After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

A flash of lightning illuminated the scene, and the steward noticed that of the six maids, three wore hairpins that were not their own, two wore earrings that were not their own, and two wore bracelets that were not their own, all adorned with black ointment that was reserved for the young lady.

Lu Zhiyuan pointed to them one by one.

“The jade hairpin in your hair was given to me by my grandmother. Although it is not valuable, it is engraved with my name. The two of you are wearing a pair of hairpins, which were birthday gifts from the Empress when I entered the palace at the age of six. The earrings and bracelets were part of my mother’s dowry. All the dowry items are recorded. You must be certain that I will die tonight, which is why you dared to steal and wear my things without any scruples.”

Lu Zhiyuan's eyes turned cold: "If it wasn't a conspiracy, how would you know I wouldn't survive tonight?"

The maids trembled and dared not utter a sound.

Lu Zhiyuan continued, “You thought I was too young and weak to be a match for a wet nurse. When you heard the sound, you mistook it for my screams as I was dying, and that you came to enjoy my death. You never thought I could survive, so none of you took the stolen goods.”

"So what if I am? You deserve to die!" Bitao suddenly stood up and pounced on Lu Zhiyuan.

Lu Zhiyuan grabbed her hand, but due to her frailty, she was pulled to the ground. A glance at the butler revealed he hadn't moved. The remaining servants, except for the one holding the umbrella, all wore expressions of delight.

Bitao pressed down on Lu Zhiyuan, grabbing her neck: "A piece of trash like you should go see the King of Hell!"

Lu Zhiyuan relaxed her limbs and lay flat: "Fine, kill me and let me go see the King of Hell."

Bitao tried to pull away, but was thrown back as if stung by a horse. Soon, her hand began to steam, blistered and festering like a wet nurse's. She rolled on the ground in pain, yet still glared at Lu Zhiyuan with resentment, saying each word with a trembling voice, "What did you do? Why did I become like this?"

Lu Zhiyuan stood up, panting slightly: "It's just poisoning, why are you acting so surprised?"

Bitao looked at her hand: "Poison? What poison? When was it administered?"

Lu Zhiyuan laughed, looking at her like she was a fool: "That was before you tried to kill me! I sprinkled poison powder on my belt, and when the wet nurse strangled me with the belt, it got on her hands and my neck. The wet nurse was poisoned because she touched my belt. You died because you touched my neck."

Bitao winced in pain: "You were poisoned too, how come you're alright?"

Lu Zhiyuan stared intently at her: "Because I took the antidote beforehand!"

Bitao roared, "What are you all standing there for? Kill her now! She won't let you get away with this!"

A murderous glint appeared in the steward's eyes, and the maids were also itching to make their move.

Lu Zhiyuan sat cross-legged on the ground. The original owner's body was too weak; it was no exaggeration to call her a sickly person. Her heart condition was congenital, similar to congenital heart disease, requiring medication and proper care. Her lung disease was acquired, resembling tuberculosis; it was treatable, but the process was complicated. Spending all year indoors, her body was thin and her complexion pale. Even for her, it would take two or three years to recover, and it was almost impossible to regain her former physical condition.

The assassin turned into a sickly person—nothing could be more frustrating. Fortunately, she possessed many skills and also had a useless system that appeared and disappeared intermittently.

Hearing the butler draw his sword, he glared at him coldly and said, "Don't move if you don't want to die!"

The butler gripped the dagger: "This old servant did not touch Miss's neck."

Lu Zhiyuan clutched her chest: "I never said I would only poison belts."

The steward stepped forward, brandishing a dagger: "Miss, don't frighten me. This old servant isn't easily scared."

Lu Zhiyuan shook her head: "Let's try."

The butler brandished his dagger, a fierce expression on his face. A sharp pain shot from his wrist straight to his heart. The butler gritted his teeth and endured it; the dagger fell an inch to the ground with a clang.

"Miss... please... please save me."

The butler reached out, but Lu Zhiyuan slapped his hand away in disgust.

