Time Travel: The Noble Family-Chapter 1381 - 565: Past and Present Lives (Part 2)

Zhou Shu looked at Yueyao, watching intently, not missing even a single strand of hair. Yet Yueyao stood as if sculpted, without any reaction.

The mountain wind blew by, causing the leaves to fall one after another from the trees, floating in the air before cascading down. Yueyao’s skirt fluttered wildly in the wind, yet she remained standing there, unmoving.

Zhou Shu chuckled lightly: "You’re not her, you’re not her."

Yueyao’s expression returned to normal: "That person who only knew how to cry and harm herself has long since died." Having lived a second life, if she were still the same as before, wouldn’t it all be in vain!

Zhou Shu suddenly laughed, a smile that caused Yueyao’s expression to change drastically. However, Zhou Shu didn’t move, simply saying: "Do you know? After you jumped into the water that day, I had people look for you. When I found out you lost your memory, I originally wanted to bring you back." Yueyao’s face was disfigured; finding someone with such distinctive features was actually quite easy. He spent a few days and found her.

Yueyao stood silently, not asking.

Zhou Shu continued speaking to himself: "Do you know why I later changed my mind? It was the doctor’s words that made me change my decision. He told me that your memory loss wasn’t due to external factors but rather because you were living too painfully, so you wanted to forget those things. The doctor said if you were brought back to familiar surroundings, you’d soon remember past events." If Yueyao remembered her past, there would be only one outcome: she would seek death again. And indeed, when Yueyao recovered her memory, she went to the Capital City and then committed suicide. The difference was that when she tried at the Lian family, no one saved her, so she died at Lady family’s fiftieth birthday banquet. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Yueyao paused and asked: "During that year of disaster, was it you who sent grain to the Nunnery to help them through the crisis?" Both the Northwest and Haikou were at war, and coincidentally, Jiangnan experienced a drought, making grain very expensive. During that time, life in the Nunnery was very difficult. Many people starved outside, yet inside the Nunnery, although life was hard, not one person starved. She even occasionally got two buns with her bowl of porridge every meal. In her past life, she didn’t manage things, so naturally, she didn’t think deeply about it, but now it was different. It must have been Zhou Shu’s handiwork that allowed the dozens of girls in the Nunnery to survive the disaster.

Zhou Shu didn’t feel comforted by Yueyao’s sharp intuition; instead, he felt a bit disappointed. The Yueyao of before was ethereal, like a fairy aloof from worldly concerns, unlike the woman now standing before him: "Yes, I donated money to the Nunnery every year, and during the year of disaster, I also sent grain there."

Yueyao’s expression was complicated. She hadn’t understood before, but that didn’t mean she didn’t understand now. She realized the peaceful ten years she spent at the Nunnery were not due to luck or meeting kind people, but rather because of this truth.

Indeed, occasionally recalling the past, Yueyao noticed inconsistencies. She simply didn’t want to think about them, choosing instead to believe it was her own good fortune.

Zhou Shu also felt a melancholy: "That year, because of some business troubles, I went to sea. By the time I returned, I found out you had gone back to the Capital City. When I rushed there, you had already met with misfortune."

Yueyao did not respond, not knowing how to continue the conversation.

Zhou Shu didn’t mind and continued: "I wanted to build a future, hoping to find you once I achieved success. But I didn’t expect you to be gone just like that." Zhou Shu did not abandon Yueyao; he wanted her to live peacefully. Once the Seventh Prince, whom he supported, ascended the throne, he planned to gain an official position and bring Yueyao back, believing she would accept him then.

Zhou Shu assumed Yueyao resented him for being a merchant, not foreseeing that all his efforts and toil would result in such an outcome.

Yueyao suddenly asked: "After I died, what happened to the Lian family?" Zhou Shu had many wives and concubines, with a dozen children combined; without her, he continued living a carefree life.

Zhou Shu’s expression was complex; he knew the person before him was different from the one in his dreams, but her coldness saddened him: "Because of your matter, the Lian family’s reputation was ruined, and soon they disappeared from the Capital City."

Yueyao had already guessed this outcome, but hearing it was a different feeling.

Zhou Shu looked at Yueyao and said: "In my dream, An Zhichen died in battle in the Northwest, the Ninth Prince was assassinated in the power struggle, and the Seventh Prince ultimately ascended the throne. Yet now, they are all alive and well." This all indicated that Yueyao’s presence altered many people’s fates, and this world was no longer the world of his dreams.

Yueyao had sensed she changed An Zhichen’s fate; otherwise, with his past life’s success, she wouldn’t have returned to the Capital City without hearing his name. She hadn’t realized she also affected the Ninth Prince’s fate.

Thinking about the positive situation now, Yueyao said: "Not just them, many others are living well too."

Zhou Shu’s heart trembled, recalling the drought in Jiangnan last year. In his memory, the Jiangnan drought had starved tens of thousands, leading to a revolt, with the Imperial Court suppressing it at the cost of over ten thousand lives. The Jiangnan incident affected the Northwest, prolonging the battle for a year with significant casualties. However, in this life, although the Jiangnan drought still starved a few thousand, it was much better than before, and the Northwest battle was unaffected, ending within a year: "The Jiangnan issue, it was your doing, right?"

Yueyao did not deny it, nodding: "Yes, I directly submitted a memorial to the emperor, informing him of the impending Jiangnan drought. The Imperial Court prepared, greatly reducing the casualties."

Zhou Shu felt a weight lifted: "So, you haven’t changed." Yueyao was still the kind woman of his memories. However, she was no longer fragile.