Don't Ask Where People Go After Time Travel

Chapter 1890 Despair
Awan suddenly stood up and demanded sharply, "What did you do to my master?"

"I don't know." Murong Qing shrugged. "Someone asked me to give this letter to Miss Awan, but they didn't say anything else..."

"This was given to you by Ji Ningtian?" Fang Zilan interrupted Murong Qing without any politeness, his silence seemingly an admission.

Awan clenched her fists tightly, while Fang Zilan asked solemnly, "What exactly is this thing?"

“It looks like a crabapple blossom to me,” Murong Qing interjected. Fang Zilan glanced at him. “Your Highness, I wasn’t asking you.”

Murong Qing shut his mouth in a huff. Awan pursed her lips and said after a while, "These flowers are for my master. He treasures them and no one else is allowed to touch them."

Hearing what A-Wan said, Fang Zilan had a vague recollection of it. Years ago, when she was injured in the Ghost Gate, it was common for her to seek out Wen Ya. Once, when she went to his room to look for someone, she couldn't help but look around after waiting for a long time.

She vaguely remembered that it was a pot of extremely beautiful flowers, unforgettable. She wanted to go forward to take a look, but was stopped by Wen Ya, who hurriedly returned to his room.

At the time, Wen Ya said that the flower was rare and precious, and could cure diseases and save lives. He told us all its benefits, but in short, we should not touch it.

I never expected it was from A-Wan. No wonder she treasured it so much.

Fang Zilan thought to herself, but now that the flower petals are stained with blood and delivered to Awan, it is obviously a form of coercion, and Wen Ya's situation is not optimistic.

With her on one side and Wen Ya on the other, A-Wan was caught in the middle, torn between the two.

“Miss Awan, since this belongs to your master, then he…” Murong Qing’s words were cut short by a look from Fang Zilan, “If the young master doesn’t know what to say, he doesn’t have to say it.”

“What I mean is…” Murong Qing took a deep breath, “If my sister has chosen Miss Awan, then who will she choose? You, or her master?”

Fang Zilan remained silent, and Awan also did not speak, only reaching out to gently stroke the blood-stained petals.

After a long while, just when Murong Qing thought Awan wouldn't answer, he saw her suddenly clutch the flower petals tightly and offer them to him. "Why does Your Highness think I have to choose between my master and your wife?"

"What do you mean?" Murong Qing was puzzled, only smelling a faint fragrance, like the scent of flower petals from Awan's hand.

“My master once told me that if anyone ever tries to use him to coerce me, I should ignore them.” Awan squeezed the petals with her fingertips, and the juice flowed out from between her fingers and dripped onto the table. “He will never be a burden to me.”

The fragrance in the room intensified instantly, and Murong Qing suddenly felt a little dizzy. "The flower petals are poisonous. You... poisoned me?"

“The young master is frail and was previously poisoned,” Awan said matter-of-factly. “The remaining poison has not yet been cleared, so it is inevitable that he will feel unwell.”

Murong Qing gripped the corner of the table tightly, barely managing to keep herself from falling. "What do you want to do?"

“Your Highness, I am the person in the entire capital who knows your health best.” Awan’s expression was grim. “If I say you can go to the capital safely and healthily, then you certainly can. But if I say you cannot…”

She paused, her voice turning colder, "I'm afraid everyone will have to beg me to save you, do you understand?"

Awan was stunned. "Wen Ran went to all this trouble just for an identity?" "Isn't that enough?" Fang Zilan took a sip of tea and said slowly, "Wen Ran has been wandering the martial world for quite some time, but he doesn't have a famous name. If he does, it's because he's Lord Wen's younger brother. People in the martial world will give him some face if they're afraid of getting into trouble, but that face is really nothing in the imperial court."

“I seem to remember that Wen Ran also went into business?” Awan couldn’t help but interject. Fang Zilan chuckled, “Perhaps that’s why Wen Ran didn’t make a name for himself. He dabbled in everything but mastered nothing.”

Awan was skeptical, but Fang Zilan curled her lips and said, "However, keeping a low profile has its advantages. Little Awan, why don't you guess how much of the Wen family's poisonous insect and herb business has passed through Wen Ran's hands?"

"You mean..." Awan was shocked, and the teacup in her hand wobbled, almost spilling the tea.

Fang Zilan grasped Awan's wrist. "Wen Ran herself would never have imagined that the biggest mistake of her life would be getting to know Zixiu, who is more than just an assassin."

If Zi Xiu was merely an assassin, then Wen Ran was just a stranger she met by chance. But Zi Xiu was more than just an assassin; Wen Ran's shady dealings behind the scenes as a stranger could not escape her notice.

Awan opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Fang Zilan said to herself, "Now that I think about it, my acquaintance with Wen Ran was probably not accidental, but rather premeditated."

"Fang Zilan..." Awan called out, and Fang Zilan stared at her intently. "What's wrong?"

Awan pulled her hand away from Fang Zilan's, put down her teacup, and looked concerned. "I bet you were very upset when you finally figured it out yourself, layer by layer."

Fang Zilan remained silent for a while before asking, "Why do you think I'm sad?"

“It’s true that Zi Xiu is a ruthless killer, but precisely because of that, those in the martial arts world who can befriend her are even more precious to her.” Awan said earnestly, “But in the end, she found out it was all a deception, and even their meeting might have been premeditated. How can she not be heartbroken?”

“It’s not the first time.” Fang Zilan laughed self-deprecatingly. “In my situation, deception is always involved. It’s always better to think things through beforehand than to be kept in the dark and lose your life without knowing why.”

“These are two different things,” A-Wan said matter-of-factly. “Does thinking it through mean I won’t be sad anymore?”

"More than being sad, I want Wen Ran to pay the price." Fang Zilan avoided Awan's gaze and said in a deep voice, "Zixiu will be present at this ghost marriage."

"Are you really going?" Awan's expression changed, but Fang Zilan seemed to have made up her mind. "I'm going."

“You know perfectly well that this ghost marriage is a huge affair. Even if not many people are present, it will still cause a huge uproar if something goes wrong.” Awan clenched her fists tightly. “Moreover, what kind of status does Zixiu have? Once she shows her face, everyone will want to kill her.”

“I know,” Fang Zilan said calmly. “That’s precisely why I’m going.”

"Have you thought about the consequences..." Awan's lips moved slightly, "Is it worth risking your life to ruin Wen Ran's reputation?"

“Zixiu has never lost.” Fang Zilan raised the corners of her lips in a reassuring smile. “So it doesn’t count as a bet.”

"Then I want to go too!" A-Wan persisted, and Fang Zilan chuckled, "What are you going there for?"

“An autopsy,” A-Wan said with an air of righteous indignation. “Once we find out the cause of Lord Wen’s death, we’ll know who’s behind this. If it really is Wen Ran, is there a better time to expose him than during the ghost marriage?”