After being sentenced to death, she came to her senses.

"This is all retribution. Fang Xiaoqi has always been hypocritical. Now she's contracted a serious illness and it's uncertain whether she can survive it."

Upon hearing the news of Fang Xiaoqi's serious illness, Fang Menghe happily drank a large bowl of rock sugar pear soup, while secretly praying that Fang Xiaoqi would not survive.

But Madam Wang didn't care about the lives of the maids in the mansion. With spring just around the corner, if she couldn't come up with enough money, her grand wedding that she was looking forward to would be in vain.

We've already boasted about it; if we don't deliver, won't we be laughed at?

Madam Wang cared most about her reputation and was most afraid of being criticized. She couldn't tolerate this and paced back and forth anxiously. Seeing Fang Menghe's gloating look, she slapped her thigh in frustration, "Her death will only make you gloat for a moment, but if your brother's marriage goes wrong, people will laugh at us, my daughter and the entire Fang family. What will those noble ladies think of me then? What will your sister-in-law's family think of me?"

"Mother, don't worry, it's not time yet." Seeing that Madam Wang was really anxious, Fang Menghe suppressed her smile and comforted her in a low voice.

But such reassurance had no effect on Wang. "How can I not be anxious? Weddings need to be prepared in advance. The Zhou family has already handed over the dowry list. I took a look, and it's like a lion's mouth is agape."

The bride price could be scraped together, but the problem lay in the wedding itself. Without the inheritance left to Fang Xiaoran by her mother, even selling the Fang family mansion wouldn't be enough.

Fang Menghe put down her bowl, turned to look at Madam Wang, and a hint of coldness appeared in her eyes. "Didn't I suggest a method before? The manor is in chaos right now, isn't this the perfect opportunity for us to make our move?"

"You mean you set fire to the North Residence and then sent someone in to sneak in and steal the key in the chaos?" Madam Wang lowered her voice.

"There's no other way. It would be best to burn her to death in a fire. That way, both of our thorns in our side will be eliminated, and the Fang family will be back to normal. Then Mother won't have to worry about them anymore."

There was no time for Madam Wang to think things through. Before, she was afraid of everything, but now she had no choice but to go all out. So Madam Wang called the housekeeper over and said to him, "I need you to do something for me."

The night was dark and windy, and after a rare few days of clear skies, a few stars appeared in the sky.

As the last lamp in the corridor was blown out, Qinglan, carrying the lamp and yawning, walked towards her bedroom. A dark shadow swiftly passed behind her, leaving a chill that made her turn back repeatedly. She picked up the lamp and carefully examined it, but finding nothing amiss, she turned and left dejectedly.

As Qinglan stepped outside the bedroom and was about to push open the door, a pungent smell of burning assaulted her nostrils. Then she saw flames leap up onto the roof and spread rapidly.

"No, something bad has happened! There's a fire!" Qinglan cried out in alarm, completely disoriented.

At the same time, the tightly closed room door was pushed open, and a faint, elegant fragrance lingered in the room. The smell was so strong that it made people drowsy, but the newcomer could cover their mouth and nose to avoid being affected by the fragrance.

In the darkness, a shadowy figure drew a sharp dagger from his waist, slowly approached the bedside, and swiftly raised the dagger to stab the person on the bed.

The knife tip plunged hard into the blanket, but there was no feeling of it piercing flesh. The man was stunned for a moment, then quickly lifted the blanket and found that there was a pillow hidden inside. There was no one sleeping there at all.

Oh no! Realizing something was wrong, he immediately turned around.

At that moment, a cold voice came from the doorway:

"Where?"

Fang Xiaoran leaned lazily against the door frame, her gaze sweeping over the man in black beside the bed. Since the lights were off, she couldn't make out his features, but who he was didn't matter. Now that he was here, he wasn't going to leave.

The man was startled and immediately gripped his short knife, quickly stabbing at Fang Xiaoran. However, Fang Xiaoran skillfully dodged to the side and grabbed the man's left hand, pulling it back forcefully. The man was not to be outdone and suddenly turned around, swinging his knife at her.

But it was this very strike that made him realize something was wrong; his speed had slowed down considerably, and he was clearly no longer able to keep up with Fang Xiaoran.

However, Fang Xiaoran curled her lips and deliberately revealed a flaw. Seeing this, the man recklessly stabbed at her, and the cold blade light sliced ​​across the skin of Fang Xiaoran's left arm.

Blood flowed down the tip of the knife, but the man did not feel smug about his success; instead, a sense of fear arose within him.

That's impossible. That knife should have pierced her heart. Why is there such a big difference?

While he was still in shock, Fang Xiaoran said calmly, "You must be wondering why your speed has slowed down, and why you even feel dizzy?"

Upon hearing this, the man's expression changed drastically. "That fragrance..."

As he spoke, his vision went black, and his body swayed precariously.

"I just added a few more ingredients to the incense you gave me. Did you think wearing a mask would prevent me from being drugged?"

No one is as skilled as she was in her past life when it comes to using drugs. How could she possibly submit to a mere sedative?

Unexpectedly, even the sleeping pills couldn't knock Fang Xiaoran unconscious. Realizing the situation was dire, the man gripped the short blade in his hand tightly, gritted his teeth, and stabbed it into his thigh. The tearing pain temporarily brought him back to his senses. He didn't care about anything else and used all his strength to rush towards the door.

He had to leave this place and couldn't be caught no matter what, so even though it hurt, he had no choice but to fight.

Fang Xiaoran was quite surprised that he would stab himself to stay sober, but it was too naive to think he could escape like that.

When the man rushed out of the room, he was met by Liu and a group of servants who surrounded him with weapons. Liu, hiding behind the servants, pointed at the man and shouted, "Quickly, take him down!"

Upon hearing this, the man suddenly looked up, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes. The short knife in his hand was stained with blood, a horrifying sight. The group of servants were intimidated by his gaze and dared not make a move.

During the stalemate, the man gripped his knife, preparing to break through the encirclement. Unexpectedly, a chair flew out of the room. When he noticed something was wrong, he turned around abruptly, but the flying chair was too fast, and he was unable to dodge it and was hit in the abdomen. His body flew out and crashed heavily to the ground.

Seeing this, Liu quickly ordered her men to step forward and subdue him, and then shouted at the raging fire, "The rest of you, hurry up and put out the fire!"

At the same time, Liu looked up at Fang Xiaoran, who came out of the room, as if seeking credit. She nodded slightly to her, and the two smiled at each other. Fang Xiaoran walked over slowly and bowed slightly to Liu, saying, "Thank you for saving me, Aunt. Otherwise, I was afraid I would have perished in this fire."

Hearing this, Liu's face flushed. She had only brought people to join in the fun. Fang Xiaoran could handle it all by herself. She had only brought her along to leave a witness and to pin the credit for the rescue on her, so that she could have something to say when confronting Fang Zhengyong.

Of course, the most important thing is that Fang Xiaoran wants to seize power and take over the management of the Wang family. She must support someone to take over, and for the time being, this person can only be Liu. That's why Fang Xiaoran sent Ziju to inform the Wang family as soon as possible.