Don't Ask Where People Go After Time Travel

Chapter 1683 Retention
Inside the mourning hall, Murong Qing knelt for a long time, his face tense and as cold as ice. "I'll say it one last time, please leave."

Fang Zilan subconsciously stopped and looked at the small figure in the hall, kneeling before the coffin, her body straight, as if she were guarding something.

"Your Highness, we have all come to offer our condolences..." The group of people standing bowing in the hall had barely begun to speak when Murong Qing interrupted them, "General Fu, if you do not leave now, do not blame me for being impolite."

Another person nearby couldn't help but speak up, "Why is Your Highness so aggressive? Your Highness..."

"Shut up! You are not worthy to mention my mother." Murong Qing's eyes were filled with hatred. "If it weren't for you bunch of hypocrites, how could my Zhongzheng Prince's Mansion be in this state today? My mother, how could she have come to this..."

His voice was filled with anguish, but Fang Zilan pursed her lips, as if frozen in place, and never took another step forward.

Following closely behind, Murong Xun said nothing and walked straight into the mourning hall. "Are you all still not leaving? Are you waiting for me to invite you?"

“Your Highness, we can understand the young master…” one of them approached almost obsequiously, but before he could finish speaking, Murong Xun cut him off with a sharp look. “Understand?”

The man jumped in fright, "I... Your Highness..."

"Get out!" Murong Qing shouted as if he could no longer hold back. The people in the hall exchanged glances and quickly left.

Murong Qing's chest heaved, as if all her strength had left her. She fell straight forward, her head about to hit the coffin, when Murong Xun caught her tightly, "Qing'er..."

“Father…” Murong Qing cried, clutching Murong Xun’s clothes tightly, “Mother is gone…”

His voice was extremely soft, more like a confirmation than a statement. Only now, nestled in his father's arms, with all his defenses down, could he carefully consider and slowly accept the truth.

Murong Xun heard this and felt as if his heart was being torn apart. "Qing'er, don't be afraid, your father is here."

The words touched her deeply; a simple reassurance calmed Murong Qing down. Fang Zilan turned her back, tilting her head back to keep her tears from falling.

The general, having fought a hundred battles, is now disgraced; looking back, he finds no old friends.

If she hadn't experienced it firsthand, she wouldn't have been able to truly empathize with the current state of the Zhongzheng Prince's Mansion. But Murong Xun and his son Murong Qing still had each other. She, however, had nothing left.

"Madam..." The maid's anxious voice pulled Fang Zilan back to her senses. She turned around and looked over. "What is it?"

"The Empress Dowager, the Empress, and His Highness Prince Qi have all arrived." The maid looked worried, secretly glancing at Murong Xun and Murong Qing in the mourning hall, and whispered, "They're already outside the Prince's residence..."

"Understood." Fang Zilan composed herself, thinking to herself that Empress Dowager Lin of Miluo was quite sensible. Even after things escalated, she knew to come and clean up the mess, unlike Mu Churui…

Thinking of this, Fang Zilan frowned slightly. Was Mu Churui's extreme behavior simply due to his capricious temper and stubbornness?

Awan stayed by Fang Zilan's bedside, feeling both remorseful and self-reproachful. "It's all my fault. If I had told you about the Frost Poison, you wouldn't be like this..."

Outside the screen, Xiao Xuan'er and Mo Han sat and stood respectively, both with cold expressions. "Miss Awan, according to you, Sister Lan's Frost Poison has reached the fourth level, which is not something that happened overnight. Do you know exactly when she was poisoned?" Mo Han tried his best to keep his voice calm. Upon hearing his words, Awan hurriedly said, "The exact date still needs to be calculated, but it should have been shortly after Miss Fang left the Pei family. Could it be..."

“It can’t be Miss Fang the Second, she doesn’t know about the Frost Poison.” Xiao Xuan’er interrupted A Wan. “If it were the Pei family, then there would be some possibility.”

Mo Han frowned and said, "But if the Pei family really knew how to use the Frost Poison, how come they have suffered from it for so many years?"

Upon hearing this, Awan pursed her lips. "Sister Xiao, Young Master Mo, the Frost Poison is only available at the Ghost Gate; nowhere else will it be found, and no one will use it."

Mo Han's expression froze, and Xiao Xuan'er clenched her fists. "I'll go see how Young Master Chu's investigation is going."

This wasn't the first time. Ever since Miss Dongxue died, they suspected there was a spy in the manor. After investigating, they caught a servant and found evidence that he came from the Ghost Gate, forcing him to commit suicide.

Xiao Xuan'er found it strange at that time. When she took in Bai Xiuniang before, all the people in the mansion left. Now, these are all people who were carefully selected by them, with clean backgrounds, before being taken into the mansion. How could a spy from the Ghost Gate have infiltrated?

So Xiao Xuan'er immediately checked everyone again, and only felt relieved after confirming that everything was correct. However, she was shocked to learn that Fang Zilan had been poisoned by the Frost Poison. She felt an indescribable sense of lingering fear.

However, Chu Bin was at a loss. No one in the entire mansion was a suspect, and since the person who poisoned him could not be found, he could only look for an antidote first.

That night, Mo Han, Xiao Xuan'er, and Chu Bin gathered in the hall, all with solemn expressions. After a long while, Chu Bin finally broke the silence, "I asked A Wan, and she doesn't have the antidote for the Frost Poison. If we want to cure it, we can only go to the Ghost Gate to seek the medicine."

"Young Master Chu, you..." Xiao Xuan'er had barely opened her mouth when Mo Han said, "No, Sister Lan brought you out of the Ghost Gate, not so that you could go back and die!"

His unusually excited tone startled both Chu Bin and Xiao Xuan'er, "Young Master Mo..."

“If anyone’s going, it’s me.” Mo Han stood up and said sharply, word by word, “He’ll only agree to a deal where I give my life in exchange for Sister Lan’s safety.”

The "he" in question naturally refers to Ji Ningtian. Chu Bin and Xiao Xuan'er knew this perfectly well, but before they could even utter a word of dissuasion, they saw Mo Han stride out.

"Young Master Mo, please wait!" Awan's figure suddenly appeared in front of the hall. She stood at the door with her arms outstretched, blocking Mo Han's way.

As if she had made up her mind, Awan bit her lip and said, "Now that things have come to this, even if Fang Zilan hates me to death, I will still say it."

Mo Han was stunned. "Miss Awan, what do you mean by this?"

Awan took a deep breath and blurted it all out, "The Gu poison in Fang Zilan's body is extremely potent; it can devour other poisons. Ordinary poisons won't kill her, but even highly toxic ones..."

"Ah Wan!" Chu Bin interrupted her in a deep voice, "Even if it doesn't kill her, how much torment will she suffer, and how many days will she have left to live?"

"What...are you talking about..." Mo Han was shocked, and Xiao Xuan'er also looked at Chu Bin in disbelief.

"I..." Awan realized she had spoken out of turn, so she simply said, "Even if the Frost Poison is dangerous, I have a way to save Fang Zilan's life. If you have the time to rush to your deaths, you should investigate who poisoned her."