The sky gradually darkened. In the temple, the monk who rang the bell rang the bell for the last time. The sky was as dark as ink. The dripping rain hit the trees, emitting the fragrant scent of earth.
Shen Yue sat at the table, put down the book in her hand, rubbed her eyes, and seemed to feel a little sleepy. The girl beside her asked, "Miss, are you going to rest?"
Chen Yue said nothing and opened the window. Shen Qing lived in the house next door. Shen Qing's room was not far from hers and the lights were still on.
"Does the second young lady want to sleep with the eldest young lady?" the maid asked hesitantly.
"No." Chen Yue turned around with some disgust: "Go and close the door to the yard."
On the other side, in Shen Qing's room, Shen Qing was fiddling with the gadgets in her hand. She yawned lazily and glanced outside: "It's so late..." She stood up: "I'd better take a rest."
When passing by the table, he suddenly saw a uniquely shaped incense burner and some incense sticks. Shen Qing picked it up and smelled it, only to find it very fragrant. He said, "Light this incense stick too."
After a while, the lights in the house went out.
Everything fell silent. In the ancient temple deep in the mountains, late at night, apart from the singing of birds and the buzzing of insects, the only sound was the crisp sound of rain hitting the tiles and dripping from the eaves onto the stone slabs.
In the absolute silence, the lights in the innermost room of the North Pavilion were quietly extinguished.
Someone's footsteps seemed to pass lightly in the darkness. If anyone passed by at this moment, they would have seen a girl in purple sitting at the table in front of the window. Her face was cold and expressionless, but her eyes were clear even in the darkness, like a giant beast eager to hunt, closely following its prey.
The tiles above their heads seemed to make a crisp rustling sound. Guyu and Jingzhe, who were standing behind Shen Miao, raised their heads at the same time, protecting the person in front of the table with nervous expressions.
A moment later, a cat's meow was heard outside the window.
They both breathed a sigh of relief.
But before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, they heard a burst of hurried footsteps. Though the sound was soft, it was particularly noticeable among the three sleepless people. Then, the window was opened and a figure jumped in.
"Miss, it's me, Mo Qing." The man said softly.
Guyu and Jingzhe finally breathed a sigh of relief. Jingzhe lit a thin candle, fearing that the light would leak out. At first glance, they were surprised to see that Mo Qing was carrying someone on his back. That person was none other than Shen Qing.
At this moment, Shen Qing's eyes were tightly closed, and he looked like he was unconscious. Jingzhe and Guyu were both terrified, but Shen Miao glanced at Shen Qing and said calmly, "You did very well."
Mo Qing's face was a little embarrassed. This was his first time doing something like this, and he had no idea what Shen Miao was planning. He simply assumed that Shen Miao was just being disgruntled and unhappy with the room he was staying in, so he'd resorted to this method to secretly switch rooms in the middle of the night. However, this method was a bit too crude. If he wasn't careful, he'd be discovered and mistaken for a thief, but he wouldn't be able to explain himself no matter how much he talked.
Fortunately, there were only two guards outside Shen Qing and Shen Yue's house. For a young lady from a military family, such a number of people was too strange. However, since that was the case, he would not go to great lengths to carry a young girl. Before that, he also mixed something into Shen Qing's incense that would make her sleep deeply, as instructed by Gu Xiang.
“Carry her to the bed.” Shen Miao said.
Mo Qing did as he was told, and after a moment's thought, he pulled the quilt from the bed over Shen Qing. Even at this point, Mo Qing still couldn't figure out what Shen Miao was trying to do.
"Miss, what should we do now..." Guyu asked tentatively. In this room, apart from Shen Miao, no one else probably knew what she was up to. Mo Qing thought Shen Miao was just playing around out of spite, but Jingzhe and Guyu could vaguely sense that it wasn't. Shen Miao was no longer the type to get angry just because the room was uncomfortable, and carrying someone out in the middle of the night was a bit of an overreaction.
"Let's go." Shen Miao glanced at the person on the bed.
"Let's go?" Guyu was stunned: "Where are we going?"
"Of course, I'm going to my sister's boudoir."
Mo Qing sighed inwardly, this was truly a child's play. He felt somewhat dissatisfied with Shen Miao. He had never expected Shen Miao to appear quiet and indifferent, yet secretly possess such a competitive nature. For such a trivial matter, she would even abandon her cousin's innocence. While he was thinking, his expression suddenly changed, and he whispered, "Who?"
At this moment, Guyu and Jingzhe suddenly became panicked.
"Were you seen when you came just now?" Shen Miao's face darkened. If it was someone over there, there was no way they would be so quick. Given Ren Wanyun's meticulous nature, she would definitely make them wait a little longer. Why did someone come knocking on the door right after Mo Qing sent someone over? If... Her expression changed several times. If all else failed, she could only resort to the most inferior method.
"I'll go out and take a look first." Mo Qing nervously drew the sword from his waist, but just as he reached the door, he saw a figure passing by the window. Not wanting to make a big noise, Mo Qing shouted in a low voice: "Who is it?" He drew his sword and slashed towards the other person.
The man in black easily dodged Mo Qing's sword. Somehow, he used a technique that landed one foot on the window sill and flew in like a swallow. He was in this place like a fish in water. Once inside, he suddenly turned around. Before Mo Qing could react, he dodged to the side and easily snatched the sword from Mo Qing's hand. The next moment, the sword was across Mo Qing's neck.
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone. Shen Miao was also somewhat surprised. Mo Qing's martial arts skills, having reached the position of guard commander, must have been quite high. Back then, relying on his skills, he had escorted Shen Miao safely in Qin for many years. Now, he hadn't even survived five moves at the hands of this man in black, and even had his sword taken away?
Mo Qing probably didn't expect that the other party was so much more capable than him. He seemed to feel ashamed, but was more worried about Shen Miao's safety. He said, "I have no grudges against you, brother. Why did you do this to me?"
He was right. Besides the monks, the only people in the temple tonight were the guards from the Shen Mansion. But none of the guards from the Shen Mansion had such advanced skills. Mo Qing was surprised. Could there be other people in the Wolong Temple?
The other party showed no intention of letting go. There was only a slight sound, and it turned out that Shen Miao found a fire starter and relit the candle that was about to go out.
The other party did not expect someone to suddenly light a fire stick, and he did not have time to cover up. He subconsciously showed murderous intent in his eyes, and it was obvious that he was planning to kill people to silence them.
However, when the dim light came on, everything in the room was exposed. In Shen Miao's cold gaze, a trace of astonishment flashed across the handsome face of the man opposite her. Then he frowned and said coldly, "Shen family girl?"
“Can you please release my guards?” Shen Miao’s voice was colder than the autumn rain outside: “Thank you, Young Marquis.”
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