entertain dark schemes;harbour evil (/sinister) designs; have evil inten tions; have ulterior motives; in an agony of guilt;with evil intent (/purposes/misgivings) in one’s heart
? 至次日見(jiàn)了鴛鴦，自是臉上一紅一白，百般過(guò)不去，心內(nèi)懷著鬼胎，茶飯無(wú)心，起坐恍惚。(《紅樓夢(mèng)》541)The next day when she saw Yuanyang she turned red and white by turns in an agony of embarrassment and guilt. She lost her appetite and grew quite bemused.
? 王紅眼～而來(lái)，又知道高學(xué)田是個(gè)火氣大的人，怕把他弄急眼下，再掄起大扁擔(dān)來(lái)，打亂自己的如意算盤(pán)，……(《高玉寶》39) Wang had come with an evil design. But he knew Gao’s temper-if driven too far he might strike back and spoil Wang’s scheme.
心懷鬼胎
cherish sinister motives;harbor evil intentions;have evil designs
心懷鬼胎xīn huái ɡuǐ tāi
鬼胎：比喻不可告人的事情或想法。指心中隱藏著不可告人的事情或想法。have ulterior motives, with evil intent, conceive mischief