Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

Qingdai called out "Miss," but Xi Yueli didn't respond. She called out again, and Xi Yueli suddenly turned around. The moment her eyes fell on Qingdai's face, Qingdai said that all the hairs on her body stood on end.

Then the courtyard gate was pushed open from the outside.

Xi Yuefu, accompanied by two maids and two servants, came over in the middle of the night to cause trouble, claiming that a string of pearls had gone missing from the old lady's courtyard and that someone had seen the string of pearls last appear near Jinxian Courtyard.

Xi Yuefu stood with her hands on her hips at the courtyard gate, probably thinking that Xi Yueli had already rested. She planned to make some noise to provoke her "illness" so that the master could see with his own eyes how embarrassing it was for his daughter to go crazy.

But as soon as she stepped into the courtyard, Xi Yueli, who was standing in the middle of the courtyard, moved.

Qingdai said she didn't see what happened clearly, she only saw the withered branch flash in the moonlight, Xi Yuefu screamed and covered her face and fell backward, the tip of the withered branch scratched Xi Yuefu's left cheek, a bloody gash stretched from her cheekbone to her jaw.

Xi Yuefu covered her face and fell to the ground, blood flowing from between her fingers, crying so hard her voice cracked.

Two servants rushed forward to restrain Xi Yueli, but the withered branch spun in the air and struck one of the servants' hands with a "smack." The servant cried out in pain and pulled his hand back, and a purplish-red ridge immediately swelled up on the back of his hand.

Another servant grabbed a wooden stick from under the eaves to smash it, but Xi Yueli dodged to the side. The dry branch was flicked upwards and hit the servant's wrist. The stick fell to the ground with a thud, and the servant squatted down, clutching his wrist, sweat beading on his forehead from the pain.

The two maids were so frightened that they collapsed at the courtyard gate, unable to even run away.

Qingdai said that she was standing at the door of the side room at the time, feeling as if she were nailed to the ground.

She had been with her mistress for six years and had never seen her hit anyone. Not to mention hitting anyone, even when the second mistress pushed her down the steps, her mistress simply got up and dusted off her skirt without uttering a single harsh word.

But the person standing under the moonlight last night was clutching a withered branch, barefoot, and with eyes as cold as ice.

All of this lasted less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Suddenly, Xi Yueli's body swayed, the withered branch in her hand slipped from her grasp, and she fell forward, landing face down on the bluestone slab, where she never moved again.

"And then?" Xi Yueli asked.

"Then Fang came." Qingdai's voice was even lower. "The second young lady covered her face and cried so hard that the whole alley could hear her. Fang held the second young lady and sat in the courtyard for half an hour, saying, 'Li'er is going to kill her sister.'"

"Later, the master came and saw the blood on the second young lady's face, and then he saw the withered branch on the ground. He glanced at you, young lady... and then he ordered his men to tie you up and lock you in the woodshed."

Qingdai's voice trembled slightly, "Master said you've gone mad, completely mad. He'll have the imperial physician come tomorrow, and if he can't cure you... then..."

She didn't finish her sentence. But Xi Yueli had already guessed what the second half of her sentence was.

The woodshed was dimly lit, with only a narrow ray of sunlight filtering through a tiny window high up.

She was sitting against the wall with her hands and feet bound, the back of her head against the rough mud wall. You could vaguely feel a hard scab in her hair, probably from when she fell down last night.

She didn't remember what happened last night: a dry branch scratched Xi Yuefu's face, knocked over two servants, and then she fell down.

When she heard Qingdai describe those actions, her mind went blank; she couldn't recall anything. Strangely, however, her body retained some kind of memory.

Her right wrist felt slightly sore, as if she had gripped something too heavy. There was a dull, throbbing pain in her side, as if she had twisted at an angle beyond her usual range.

She looked down at her right hand, the same hand that had gripped the withered branch last night and swiftly and accurately slashed her half-sister's face; even her fist was trembling slightly.

This body is too weak; last night's outburst exhausted its already meager strength.

Footsteps sounded outside the woodshed, and Qingdai's voice stopped abruptly. Then, Fang's voice, neither too loud nor too soft, was gentle and soft, like lyrics from a Suzhou storytelling performance. "Qingdai, what are you doing here guarding this place? Afraid your young lady will run away?"

"Madam...this servant..." Qingdai's voice sounded like it was being choked.

"Get out of the way," Fang said. Her tone remained the same, but the two words were uttered with urgency, and Qingdai hurriedly retreated to the side.

The door to the woodshed was pushed open, and sunlight streamed in. Fang stood in the doorway, backlit, her light brown padded jacket taking on a soft silhouette against the light.

Behind her stood another person, dressed in a drab gray Taoist robe, with a goatee, waving an old banner with three words written on it: "Peace and Tranquility for the Soul."

He was a Taoist priest.

Xi Yueli squinted to adjust to the light, looking at Fang Shi, waiting for her to speak first.

Fang stepped over the threshold and walked in. She looked down at her stepdaughter, who was tied up in the haystack. Her gaze lingered for a moment on the hemp rope that was digging into her wrist bone, then moved away and fell on her pale face.

"Li'er, your mother has no choice," Madam Fang sighed. "What you did last night has spread throughout the mansion. Your sister's face... the doctor said that even if it heals, it will leave a scar."

She paused, her voice softening slightly: "How will an unmarried young woman with a scar on her face get married? Li'er, tell me, how can your mother not feel heartbroken?"

Xi Yueli knew that this was not Fang's real purpose in coming to the woodshed. If it was just to question and punish, Fang would not have brought a Taoist priest with her.

Fang stepped aside, making way for the goatee-bearded Taoist priest behind her.

"This is Master Zhang, whom we invited from Qingyun Temple outside the city. Master Zhang specializes in treating dissociative identity disorder. He said that your illness is caused by evil spirits possessing you, and if you don't drive them away, they will do even more terrible things in the future."

The Taoist priest stepped forward, looking down at Xi Yueli, who was tied up in a pile of straw. He waved the banner in his hand, and the three characters on the banner cast a blurry shadow in the dim woodshed.

"This young lady has a dark spot between her eyebrows and black energy lingering on her forehead, which is indeed a sign of being corrupted by evil spirits," the Taoist priest said, stroking his goatee with great certainty.

"If I am not mistaken, last night's events were caused by an evil spirit using you, young lady, to wreak havoc. If it is not exorcised in time, the evil spirit will resurface within three days, and then it will harm more than just one person."

Fang stood behind the Taoist priest, her gaze fixed on Xi Yueli's face, a hint of barely perceptible satisfaction deep within her eyes.

She knew that Xi Yueli couldn't remember what happened last night. How could someone who couldn't even remember what she had done refute the claim of being "possessed by evil spirits"? She would be confused, afraid, and admit that she was "sick," and then obediently let herself be manipulated.

A talisman and a bowl of talisman water, tied to a pillar and burned, will surely leave this girl severely scarred, even if she doesn't die.

"Mother," Xi Yueli finally spoke, "you just said that the doctor said my sister's face will be scarred?"

Fang was surprised by her response and paused for a moment before nodding, "That's what the doctor said."

"So, Mother, did you bring the Taoist priest here today to exorcise evil spirits for your daughter, or to avenge your sister?"