"Repaying evil with kindness is Guanyin Bodhisattva's business. Miss, I am vengeful and will hold a grudge. Besides, I warned you not to move, or you will die."

"Ah...Ah Fu, save...save me."

The steward looked at the servant who had just held the umbrella for him. The servant glanced at him, gritted his teeth, and knelt down on the ground: "This servant, Afu, is loyal only to Miss."

Afu, who wasn't mentioned in the original text, was probably a minor character even lower than cannon fodder.

"Your name is Afu?"

"Yes, this servant, Afu, has only just entered the manor. This servant is unaware of, and has not participated in, their conspiracies. If Miss does not believe me, she can check the indenture."

"I poisoned them, aren't you afraid of me?"

“I’m afraid, but Miss is a reasonable person. If they hadn’t intended to harm her, she wouldn’t have poisoned them to protect herself.” Afu pondered for a moment: “In Miss’s words, those who betray their master die.”

The maids who had just gotten up knelt down again, one by one imitating Afu in pledging their loyalty. Lu Zhiyuan snorted coldly and told Afu to bring a stool, so she could sit down next to the steward who was still groaning.

"Is Afu your real name, or was it given to you by the steward after you entered the manor?"

"The steward named him that. Before I entered the manor, I was called Gousheng. The old man in the village gave me that name, saying it was a lowly name to keep me alive."

"how old are you?"

"Miss, it's seventeen."

“Let’s change your name.” Lu Zhiyuan pinched her slender fingers: “Now that you’ve joined the Lu family, you’ll take my surname, Lu, and your given name will be Yun.”

"Lu Yun thanks Miss for bestowing upon him a name."

"If you like it, that's good." Lu Zhiyuan lowered her eyes. "From this moment on, you will be the steward of this Chaoyun Villa. Do you know what you're supposed to do?"

"I understand, Miss. Rest assured, Lu Yun will handle this perfectly for you."

The soil on the hill behind the courtyard was soft and suitable for burying corpses. There were human slave traders in town, and he knew the leader. They sold off the disloyal ones to the young lady in exchange for a few loyal ones.

When Lu Zhiyuan moved Bitao, she was still breathing and making whimpering noises. Lu Zhiyuan glanced at her and said, "If you hadn't been whimpering, I would have forgotten that you switched all my medicines. First, you gave me inferior medicine, and when you saw that I hadn't noticed, you gave me the boiled dregs as new medicine. If I hadn't been lucky, you would have killed me long ago."

He stepped on her injured right hand and ground it hard: "Bury her head down, I want her to die in a unique way."

Bitao struggled, but Lu Yun grabbed her leg and dragged her outside the courtyard.

The rain was getting heavier, and Lu Zhiyuan coughed lightly as she went to the pharmacy. The original owner of this body was weak and couldn't withstand the chill of the rain, so she needed to have two doses of medicine prepared to calm her down.

Chaoyun Villa was part of the dowry given to her mother by the General's Mansion. The pharmacy was built by her eldest uncle when she came to the villa to recuperate, and the medicinal herbs inside were all collected from various places by her eldest and youngest uncles. From Tian Shan snow lotus to top-grade Ganoderma lucidum, from old Salvia miltiorrhiza to Polygonum multiflorum,

Everything was carefully selected, but unfortunately, the original owner was not good enough. The servants embezzled, stole, and sold off the remaining herbs, leaving only a hundred or so common medicinal herbs in the large pharmacy.

Having picked out a few herbs to treat a cold, I was about to go out when a dark shadow flashed past through the slightly ajar window. Instinctively, I blew out the candle, tiptoed to the window, and peeked through a crack. My lungs felt uncomfortable, and a gust of wind made me cough. Just as I coughed twice, several arrows whizzed past, and before I could react, I was pulled into someone's arms.

His arms were wet, his clothes were soaked through, and he carried the unique scent of autumn rain in the mountains.

Lu Zhiyuan looked up and saw a pair of exceptionally beautiful eyes and brows. She blurted out, "Mother."