Chapter 3: Provocation

Jingzhe's face darkened. "Of all times. Miss isn't well yet—what if the wind hits her?"
Guyu nudged Jingzhe's arm, worry in her eyes too.
Shen Miao saw it all and breathed easier.
Her four maids had been chosen and trained by Shen Xin and her mother—loyal, sharp, every one. She had been too young to read the Shen household or the second and third branch's hidden schemes. Her girls had seen the signs.
Before she could speak, a girl appeared at the door.
Fifteen or sixteen, pale pink jacket patterned with chrysanthemums, moon-white pleated skirt, hair in a tasseled bun. Fair skin, refined brows—a scholar's grace, proper and composed. She hurried to the bed, concern written on her face.
"Fifth Sister, are you feeling better? When I heard you fell in the water, I was sick with worry. The girls at Yujiao Courtyard said you needed rest, so I didn't dare disturb you. Now that you're awake, I had to come."
Shen Miao looked at her.
Shen Yue—legitimate daughter of the third branch.
Among the Shen family's three legitimate daughters, Shen Qing was bold and open. Shen Yue's talent was famous. Only Shen Miao was dull, timid, without accomplishment. Outsiders called her "chaste and quiet." Everyone knew she had no real gifts—the daughter the Shen family was least proud to show.
In her last life, before marriage, Shen Yue had been her closest cousin. Gentle. Thoughtful. Always ready with advice. Shen Miao never stopped to ask whether that advice helped or hurt. She only thanked her for trying.
This visit, Shen Miao guessed, was to plead for Shen Qing.
Sure enough.
"Fifth Sister, Eldest Sister made a mistake in the moment. What's done is done. Please forgive her once. I heard you had a fever—she's been blaming herself terribly. When you're well, could you let this go? She didn't mean to humiliate you before Prince Ding."
There it was—Prince Ding.
Everyone knew Prince Ding was the soft spot in Shen Miao's heart. She swallowed most slights. Not this. Mention the prince and she would not yield an inch.
If Shen Yue had left his name alone, Shen Miao might have let it pass. Say it on purpose—that was bait. A fight with Shen Qing, served on a plate.
Last life, the same script. Shen Yue arrived as soon as she woke to "beg mercy" for Shen Qing. Shen Miao exploded. The meek girl stood before Old Madam and accused Shen Qing of pushing her into the pond—for the man she loved.
Shen Qing denied it. No one had seen a push. Old Madam already favored the second and third branches. She scolded Shen Miao for "slandering your legitimate sister at your age" and locked her in the Buddha hall.
The story reached the Imperial Academy. Shen Miao became a joke. Too ashamed to return. Slowly she faded from the circle of capital ladies.
Looking back, her world had always been the one these people built for her inside the general's manor. She thought herself virtuous. Outsiders saw weakness. She thought loving Prince Ding was courage. They called it shameless.
All that careful teaching—her reputation in ruins before she ever left home. She married Fu Xiuyi in the end, but people still said she was coarse, unfit. Compare her to Lady Mei and the verdict was always the same: stupid. Blind.
What a fool she had been.
Shen Yue worried over her shoulder, lips curving in a smile Shen Miao wasn't meant to see.
She knew Shen Miao's temper. Say Fu Xiuyi's name and rage would follow. She waited. Nothing came.
Shen Yue looked up, puzzled.
The girl on the bed smiled at her. Still pale. Lips dry. Only the eyes—dark, bright as grapes—were different.
Shen Miao's eyes had always been her best feature. Large apricot eyes, soft and unknowing, like a newborn pup. Usually her face was wooden and wasted their light.
Today the eyes were still round. The look was not. Cool. Empty. Not dull—something else. Almost… looking down from above.
Shen Yue shivered without knowing why. A fear she couldn't name crawled up her spine. This wasn't the stupid goose she knew. It felt like standing before someone who held real power.
How could that be?
She didn't know the Shen Miao before her was gone. This Shen Miao had lived through succession wars, border blood, harem knives, dead children, a slaughtered clan.
This Shen Miao had ruled the six palaces as Empress of Ming Qi.
Shen Yue stared until Shen Miao rubbed her brow and said softly, "Second Sister, you give me too much credit. This has nothing to do with Eldest Sister. I fell in myself."
"Fifth Sister—" Shen Yue hadn't expected that. She blinked. "Don't wrong yourself."
"I won't," Shen Miao cut in with a smile. "It's a small thing. My head still spins—I need rest. Whatever must be said, let's tell Grandmother together tomorrow."
That closed the door. Shen Yue couldn't push further. She found Shen Miao colder than usual, but blamed it on humiliation before Prince Ding. A few more pleasantries, and she left.
After she was gone, Guyu said, "We nearly lost Miss, and she comes to beg for Eldest Miss? And the way she said it—doesn't sound like begging at all." A careful warning: Shen Yue meant no good.
"When the clam and the snipe fight, the fisherman wins. She wants to be the fisherman." Shen Miao's voice was flat.
Guyu was glad Miss finally saw through Shen Yue—but didn't fully grasp the words. She looked up and froze. Her young mistress's pretty face held a chill, a gravity that made you want to straighten your back without knowing why.
Shen Miao studied her fingertips.
Why had Shen Qing pushed her?
Because Shen Miao had said, careless among family: "When Father returns for New Year, I'll ask him to marry me to Prince Ding."
She meant it innocently. Shen Xin commanded armies. A father's word could move mountains.
Why would Shen Yue stir trouble between her and Shen Qing?
Because Shen Yue loved Prince Ding too.
At the very end of her last life, Shen Qing and Shen Yue had told her how long they had wanted Fu Xiuyi. The signs were already here.
If both sisters burned for him—wouldn't it be a pity not to give them what they wished?
She would give them exactly that.
The blood debt second and third branch owed the Shen clan would start being paid today.