Don't Ask Where People Go After Time Travel

Chapter 1748 Together
Fang Zilan didn't say anything more, but she had already stirred up the fire, so Xie Chen continued to ask, "How I judge it requires evidence. Since this case has been investigated to this point and is related to Mangshan, then what happened back then can no longer be avoided."

As he spoke, he stared intently at Liu Neng, "What exactly happened in Mangshan back then?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Neng took a deep breath, raised his head and met Xie Chen's gaze. "Mr. Xie, anyone can doubt my Liu family because of what happened in Mangshan back then, but you and the Xiahou family behind you cannot."

His eyes reddened as he spoke each word clearly, “The current state of my Liu family is inextricably linked to the Xiahou family.”

“You’re telling the truth not just to me,” Xie Chen said solemnly. “The purpose of a court trial is to bring the truth to light and give everyone a fair trial. Whether it’s a personal grudge or a family affair, as long as it’s related to the truth, there should be no concealment.”

"Mr. Xie is quite the righteous man now." Liu Neng snorted coldly. "Unfortunately, I am not the head of the Liu family. There are some things that I cannot decide whether or not to say. I would like to ask the head of the Liu family, Mr. Xie."

Xie Chen nodded slightly and ordered someone to bring Liu Yong, who had been detained earlier, to the courtroom.

Liu Yong, who was in prison, was not surprised at all and was about to follow the person to the court, but when he passed by Xiahou Yunzhao's cell, she called him back.

"What is the purpose of Xie Chen's interrogation of Lord Liu?" Xiahou Yunzhao asked bluntly. The man hesitated for a long time, unsure whether to answer or not.

Liu Yong stood aside with a look of amusement on his face. Xiahou Yunzhao ignored him and asked the man, "Liu Neng was taken away early this morning, and it's only now that we've interrogated Lord Liu. Judging from the timeline, either Liu Neng confessed a lot, or someone else said a lot for him."

Before she could finish speaking, Liu Yong's face turned ashen. "What are you dawdling about? Mr. Xie is still waiting..."

"It seems Liu Neng is unwilling to talk about what happened at Mangshan back then," Xiahou Yunzhao interrupted Liu Yong. "Are you willing to talk about it?"

Liu Yong was stunned for a moment, and before he could say anything, Xiahou Yunzhao continued to speak to herself, "Alright, this matter is also related to me, so I will go with you."

After she finished speaking, she gestured for the man to open the cell door for her, but he looked conflicted. "General Xiahou, Mr. Xie did not invite you to the court."

"I'll go with you now, so you won't have to make another trip," Xiahou Yunzhao said matter-of-factly. The man looked troubled, and as the two sides were locked in a stalemate, a yamen runner hurried over and opened the prison door. "General Xiahou, Mr. Xie requests that you come to the court to await trial."

When Xiahou Yunzhao and Liu Yong arrived in the hall, they saw Liu Neng with his neck stiff, looking inexplicably like a stubborn person who refused to say anything.

Seeing this, Liu Yong made up his mind. He walked to Liu Neng's side without looking to either side, bowed to Xie Chen, and asked, "May I ask what brings you here today, Mr. Xie?"

"Lord Liu, you once accompanied your uncle—who was also Mr. Liu Neng's father—to suppress bandits in Mangshan." Xie Chen slowly asked, "Is that true?"

"That's true." Liu Yong nodded. Xie Chen pressed further, "What exactly happened back then?"

Li Qiyou clenched his fists tightly. Fang Zilan saw this but still didn't let him off the hook. "Whether you think I came here tonight to confront you or to force you, Your Highness, the remains of Prince Rong'an are here. You can do with them as you see fit."

She stared intently at Li Qiyou and said directly, "If Your Highness cares about the deceased's dignity and wants to maintain the honor of the Li imperial family, and wishes to suppress the death of Prince Rong'an and let it go, then I will dispose of the remains and never let them reappear." "And if I don't care, what then?" Li Qiyou pursed his lips. Fang Zilan lowered her eyes and glanced at the bones in the bag. "Your Highness might as well guess where I found Prince Rong'an's remains?"

"Fang Zilan." Li Qiyou rarely addressed someone by their full name like this, and he said through gritted teeth, "What I want is an answer."

"In the courtyard of Suzhou Prefecture," Fang Zilan said seriously, "Cheng Zhiyan knows far more than he identified in court, and the same is true for the heads of other prefectures."

“But the dead can’t speak.” Li Qiyou’s face was ashen. “Do you expect me to use this mutilated corpse of unknown origin to identify the heads of the major prefectures?”

Fang Zilan suddenly chuckled, "The court trial has been going on for so long, Your Highness must have seen it clearly. If it continues like this, more and more people will be implicated. Once a scapegoat is found, sooner or later the matter will be reduced to nothing."

"Otherwise what?" Li Qiyou deflated like a punctured balloon. "Do you want to punish each of us equally?"

"I want them to pay the price." Fang Zilan's expression turned cold. "A life for a life is a matter of course. If those with power and influence can escape the laws of the capital and even make others take the blame, how can law-abiding people live with themselves, and how can ordinary people live with themselves?"

“But you are no ordinary person…” Li Qiyou began to speak, but Fang Zilan interrupted him, “Your Highness, one only knows the pain when the knife falls on one’s own body. How can the Fang family not feel the pain of this? Moreover, if the Fang family is in such a state, how can others possibly survive?”

“Lady, it’s only natural for you to favor your own family, but the Fang family is not innocent…” Before Li Qiyou could finish speaking, Fang Zilan snorted coldly, “Your Highness, with all these reasons, are you trying to convince me, or are you trying to convince yourself?”

Li Qiyou was stunned. "What did you say?"

"If Your Highness is afraid, you might as well get back to the capital as soon as possible," Fang Zilan said coldly. "I'll just assume I misjudged you."

Li Qiyou's lips moved, but no sound came out. He couldn't refute Fang Zilan, simply because she was the first person to expose him to his face.

His decision to remain in the southeast was merely a moment of compassion, but it has put him in a predicament where he has no choice but to retreat.

As the trial unfolded in court, the more he learned, the more timid he became. He was not adept at using his status as the Prince of Yucheng to intimidate others, nor did he possess the ruthless methods to overcome public opinion and purge the southeastern officialdom.

Day after day, he even wondered if Li Shengxuan was not letting him stay in the southeast, but rather using this court trial to keep him here and make him see his own weakness and incompetence.

He could never win against Li Shengxuan, whether he was his imperial uncle or the emperor of Dajing. He was just the unambitious Prince Yucheng who lived under the protection of others.

He didn't know what Fang Zilan said after that; he couldn't hear a word she said, and he had no idea what kind of disappointed and frustrated she felt when she left.

All he knew was that the mangled skeleton in the blackened soil before him was the last trace of the deceased Prince Rong'an. Like his actions, it was full of malice and filth.

Even so, he wanted to leave him with peace after death. Just as, many years later, if he were to perish in the mud, he hoped someone would do the same for him.