Don't ask where people go

Chapter 2024 Misfortune
“I met King Chujiang on the street today. He said…” Awan hesitated for a moment, then said, “The young master wants to see you.”

Fang Zilan's expression grew cold. "When?"

"Tomorrow." Awan looked worried. Fang Zilan pressed further, "When did you meet King Chujiang?"

Awan thought for a moment, then announced an hour later. Fang Zilan's expression hardened. "It really was him."

"What?" Awan was stunned for a moment, then realized what she meant. "You mean, King Chujiang killed Lord Wu?"

Fang Zilan nodded slightly, "Very likely. People from the Ghost Gate rarely act during the day, and even when they have a mission, the fewer people the better."

"Then when the young master saw you..." Awan didn't finish her sentence. Fang Zilan's face was ashen. "He'll deal with whatever comes his way. He wouldn't kill me too."

As the two entered the courtyard, they saw Fang Zilan directing a servant to bring in a table and chairs. The table was placed in the center, with chairs arranged in a circle, which surprised the two of them.

"This..." The deliveryman frowned involuntarily. He was originally a well-known storyteller in the capital. Yesterday, for some reason, a military officer came to his house, saying that he wanted him to perform at the Fang residence. The reward was extremely high, but the condition was a bit strange: he had to disguise himself as a deliveryman in order to enter the residence.

Although adults living in grand mansions often have some strange quirks, this was the first time he had ever heard of someone enjoying listening to storytelling by the vegetable deliveryman. Seeing this scene now, he hesitated even more.

However, Fang Zilan did not give him any time to hesitate. She casually pointed to the table and said, "That's your seat. Once everyone is almost here, you can start. I'm telling you beforehand, it's not storytelling, but rather some recent happenings in the capital. You can prepare in advance."

Before she could finish speaking, the butler pushed the man to stand behind the desk, saying, "Please wait a moment."

"No, I..." The man wanted to say that he only knew how to tell stories, but no one gave him the chance. The courtyard was soon filled with people bustling around, and their bright eyes made him feel guilty. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "If we're talking about what's been happening in the capital lately, it has to be Lady Fang Zilan..."

Fang Zilan choked on her tea upon hearing this. She coughed a few times, attracting the man's attention. He softened his tone and lowered his voice, wondering to himself, "Judging from this young lady's reaction, could she have heard about this before?" "Impossible," he thought. "I only heard about it yesterday at the restaurant. How could a pampered young lady like her have heard of it?"

While patting Fang Zilan's back, Cong Rong whispered, "Should we interrupt him?"

"No need." Fang Zilan caught her breath and said in a low voice, "Let him talk, let's hear what people outside are saying about me."

Seeing that the two women were whispering to each other and showed no sign of stopping him from speaking, the man immediately calmed down and began to recount what he had seen and heard recently. He told them stories of Fang Zilan pacifying the pirates in the southeast and the Xiahou family's female physician curing the plague with her miraculous skills. He told them in such a fantastical way that everyone was amazed.

As the story neared its end, a servant asked, "I heard that Mo Bin, the garrison commander of Mushan Pass, and his son will be escorted back to the capital in the next couple of days. According to you, sir, Mo Bin and his son also contributed to suppressing the pirates. Why will they be escorted back to the capital?" "You don't know the answer to that," the servant replied mysteriously, deliberately keeping the story in suspense. "I heard that Lady Fang Zilan has taken a liking to Mo Han, the youngest son of the Mo family, and fabricated a pretext to impeach the Mo family. That's why the Mo family is in this predicament. It's truly an unexpected disaster."

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd around him suddenly fell silent, all eyes fixed on Fang Zilan. She calmly sipped her tea, then looked at the man and asked, "Sir, do you know who I am?"

The man looked blank and shook his head, saying, "I have never heard of your name, Miss."

Fang Zilan reminded him with a forced smile, "This is the Fang residence."

"I know," the man nodded, then realized something was amiss. There were many prominent families with the surname Fang in the capital, so he hadn't bothered to find out which Fang residence it was. Now, recalling the military guards and the woman in charge, could it be...?

As he was filled with fear and anxiety, Fang Zilan's voice came softly, "I am the Fang Zilan in the story you told, sir."

As soon as she finished speaking, the man trembled and knelt down in front of her. "I didn't know you were Lord Fang. I was very offensive with my words just now. Please forgive me."

"Please rise, sir." Fang Zilan raised her hand to gesture for him to stand up. He stood up shakily, bowing his body and not daring to stand straight.

“Sir, you told a good story.” Fang Zilan said leisurely, “However, I have a question, and I would like to ask you to answer it.”

"Please speak, Lord Fang." The man lowered his head as she asked, "When you were talking about how the female physician of the Xiahou family miraculously cured the plague, you mentioned that the daughter of Prince Rong'an—Princess Rong'an—helped with the medicine. What is the story behind that?"

“This…” The man hesitated and dared not speak. Fang Zilan said with an air of authority, “Sir, please speak the truth. I will not make things difficult for you.”

"I only heard about this by chance from someone else." The man took a breath and said, "I heard that Princess Rong'an disguised herself and infiltrated the plague area to help an old man named Yun who ran a clinic. According to the advice of the Xiahou family's female physician, she developed a medicine to cure the plague, which solved the urgent problem. Afterwards, the Xiahou family's female physician contracted the plague and died. There are rumors that if it weren't for Princess Rong'an's help, the plague wouldn't have been cured so quickly. So now, Princess Rong'an has become a living bodhisattva in the hearts of the people in the southeast."

As he spoke, he secretly observed Fang Zilan's expression. Seeing that her expression was becoming increasingly solemn, he couldn't help but soften his tone at the end and tentatively asked, "Lord Fang, is this really true?"

After listening, Fang Zilan had already made up her mind. This was someone with ulterior motives trying to erase Yun Qinghan's reputation and pin all the credit on Princess Rong'an. This person must know the inside story and have great influence to not only deceive the people but also spread such rumors from the southeast all the way to the capital.

Most importantly, this person knew very well that she was covering up the truth and had no desire to claim credit... Thinking about it this way, the answer is obvious: the mastermind behind this matter is Prince Rong'an. He didn't gain much benefit from the chaos in the southeast, so he retreated behind the scenes and pushed his daughter out to steal a good reputation. His plan was shrewd, but how could he be so certain that she would never expose his lies?
"Lord Fang..." The man couldn't help but call out to her when he saw that she didn't react. She came back to her senses and said coldly, "I don't know if Princess Rong'an is a living bodhisattva, but I do know that the medicine to cure the plague was not developed by Princess Rong'an."

(End of this chapter)