Chapter 2429: The True Meaning of Undetermined Fate

“Stop shouting already! What happened?” a lazy voice called out.

Zu An turned around and saw Mi Li lying on a bed, wearing her red gown. Her head rested naturally on her jade-white hands, and her beautiful eyes were half-closed.

A smile appeared on Zu An’s face when he saw her. “It’s been so long since I’ve heard from master empress that I was worried something bad happened to you.”

“I was just sleeping. What bad things could even happen to me?” Mi Li yawned. “Alright, start talking. Why did you call for me?”

“Can’t I call you just because I miss you?” Zu An immediately delivered a round of flattery.

“Big sis empress, beautiful master, that stuff is one thing when you’re being naughty... but you call me master empress properly when you’re asking me for something. Do you think I don’t know what kind of person you are yet?” Mi Li rolled her eyes. “If you’re still going to stall, I’m going back to sleep.”

Zu An was a bit stunned. He didn’t even realize that the way he called her varied based on the situation. But he couldn't be bothered with all of that and quickly told her about everything that had happened. Ever since Mi Li gave him some information previously, he'd already known that this master empress was extremely mysterious. She probably knew about certain kinds of ‘common knowledge'...

“Oh?” Mi LI finally had a bit of interest in her expression. “So you went to that ancient sealed piece of history.”

Zu An said with a bitter smile, “It was still novel and interesting at first, but I noticed a huge problem recently. If I get too involved in history and it ends up affecting the timeline, will that cause some important people later in history to disappear?”

The reason why he had been so careful all this time was precisely because he was scared of that effect.

Mi Li chuckled and said, “In the end, aren't you just asking whether, if something does happen between you and the Mermaid Queen, that'll affect the twin flower mermaid sisters in the future?”

Zu An was speechless. He protested, “You’re misunderstanding me! Am I that shallow? This isn’t only related to them, but also to a lot of other people.”

Mi Li watched him as he nervously tried to explain himself before saying, “Okay, okay, stop panicking already. I wasn’t that serious anyway.

“How do I put it? What you’re worried about is reasonable... but it can be said that fate is predetermined, yet it can also be said to be undetermined.”

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Zu An was confused, replying, “Big sis empress, can you not talk in riddles like that?”

“Who is talking in riddles with you? Fate is just like that to begin with. Who can even say that they've completely figured it out?” Mi Li got up and finally put away her teasing smile. “To put it briefly, fate being set applies to certain more major events. If the outcome is a certain way, that's just how it will be. No matter what you do in history, those things can no longer be affected.”

Zu An was surprised. He seemed to have vaguely picked up on something, saying, “So these fates have already been decided.”

“The conclusion has already been determined, but the process hasn't,” Mi LI replied.

“If the conclusion has already been determined, what meaning is there left in the process?” Zu An was confused.

“How can it not be meaningful?” Mi Li chuckled. “How about this? Let’s just use certain things you can understand as an example. In your previous world, you liked to read harem novels...”

Zu An’s face darkened.

You shouldn’t curse other people like this...

Mi Li chuckled and continued, “One you still have a very deep impression of is 'A Step into the Past', which has many examples. There definitely has to be a Qin Shihuang, which is a conclusion that won’t change. However, does this Qin Shihuang really have to be the true, original Qin Shihuang? Or could it be that he was impersonated and had his place taken, and someone inherited the identity and title of Qin Shihuang? This is the meaning behind the process not being decided.”

Zu An's breathing quickened. He felt all kinds of thoughts appearing in his head. He seemed to have grasped something fundamental, but a second later, a lot of those things seemed to slip through his fingers. But he still more or less understood the idea of fate being predetermined, and yet still undetermined.

He suddenly looked at Mi Li with a complicated expression. “Weren’t you Qin Shihuang’s empress? Isn’t it a bit strange to use this as an example?”

Mi Li rolled her eyes. “Stop trying to find out more about me. I'll tell you when it's time for you to know.”

Zu An thought to himself that there was something strange about her identity after all.

Whether or not she was even the true empress back then is hard to say...

But if she wasn’t, why was she in Qin Shihuang’s tomb?

Was she a turtledove that took the nest of a magpie?

“Don’t try to think about my background. You should think about your current situation.” Mi Li seemed to have seen through his thoughts.

Zu An laughed awkwardly before saying “Then according to this theory, if some things happened between me and the ancient Mermaid Queen... No, I don't mean the kind of relationship you're thinking about. I'm talking about changing her fate. That won’t end up affecting the Shang sisters later?”

Mi Li said with a clear expression, “You should be celebrating the fact that this world’s Mermaid Queen isn’t surnamed Shang. Otherwise, if bloodline powers ended up getting involved, it would be even more dangerous for you. Of course, the current situation isn’t as dangerous as you fear, that those of the later world might disappear just because you have a bit of fate intersecting with her.

“But you need to be careful too. Fate is something that can easily rebound and backfire. If you participate in too much and cause the Mermaid race's history that should be there to disappear, and the weakened Gong surname continues to exist, the Shang sisters might really not be able to continue existing anymore. Even if they do, they will definitely not be of a king race.”

When she reached this point, her expression became serious. “With your current strength, if you do too many things that change the fate lines, you will draw the attention of many mysterious beings. Then, there will only be death awaiting you.”

Zu An was startled. “You're saying that if I'm strong enough, then even if fate is already determined, the situation can still be changed?”

“Stop thinking about all that nonsense. Those things are still too far away from you. You only need to remember the principles I told you just now.” Mi Li didn’t directly respond to his question.

Zu An was also a smart person. He didn’t continue asking. He knew he had to do his best to preserve the original history. That meant as long as he found a proper reason to weaken the Gong surname, the Shang surname would still take their place and the ending wouldn’t change. There naturally wouldn’t be any other dangers either.

But just what had happened to the Gong surname for them to fall from grace? He was even starting to worry about the Mermaid Queen. He wondered what her original fate in this history was.

Even so, shortly after, he set aside those complicated feelings and continued to ask Mi Li, “Master empress, I just feel as if the concept of undetermined fate you explained is a bit strange. Doesn’t that mean that as long as you're smart enough, you can just tamper with history however you like? Are there really no extremely grave consequences?”

“What do you mean, tamper with history? As long as it's reasonable, what difference is there if the original person really existed or not?” Mi Li laughed. “For example, the Time Scribe you encountered. Their stated purpose is to record the major events of the realms, but if they had a chance, do you think they wouldn’t alter history?”

Zu An became quiet. He remembered how he had been plotted against by the Time Scribe in the Monster World. However, he said, “But this is a piece of history from the past, and there are too many important figures in this world. I’m just worried that something I do will end up triggering some unforeseeable result in the future even if I just make a small change...”

Mi Li interrupted him. “There’s something wrong with your understanding. Who told you that time was continuous?”

Zu An was speechless.