Don't ask where people go

Chapter 2018: The Beginning
Fang Zilan glanced at Manager Du, "I heard that Xie Chen has quite a few account books, but he still hasn't found anything. Perhaps the key clue he's missing is in your Du family's account books..."

"Don't even think about it!" Manager Du struggled to stand up, but Fang Zilan took a step back and watched him stand up shakily.

“I once saw a jade pendant on Shang Zhongyi that looks very similar to the key to your Du family pawnshop.” Fang Zilan retreated step by step to the side of the shrine. “What is the connection between the jade pendant and the key? Is Shang Zhongyi’s death related to the Du family?”

"You've seen the keys to the Du family pawnshop?" Manager Du's face was full of shock. "How could this be..."

In a flash, he suddenly remembered what Fang Zilan had said before—"Du Ruohan gave me the key to the Du family pawnshop, wasn't it just to shift the blame?"

In other words...

"You have the key to the Du family pawnshop?" Manager Du stared at Fang Zilan in disbelief. "Did you kill Fu Mingyue?"

Fang Zilan remained calm, seemingly unconcerned about his accusations, and simply said, "It seems you don't know who killed Fu Mingyue either."

Manager Du was stunned for a moment. Fang Zilan took the opportunity to destroy one of the shrines. The floor flipped over, revealing a snake pit underneath.

A thick, long snake, its tongue flicking, lunged at Fang Zilan. Before Manager Du could even gloat, the snake collapsed, barely alive.

Fang Zilan's dagger was pinned to the snake's vital spot. She pulled out the dagger expressionlessly and destroyed the other side of the shrine in an instant.

The floor flipped over again, snake blood spread across it, and a huge image appeared on it.

"This is..." Fang Zilan stared fixedly at the painting on the ground, while Manager Du's expression grew increasingly grim. "Why are you still alive?"

"I've seen Wen Ran transport this snake before," Fang Zilan said calmly, not even bothering to glance at Manager Du. "You all consider it a formidable poisonous creature, but you don't know that in this world, people are the most poisonous."

Manager Du felt a cold sweat break out on his back. "You're not human..."

"Where does this landscape painting depict?" To get a clear view, Fang Zilan stepped back to Manager Du's side. He flicked his sleeve and feigned composure, saying, "I don't know."

“If you don’t tell me, I can guess.” Fang Zilan glanced at Manager Du, and that one glance made her notice the screen that had been pushed over earlier.

The floorboards flipped, but her agility prevented her from falling into the snake pit. Manager Du, familiar with the mechanisms here, was also unsurprisingly not caught in. And yet, the screen remained completely still…

"What do you want to do?" Manager Du staggered to his feet on the screen. Fang Zilan looked at him with a half-smile. "Get out of the way."

Manager Du's legs went weak, but he remained standing on the screen and asked again, "What do you want to do?"

"Is the painting on the screen at your feet related to this landscape painting?" Fang Zilan's gaze fell on the screen, and Manager Du subconsciously followed her gaze and looked down. He saw a pine tree standing haphazardly on the rock at the edge of the cliff, which looked extremely abrupt.

Fang Zilan stared at the strangely shaped pine tree for a long time, vaguely feeling that it seemed to spell out a few words: "Qiu, then...death?"

After muttering those words to herself, she suddenly realized, "A strong army perishes; this is the painting Liu Neng drew..."

After she finished speaking, she turned to look at the painting on the ground, "So this landscape painting depicts... Mangshan?"

Before she could finish speaking, Manager Du's face turned deathly pale. "Who exactly are you? How do you know about this painting?" "General Xiahou said Liu Neng's painting is in the Xiahou family, but why is it here?" Fang Zilan seemed not to have heard Manager Du's words, and only asked questions, "And the map of Mangshan, why is it here as well?"

"Your Majesty, thank you so much for today." Mu Chuji bowed solemnly. "If it weren't for your message to me, which allowed you to obtain the Empress Dowager's decree in time, I'm afraid that the Master..."

He didn't continue. Li Qianning was puzzled, but remained outwardly calm. "Your Highness, there's no need for this. Prince Zhongzheng is the backbone of Miluo Kingdom. I just can't bear to see loyal ministers and generals suffer injustice."

"Aren't you wronged?" Mu Chuji chuckled inwardly. How many grievances had the Zhongzheng Prince's Mansion suffered over the years? Now that the Princess Consort was dead, the only person the Master cared about in this world was Murong Qing.

He truly didn't understand what Mu Churui was doing all this time. If it was for Murong Qing, and he was willing to gamble everything...

Does Mu Chu Rui no longer want the throne that he treated as a plaything?

"What is Your Highness Prince Qi thinking about?" Li Qianning asked when she saw that Mu Chuji remained silent for a long time.

"It's nothing." Mu Chuji shook her head, then suddenly reached out and stroked Li Qianning's hair.

Li Qianning instinctively tried to dodge, but Mu Chuji grabbed her wrist with his other hand. "Alright," he said, removing her hand and revealing a flower petal in his palm.

"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Qi." Li Qianning's ears turned red, and she lowered her eyes, not daring to look at Mu Chuji, but his words still reached her ears without missing a single one. "Sister-in-law, having you is the greatest blessing of my life."

He spoke with such sincerity that it seemed entirely genuine, and Li Qianning felt her heart pounding wildly. She turned and quickly left.

Mu Chuji watched Li Qianning's retreating figure, a slight smile playing on his lips. If only she weren't his sister-in-law, but his princess consort.

Thinking of this, his expression suddenly changed. Even he was startled by the thought that had suddenly arisen in his mind; it was a thought he would never have had in his usual carefree and playful way.

But once it takes hold, it's hard to erase.

Very well. Mu Chuji looked at the petal in his palm. If Mu Churui was not worthy to be the ruler of Miluo, it wouldn't be a big deal for him to take his place.

Fang Zilan took in Mu Chuji's changing expression. She raised an eyebrow and watched as he placed the flower petals in his palm into his robes, treating them with such care and respect, clearly showing that he was moved.

Finally, we've come to this point.

Fang Zilan's expression was ambiguous. Without hesitation, she jumped off the roof and followed Li Qianning's footsteps to a secluded corner in the back garden.

"Your Majesty the Empress is well." Fang Zilan's drawn-out voice suddenly rang out, startling Li Qianning, who then realized that she had unknowingly wandered into a secluded and deserted place.

Fang Zilan crossed her arms, "When Her Majesty the Empress goes out in the future, it would be best to have some people with her, just in case..."

"Madam, what do you want to say?" Li Qianning interrupted Fang Zilan, clutching her chest tightly and forcing herself to calm down.

"It's nothing," Fang Zilan smiled slightly. "I'm here to answer Her Majesty the Empress's questions."

"What questions are you asking?" A bad feeling welled up in Li Qianning's heart, and sure enough, she heard Fang Zilan say, "His Highness Prince Qi is extremely grateful to Her Majesty the Empress. Shouldn't Her Majesty thank me?"