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

A blinding flash of lightning illuminated the sky and the earth, followed by a deafening clap of thunder and another bolt of lightning that lit up the entire palace. Yue Li, clad in military attire, stormed in through the palace gates with her entourage. Unlike the dashing female generals depicted in movies and television dramas, she appeared disheveled and utterly wretched.

He threw a head to the ground and approached Lu Zhiyuan, who was drinking tea, with a smug smile of victory: "You little bitch, come out and face your death!"

The tea was a little hot, so Lu Zhiyuan gently blew on it: "You keep calling me a little bitch, is that how your mother taught you?"

Princess Yue Li pointed her sword at Lu Zhiyuan: "What my mother taught me is none of your business..."

Before she could finish speaking, a silver needle pierced through the rain and struck her squarely on the philtrum. The sudden pain enraged Yue Li, who pulled out the needle and rushed towards her bedchamber with her sword.

"You bitch, how dare you plot against me!"

"Nonsense, I was calculating back then."

Three gleaming silver needles were held between the fingers of his right hand, while his left hand held a teacup. Even though the tea leaves were from Xie's tea shop, they couldn't bring out the taste of home. The reason, it was simply the difference in environment.

"Whether you scheme openly or secretly, tonight is your death day." Seven steps from the threshold, a jolt went numb in his legs, and he nearly collapsed to his knees: "Little..."

Another needle pierced her gums, this time not in her philtrum. Blood trickled down her teeth, and Yue Li stomped her feet in pain, but her feet were numb and she couldn't move them.

"Princess Yue Li really doesn't learn her lesson. She's forgotten how much that needle hurt." She put down her teacup, stood up, and walked to the door into the wind and rain: "Don't move, or you'll be dead."

"Trying to scare me?" A smirk played on her lips. "Does Princess Yue Li know who I am?"

"Who else could you be? You're a spy, sent specifically to seduce my brother Ye Bai and harm my Southern Chu." Yue Li gritted her teeth and took a step forward, a numbness spreading from her calves to her knees. "Tell me, what exactly did you do to me?"

Lu Zhiyuan scratched her head: "How can you be so stupid? These symptoms are obviously signs of poisoning."

Yue Li rolled her eyes in exasperation: "You..."

Before he could finish speaking, seeing the gleaming silver needles in Lu Zhiyuan's hand, he swallowed the rest of his words: "What kind of poison did you give me?"

"No comment!" Lu Zhiyuan squatted behind the threshold, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at her. "A friendly reminder: I've given this poison a simple and easy-to-understand name: Seven Steps to Death. You've already taken one step. Take six more steps, and the poison will spread throughout your body. At that time, you'll feel a needle-like pain, followed by terrifying blood spots. Once those blood spots merge together, you'll scratch your skin uncontrollably because of the unbearable pain, until you tear your skin off completely, turning into a skinless monkey."

Yue Li trembled with fear, but still stubbornly retorted, "This princess isn't easily frightened. You think you can take me with just a tiny silver needle...?"

Yue Li dared not utter the words "human monkey," feeling genuinely afraid.

She pursed her lips tightly and raised the sword in her hand: "I'll skin you alive!"

Five steps!

"Four steps!"

"Three steps!"

The pain had spread to her abdomen, and she was only three steps away from crossing that threshold. Yue Li dared not take another step; she was afraid she would become like Lu Zhiyuan had described. If she couldn't get through, she could use her sword to stab her to death.

In Yue Li's eyes, Lu Zhiyuan was a typical woman from Northern Liang. Beautiful as she was, she was frail and sickly, her illness written all over her face. She didn't believe Lu Zhiyuan could dodge her sword strike.

Lu Zhiyuan didn't dodge, and Yue Li's sword went astray.

She went mad, stamping her feet despite the pain: "Kill her! Kill her for me!"

“Two steps!” Lu Zhiyuan held up her finger and shook it.

Seeing Yue Li's people rushing towards her with murderous intent, Lu Zhiyuan stretched and said, "Judging by the time, Han Ting and Ye Bai should be arriving soon too."

With red eyes and gritted teeth, Yue Li said, "I knew you were going to harm my Ye Bai! Tell me, what have you done to my Ye Bai? You wicked woman, did you poison him with the same poison? The antidote, give me the antidote now!"

"I harmed Ye Bai? Do you want to hear what you're saying?" Lu Zhiyuan rubbed her waist: "Your brother Ye Bai is the King of Southern Chu. Your mother wants to seize his power and kill him. Who exactly wants to harm him?"

"No, impossible! It was you! It was all because of your mother that you started this rebellion! Your mother said you were a vixen, that you tricked Brother Ye Bai into making you his queen. Once you became queen, you killed Brother Ye Bai and allowed the Northern Liang soldiers to sweep in and invade our Southern Chu territory."

Lu Zhiyuan clicked her tongue twice: "Princess, I really don't know whether to praise you for being smart or to call you stupid."

Yue Li gritted her teeth: "What do you mean?"

Lu Zhiyuan slowly walked back into the palace: "I asked the princess a question just now. I wonder if the princess still remembers it? My question was, does the princess know who I am?"

Yue Li said fiercely, "Spy, fox sister, this princess has already answered you."

Lu Zhiyuan sighed: "It seems the princess doesn't want to know! Well, it's not a big deal to be a fool."

"A fool? You dare call me a fool?" Yue Li pointed at her: "You're the fool, your whole family are fools!"

Lu Zhiyuan pouted: "Your Highness, would you like to turn around and take a look?"

"Turning back is fine, I don't believe you can pull any tricks on me in front of this princess." Turning around, Yue Li was dumbfounded. The people she brought had turned into headless corpses in an instant. Yue Li was not a delicate girl, nor was she afraid of corpses. She had killed at least dozens of people on her hands along the way. But she had never seen such a horrific sight.

A man whose face was obscured stood in the pouring rain, water streaming down his straw hat. He remained motionless, holding a strange object in his hand. The more Yue Li tried to see him clearly, the less she could make it out. Even more terrifying, the man was approaching, and the object in his hand made a crackling sound, much like a legendary soul-reaping chain.

Terrified, he took another step back.

Lu Zhiyuan held up one finger and shook it: "One step!"

Yue Li turned around: "What's that?"

Lu Zhiyuan revealed an adorable expression: "Hunting time!"

"Hunting Moment? What kind of weird name is that!" Yue Li asked in confusion, "You Northern Liang people, all you do is come up with this kind of nonsense."

"Princess, you misunderstand!" Lu Zhiyuan clicked her tongue twice. "I wasn't talking about weapons, but the corpses on the ground. As for the one Lu Yun has, it's called a Blood Droplet, which is specifically for taking heads. Princess Yue Li, would you like to try it?"

“Blood… the flying guillotine, isn’t that…” Yue Li’s eyes widened: “Lu? Your surname is Lu!”

"Yes, what's the problem?"

"No, impossible!" Yue Li shook her head frantically. "That person should be in Beiliang. She's the Crown Princess of Beiliang. How could she possibly be here?"

“Of course it’s because of Ye Bai.” Lu Zhiyuan curled her lips: “The princess has ulterior motives and is hindering my Ye Bai at every turn, so I’m here to support him.”

The words "My Night White" pierced Yue Li's nerves. Ignoring the warnings, she took the final step, only to stumble and fall as she crossed the threshold.