As soon as Ye Qingxue stepped into Guanju Courtyard, Bai Qi pounced on her, wagging its tail like a windmill.

She patted its head, signaling it to continue guarding the door, and then quickly walked towards the cabin.

Grey Seven remained standing guard outside the door, like a stone statue, motionless.

The room was filled with a strong smell of medicine and blood. Ye Qingxue's heart was in her throat. She said softly, "I'm back."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door was pushed open from the inside, and Xiao Bao stood in the doorway, his face as pale as paper.

Is this... the deposed crown prince is dead? Ye Qingxue rushed inside.

Xiang Si Zi stood by the bed, holding a blood-stained cloth in her hand, and said calmly, "The blood clots have been removed, and the silver needles have all been taken out. As long as his high fever subsides tonight, he will be out of danger."

She then gestured with her chin towards Xiao Bao's direction, saying, "Young Master must be exhausted."

Ye Qingxue breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the deposed crown prince was still breathing.

She glanced at Xiao Bao. The little guy was doing such delicate work, which must have taken a lot of effort. No wonder his face was so pale.

The tray was filled with countless silver needles, still stained with blood. When Ye Qingxue looked at it, she felt a chill run down her spine.

He couldn't help but think: "Why did the deposed crown prince allow others to put these tiny silver needles into his body? Or did he not feel anything when the needles were inserted? That's unlikely, isn't it?"

"With so many silver needles, a dozen or twenty of them, how could he not feel anything? What exactly did he go through to make these silver needles stay in his flesh and blood?"

"On the other hand, once these silver needles are inserted into the body, they cannot be seen by outsiders. They will move with the body's movements. They may have been in a safe position yesterday, but after they move tomorrow, they may endanger the life. The person who used this method to deal with him is truly insidious."

"There are still blood clots; if they aren't removed in time, his life will be in grave danger..."

Her thoughts suddenly drifted to the cause of her father Ye Xiaobai's death.

My father died under mysterious circumstances back then. Could he have been killed by silver needles as well? But my father was recuperating at the time and hardly got out of bed. Even if silver needles had pierced through, they wouldn't have been fatal so quickly.

Unless... the silver needles were poisoned?

But that's impossible; the imperial physician would find out.

Ye Qingxue's gaze swept across the room, landing on the boiling water on the stove and the sterilized knives. Her heart skipped a beat, and she continued to stare at them. Her face grew paler and paler, and her fists clenched tighter and tighter.

Ye Qingxue felt that she might have found the real reason for her father's death.

However, evidence is still lacking.

She grabbed Xiangsizi's wrist and asked urgently, "Miracle doctor, I have a patient who has gone mad. Can you cure him?"

Xiang Si Zi remained silent, only thinking about how many people in this small courtyard were waiting for him to treat their illnesses and save their lives.

Are people in this family killing each other?

Seeing his silence, Ye Qingxue suppressed her anxiety and said, "The divine doctor has been busy for so long, he must be tired and hungry. I'll ask Chunqian to prepare some food for you."

Xiang Si Zi said helplessly, "If madness is congenital, there is no cure; if it is acquired, it is a mental illness that needs a mental cure. I can only use acupuncture and medicine to calm her down, but whether she can recover depends entirely on fate."

Heartache? Ye Qingxue paused. Who drove Aunt Liu mad? Was it her father's death that drove her insane in endless longing and despair?

Was it the pain inflicted by Ye Xiaowei that was beyond her tolerance, causing her to go mad?

If it's the former, her father can't come back; if it's the latter, Ye Xiaowei's appearance will only drive her even crazier.

Ye Qingxue gritted her teeth: "Please ask the miracle doctor to give it a try."

Aunt Liu was placed in a side room. Chunqian and Xialu had already changed her clothes and washed her hair.

When Ye Qingxue entered, she saw her curled up in the corner of the soft couch, her shoes still on, her long hair draped behind her, her face as pale as paper, the white of someone who hadn't been exposed to the sun for years, and the endless weakness of someone whose body had been tormented.

As Ye Qingxue walked towards her, she began to scream and grabbed a cushion from the couch, throwing it at Ye Qingxue.

"Get away, get away, don't come near me!" The voice was broken and hoarse.

Ye Qingxue caught the cushion.

Aunt Liu suddenly knelt on the bed and kowtowed repeatedly to her, pleading, "Please, please spare me...please spare me, I beg you..."

"Woof woof woof, I'll listen to you, I'll be a good dog, don't hit me, I'll be good, I'll do whatever you tell me to do..."

She stopped screaming, her tone became submissive and cautious, tears streaming down her face, but she continued to kowtow.

Ye Qingxue felt a pang of sorrow in her heart. Although the woman in front of her was born into an ordinary farming family, she had been loved by her parents and relatives. However, after seeing her father bravely fighting the enemy, she fell in love with him at first sight and had no one else in her heart.

She traveled thousands of miles to follow her father back to the capital, only hoping to be a caring person by his side, even if it meant being a concubine.

She came for love, but her father died and couldn't protect her. The once pure girl, who bravely traveled thousands of miles away from home for love, has been tormented into this state.

Ye Qingxue stepped forward, wanting to help her, but she was startled and shrank back, her body trembling.

Ye Qingxue could no longer hold back. She knocked Aunt Liu unconscious with a chop to the neck and carried her to the bed.

Forcing back her tears, Ye Qingxue turned her back to Xiangsi Zi and said in a deep voice, "Please, divine physician, give her acupuncture and medicine to calm her down."

Xiang Si Zi had already seen Aunt Liu's condition. He first wrote a prescription for Ye Qing Xue and asked her to send someone to get the medicine. Only then did he take out silver needles and insert them into several major acupoints on Aunt Liu's body.

Xia Lu returned with a wheelchair, and Ye Qingxue asked her to get the medicine. By the time Xia Lu returned, it was already dark, so Chun Qian hurriedly went to brew the medicine.

For a time, Guanju's courtyard was overflowing with wounded and sick people.

The acupuncture treatment for the acacia seeds had already ended.

I've already had dinner.

He also went to check on Ye Cunsi's right leg.

Now let's check if the deposed crown prince's high fever has subsided.

The fever hadn't subsided, but it hadn't gotten any worse either, so Xiangsizi fed him another bowl of fever-reducing medicine.

When he came out, he saw Ye Qingxue waiting for him outside the door. Ye Qingxue said, "Aunt Liu has already taken her medicine and woken up. Let's go see her."

They went to the side room again and found that Aunt Liu was much calmer, and her eyes were clearer, as if she had regained her senses.

Ye Qingxue quickly went over, seized the opportunity, and asked her softly, "Aunt Liu, I am Ye Xiaobai's daughter, Ye Qingxue. Do you know how my father died nine years ago?"

Aunt Liu's eyes were unfocused, and she murmured to herself, "Madam Min... embroidering, the flowers have withered, the General is dead..."

Ye Qingxue's heart tightened, and she was about to press for answers when Aunt Liu suddenly sat up, grabbed her hand, and looked directly into her eyes:

"You're the General's daughter? Do you know that the General isn't dead? Your father isn't dead at all!"

Ye Qingxue was stunned, her mind blank: "Father isn't dead? How is that possible!"