Mu Xia got out of bed, forgoing the light switch in favor of her phone's flashlight. She swept the beam across every inch of the room, searching for any trace of an intruder. "Hiss—" Suddenly, a strange sound reached her ears, like a sharp, quick intake of breath. Mu Xia pinpointed the source of the sound. It was coming from beside her bed, barely three feet from where she stood! What was that?! She quickly cranked her phone's flashlight to its brightest setting and aimed it toward the noise. There, its tongue flicking, was a cobra. The snake seemed to have been watching her for some time, its body half-coiled and raised, its green eyes fixed on her like ghostly embers. If she hadn't woken to the sound, she would still be lying in bed, paralyzed by its venom. In that instant, the cobra struck. With a powerful thrust of its tail, it launched itself straight at her neck! But Mu Xia was trained. Her reflexes were lightning-fast. She dropped and rolled, narrowly avoiding the attack. Coming up in a single fluid motion, she grabbed the snake by its tail. With a sharp flick of her wrist, she slammed it against the floor. The cobra went limp, stunned. Mu Xia rose, grabbing the scissors she had hidden under her pillow for just such an emergency. She strode over, ready to sever the cobra's head. But just as the blades neared the snake's neck, Mu Xia froze. She recognized it as a species of cobra native to the south. A snake like this would never be found in the north. This snake hadn't wandered into her room by accident. Someone had deliberately put it here. Mu Xia recalled the footsteps she'd heard earlier. It all clicked into place. Now she knew what the person who had lingered for only a moment on her balcony had come to do. They wanted her dead. Her mind raced. Situ Hai currently found her immensely useful for currying favor with the Ye family and was showering her with affection; he would never do something like this. The only possibilities were Mu Xinyue and Situ Qingshan. But Mu Xinyue was too calm, too clever, to try something so rash on the very first night of her return. That left only one likely culprit: Situ Qingshan. At that thought, Mu Xia’s eyes narrowed. In the moonlight, a chilling glint, like light on ice, flickered in their depths. She wanted her dead? Situ Qingshan had better weigh her own worth first. The night deepened, the moon sinking in the west. Nearly everyone in the villa was sound asleep. One in the morning was the hour of deepest slumber. But Situ Qingshan couldn't sleep a wink. She was waiting. Waiting for news of Mu Xia’s death. But hours had passed, and still no "good news" had arrived. Finally, Situ Qingshan couldn't stand it any longer and called her nanny, who slipped quietly into her room moments later. "Did you even do it?!" Situ Qingshan demanded. "If you didn't, you can expect the police at your door tomorrow morning!" "Miss, you've misunderstood!" the nanny explained hurriedly. "I did it! I bought the most venomous snake on the market and put it in her room two hours ago." Situ Qingshan's brow furrowed. "Then why haven't I heard anything? A snakebite would have woken her up. Our rooms are only two balconies apart, but I haven't heard a single scream." "Well… I don't know about that." "What if the snake didn't bite?" "Impossible," the nanny insisted. "The seller picked one for me that had been starved for days and was highly aggressive. The moment it saw a living thing, it would have struck." "Then what the hell happened?" Situ Qingshan was baffled. The nanny thought for a moment, then ventured a guess. "The seller said the venom is incredibly potent. Without treatment, a person would be dead in minutes. Perhaps… it's not that the snake didn't bite her, but by the time she realized what was happening, she was already…" Situ Qingshan's eyes lit up, finishing the nanny's sentence. "Maybe she's already dead!" Watching her mistress's expression, the nanny asked cautiously, "In that case, Miss, should I make up an excuse to go in and check?" "No," Situ Qingshan said with a wave of her hand. "This needs to be done without leaving a trace. If you go now, it will look suspicious. If she's already dead, collecting the body tomorrow is safer. What if she's been rushed to the hospital and they can still save her?" The nanny nodded in fervent agreement. "You're right, Miss. We'll wait until morning to deal with the body! By then, she'll be cold. Not even the greatest doctor in the world could bring her back." A smile Situ Qingshan couldn't suppress spread across her face. She casually removed the necklace she was wearing and handed it to the nanny. "You've done well. This is your reward. From now on, whatever you need, just ask." "Thank you, Miss! Thank you!" Any fear the nanny had about her role in a murder was washed away by the glittering necklace. Besides, she hadn't killed anyone; the snake had. Down in the underworld, no one could blame her. "Alright, you can go. I'm going to get a good night's sleep." When she woke up, she could collect her dear sister's body and then put on a heart-wrenching performance at her funeral. If her acting was convincing enough, people might even think she was a deeply empathetic person. She planned on a career in showbiz, and such a display of good character would only help her gain fans. What a wonderful night this was… Situ Qingshan switched off the light and lay back down. The smile never left her lips as she drifted off. Thanks to her good mood and the late hour, the previously sleepless Situ Qingshan fell asleep quickly and had a beautiful dream. In her dream, she was at an awards ceremony. Ye Sijue, captivated by her talent, fell for her at first sight. He was utterly smitten and declared to the world that she would be the future mistress of the Ye family—his wife! She had reached the pinnacle of her life, destined for a future of luxury and ease as a wealthy socialite. However, the sleeping Situ Qingshan failed to notice a shadowy figure slip silently onto her balcony… As the deepest part of the night passed, dawn approached. The silence was shattered— "Aaaahhh!!!" A frantic, blood-curdling scream tore through the sky. Birds nesting in the large trees around the estate startled, flapping their wings and fleeing from the branches. "What was that?" "What happened?" "I don't know, I just heard a scream, someone calling for help…" "Quick! It sounds like it's coming from the second young miss's room!" The servants, jolted awake, identified the source of the scream and rushed toward Situ Qingshan's room. She hadn't locked the door. They burst in. They found Situ Qingshan collapsed beside her bed, convulsing violently. White foam frothed at her lips, and her face had turned a deathly purple. She looked as though she was breathing her last. The servants froze, stunned. "What… what happened?" Shaking themselves out of their shock, they started to move forward to help. "Wait! Don't go any closer!" one of the maids cried in terror. "There's a snake on the bed!"