Don't ask where people go

Chapter 1865 Tracking
"Your Highness!" Li Qiyou's voice suddenly rang out. Fang Zilan stopped and turned to look at him standing under the corridor. Most of his body was covered in shadow, making him appear extremely gloomy.

"Does Your Highness need me for something?" Fang Zilan waited patiently in place, but Li Qiyou did not come towards her.

Seeing this, Fang Zilan understood most of the situation and asked seriously, "Li Qiyou, are you going to run away?"

“I…” Li Qiyou looked as if his Achilles’ heel had been struck, his face turning deathly pale.

"If you want to escape, do it now." Fang Zilan said indifferently, "Once you return to the capital, even if you close your eyes and ears, you will still be the most honorable Prince Yucheng in the entire capital."

"Fang Zilan, are you trying to provoke me?" Li Qiyou clenched his fist in his sleeve. Fang Zilan shook her head. "I just want to tell Your Highness that it's not easy to live a life of integrity. It's more common to blend in with the world."

Li Qiyou opened his mouth, but couldn't help asking, "Then why are you so unconventional, insisting on standing up for yourself?"

“I’m not unconventional.” Fang Zilan’s lips curved slightly, but her eyes held a resolute glint. “A killer must be prepared to be killed. I am, but I don’t expect others to be.”

Li Qiyou's expression froze, and Fang Zilan continued speaking to herself, "Your Highness, I have no attachments, nothing I care about, not even my life, which I would gladly risk. But you are different..."

"Are you making excuses for me?" Li Qiyou's voice was hoarse, but Fang Zilan still shook her head. "No, I'm just helping the prince see the pros and cons. However, the pros and cons of this situation are so obvious that the prince should have already been aware of them."

Putting knowledge into practice is no easy feat for anyone. Especially for Li Qiyou, who carries so much on his shoulders, the clearer he sees the situation, the more easily he becomes entangled in it.

The authorities are confused, that's all.

Li Qiyou understood that Fang Zilan's words today came from the bottom of her heart. If he really escaped, given her personality, she would never resent him. As for Fu Congnan, he had also spoken the truth that day. He was not entirely unaware of what his grandmother and mother had done, or what the noble families who had staked their lives on him had done.

To be fair, he wasn't exactly innocent.

Those who blinded and deaf in the past, who paved the way for him with everything they had, either thought him foolish and inflexible, or hypocritical and half-hearted, but at least they did not burn all their hard work to ashes.

But if he were to step forward now and, without distinguishing right from wrong, expose their sordid squabbles to the world, it would be tantamount to feigning superiority and slapping them in the face, which is hardly the behavior of a gentleman...

Seeing Li Qiyou's face turn pale and then red, Fang Zilan knew he must be struggling with an internal conflict, so she simply said nothing more, gave a hasty bow, and took her leave.

When she returned, she happened to see Murong Qing looking at the testimony she had written. Her expression turned cold, and she questioned, "What is the young master doing?"

Upon hearing this, Murong Qing raised her hand and waved the testimony in her hand, "I am watching how my sister betrayed her promise and abandoned me."

“This testimony has nothing to do with you.” Fang Zilan stepped forward, casually took the testimony, and her eyes were filled with a blatant threat.

"Sister, are you going to hand over this testimony?" Murong Qing stared intently at Fang Zilan, as if trying to find a flaw in her face, but she couldn't see anything.

"Yes," Fang Zilan said, enunciating each word clearly. "If necessary, I can testify in court."

Murong Qing's expression suddenly changed. "Sister, if this testimony is handed over, the whole world will know that the late Duke of Yue is not dead. You are..." "Are you courting death?" Fang Zilan smiled slightly and interjected, "That's why I've tried my best to push you out. It's your own fault for being so entangled. There's nothing I can do about it."

"You feel wronged and resentful, but aren't Prince Yucheng and the Xu family also pawns in this scheme?" Zhuge Yu frowned slightly. "You know that someone is orchestrating this, and Prince Yucheng and the Xu family are merely pawns in it, so why..."

"So what if I know?" Fang Zilan interrupted Zhuge Yu angrily. "Even if it happens a thousand or ten thousand times, I will not regret it."

"Fang Zilan!" Zhuge Yu clenched his fists tightly. "Do you have to be so extreme?"

"Zhuge Yu, let me ask you something." Fang Zilan blurted out without thinking, "When Zhuge Shan passed away, if you had the ability, wouldn't you have killed Wei Mao?"

Zhuge Yu's face turned pale, as if a thorn buried deep in his heart had been pried open, causing his heart to bleed profusely and ache unbearably.

Fang Zilan suddenly realized she had misspoke, "Ayu, I..."

“Yes, I’ve thought about it.” Zhuge Yu spoke quickly, as if out of control. “Do you know? I’ve had the same dream more than once. In the dream, I killed Wei Mao, my hands covered in blood, but I felt no pleasure, only endless emptiness.”

He paused, took a deep breath, and continued, "Killing Wei Ang will not solve any problems; on the contrary, it will cause endless trouble. I will not kill him, regardless of whether I have the ability or not."

A profound sense of powerlessness welled up in Fang Zilan's heart. Zhuge Yu was right; killing wouldn't solve the problem. What good would it do if she killed the entire Xu family? Mo Han wouldn't come back to life; on the contrary, the corruption case in Jiangnan would be left without anyone to investigate, leading to endless troubles.

Thinking about it this way, Mo Han, even in the afterlife, would probably never forgive her...

"His Majesty just instructed me to convey to Prefect Xie of the Capital Prefecture that the case of the fire at the Xu residence must be concluded within seven days." Zhuge Yu's voice lowered slightly. "Even now, His Majesty is still protecting you."

“His Majesty is not protecting me.” Fang Zilan composed herself and said softly, “His Majesty originally issued a secret decree ordering Lord Xu You to go to Jiangnan to investigate a corruption case, but now…”

She hesitated for a moment, but continued, "Only by acting swiftly and decisively can the next official to investigate the corruption case in Jiangnan gain the upper hand; otherwise, they will be led by the nose."

"The corruption case in Jiangnan? This was originally you..." Zhuge Yufu began, but then changed his tone, "The Southeast Prefecture has been following this case all along, so you must know as much as Lord Xu Youtong."

“I will be heading to Jiangnan soon,” Fang Zilan continued, following Zhuge Yu’s words. “Sooner or later, I will go to Jiangnan, so I might as well take this opportunity.”

Zhuge Yu remained silent, but a look of inquiry appeared in his eyes. Fang Zilan said bluntly, "Previously, I had a young master named Chu Bin who went to Jiangnan to investigate the accounts for me, but we haven't heard from him since."

Chu Bin? Zhuge Yu felt the name sounded familiar, but couldn't recall when or where he had heard it before. "You suspect him..."

He didn't continue, and Fang Zilan interjected, "That's right, I suspect something has happened to him. But I need to see him alive or dead. I won't believe anything until I see it with my own eyes."

(End of this chapter)