Who are they? Who exactly are they? Xu Caitong pondered in a daze. That night, Xu Caitong had a nightmare where she saw a man clad in tiger fur and wielding a sharp sword, who thrust his sword into her heart. Xu Caitong woke up in shock, feeling for a moment as if she were no longer among the living, her soul trapped in the underworld. She was drenched in cold sweat, the sword’s edge seeming to have truly pierced her heart, leaving her with an indescribable pain. “Miss, wake up, Miss,” Cui Lian, hearing her mistress’s cries, shook her vigorously. Xu Caitong opened her eyes, her heart still pounding chaotically. Why did that man want to kill her? She almost forgot it was just a dream, yet inexplicably took the dream as reality.
“Miss, you had a nightmare. I’ll fetch the doctor,” Cui Lian said, standing up to leave.
“No, don’t go, I’m fine,” Xu Caitong held onto Cui Lian, her mood particularly heavy.
“Are you really okay, Miss?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” Xu Caitong got up, ignoring Cui Lian’s attempts to stop her, and pushed open the forbidden gate to the back garden. She wanted to find the Mirror Garden, but there was no sign of the small building she saw last night, nor the Mirror Garden. Had she dreamt it all? What was going on? What was going on?
Chapter Four
Xu Caitong could not accept the idea of marrying a man she had never met, no matter how much praise and envy he received from others. Whether she was Xu Caihong or Xu Caitong, she could not accept this harsh reality. She was a student at the “Chinese Language College” in Hong Kong, and although she had experienced a few romantic relationships, they were limited to kisses and embraces. Now, to suddenly marry a man she had never seen? How could she not be terrified?
Xu Caihong must have left home because of this marriage issue; she might even be dead. How could a woman, who had never stepped out of her boudoir, survive independently outside? Unless she was with her beloved, eloping to live a happy, sweet life. Having left home, she naturally wouldn’t want to be found by her family. They might have gone far away, perhaps to the south or north, anywhere they wouldn’t be found.
Xu Caihong left, so why should she, Xu Caitong, take her place? She would not marry that General Liu. How could they possibly communicate or find common ground? They might even struggle to understand each other.
“Cui Lian, would you be upset if I left?” Xu Caitong once asked her maid.
“Miss, what’s wrong? Cui Lian doesn’t want you to leave, nor will I allow it,” Cui Lian replied nervously.
“Cui Lian, don’t you believe that I am from the 21st century?”
“I don’t know.”
Xu Caitong sighed; she had said it countless times, yet no one believed her, leaving her somewhat helpless.
“Although I haven’t been with Miss for long, Miss has treated me like a sister, and I like you. I haven’t seen the 21st century, so I don’t know what it’s like,” Cui Lian explained.
“I think your Miss Caihong was a brave woman, enduring the oppression of this feudal society, yet daring to resist an arranged marriage. Her courage is commendable,” Xu Caitong said.
“Miss, I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Cui Lian said in frustration. Recently, her mistress had been talking nonsense, which scared Cui Lian. She had sought medical help, but the prescriptions didn’t seem to work.
“Look closely, I am Xu Caitong, not Xu Caihong. We are different people, from different times, with different educations,” Xu Caitong pressed her face close to Cui Lian’s.
“Miss, I don’t understand why you always say this, but I’ve been with you for three years. If you’re not Miss Caihong, who else could you be?”
“Your Miss’s home?”
“Miss, you’re talking nonsense again.”
“Why do you always think I’m talking nonsense?” Xu Caitong glared at Cui Lian irritably.
“I don’t know,” Cui Lian shook her head and stepped back.
Xu Caitong sighed deeply. Cui Lian didn’t understand, and she wouldn’t force her to. Days passed slowly; Mrs. Xu, along with Ruiping and Yue’er, came to visit Caitong, overjoyed to learn she had found her parents. The Xu family graciously hosted Mrs. Xu, and Yue’er, who found everything in the Grand View Garden fascinating, was always around Caitong, calling her aunt. On the day Mrs. Xu, Ruiping, and Yue’er left, Xu Caitong was reluctant to see them go, embracing Ruiping and holding Mrs. Xu’s hand, tears in her eyes.
Xu Caitong had been at the Xu family estate for a couple of months. She no longer watched the moon, believing it wouldn’t perform any miracles or cause another time-space distortion. Every day, she and Cui Lian spent time idly in the back garden, sometimes teaching her to read and write, sometimes teaching her to sing and compose lyrics, explaining the principles of time tunnels, and conducting chemistry experiments together, making Cui Lian finally understand that her mistress was different from before. However, Cui Lian remained stubborn, believing her mistress had merely gone to the 21st century to receive an education from that time.
Xu Caitong was also helpless; she knew it wasn’t something one could accept overnight. She spoke to Cui Lian about the freedoms of the 21st century—freedom in marriage, in love, in equality between men and women, the advanced science and technology, satellites, movies, TV, and the mysteries of space science.
“Miss, you say people in the 21st century have freedom in marriage and love?” It took Cui Lian a long time to understand what that meant.
“Isn’t that chaos?” she still couldn’t accept it.
Xu Caitong laughed, “How so? Being with someone you love is a joyful and happy thing.”
“Is it?” Cui Lian gradually realized that her mistress truly could not accept a husband she had never met. She felt pity for Xu Caitong and for the future son-in-law.
“Miss, do you really want to cancel the engagement?”
“Cui Lian, if I want to cancel the engagement, do you think the master would agree?”
“I doubt he would. This marriage is prestigious, and General Liu is an old friend of the master. He surely wouldn’t consent.”
“What should I do, Cui Lian?”
“I’m not clever enough to think of a good solution. Maybe you should just marry General Liu?”
“You silly girl, you know it’s impossible, yet you tease me.”
“Cui Lian wouldn’t dare, but I think it’s a pity not to marry General Liu. Finding a good family for a daughter is happiness.”
“Why don’t you understand?” Xu Caitong asked, her eyes wide with frustration.
