Don't Ask Where People Go After Time Travel

Chapter 1689 The Truth
"Sorry? Those are the three most useless words in the world." Fang Zilan said coldly, "Can your casual 'sorry' erase the pain and hurt Zirou suffered?"

Ouyang Zongrui struggled desperately, his face flushed and veins bulging, but he couldn't escape the suffocating feeling, the overwhelming killing intent, and the imminent death. An overwhelming fear consumed all his senses; it was a despair he had never experienced before.

Seeing that Ouyang Zongrui's breath was weakening, Fang Zilan released her grip. "Killing you would only dirty my hands. You don't deserve to die so easily."

Before she could finish speaking, she heard a muffled thud. Turning around, she saw Ouyang Zirou kowtowing three times to Madam Ouyang's corpse. Her hands, wrapped in snow-white gauze, were folded in front of her forehead and were instantly covered in crimson.

“Zi Rou…” Fang Zilan’s expression was inscrutable. Before she could go over to help her up, she saw Ouyang Zi Rou stand up and walk towards her.

She reached out, but didn't even touch Ouyang Zirou's clothes. In her astonishment, a blood-soaked white veil flashed by and landed directly on Ouyang Zongrui's face, leaving a red mark.

Ouyang Zirou bit her lips tightly, trying to speak but unable to make a sound. Fang Zilan recognized her lip movements, which vaguely read, "From now on, you are no longer my brother."

Ouyang Zongrui seemed to have noticed it too. His eyes reddened, and he whispered "I'm sorry," filled with remorse, but it was all in vain.

He lost, lost everything, except for his hands covered in blood, which he could never wash away. For the rest of his life, he would live in bloodshed, never able to escape it.

Ouyang Zirou turned her back, no longer looking at Ouyang Zongrui. Fang Zilan put her arm around her shoulder, blocking the gazes of others, and led her out of the Ouyang family ancestral hall.

Huangfu Xin and Shangguan Min quickly followed. Wang Lingyuan watched their backs, hesitant to speak. Finally, she lowered her eyes and, under everyone's gaze, walked to Ouyang Juncheng's side as if in resignation, softly calling out, "Husband."

Whether it was a premonition or something else, Shangguan Min, who had already reached the entrance of the ancestral hall, suddenly stopped and turned to look at Wang Lingyuan, saying, "Madam, you are a daughter of the Wang family. The winds and sands of the northern border have not shaken you in the slightest, let alone the clouds and rains of the capital?"

"Lord Fang, please wait a moment," Fang Lihui said, trying to persuade him to stay. "It's a rare opportunity for you to be here today, Lord Fang. Why not stay and be a witness?"

Fang Zilan raised an eyebrow slightly, "Witness?"

"Lord Fang must have watched a play at my Fang family home." Fang Lihui raised his eyebrows and smiled charmingly. "If the play was not good, Lihui will leave it to Lord Fang to decide."

His words were flippant and ambiguous, causing A-Wan to frown and say coldly, "Fang Lihui, do you know who you're talking to?"

"Of course I know." Fang Lihui nodded slightly and looked at Fang Zilan, asking, "What is Lord Fang's opinion?"

"Okay." Fang Zilan agreed without hesitation.

Awan tugged at her sleeve and tried to signal her with her eyes not to meddle, but she ignored her and simply let it be, following the others into the front hall.

After everyone was seated, Fang Lihui looked at Fang Zilan and asked directly, "Lord Fang, have you come all this way for business in the Northern Territory?"

"Indeed." Fang Zilan nodded and asked, "I suppose you know about the matter in the Northern Border. I wonder if the business I entrusted to you has suffered any losses?" "Lord Fang seems to have too little faith in me." Fang Lihui chuckled lightly, fanning himself with his fan. Fang Zilan said calmly, "If the money is delivered on time, I will naturally have faith in you, Young Master Fang."

Her words were so blunt that even Fang Lihui was momentarily speechless. He then forced a smile and said, "The situation before the new year is still unclear. If any money from the northern border flows into Lord Fang's residence, I'm afraid..."

He didn't continue, but Fang Zilan understood his meaning perfectly. She nodded slightly and said, "Young Master Fang is very considerate, and I am not ungrateful. Therefore, I am only here today to collect a debt, not to interrogate you."

"I am relieved to hear that you say so, Lord Fang." Fang Lihui lightly waved his folding fan, still looking like a carefree young master. "I will have the accountant in my residence send over the account books later. After you have reviewed them, I will have someone deliver all the money to your residence."

"Thank you for your trouble, Young Master Fang." Fang Zilan said, picking up the teacup beside her and tasting it carefully. "This tea..."

"Young Master, the Elders of the Rules have arrived." The steward, who had rushed in, interrupted Fang Zilan before she could finish speaking. She put the teacup back in its place, glanced at the Elders of the Rules who followed her in, and said nothing more.

One of the elders in charge of discipline rushed up to Fang Lihui and immediately began to berate him, "Fang Lihui, it's only been a few months, and you've already caused this mess again. Don't you think you've already disgraced the Fang family enough?"

Fang Lihui, however, showed no reaction, and his nonchalant manner of playing with his folding fan only added fuel to the fire.

The elder in charge of discipline was immediately enraged and reached out to grab Fang Lihui's collar, but was stopped by another elder behind him, who gestured for him to look at Fang Zilan, Awan, and Cong Rong standing to the side.

"Well, there's more than one." The leading elder of the regulations laughed in anger. "Fang Lihui, you really are something else!"

“Uncle, you can eat whatever you want, but you can’t say whatever you want.” Fang Lihui abruptly closed his folding fan, his expression becoming slightly sharp. “This Duke Fang of Yue is not someone you or I can casually associate with.”

"Lord Fang, the Duke of Yue?" The elder in charge of regulations stood there stunned, and the others behind him were also taken aback.

In an instant, all eyes in the hall were on Fang Zilan, but she waved her hand dismissively, "This is a matter for your Fang family, you don't need to worry about me."

Despite her words, she remained unmoved and showed no intention of leaving. The Fang family elders, unsure of her intentions, dared not make any rash moves and immediately took their seats respectfully.

The elder who initially raised the issue was clearly hot-tempered; as soon as he sat down, he couldn't contain himself and asked, "What exactly happened?"

Cong Rong, who was seated at the bottom, slowly stood up and walked to the center of the hall. Being heavily pregnant, she could only bow slightly to the elders in charge of the rules as a form of greeting.

She said timidly, “I am Cong Rong, the daughter of the Cong family in the suburbs of Beijing. My family all farms on the Fang family's estate. We used to have a small plot of land, but last year, for some reason, the estate manager said the harvest was bad and wanted to take away our land and drive my whole family out of the estate. My father went to the estate manager to argue, but he was beaten so badly that he was bedridden. I had no choice but to beg the estate manager, who said that it was Fang Lihui's orders, and he had no choice but to do as he was told. I was forced to submit to Fang Lihui, and only then did the estate manager obey and let my family go…”

(End of this chapter)