a while, Shen Miao seemed to have finished eating. The sound of dishes and chopsticks being collected came from the room. Gu Yu walked out with the food basket. Suddenly, Xing Zhen asked: "Miss wants to read for a while?"

  "I'm a bit tired, take a look for a moment, you go light the incense." Shen Miao's voice was languid.

  The old woman stood up straight, took a deep breath, turned her head to look at the window again, and walked out of the courtyard. After leaving the courtyard, she couldn't help but turn her head back and whisper: "Miss, don't blame me for being heartless, Madam wants to deal with you, no one can stop it."

  After Gui's mother left, however, a man's figure appeared behind her. He gazed at the back of Gui's mother as she hastily departed, and his face revealed some angry expression.

  Inside the house, Shen Miao looked at her with a worried and anxious expression: "Miss, Gu Yu has already left, but I still don't understand what you want to do?"

  For some reason, Jing Zhen's heart was always a little uneasy, as if something was going to happen in this quiet and deep mountain. She asked: "Miss Shen just deceived Gu Yiniang with that play, could it be that Gu Yiniang has some tricks up her sleeve?" And Shen Miao's gentle and pleasant words to Gu Yiniang made Jing Zhen tense with anxiety, fearing that Shen Miao would again follow Gu Yiniang's instructions as she had in the past.

  Shen Miao gazed at the burning, dancing lanterns, the tiny sparks crackling with a popping sound, forming a stark contrast to the patter of rain outside.

  Pretending to eat, pretending to burn incense, is just a temporary expedient. As for why I said that to Gui Nainai, it's not because she has a soft heart.

  This road of revenge, no one can turn back. It's not that there was kindness in the past, but a reason for wrongdoing in the future. The wicked are never worthy of sympathy, those words are like what winners say to losers in the imperial harem, the last words before beheading.

  She gently closed her eyes.

  "What are you doing now, miss?" Seeing Shen Miao didn't respond to her words, Jing Zhen could only change the subject.

  "Wait."

  "What's going on?"

  The girl's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and the corners of her mouth rose gently.

  "On a dark and windy night, when the moon is hidden, it's time to kill people and steal goods."

  Digression

  My little Marquis is about to make his debut (hands on hips and smiling), I'm already fond of this pair: -D I have a premonition that the emotional line will be more than the Calamity Imperial Consort ~\（≧▽≦）/~