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

At this moment, Fang Xiaoran, who was in the room, was not in much better shape.

Although Jiuyuan's loss of control was within her expectations, she did not expect it to be this serious.

He was like a puppet who only knew how to kill, constantly launching attacks on Fang Xiaoran, each move deadly. If Fang Xiaoran hadn't been skilled in martial arts, she would probably be in grave danger right now.

But this won't work either. The acupuncture treatment shouldn't be interrupted, and Fang Xiaoran has already exhausted too much energy. Doing this will only deplete her internal strength.

Even when Jiuyuan lost control and attacked her, she continued to parry his attacks while throwing out silver needles, using the most extreme methods to continue administering acupuncture.

Fang Xiaoran's fingertips twitched slightly, and the silver needles gleamed coldly in the candlelight.

The seventeenth acupoint was still three needles short, but Jiu Yuan's palm strike had already reached his face.

She spun around and leaned back, her hairpin snapping in mid-air. As her black hair fell away, three silver needles shot out from between her fingers.

"Ding!" Two crisp sounds rang out, and two of the silver needles were knocked away by the Nine Abyss Sleeve Sword and reflected towards Fang Xiaoran.

Seeing this, Fang Xiaoran quickly grabbed a chair and blocked it. She used so much force that the silver needle broke through the window and flew outside.

Seeing the two streaks of cold light fly out, Chu Wu and Chu Liu were both startled and wanted to go in to help, but at this moment Fang Xiaoran's voice clearly came out, "Don't come in. If there are too many people, he will become more and more frenzied. This is his bloodthirsty nature. You can't help me."

Upon hearing this, Ziju subconsciously clenched her fists, her eyes filled with worry.

Although they were worried on the fifth and sixth days and wanted to take action, they never dared to disobey Fang Xiaoran's orders. She had already spoken, so they could only wait.

At this moment, Jiuyuan appeared like a demon from hell, holding a hidden sword and aiming it straight at Fang Xiaoran's throat.

Fang Xiaoran's eyes narrowed, and she retreated like a ghost. A flash of cold light appeared in her sleeve as a silver needle accurately struck Jiu Yuan's sword, producing a piercing clang.

However, Jiu Yuan's offensive did not diminish at all; his hidden sword, like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, attacked again.

"Jiuyuan!" Fang Xiaoran called out in a low voice, her voice carrying a rare hint of anxiety, "Wake up!"

The only response she received was from Jiu Yuan's empty and violent eyes, as if his mind had been completely devoured by some kind of evil magic.

His moves became increasingly ruthless, each attack carrying a resolute determination to fight to the death.

Fang Xiaoran knew that if things continued like this, either she would be killed by Jiu Yuan after exhausting her inner strength, or she would be forced to retaliate and seriously injure Jiu Yuan. Neither outcome was something she wanted to see.

Just as Jiu Yuan's sword was about to pierce her heart, a flute melody came from outside the window. The flute melody suddenly rang out, sharp and piercing, like a dull knife scraping bone, making people's scalps tingle.

Ziju and Qinglan couldn't help but cover their ears, and even Chuwu's expression darkened, fearing that the sound would disturb Fang Xiaoran.

Chu Liu had already transformed into a black shadow and rushed towards the direction from which the sound came. But just as his toes touched the low wall, Xiao Shitou, carrying a wooden stick, thrust it at him. Don't underestimate the wooden stick in his hand; it was as sharp as a spear when he wielded it, and even Chu Liu was somewhat at a disadvantage.

The flute music was even more unpleasant than the hooting of an owl, yet, upon hearing it, the extremely powerful Jiu Yuan suddenly froze.

His pupils were still bloodshot, but the violence in his eyes seemed to have been forcibly torn open by the unpleasant flute music. Fang Xiaoran's eyes narrowed, and she immediately seized the opportunity, inserting the silver needle into his acupoints again.

A low groan escaped Jiu Yuan's throat, sounding like pain or a struggle.

The flute music grew increasingly shrill, even becoming somewhat off-key and hoarse, but the bloodlust in Jiu Yuan's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a blank, chaotic look.

"I..." He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his body was already exhausted, and he finally collapsed weakly to the ground. Seeing this, Fang Xiaoran immediately stepped forward to help him up and gently carried him back into the medicine bucket.

Seeing Jiu Yuan fast asleep in the medicine tub, Fang Xiaoran breathed a sigh of relief and gently wiped the fine sweat from her forehead. In any case, the acupuncture was finally completed. All that was needed now was five days of continuous medicinal baths and some bloodletting to completely eliminate the Gu poison from Jiu Yuan's body.

