The moonlight, like water, cascaded its faint, clear glow onto the slightly upturned azure tiles and vermilion eaves, illuminating the floor of the elegant inner chamber through the open window, bathing everything it touched in a cold light. The night breeze blew gently in waves, bringing with it the refreshing fragrance of the earth.
Resting on the arm of Long Xuanmo, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, feeling his warm breath, Yang Mengchen hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, "Wende, there’s something I’ve been hiding from you."
She knew that Wende had always harbored doubts, but it was only because of his deep love and concern for her that he had refrained from asking.
The hand Long Xuanmo had on his beloved’s hair paused slightly, a fleeting shadow of darkness flitting across his eyes before they returned to calm.
"You must have investigated me. As a child, although I was clever, I still lived in a poor peasant family. Later on, I became mentally dull due to illness and never had a real education. I suddenly acquired medical skill and various other talents, such as business acumen, after waking up from my coma."
Indeed, Long Xuanmo had doubted her at first, but after learning that Ah Jiu was the disciple of his master, he cast aside any lingering suspicions.
Yang Mengchen continued, "You must be puzzled as to why I approached Meng Jingqi on my own initiative? Why I remained unconscious and refused to wake up until the master appeared, and then slowly began to accept you? Why I claimed Ah Lan, whom I had just met, was my dearest sister?"
Long Xuanmo was taken aback. He pursed his lips, saying nothing, but he took his wife firmly into his arms.
"This is my secret, one I intended to keep from everyone for my entire life. But today, after seeing Ah Lan, I changed my mind," said Yang Mengchen in a subdued tone tinged with a trace of melancholy. "I don’t know how you’ll view me after hearing this—you might keep your distance out of respect, or act as though nothing has happened. But regardless, I need to tell you, I believe there should be honesty between us."
For some reason, Long Xuanmo felt an inexplicable panic, suddenly very reluctant to hear his wife’s so-called secret. He sat up straight, hands propped on her cheeks, and gazed down at her from above. His pitch-black eyes were bottomless, the tranquil waters rippling ever so slightly, exuding a tenderness and determination that involuntarily drew one into their depths.
"Ah Jiu, whatever happened in the past, I don’t care. As long as you’re with me now, as long as you can grow old with me, I’ll be fully content with this life. Without you, I don’t know what I’d become," he said.
Staring blankly at Long Xuanmo, Yang Mengchen felt a mix of emotion and guilt, tears streaming down her face, quickly soaking the cloth pillow beneath her neck.
In this male-dominated era, where Wende, a man of noble and exalted status, was willing to be hers for life, to love, cherish, and protect her, how fortunate was she to receive such passionate love from the best man in the world?
It was precisely for this reason that she needed to be honest with Wende. Otherwise, how could she face his deep affection and earnestness?
"Ah Jiu, don’t cry. It pains my heart," he said, bending down to gently kiss away the tears at the corner of his wife’s eyes, comforting her with a soft voice.
Feeling Long Xuanmo’s carefulness and self-reproach, Yang Mengchen raised her hand to caress his handsome face, her voice choked with an emotion that held no regret, "Wende, I love you, and that’s why I can’t keep this from you. Otherwise, I couldn’t face you openly."
Gazing deeply into his wife’s eyes, Long Xuanmo, with lips pressed together, did not object but quietly waited for her to reveal the secret in her heart.
"I come from another time and space, which, if calculated according to this era, would be a thousand years in the future. I was born in a poor peasant family there as well...
Although I had achieved success and fame by that time, my health had already deteriorated. The main doctor, the Doctor, told me that I only had less than two months to live. I didn’t want to die elsewhere, to be a wandering soul, so I took a plane to return to my native county town, to be buried next to Grandma Zhang’s mausoleum;
I never could have anticipated encountering a once-in-a-century cold snap. The plane I was on plummeted from the sky, and at the same time, Yang Mengchen in this era fell from a tree and remained unconscious. I entered her body just like that, taking her place and living on;
The appearance of Meng Jingqi closely resembled that of Ah Ming, almost without difference. At first, I mistook him for Ah Ming, having come here like I did. But after spending less than half an hour with him, I realized he was not Ah Ming. Still, I approached him, just to make you give up on me;
At that time, I still loved Ah Ming, harboring hopes to continue our past relationship. What I longed for was a simple and peaceful life, and with your noble status and complex background, I didn’t want to be involved, so I deliberately used Meng Jingqi to reject you;
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