After her transformation and rebirth, she manipulates the innocent and ruthless to overthrow the wor

Upon hearing this name, Duan Li was slightly taken aback.

Looking at the girl in front of him, he didn't react in any particular way, but simply asked, "Xiao Ran? Is she the one who just returned to the capital not long ago? How did she die?"

"You don't know? Back in June when we went to the Summer Palace, Xiao Ran fell off a cliff. I heard it was done by refugees."

"I see." Xiao Ran nodded slightly, then asked, "Do you know why all the top-tier rooms are full?"

The gentleman, seeing the pot of wine Xiao Ran handed him, showed a satisfied expression, stroked his beard, and said, "This has something to do with the son of the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat..."

It turns out that not long ago, the top courtesan of Tianxiang Pavilion held a boat trip, which was the so-called "deflowering" ceremony.

That day happened to be the tenth day of the seventh lunar month, the time when schools were on their autumn break.

As the son of the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, a playboy from the capital, how could he miss such a lively event? So, he took a few followers and went to join the fun on the boat, waiting for the moment when he spent a lot of money to buy the courtesan's first night.

Suddenly, a wild boy darted out and pushed him into the water, and the son of the Minister of Rites drowned.

This was no small matter. The Minister of State only had this one beloved son, and now he was going to have to bury his son. So he immediately sent the boy to prison, and it was said that he would be executed in a few days.

The man first looked around, then leaned forward slightly, got closer to Xiao Ran, and said in a low voice, "I heard that the boy is a classmate of the Minister's son. He must have harbored resentment since their school days..."

Xiao Ran pondered for a moment, and realized that this matter was not much different from what had happened in her previous life.

However, the boy from the previous life, Zeng Jitian, survived in the end.

After all, this matter, in some ways in his previous life, served as a catalyst, officially triggering the most taboo issue within the imperial court—

The two-party struggle.

……

The bright moon hangs high, and today marks the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month, which is also the Ghost Festival.

On this day, every household kept their doors tightly shut, and an indescribable eerie atmosphere permeated the streets and alleys. The usually bustling streets were deserted, with only the cold moonlight shining on the empty roads.

Occasionally, a night breeze would suddenly arrive, rustling the leaves as if they were whispering secrets. The wind would also blow towards the white silk hanging beside the plaque of the General's Mansion, causing it to flutter wildly.

On the eaves of a nearby house, a girl dressed in white, her clothes and white silk seemingly blending into one, fluttered gently in the night breeze.

At this moment, her long, black hair was not tied up, but rather spread out freely like black silk, appearing even more eerie under the cold moonlight.

This white dress was one she had carefully selected and bought that afternoon at a silk shop next to the inn.

This was a surprise she had prepared for her aunt.

"Duanli, wait here for a quarter of an hour, then do as I say."

Duan Li nodded gently and said, "Aran, be careful."

"Okay!" Xiao Ran said, and then lightly jumped down from the eaves.

After landing, she began to look around, her eyes quickly searching for blind spots in the mansion's guards' field of vision. Then, like a nimble raccoon, she ran towards a courtyard.

Soon, she arrived at the courtyard filled with lotus flowers. This courtyard was called Fuqu Garden, and it was originally the residence of her aunt, Madam He, and later became the place where He Wan lived.

She skillfully evaded the few guards in the courtyard, found a bedroom window in the backyard, and climbed in.

He had a habit of not closing the windows when she went to bed, which made things more convenient for Xiao Ran.

At this moment, the aunt was not in the room, and the room was pitch black. Xiao Ran followed the moonlight and hid in the wardrobe next to her.

Fortunately, not long after, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Madam, let me massage it for you..."

"Oh dear, kneeling for days on end all the time, how can my body withstand such torture?" came a voice full of complaints from the porch.

Xiao Ran gently opened a small crack and looked out.

He Shi, dressed in dark green, sat on a grand chair, with a maid in white linen clothes massaging her shoulders beside her.

Seeing that Madam He looked haggard, the maid comforted her, "Madam, it's only today, the fifteenth of July, that you have to kneel here for a while. After the funeral tomorrow, you won't have to suffer this pain anymore."

Perhaps persuaded, Madam He's expression softened slightly. "Alright, you can go now. You'll be busy early tomorrow morning."

"Yes."

After the maid left, Madam He sat for a while, then rummaged through her dressing case until she found a pomegranate hairpin, which made her feel a little more at ease.

This hairpin was given to her by the girl from the Chen family; she said it was Xiao Ran's keepsake.

But she still couldn't trust her. She had initially thought that this task should be done by someone at least somewhat reliable, but she never expected it to be done by a maid...

She then took out a cloth doll covered in silver needles from a cabinet next to her, trying to find some peace of mind in it.

It's alright. As long as Wan'er can successfully enter the manor, everything she has done is worthwhile.

……

In the dead of night, the wind howled through the windowpanes, making sounds like the wailing of ghosts and wolves. Slowly approaching the bedside, I saw the woman on the couch snoring softly.

The woman didn't seem to be sleeping soundly, perhaps because the wind was too loud. She turned over and slightly opened her eyes.

But the moment she opened her eyes, her gaze froze. In the moonlight, a figure appeared in the room…

A "female ghost" with a completely pale complexion and long, disheveled hair!

The female ghost clutched the doll studded with silver needles tightly in her hand. Suddenly, a chilling wind howled and swept in. Blown by this wind, the yellow paper on the doll's back slowly drifted to the ground.

In an instant, the two characters "Xiao Ran" written in cinnabar on the yellow paper appeared as strikingly and terrifyingly as fresh blood.

"what!!!!"

He closed her eyes in terror and screamed at the top of her lungs. Her screams sounded particularly shrill in the howling wind of the night, causing the cicadas around her to pause their chirping for a moment.

The maids outside the door were instantly dispelled by the shrill scream, and they immediately rushed into the room to check.

He was found curled up on the inside of the bed, her hair disheveled, the blanket and pillow thrown on the floor, muttering intermittently, "It's not my fault...it's not my fault..."

A maidservant saw this and wanted to go forward to ask what was going on, but before she could get close, she was stopped by Madam He's stern voice: "Get out!" The maidservant was so frightened that she trembled and froze on the spot.

"What's going on?" In the midst of this tense atmosphere, a middle-aged man walked in from outside.

Upon seeing this, the surrounding maids immediately bowed and shouted in unison:

"General."