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

The old lady instructed her maid to greet Master Lin first, while she quickly changed her clothes to prepare to welcome him personally.

To her surprise, when she finished tidying up and came to the side hall, she was told by a maid, "Madam, Master Lin has been taken away by the people from the Northern Residence."

"Beiju?" The old lady thought she had misheard. Anyone in the large Fang Mansion could take Master Lin away, but it would never be Beiju. After confirming with the maid several times, the old lady was very puzzled. "So, Yong'er invited Master Lin to repair Beiju? That's impossible."

Knowing her son as she did, she figured he would probably just have a few servants fix it up casually, and it was unlikely that she would specially invite Master Lin to come. Such an opportunity was hard to come by, so she was bound to make good use of it.

A maidservant whispered, "Perhaps it's because the damage to the North Residence was too severe, and the other craftsmen couldn't fix it..."

"Absurd! We can just rebuild. Is it really necessary to waste such an opportunity?" The old lady was furious, so much so that the maid dared not speak again.

Granny Wang said, "Could it be that the Sixth Miss misunderstood and intercepted the person?"

The old lady became anxious and quickly said, "That's possible. Go and check on them quickly, lest they cause any trouble."

Meanwhile, Craftsman Lin had already met with Fang Xiaoran. The two had a general discussion about the renovation of the North Residence. Initially, Fang Xiaoran planned to make some repairs so that it would be barely habitable, but Craftsman Lin refuted her, saying, "This courtyard doesn't look like it's fit for living anymore. Since I agreed, I'll naturally make sure you're comfortable."

"In that case, why not let Master Lin make some modifications for me?"

"Does Sixth Miss have some ideas?"

"Yes, of course there is."

As she spoke, Fang Xiaoran instructed Qinglan to fetch paper and pen. With a flourish of her pen, she drew a picture of a villa in Lingnan, the courtyard where her mother had once lived. The Bai family of Lingnan had been merchants for generations, possessing immense wealth and riches comparable to that of a nation. As the only daughter of the Bai family, Bai Qiqi had been pampered since childhood. Even before she was married, she had her own estate, Yunlai Villa.

Fang Xiaoran's mother once took her to Yunlai Villa. At that time, Fang Xiaoran was still young and only remembered that the scenery there was picturesque and breathtaking.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. Not long after, Yunlai Manor was destroyed by a fire. Now, Fang Xiaoran can only try her best to describe what the manor looked like based on her vague memories.

There are precious and beautiful memories there for my mother, unlike the North Residence, which is just a mess.

As Fang Xiaoran was painting, Master Lin pointed to a lake in her picture and said in a slightly deep voice, "There should be a waterside pavilion here, and a peach grove to the southeast."

Upon hearing this, Fang Xiaoran looked up in surprise, staring at him in disbelief. However, Master Lin simply smiled without saying a word. Fang Xiaoran immediately understood that either he had participated in the design of this villa, or he had visited Yunlai Villa.

But he looks only in his thirties. Yunlai Manor was built before his mother got married, and his mother lived there for several years. According to this timeline, it must have been more than 20 years ago. Craftsman Lin was only eleven or twelve years old at that time. How could he have participated in the design?

“Don’t overthink it. That villa was designed by my father.” After saying that, he simply took the blueprints and said calmly, “You probably can’t recreate that villa. This place is too small. At most, we can only build the Fei Xie Pavilion.”

Fang Xiaoran smiled faintly, "Then I'll leave it all to Master Lin."

"Don't call me Master Lin, it sounds awful. Just call me Lin Shuo or Brother Lin."

Calling him by his name directly wouldn't work, so Fang Xiaoran simply chose to call him Brother Lin.

Granny Wang listened outside the north residence for a long time and found that Fang Xiaoran was chatting happily with this craftsman Lin. Now she was unsure whether to go in or not, and hesitated there. Just then, Qinglan passed by and saw someone sneaking around, so she shouted, "Who are you? How dare you eavesdrop here!"

As she spoke, Qinglan picked up a broom and threw it. How could she not recognize who the other person was? She was just feeling a bit unhappy because of what happened last night, and she took this opportunity to vent her frustration. In any case, they were all from Ci'an Hall.

The broom came so suddenly that it stunned Granny Wang. She screamed and tried to dodge, but Qinglan continued to hit her relentlessly, each blow harder than the last.

"Stop! You blind brat! Don't you recognize me? Stop right now!"

"I don't care who you are. Anyone who eavesdrops in our North Residence is bound to be a bad person. So what if I hit you? I'm hitting you!"

"Hey, stop hitting me! Ah, stop hitting me! Please stop!"

The two of them chased each other, fighting their way from outside the North Residence to inside. Granny Wang should have left immediately, but she couldn't swallow her anger and couldn't let the maids of the North Residence bully her anymore, so she simply rushed in to demand an explanation from Fang Xiaoran.

"Sixth Miss, is this how you discipline your maids? Look at what she's done! This North Residence is indeed corrupt from top to bottom. No wonder the master disliked the madam back then."

Fang Xiaoran originally didn't intend to pay attention, but after hearing these words, her eyes darkened slightly, and she kicked a stone that hit Wang Mama's shin, causing Wang Mama to stumble and fall to the ground.

As Granny Wang screamed and grumbled as she tried to get up, she was met with a pair of icy eyes. "Even if you are a maid who came with your grandmother as part of her dowry, you are still just a servant. To speak so disrespectfully of your master shows that you are indeed in need of discipline. Qinglan, give her thirty strokes of the cane."

Upon hearing this, Granny Wang became anxious and shouted angrily, "Let's see who dares! Even if I am an old woman, I am still a member of Ci'an Hall. What right does Sixth Miss have to lecture me over the old lady? They say you have to consider the owner before beating a dog. Do you think you can ride on the old lady's head?"

“I never said that, but you are in the North Residence now, not the Ci'an Hall. You have to take these thirty strokes whether you like it or not! Qinglan, bring the cane!” Fang Xiaoran’s voice carried an air of authority and decisiveness, which sent a chill down one’s spine.

Realizing the situation was dire, Granny Wang tried to struggle again, shouting, "If the old lady finds out about this, Sixth Miss won't fare well either!"

"We'll talk after I've taught you a lesson."

Fang Xiaoran smiled slightly, showing no fear of any threat. Granny Wang was furious and prepared to stand up and run away, but as soon as she bent over, Fang Xiaoran struck her pressure point and froze her in place.

She rolled her eyes in terror and cried out in despair, "Sixth Miss, the old lady will not let you off easily for your rudeness!"

"It seems thirty strokes aren't enough, so let's add another twenty."

"you!"

Now, Granny Wang dared not vent her anger anymore. She realized that Fang Xiaoran was really capable of taking action, and Qinglan had already taken out a long wooden staff and was waiting on the side. When Granny Wang saw the wooden staff, she felt like she wanted to die.

"Let's do it."

At Fang Xiaoran's command, Qinglan walked behind Granny Wang, raised her wooden cane, and smashed it down hard.