The missions mentioned he had indeed completed, but he distinctly remembered doing them alone. How could the audio suggest he did them with someone else, someone he was in love with and married?
If this recording wasn’t fabricated, why couldn’t he remember her? When did he record this message?
Meng Qing’s thoughts were in chaos until a maid’s voice came through the listening device: “Young Mistress, the Marquis has returned.”
The young girl held the jade dragonfly close to her chest, stood up and walked towards the pavilion exit, asking as she walked, “Has Father returned from the capital? What happened to Lord Chen?”
The maidservant replied, “I haven’t heard the Lord mention anything, but he seemed very sad when he returned. After all, Lord Chen was his close friend. Young Miss, you should go see him soon.”
“Ah, it was Father who invited Lord Chen out today. Now that Lord Chen has met with trouble, he must be blaming himself… You take me…” Their voices gradually faded as they moved further away.
She felt her face heat up again, and took a deep breath. She left Chun Yan and Yue Tao where they were and walked towards him as calmly as possible.
When she reached him, she took out the jade dragonfly and said, “Young Master Meng, you’ve probably mistaken me for someone else. This jade dragonfly should have been given to… someone else. Let’s return it to its rightful owner.”
Meng Qing was surprised: “Return it to its rightful owner? This is something I gave to Yu Miss?” He reached out and took the jade dragonfly from her palm. Inside was an audio recording that told a completely different story from his memory.
Yu looked at Meng Qing suspiciously: “Isn’t this what Young Master Meng left behind five days ago?”
“Young Master Meng probably mistook me for your wife,” Yu mustered her courage to say, her face turning bright red.
Meng Qing looked at Yu. She didn’t seem to be lying. That day at the Loyal Marquis’s residence, he had left this jade dragonfly? He carefully examined the dragonfly in his hand, feeling it was familiar yet unable to recall how he obtained it.
He noticed a very fine seam where the dragonfly’s tail connected to its body. Suddenly inspired, he pinched the tail and rotated it. A faint light shot out from the dragonfly’s mouth, projecting onto the ground before them. On the blue stone path, a photo of him and a woman appeared.
They were lying side by side on a deck, she nestled in his arms, her eyes curved in laughter. Next to him was a large grouper. He remembered catching that fish but didn’t recall anyone else being on the boat. The woman, though a few years older, was clearly Yu beside him!
He looked at Yu in shock, seeing her equally stunned expression.
Yu knew this jade dragonfly was special but never imagined it could project an image on the ground! Moreover, the image was incredibly lifelike, even the flying hair seemingly perfectly captured, as if miniature people had appeared on the ground.
Gathering her courage, she looked closely at the image. The people were dressed strangely, but one was clearly Meng Qing, and the other was remarkably similar to herself – almost identical, except the woman was older. This must be his wife. No wonder he mistook her; they were indeed very alike.
Meng Qing continued rotating the dragonfly’s tail, scrolling through photos. Each one was a picture of him with Yu, taken in places he remembered visiting. They had been to so many places together, so why couldn’t he remember her? The audio and projection device in the dragonfly was definitely something he had installed, yet he had no recollection of it.
Seeing his shocked and bewildered expression, Yu asked in surprise, “Young Master Meng, do you really not remember what happened that day?”
Meng Qing turned and asked, “What did I say that day?”
“
Yu recalled and slowly said, “Young Master Meng said that for you, knowing me was something that had already happened, and that none of this would happen again because I did something that would change the rest of my life.” She added somewhat embarrassedly, “Young Master Meng must have mistaken me for your wife.”
Meng Qing urgently asked, “Did I say what exactly my wife did that would change her future?”
Yu looked up in astonishment, “Your exact words were: ‘You killed Chen, the Ministry of Justice’s Assistant Minister. Someone who would later set a trap to kill your father and all the male members of the Marquis’s household.'”
Meng Qing stopped walking, staring at her blankly. Chen’s death was indeed related to her! Or more precisely, related to her “future self”. If this was true, her future self had traveled through time and changed her life, which meant he would no longer know her, thus forgetting everything about her!
Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, Yu turned away, her heart racing.
Meng Qing, feeling confused, wanted to be alone to think. He softly said, “I need to think about these things alone,” and hurriedly left.
Yu watched him leave without looking back, feeling a strange sense of melancholy.
Yu composed herself, glanced back at her, and smiled lightly, “I could say the same to you. You said you wanted to come out for some fresh air, but as soon as we’re out, you meet your third brother. Do you think I don’t know what you’re thinking?”
Zou Xuelan laughed, “So what do you think of my third brother?”
Yu playfully hit her, “Stop matchmaking. If you have the energy for that, practice your needlework first. Let’s go back to the hall.” She linked arms with her and walked away.
Meng Qing strode out of the garden, suddenly realizing he was still holding the jade dragonfly. He smiled bitterly, opened his terminal, thanked Xu Yong and Cai Fang’e, and informed them their assistance was no longer needed.
In this era, streets were nearly empty after nightfall. After leaving the Prime Minister’s residence, Meng Qing walked a short distance, then turned into a quiet alley.
He rotated the dragonfly’s tail, playing the stored photos. As he scrolled through them, the images gradually overlapped with his memories, blurring the line between real memories and imagined fantasies.
He kept looking at these photos over and over, gradually understanding the context of what had happened before. But even if he understood, what difference would it make?
At this moment, she was still only fourteen years old, and as an ancient person, she would probably find it difficult to comprehend the changes caused by crossing time and space to alter history. He and she could no longer intersect.
This jade dragonfly only recognized Yu Yi’s fingerprints, so he would leave it for her as a toy. Meng Qing imported all the audio and image data from the jade dragonfly into the terminal, then rushed to the Hou mansion. He originally wanted to leave the jade dragonfly in her room and depart, but unexpectedly, an orange-yellow light shone through her room’s window – she had already returned.
He stood quietly outside the window, thinking he would wait until she fell asleep to place the jade dragonfly on her table. But the room was brightly lit, perhaps due to the excitement from today’s banquet, making her unable to sleep for a while. She was chatting with her maid about the interesting encounters at the feast.
Chun Yan and Yue Tao were Yu Yi’s personal maids, knowing she was kind to her servants and thus spoke to her without much restraint. Yue Tao laughingly asked, “Miss, who was that gentleman you met in the garden today? It seemed like you already knew him?”
Yu Yi shook her head, “He mistook me for someone else, thinking I was his wife.”
Yue Tao giggled, “How could there be such a fool who would mistake his own wife?”
“
