Don't Ask Where People Go After Time Travel

Chapter 1696 Disappearance
“If I don’t want to, no one can put me in jail.” Xiahou Yunzhao raised an eyebrow. “Lady of the Crown Prince, if you want to turn the Southeast upside down, I can lend you a hand.”

“General Xiahou, you…” Fang Zilan’s eyes widened suddenly as she stared at Xiahou Yunzhao. She smiled, “Princess’s wife, there’s no need to be so moved. I’m not doing this just for you.”

Fang Zilan understood immediately and whispered, "General Xiahou is doing this for His Majesty?" Although it was a question, she spoke with absolute certainty.

Xiahou Yunzhao remained noncommittal, instead asking, "Then what is the Crown Prince's wife's purpose?"

"Me?" Fang Zilan was speechless for a long while before she spoke, "Of course I'm doing this for the Fang family."

"With the imperial decree requested by the Crown Prince's wife, the Fang family has already emerged from the mire." Xiahou Yunzhao crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Crown Prince's wife, don't overdo it and end up harming the Fang family."

"Come out?" Fang Zilan repeated the word. "In General Xiahou's opinion, what does 'come out' mean?"

"Has the Crown Prince's wife ever seen a swamp?" Xiahou Yunzhao suddenly changed the subject. Fang Zilan was puzzled, but still shook her head. "Never seen one."

"The ancient lands of Baiyue are mostly mountains and forests, and many of those forests are swamps. Once you get stuck, it's not easy to survive," Xiahou Yunzhao said quietly. "Being able to crawl out of a swamp, even if you're covered in filth, is better than dying in it. What do you think, Your Highness's wife?"

“Just because you crawled out doesn’t mean you can live a clean life.” Fang Zilan spoke each word with an indescribable ruthlessness. “Some people have already perished in it.”

“Those who perish there do not want their companions to perish with them.” Xiahou Yunzhao sighed. “They hope their companions will come out and see the world beyond the mountains and forests for them.”

Fang Zilan remained silent and turned to leave, but was stopped by Xiahou Yunzhao. "Madam, I am not demanding the lives of the Xiahou family from you because I do not want to be blinded by hatred and deny what you have done. But if you are trapped by hatred and are so desperate to pursue so-called justice, I will not help you."

"I don't need anyone's help." Fang Zilan didn't turn around. "Things have come to this point. General Xiahou, you should think carefully: can your Xiahou family escape this calamity?"

Upon hearing this, Xiahou Yunzhao snorted coldly, "Stubborn to the end."

Fang Zilan heard this but ignored it and left the government prison on her own.

On the contrary, Wu Ying, who had just been imprisoned, happened to hear Fang Zilan's last words and suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

If the Xiahou family is doomed, even if she isn't the mastermind, she'll still be an accomplice. Will Xiahou Mingxun forgive her?

No, she doesn't need anyone's forgiveness. From the Wu family to the Xiahou family, she was nothing more than a decoration.

"I'm not..." Li Shengxuan began to speak, but Fang Zilan interrupted him, "Don't even think about it. Everything I have, the lives of my loved ones, is all on this one gamble. You want me to play it safe? Let me tell you, it's impossible."

She spoke faster and faster, her tone and emotions more excited than Li Shengxuan had ever seen before. He couldn't help but chuckle softly, "Knowing it's a dead end, why do you still choose to walk with me?"

"Since we're already here, we can't stop." Fang Zilan sighed and said softly, "Besides, the chances of winning are greater when two people are together. If you have half a percent and I have half a percent, together we'll have a ten percent." "A ten percent chance of winning, a ninety percent chance of losing." Li Shengxuan chuckled, "The Fang family has been in business for generations, and their children have always been shrewd. How come they have a daughter as extraordinary as you?"

“Doing things you’re sure of winning too often just gets boring.” Fang Zilan turned her head and whispered in Li Shengxuan’s ear, “I’ve won many times, so losing once in a while is no big deal.”

Feeling the warm breath on his ear, Li Shengxuan's ear tips turned red involuntarily. "I thought you didn't like losing."

“That was true before.” Fang Zilan said, moving to the side to increase the distance between them. “Before, if I lost, I would lose my life. Now, if I lose, someone will lose their life with me, so it’s not a loss.”

Li Shengxuan coughed lightly, "It seems I have to take back what I said before. You really are a member of the Fang family."

"Is that so?" Fang Zilan remained noncommittal, then changed the subject, saying, "Now, do you still want the evidence I have?"

"I want to." Li Shengxuan said decisively. Fang Zilan said thoughtfully, "Calling it evidence might not be accurate. It's just a few documents from the Southeast Prefecture government that record all the paddy fields owned by the Zhuge family in Jiang'an over the years."

"So, it doesn't mention that the paddy fields originally belonged to the Hong family?" Li Shengxuan keenly noticed the loophole in Fang Zilan's words, but she nodded nonchalantly. "The record that the paddy fields originally belonged to the Hong family is in the Ghost Gate Bogu Hall."

As expected, she saw a hint of doubt flash in Li Shengxuan's eyes after she finished speaking, so she explained, "The Guimen Bogu Hall contains documents related to the previous dynasty, and I have read some of them. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for me to discover the matter of the paddy fields."

Li Shengxuan asked thoughtfully, "How should this be recorded in official documents?"

"During the previous dynasty, the Hong family and the Zhuge family were both in Jiang'an. The Hong family came from humble backgrounds and were military generals, while the Zhuge family was a family of scholars and warriors. The two families originally had little interaction." Fang Zilan recalled as she spoke, "Until the end of the previous dynasty when the world was in chaos, the Hong family followed General Zhenbei and Prince Pingnan and disappeared. The Zhuge family kept a low profile and joined the Li family at a critical moment to establish the country and became founding heroes. After that, many fields and houses in Jiang'an that originally belonged to the Hong family fell into the name of the Zhuge family."

Li Shengxuan pondered for a moment and said, "If what you say is true, and there are no records of it in this dynasty, then it is unclaimed land. It is understandable that the Zhuge family took advantage of such a loophole."

"Are you trying to exonerate the Zhuge family?" Fang Zilan said calmly, "I thought you would be disappointed."

“Ten years ago, perhaps.” Li Shengxuan chuckled self-deprecatingly. Fang Zilan said calmly, “So you’re not trying to exonerate the Zhuge family, but just think this way of handling things is better?”

"I don't know," Li Shengxuan said frankly. "A single move can affect the whole situation. I will not arbitrarily deal with any person or matter before the situation is clear."

His expression turned slightly serious as he spoke, "If all you wanted was for me to know what was going on, then you've achieved your goal. But..."

He hesitated, but Fang Zilan understood. "I'm just stating the facts. Zhuge Yu was the first friend I made after arriving in the capital, and I don't want to lose him."

“I didn’t want to either,” Li Shengxuan interjected. “But since you and I are already investigating, this fire will only grow bigger and bigger, and it’s hard to say who will get burned in the end.”

Fang Zilan snorted coldly, "Everyone says that true gold is not afraid of being tested by fire, but how many of the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital are truly made of gold? I'm afraid that many will be burned and few will survive."