After settling Jiuyuan in, Fang Xiaoran looked out the window with a strange expression, feeling as if she had heard the flute music somewhere before.

Such an unpleasant flute note, most people probably couldn't produce it...

"What is that sound? It's so awful!" Liu Ruyan's maid had come to deliver a gift for her mistress, but before she even reached the courtyard, she heard this terrifying flute music and nearly plunged into the lake.

It is said that some masters play flutes with celestial music, but what she heard this time was even more terrifying than a murderous sound. She will probably never be able to forget this sound for a long time to come.

"What are you doing here?" Qinglan hadn't recovered from the unpleasant flute music when she saw the maid approaching. An inexplicable anger welled up within her, as if she wanted to blame the maid for the ear-splitting noise.

The maid paused, then glanced at the still-closed door and said abruptly, "I am here on my mistress's orders to deliver a gift to the princess. If it is inconvenient for the princess to receive guests, I will inform my mistress. But please accept this gift."

She deliberately raised her voice, intending for Fang Xiaoran in the room to hear her.

Qinglan was already furious, and hearing the maid's arrogant attitude only made her angrier. She stepped forward and was about to speak when Ziju suddenly raised her hand and slapped her mercilessly.

A sharp "smack" rang out, and the maid covered half her face in shock, staring at Ziju in disbelief. "You, you..."

Qinglan was also taken aback. She didn't expect Ziju to take action, and so swiftly at that. It was clear that the maid had almost disturbed Fang Xiaoran, which had displeased Ziju. A slap was too lenient.

"What do you mean, 'what?' This is the Princess's residence. You have no right to run wild here. Get out of here and don't let me see you again!" Ziju shouted sharply, trying to drive him away.

The maid was immediately stunned upon hearing this, not expecting things to turn out this way. But no matter what, the item should be delivered. Just as she was about to speak, the door to the room opened.

The moment the door opened, Ziju and Qinglan didn't care about her anymore and immediately turned around to greet Fang Xiaoran.

Even Chu Liu, who was sparring with Xiao Shitou, paused. Suddenly, Xiao Shitou grinned and, taking advantage of Chu Liu's unpreparedness, stabbed him away with his stick. With a flicker, he disappeared into the moonlight.

As soon as Fang Xiaoran stepped out, she saw Xiao Shitou's departing figure, which confirmed her guess.

"The princess!"

"Owner!"

A group of people rushed towards her excitedly, each showing concern. Fang Xiaoran smiled, pointed to the room, and shook her head slightly.

Knowing that Jiuyuan needed to rest and it was inconvenient to disturb him, they immediately quieted down. But seeing that Fang Xiaoran was safe and sound, they also breathed a sigh of relief.

Fang Xiaoran had overheard the general events outside, so she glanced at the maid with a nonchalant look. Although Fang Xiaoran acted casually, the maid was still intimidated by her demeanor and hurriedly whispered, "This servant is here on behalf of my young lady to present a congratulatory gift to the princess."

"A congratulatory gift?" Fang Xiaoran walked towards the maid with interest and asked with a smile, "What do I have that Miss Liu would like to congratulate me on?"

There were some things the maid dared not say aloud, so she could only whisper, "The princess knew as soon as she saw the congratulatory gift."

As she spoke, the maid quickly presented the brocade box.

After what happened before, on the fifth and sixth days of the lunar new year, even Ziju rushed up to take the brocade box, fearing that it contained something harmful to Fang Xiaoran.

Seeing so many of them come to receive the brocade box at the same time, the maid was taken aback and somewhat displeased. However, she felt guilty and didn't say much. She simply handed it to Ziju with some difficulty.

Everyone else stared intently at the brocade box in Ziju's hand, seemingly ready to strike at any moment. It should be noted that Chuwu and Chuli were all well-trained assassins, and the sudden murderous aura emanating from them terrified the maid, who turned pale and dared not linger for a moment.

However, Fang Xiaoran had not yet seen the congratulatory gift, and she could not explain it to her young mistress, so she could only grit her teeth and endure it.

Ziju opened it first and saw a pair of white jade hairpins inside, with twin lotus flowers carved on the hairpin heads. The items were very ordinary, but combined with what Liu Ruyan had said earlier, it was easy to see her true intentions.

But Ziju smiled knowingly and turned to hand it to Fang Xiaoran.

Fang Xiaoran picked up one of the jade hairpins, looked at it, and smiled sweetly, "It's a very unique little trinket. Although I don't know what Miss Liu means by it, I'll accept it for now."