Don't Ask Where People Go After Time Travel

Chapter 1705 Ruling
"Zi Xiu?" The shopkeeper repeated the name, breaking out in a cold sweat. "I didn't know it was Zi Xiu herself. I deserve to die, I deserve to die..."

"You're not from the Ghost Gate?" Fang Zilan raised an eyebrow. The shopkeeper forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Well... the Ghost Gate member left half a month ago, you see..."

The next moment, the shopkeeper let out a scream as Fang Zilan sliced ​​off a piece of flesh from his shoulder, which fell straight to the ground, dripping with blood.

"Lying to Zixiu, are you tired of living? People from the Ghost Gate always eliminate all traces of their enemies. If they had left long ago, would you still be here talking to me like this?" Fang Zilan pulled the shopkeeper to the back of the teahouse and looked at the corpse lying on the ground, which she had just killed with a hidden weapon.

"He must be a member of the Ghost Gate, right?" Fang Zilan said, kicking away the corpse's hand, from which a hidden weapon fell out, with a small ghost character engraved on it.

The shopkeeper stammered and cried out in pain. Fang Zilan plunged the dagger in her hand into his wound and slowly dug it in. "Speak," she said, "what do the Ghost Gate people want with you?"

"I don't know..." The shopkeeper had barely opened his mouth when Fang Zilan cut off an even larger piece of meat, the bone underneath clearly visible. "If I don't get what I want, you won't die too easily either."

After saying that, she took the dagger and threw the shopkeeper on the ground. "What is the Ghost Gate? My methods are so ruthless that if I claim to be second in the world, I'm afraid no one would dare to claim to be first. Do you want to try?"

“I confess…” The shopkeeper grimaced in pain as he crawled to Fang Zilan’s feet. “The people from the Ghost Gate told me to stay here and guide the people from the imperial court…”

"Give directions?" Fang Zilan's eyes darkened. "What's this about the ghost story? Is someone playing tricks?"

"No..." the shopkeeper gasped, "There really is a ghost..."

"Do you know that according to the laws of the Great Capital, anyone who spreads heretical rumors and misleads more than thirty people shall be executed?" Fang Zilan leaned down and pinched the shopkeeper's chin, saying coldly, "Or are you saying that you never wanted to live in the first place?"

The shopkeeper shook his head vigorously, like a rattle-drum. Fang Zilan tightened her grip, "Tell me, where is the way the Ghost Gate people told you to go?"

“There…” The shopkeeper stretched out a finger and pointed in a direction with difficulty.

"Take me there." Fang Zilan grabbed the shopkeeper and lifted him up, heading in the direction he pointed. "What road is this?"

"Cleared...to Shi County..." the shopkeeper said haltingly. Fang Zilan pressed, "Who cleared the road?"

"People from the Ghost Gate." The shopkeeper's face turned deathly pale. Fang Zilan's heart sank. People from the Ghost Gate wouldn't be so kind; this road was likely problematic. And what about the people in Shi County…?

"Zixiu..." the shopkeeper called out cautiously, but Fang Zilan remained unmoved, staring intently at the scene before her.

The narrow mountain path was piled with rubble, allowing only two or three people to pass at a time. On one side was the mountain, and on the other side was a cliff. If an ambush were set up here, even the most elite soldiers would find it difficult to avoid being caught.

What exactly does Ji Ningtian, the Ghost Gate, want to do?
“Come with me.” Fang Zilan shoved the shopkeeper, who fell to the ground as if triggering some kind of mechanism, with a loud crash.

Fang Zilan felt her eyelids twitching incessantly. The rain had been pouring down for almost the entire day, the sky was gloomy and dark, making it impossible to distinguish between day and night, and she felt a strange sense of unease.

She lifted the carriage curtain and looked out at the empty street, which appeared even more desolate after being washed by the rain. Puddles of water had formed in the recesses of the blue bricks along the street, and occasionally children wearing raincoats and straw hats would playfully splash around, kicking up water droplets. "Lord Fang, it's raining heavily outside, you should lower the curtain," a soldier accompanying her couldn't help but remind her, but Fang Zilan remained unmoved. "It's alright."

The guards were about to say something more when they saw Fang Zilan thoughtfully open her mouth, "Zheng Yan should already be at the palace gate by now..."

The rain was pouring down, and the guards seemed not to have heard them clearly. They asked instinctively, "Lord Fang, what did you say?"

"It's nothing." Fang Zilan looked ahead. "We'll be at the palace soon."

Zheng Yan stood at the palace gate with an umbrella in hand. When he saw Fang Zilan's carriage stop, he quickly walked over, helped her down from the carriage, and whispered in her ear, "Lord Fang, it's definitely auspicious flowers."

Fang Zilan's heart sank. "At the welcome banquet later, just pretend you don't know anything."

"Yes." Zheng Yan stepped back behind Fang Zilan and said nothing more.

"Lord Duke of Yue, you must be very tired to come in such heavy rain." A palace servant greeted them and led Fang Zilan and Zheng Yan into Wanfu Palace.

Shortly after Fang Zilan took her seat, the Di Rong delegation arrived. Princess Erya and her extra maid followed behind the chief envoy, both with their heads bowed and faces veiled, making it impossible to see their true appearances.

After the Di Rong delegation paid their respects, some courtiers became very curious about Princess Erya. Amidst their whispers, one of the princesses of Prince Yucheng, Li Qiyou, came to the rescue, saying, "Sister Erya comes from our Di Rong Wu clan and is skilled in divination. I wonder if we could have the honor of meeting her today?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Zilan glanced calmly at Princess Yucheng, who was also from Dirong, before her gaze fell on Li Qiyou. He remained composed, seemingly unsurprised by his princess's suggestion.

Before Fang Zilan could think further, she saw Princess Erya bow to Li Shengxuan and, after receiving permission, walk towards her, saying, "Lord Fang, please."

Fang Zilan was stunned. Could it be that Princess Erya was going to tell her fortune?
In a flash, several thoughts raced through her mind. What if Princess Erya was in cahoots with the Ghost Gate and revealed her identity as Zixiu, or the background of the third young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion, or even a former princess of the previous dynasty...?

Either way, it's enough to cause a huge uproar.

What Fang Zilan did not expect was that Princess Erya stared at her intently and said, word by word, "Lord Fang, you did not originally belong here. Even though the body is the same, the person is different."

With a deafening roar, amidst the thunder and lightning, Fang Zilan's pale face was revealed. How did Princess Erya know this?

"You..." Fang Zilan's lips moved, her hands hidden in her sleeves clenched into fists, and after a long while she finally said, "What does Princess Erya mean by this?"

Princess Erya closed her eyes slightly and placed her hands in front of her. "Lord Fang should know better than anyone else what I mean by this."

Fang Zilan's expression hardened, and she said in a deep voice, "I don't know, please enlighten me, Princess Erya."

Before she could finish speaking, a murmur arose around her. Some scoffed, thinking Princess Erya was being deliberately mysterious; others remained noncommittal, watching with amusement; and many more were simply curious, given how quickly she had risen to become the Duke of Yue in the capital, a promotion so rapid and her background so mysterious that it was astonishing.