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

When seeing her great-grandfather off, Fang Xiaoran personally handed him the ointment and pills, and instructed him: "This ointment can treat rheumatism and fatigue. You can apply it every two or three days after you get back. As for these pills, if you trust me, you can take them once every five days. Although they are not a panacea, they can prolong your life and reduce your suffering from illness."

"My health is thanks to your mother's care; otherwise, I probably wouldn't be alive today. I naturally trust the medicine you gave me. It's getting late, so you should get some rest. Come to the old house more often and chat with me when you have time; it'll help me pass the time."

"Yes, granddaughter understands. Wu Guicheng, you see your great-grandfather off."

As Wu Guicheng helped his great-grandfather out of the north gate, the great-grandfather seemed to remember something and suddenly turned around to Fang Xiaoran and said, "Also, no matter how many faults your father has, he is still your biological father. You and your father must not have any grudges because of this. If you get married in the future, your maternal family will still be your support."

Fang Xiaoran understood these words perfectly well. Just like the old lady always said that we share both glory and loss, she had already lost heart. At most, she could only maintain a superficial father-daughter relationship and not pursue the past, which was already a huge concession on her part.

Of course, Fang Xiaoran wouldn't refute her great-grandfather's words. She bowed slightly and replied, "Granddaughter understands, please don't worry."

It's unclear how much of what she hears is true, but the message has been conveyed, and it's up to her how she responds.

Watching her great-grandfather's figure recede into the distance, Fang Xiaoran slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, and the pressure on her body lessened considerably. Her mother's injustice had been redressed; the next step was to find the true culprit who murdered her mother and then personally kill him to avenge this blood feud.

However, she currently has very few clues, only a delicate button that she had pulled off the assassin's body. The button was very finely crafted, and although it was only the size of a thumb, it contained a secret. Rather than a button, it was more like a key to some kind of mechanism.

In her past life, she had specifically compared the craftsmanship of the button with that of other ornaments in order to find her enemy. Such craftsmanship was quite rare and not easy to find. Later, she accidentally discovered a jade hairpin among her mother's belongings that was extremely similar in craftsmanship to the button.

That's why she wore that jade hairpin to the Ninth Princess's tea party, which gave her some clues. But how could she find this master named Tao An?

Just as Fang Xiaoran was pondering, Ziju came over and asked, "Miss, what should we do with those people from Manchun Garden? Should we send them away directly, or keep them and wait for them to come and pay us off?"

“These people…” Fang Xiaoran frowned. She had forgotten about this matter, but the situation at Manchun Garden was not good at the moment, so she probably didn’t have the time to worry about them.

The Northern Residence is indeed short-handed right now, and if they want to expand recruitment, they still need to go through the Liu family. However, given the current situation, the Liu family probably doesn't have the time to deal with it. Moreover, compared to the Wang family's ruthlessness, the Liu family, who is all smiles and hides daggers, needs to be treated with even greater caution.

Fang Xiaoran casually said, "Let them stay and work at Beiju."

Ziju hesitated, "I'm afraid they're unlikely to agree..."

“Why wouldn’t they be willing? Manchun Garden is already on the verge of collapse. What future do they have following the Wang family? Besides, I don’t intend to keep them around indefinitely. If Manchun Garden can provide compensation, they can leave at any time.”

It sounded feasible, so Ziju immediately went to take care of it.

Just then, Wu Guicheng returned. He personally escorted the old man onto the carriage and only returned to report when the carriage was out of sight.

Fang Xiaoran was very satisfied with his recent performance and directly took out an antidote and handed it to him. Wu Guicheng took the antidote in surprise, looked at her blankly, and even saw tears glistening in his eyes. "Miss, do you not want me anymore?"

Seeing that he showed no surprise upon receiving the antidote, Fang Xiaoran was deeply astonished. "You only stayed by my side to work because you were poisoned. Now that we are even, you can take the antidote and leave on your own."

Before he could finish speaking, Wu Guicheng suddenly knelt down and kowtowed heavily to Fang Xiaoran. A muffled thud was heard as he struggled to lift his head, blood streaming down his forehead. "Please, young lady, don't send me away. I'd even be willing to stay and clean the mud in the pond..."

It turns out he doesn't want to leave. To be honest, Beiju really can't find a suitable replacement for him right now.

Fang Xiaoran glanced at him, narrowed her eyes, and asked, "What if I take back the antidote I gave you?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Guicheng hesitated for a moment, but then actually presented the antidote with both hands, saying, "Please take it back, young lady."

"You actually took it seriously?" Fang Xiaoran shook her head with a smile, turned around and left, leaving behind the words, "Eat up, then go and arrange things with the group at Manchun Garden. Ziju can't handle things by herself, you'll have to go."

Wu Guicheng was overjoyed and immediately kowtowed, saying, "Yes, I will go right away."

After these events, the Fang family remained silent for several days. Madam Liu had a pile of accounts to deal with, the old lady quietly chanted sutras and prayed for blessings in Ci'an Hall, Madam Wang was also confined to Manchun Garden, and as for Granny Qian and Xiaochun, they were also dismissed and no longer needed.

As agreed, Fang Xiaoran returned Chunfang's child to her intact and cured the child's stomach pain during this time, for which Chunfang was extremely grateful. However, when Chunfang begged to stay and work for Fang Xiaoran, Fang Xiaoran flatly refused.

"You betrayed your mother and framed her. You don't think I've forgotten all that, do you? Chunfang, from this day forward, we need not see each other again. If you ever fall into my hands again, I will not let you go." Fang Xiaoran's attitude was resolute, leaving no room for negotiation.

That was her mother's former maid. If Chunfang hadn't testified against her, her mother wouldn't have been accused of murdering her mother-in-law. Now that she's not pursuing Chunfang's crime, it's already an act of leniency. How can she keep her by her side?

Chunfang was overthinking things, assuming that Fang Xiaoran would remember the past, but she didn't realize that Fang Xiaoran was not the kind of person who could tolerate even a speck of dust in her eyes.

After everything was settled, the Fang family fell into a rare period of quiet. Few people were seen strolling in the garden on ordinary days, and even Fang Menghe stayed indoors. This showed how much the recent events had affected Manchun Garden.

However, this was all they deserved. Fang Xiaoran sneered and left the Fang residence.

The carriage had been waiting at the door for a long time, and the driver was none other than Wu Guicheng.

Although the North Residence had added a few people from Manchun Garden, they weren't quite up to the task. Wu Guicheng was still the most reliable, so Fang Xiaoran usually entrusted important matters to him. As for the job of driving the carriage, it was mainly because the North Residence had no one else available, since the women from Manchun Garden were all maids and wouldn't know how to drive.

After getting into the carriage, Wu Guicheng asked curiously, "Miss, where are we going?"

Millennium Building.