Don't Ask Where People Go After Time Travel

Chapter 1672 Yellow Sand
Li Shengxuan stopped and turned to look at Fang Zilan. "Don't you have anything to ask me?"

Instead of answering, Fang Zilan asked, "What does Your Majesty want me to ask?"

Li Shengxuan stared intently at the person in front of him and sighed softly, "Fang Zilan, sometimes I feel that you are the most uninhibited person in the world, daring to say anything and fearing nothing. But sometimes I feel that you are very far away from me."

"Then what kind of person does Your Majesty hope I will be?" Fang Zilan looked at Li Shengxuan, her eyes almost icy.

"No matter what you look like, it's still you." Li Shengxuan's lips curved slightly, his voice tinged with bitterness. "I only hope to see the most authentic you."

Fang Zilan smiled and said seriously, "I am not a beauty, and I am well aware of that. As for the heart hidden beneath this appearance, it is probably not that attractive either, so why does Your Majesty need to worry about it?"

Li Shengxuan remained noncommittal, saying, "So far, the version of you I have seen has exceeded my expectations. As for..."

Before he could finish speaking, a loud bang was heard, and brilliant fireworks burst above their heads, illuminating the sky with dazzling colors, a truly breathtaking sight.

Fang Zilan looked up and muttered to herself, "I never expected to see fireworks on the Double Ninth Festival."

Li Shengxuan didn't look at the fireworks; his gaze was entirely fixed on Fang Zilan.

As Fang Zilan herself said, she was not a beauty, and the lines of her profile were not as soft as those of an average woman. Instead, they had an indescribable sharpness. Even when watching fireworks, her tightly pursed lips did not relax at all.

But in her eyes, there was a light brighter and more magnificent than fireworks. He wanted to find his own reflection behind that light.

Fang Zilan turned her head and met Li Shengxuan's intense gaze. She frowned slightly, "Why is Your Majesty looking at me like that?"

"Do you like fireworks?" Li Shengxuan's abrupt question startled Fang Zilan for a while before she replied, "Your Majesty, are you perhaps ill?"

Li Shengxuan remained silent, so Fang Zilan had no choice but to honestly reply, "I can't quite put my finger on it, but I guess I like it."

"Really?" Li Shengxuan suddenly remembered that he had asked a similar question when he ran away from Baiye Temple with the girl that year.

So many years have passed, but the past events are still vivid in my mind, and have become an obsession and longing that I can't shake off.

"Your Majesty, it's getting late, let's go back." Fang Zilan bowed respectfully. Li Shengxuan looked at the submissive person before him, realizing that things had changed.

"Okay." Li Shengxuan turned around, no longer looking at Fang Zilan, nor at the fireworks in the sky.

Fang Zilan followed closely behind Li Shengxuan, feeling that his figure appeared even more lonely against the backdrop of the magnificent fireworks. As the saying goes, the higher you climb, the colder it gets; he stood alone at the pinnacle of fame, but who could truly know what he saw?
Thinking of this, Fang Zilan suddenly didn't want Mo Han to leave. If he left, no one in this world would know her origins or where she was going. But if he didn't leave, in this dangerous and treacherous capital, could she, a lonely ghost, truly protect his last hope?
"Fang Zilan, what's wrong?" Li Shengxuan's voice interrupted Fang Zilan's thoughts, and she suddenly came back to her senses. "What did His Majesty just say?"

"It's nothing." Li Shengxuan grasped Fang Zilan's wrist. "Watch where you're going."

Fang Zilan then realized that the two of them had reached the entrance of the main hall on the front mountain. She was standing on the edge of the steps and would fall if she wasn't careful. She steadied herself, withdrew her hand, and said, "Thank you for reminding me, Your Majesty." After saying this, she bowed, took her leave, and departed.

Li Shengxuan watched her skip and hop down the steps with almost joyful abandon, and a strange feeling welled up in his heart.

"Such a beautiful day should be enjoyed together, why is Your Majesty here alone?" Master Liaoyuan's voice reached Li Shengxuan's ears, completely different from his previous gentle and solemn tone, deliberately teasing, "Could she be the one Your Majesty has been longing for for many years?"

"You met her back then, what do you think?" Li Shengxuan asked wistfully. Master Liaoyuan pondered for a moment and said, "Worldly affairs are like a distant memory, I can't remember."

Fang Zilan brought Awan, Zheng Yan, and Xiao Xuan'er with her on this trip. Several familiar colleagues from the government office rushed forward to greet her and exchange a few pleasantries.

Feeling bored, Awan pulled Xiao Xuan'er for a stroll in the garden. As they walked, they discussed the flowers and plants, their conversation flowing smoothly and eloquently. The onlookers were amazed and asked which noble family's daughter they were.

Such discussions quickly reached Fang Zilan's ears. She went over and found the two people huddled together, looking at something.

When Awan saw her arrive, she waved and said, "Lord Fang, come and see this chrysanthemum."

Fang Zilan leaned closer and examined them for a while before saying, "Aren't these the chrysanthemums from Xiguan City that we grow in our yard?"

“Yes,” Awan added, “to be precise, it’s those chrysanthemums that you killed.”

Fang Zilan coughed lightly, "It's all the gardener's fault for not taking good care of them, what does it have to do with me?"

A mischievous smile flashed across Awan's face. Xiao Xuan'er, standing to the side, shook her head with a smile and whispered in Fang Zilan's ear, "Lord Fang, I just saw Miss Fang the Second."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zilan was taken aback. Ever since Pei Xiaozhe caused a scene at the Prime Minister's residence, Fang Zitong had been claiming illness and staying home for several months. It was quite a surprise that she was able to be invited to the flower festival.

However, rumors were spreading throughout the capital that the two brothers, Pei Jinqing and Pei Xiaozhe, were locked in a stalemate over Fang Zitong, and gossip was rampant. But with Prime Minister Fang Chongzheng and Empress Fang Ziqin keeping things in check, they were still somewhat restrained; otherwise, perhaps the most offensive things could have been said.

Fang Zilan knew that Pei Jinqing wouldn't let this go easily, so she had Xiao Xuan'er keep a close eye on the Pei residence. However, apart from two or three attempts to target the Prime Minister's academy, nothing happened. And those two or three attempts were all thwarted by Fang Chongzheng.

The Pei and Fang families are at loggerheads. Fang Zitong is at the flower festival today; if Pei Jinqing or Pei Xiaozhe were also there…

Xiao Xuan'er seemed to know what Fang Zilan was thinking, and said softly, "The Pei family has come with the younger brother of Duke Jin, Lord Pei Poming, and his wife."

Fang Zilan breathed a sigh of relief. She had heard of Pei Poming before. He was Pei Jinqing's younger half-brother. He was not very capable and only held a sinecure thanks to Pei Jinqing's protection. He spent his days either teasing cats and dogs or visiting prostitutes. He did not have a good reputation in the capital.

However, the Pei family had few male heirs. By Pei Jinqing's generation, there were only him, Pei Poming, and his cousin Pei Xiaozhe from a collateral branch of the family. There were no other male descendants. Therefore, Old Madam Pei treated this son who was not her own very well, protecting him in every way and turning a blind eye to anything that went too far.

(End of this chapter)