A Time-Traveling Mishap: I Became an Ancient Nobleman

Chapter 129 It really has nothing to do with me

Looking at Liu Niang, whose entire demeanor had changed, Zhou Hanzhang knew that she had noticed all his recent actions, so he stopped trying to hide anything.

Just as she was about to speak, Liu Niang spoke again, her tone tinged with doubt, "Speaking of which, why would a perfectly fine young lady like you dress up like this?"

Zhou Hanzhang: !!

"You're joking."

"I'm not joking. I've been traveling the world for so many years and have seen countless people. I can tell whether you're a man or a woman."

Seeing Zhou Hanzhang's shocked expression, Liu Niang continued, "But I don't really care whether you're dressed as a man or a woman. I'm just curious why you, a young lady, would follow them all the way here and ask me so many questions. What is it all for?"

Oh, right, you can choose not to tell, but if you don't, you won't be able to leave this house. You should have smelled the stench when you came in. That's from some of the careless guests I bring back. They wander around and accidentally die here. I don't like moving corpses, so I poured some body-dissolving liquid on the spot and dissolved them.

"The body-dissolving fluid is great in every way, leaving no trace, but the smell after using it is incredibly strong, it's driving me crazy. If I hadn't put so much effort into decorating this place, I would have moved to a different house."

Liu Niang spoke casually.

Zhou Hanzhang was terrified.

Liu Niang glanced at Zhou Hanzhang again and smiled charmingly, "Don't worry, if what you say makes sense, I'm not such an unreasonable person."

Zhou Hanzhang took a deep breath. "Are you Youying?"

Liu Niang was somewhat surprised. "I didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable, young lady. It's been many years since anyone has called me by this name."

"Since you know who I am, you still dare to send your chickens and dogs to follow me. Aren't you afraid I'll kill them all?"

At this point, if Zhou Hanzhang said he was not afraid at all, it would seem somewhat hypocritical. "I was not sure of your identity at first, and I was just asking you, but you admitted it too quickly."

"Was I scared? At first, I was a little worried, but from the moment you brought me here, I knew you wouldn't hurt me, so I relaxed a bit."

"You're quite an interesting little girl. I don't want to let you go. Why don't you stay by my side from now on, and I'll teach you kung fu, okay?"

Liu Niang was genuinely interested.

Zhou Hanzhang shook his head. "I have important business here. I apologize for sending people to follow you earlier."

She quickly admitted her mistake; since Liu Niang had already discovered it, it meant that she was simply less skilled than Liu Niang.

Such sneaky behavior is not the act of a gentleman. If others do not find out, it is fine. But since they have found out, it is better to apologize honestly and try to get leniency for confessing.

"Well, tell me first why you've been following me, and then I'll consider whether or not to accept your apology."

Liu Niang changed her posture because she was uncomfortable sitting. Her usual gentle demeanor was now relaxed, which made her even more beautiful and charming.

Zhou Hanzhang hesitated for a long time, unsure of where to begin.

"Not going to talk? Is it because you don't want to talk, or because you can't talk?"

Liu Niang poured herself a cup of tea and gently blew on the steam. Zhou Hanzhang looked at her through the steam and said, "No, it's not that. I just don't know how to say it."

Liu Niang leisurely took a sip of tea. "No rush, take your time thinking. I have plenty of time."

"Don't you go out every night?" Zhou Hanzhang recalled when she mentioned that she went out at midnight every day.

Liu Niang swirled her teacup around, saying, "You all seem to know quite a lot about this."

Zhou Hanzhang smiled wryly, "If we really understood things clearly, we wouldn't have followed you every day and left clues that made you discover our secrets."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "Actually, I'm not from Jiangnan."

Now it was Liu Niang's turn to be surprised. "You're not from Jiangnan?"

She suddenly remembered something, "You came from the capital with that father and son."

Liu Niang said with certainty, "I misjudged you. The Jiangnan air about you is indeed stronger than that of many locals."

Since you've traveled all the way from the capital, you must have some important business to attend to. And since you've been following me around every day, do you suspect that your important business is related to me?

Zhou Hanzhang nodded. "My father and uncle have disappeared. They stayed at your inn before they disappeared."

"Your father and uncle?" Liu Niang narrowed her eyes slightly, as if recalling something.

"Yes, they have been missing for more than ten days. Their families are very worried, so they asked us to come out and look for them."

"Your family is quite generous, letting a young girl like you go out to look for someone. Is that why you're dressed like this?"

Liu Niang felt uncomfortable looking at Zhou Hanzhang's attire. She was clearly a delicate young girl, but she insisted on dressing like this, which made her feel uncomfortable.

Zhou Hanzhang smiled at Liu Niang and said, "I've dressed like this since I was a child. My elders probably consulted a Taoist priest who said that I shouldn't wear women's clothing before I'm an adult."

Liu Niang spat, "What a stinking Taoist priest, he's just misleading people."

"The father and uncle you mentioned, is it one who is a little fat and looks quite imposing and dignified, and the other who is a little thinner, and the thinner one often does things, uh, how should I put it, he seems to be very unreliable."

Even if the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty and Zhou Huaide tried to keep a low profile when they went out, their inherent charisma could not be concealed, and they would attract attention wherever they went.

"Yes, yes, that's them. The thinner one should be my father."

Liu Niang: ...

"I thought the fatter one was your father." Liu Niang looked at Zhou Hanzhang with sympathy on her face.

It's obvious that Zhou's father did something at the inn that made Liu Niang dislike him.

"But they shouldn't be missing, right? Didn't they sneak off on their own?"

Zhou Hanzhang was shocked to hear this news. He stood up and quickly walked to Liu Niang. "What did you say? They ran away on their own? Do you know where they went?"

Zhou Hanzhang's sudden action startled Liu Niang, who quickly sat up straight and fiddled with her hair. "Why are you making such a fuss? There are so many guests in my inn all day long, how can I care where they go? Anyway, the bills have all been settled."

"How did you know they had sneaked away?"

"Isn't it simple? During those days, many people would come to my inn, intentionally or unintentionally, asking all sorts of questions, all about the two of them. I guess they sensed something was wrong and went into hiding."

"If I did something, I would take responsibility, but what happened to your father and uncle really has nothing to do with me."