Chapter 31: Don't Endure

"Painting?" Feng Anning craned her neck, blinked. "Can you even?"
True enough—of the four arts she knew nothing. She could not hold a brush straight, let alone spirit.
Shen Miao said nothing. Feng Anning went quiet too. People were odd. Once she had disliked this girl; now that Shen Miao kept her cool distance, Feng Anning wanted to talk more. Something in the new Shen Miao pulled you closer without trying.
Silence held until Shen Yue and Shen Qing glided over.
"Fifth Sister, what did you draw? Let us see—First Sister and I might offer ideas."
Shen Qing nodded. "I drew books, Second Sister drew painting. You?"
Shen Miao stayed mute. Yue smiled and plucked the slip from her hand. "Don't fear, Little Five. With us near, we'll help a little."
Feng Anning sniffed. She had not loved Shen Miao once—but she loved Yue and Qing less. Her mother ran a house full of sisters; she could smell a trap. Yue and Qing were no different from concubine-born girls clawing for favor: use the fool's shadow to make themselves shine.
Yi Peilan heard and laughed. "Yue, why bother? Even your best hint won't save her."
"Let Shen Miao prepare herself," Jiang Xiaoxuan added.
Mockery this open—and the wives and girls around them heard, pretended not to, lips still curling.
Every year Shen Miao was the review's joke. When laughter becomes custom, even noble children forget shame.
"Don't speak so of Fifth Sister," Yue said, gentle protest. "She tries hard." She opened the slip, gasped artfully. "Painting—you and I drew the same!"
Feng Anning did not understand the delight. Same category—so what? Shen Miao knew: Yue meant to stand taller beside her failure, especially with Fu Xiuyi watching. At his name her eyes dimmed.
"What will you paint, Fifth Sister?" Shen Qing asked, all kindness. "Shall Second Sister advise you?" The perfect elder cousin—any witness would call her fond.
"Thank you for the care." Ice in the voice. "This is a review. Rules exist. If Second Sister helps me, that's cheating. Cheaters leave together. Would Second Sister risk that—for me?"
Not hot, not cold—and Yue's color shifted.
In other years the hall would call it sisterly love and move on. Said aloud, pointed aloud, eyes turned sharp. One fewer rival on stage was one more chance at glory. Yue smiled at Guangwen Hall, but jealousy lived in every girl who had watched her take first year after year. A handle to bar her from competing—even Yi Peilan's circle stared hungry now.
Yue went cold. She knew the math. She looked back. Shen Miao smiled faintly, mockery naked.
Retreat and the goodwill looked false. Accept help and someone would cry fraud and strike her from the field. Wrong either way. Yue swallowed poison, forced a smile. "If Fifth Sister insists, I won't presume. Done."
Feng Anning laughed loud on purpose. "So much love for a sister—scared off by one sentence? What *real* help was that?"
Meaningful glances circled Shen Yue.
Chen Ruoqiu heard and panicked. Yue was still young for this knife-work. And cold—Shen Miao moved crowds with three sentences. A mother's hand would look small if she stepped in.
Ren Wanyun and Shen Qing hid satisfaction. Too bright a Yue dimmed Qing. If Yue stumbled, only Qing would carry the Shen name today.
Yue stared at Shen Miao. *If you've woken up, speak for me now. Same roof—rumors of discord hurt us all. You always clung to me. Cross me and you have no friends left.*
Silence.
"Fifth Sister—"
"Second Sister should think what she'll paint." Flat water. "I need no help."
No rescue coming. Mockery at the rim of her vision. For the first time Yue nearly slapped her. She bit it back, teeth grinding. "So confident, Little Five. We'll watch you *shine*—how *splendid* it will be."
*Splendid*—each syllable a bite. Sleeves flicked. She stormed off. Qing followed.
Feng Anning studied her. "Satisfying—but why leave no escape? On stage she'll gut you."
"I don't like enduring." Shen Miao looked at the board on the table. *Don't endure. Don't look back. Don't soften.*
She lifted a stone and set it down.
"Don't endure. Kill."