Luzhou Moon - Chapter 138
While in Nan Yandang, she thought that reporting back to her master would allow her to live a carefree life, but unexpected complications arose. She never imagined that her background, which she had never cared about, would cause such great trouble. She was not even ten years old when she lost her memory, and even though she couldn't remember where she came from, she rarely felt sad about it in her later life.
Now, the waves of fate have pushed her to a desolate shore, forcing her to confront everything.
To avoid worrying her, Lian Junchu deliberately avoided mentioning her past on the way back home. Yue Ruzheng understood this perfectly, so she pretended to be relaxed and kept reminding herself to act as if she didn't care, so as to put his mind at ease.
But the more they did this, the further apart they became.
Approaching the shores of the East China Sea, Lian Junchu led her on a boat journey. The sun was just rising that day, and the sea was calm and still, with only slight ripples. The sky was vast and boundless, as ethereal and unpredictable as the clear, azure waters.
Lian Junchu sat alone at the bow of the boat, silent for a long time. Yue Ruzheng quietly walked up behind him and sat down. The sea breeze blew, lingering around the two of them, never ceasing.
"Xiao Tang, you can go to the island by yourself later..." Yue Ruzheng said, gazing into the distance with a sense of loss.
Lian Junchu paused for a moment, then turned around and asked, "You're going to stay on the ship?"
Yue Ruzheng nodded listlessly. She rarely showed such an expression these days, but the closer the ship got to Seven Star Island, the more difficult it became for her to continue her disguise.
Lian Junchu fell silent. He understood that she was afraid of facing the worst possible outcome, but he was also worried about leaving her alone on the ship.
"Come ashore with me, and I'll go find someone to ask around, okay?" He thought for a moment before making this suggestion.
But Yue Ruzheng still shook her head. Perhaps in her heart, even setting foot on Seven Star Island would require a lot of courage.
"Aren't you afraid to stay here by yourself?" He looked at the vast ocean, remembering how she had once felt fear towards this sight. Yue Ruzheng hesitated for a moment, then carefully nestled behind his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Xiao Tang, I'm willing to wait for you here."
Lian Junchu's heart trembled. He turned to face her, but Yue Ruzheng just lowered her head and refused to face him anymore.
"Ruzheng, don't be like this..." Lian Junchu's clothes fluttered in the sea breeze. Looking at Yue Ruzheng's long eyelashes, he felt a surge of desire to pull her into his arms.
The boat bobbed gently on the waves. He leaned down and slowly rested his head on Yue Ruzheng's shoulder. Her shoulders were somewhat thin, and Lian Junchu maintained his balance using only the strength of his waist, not letting himself press down on her. Yue Ruzheng's hands wrapped around his back from under his arms, and she buried her face in the side of his neck, breathing in the faint scent of the sea breeze.
"I wish I could hold you like this forever," Yue Ruzheng said softly, suppressing her sorrow.
When the wind rose, Yue Ruzheng took off her necklace and placed it in Lian Junchu's arms with mixed feelings.
"Do you remember? The first time I met you, I gave you Yingluo in the same way." She smiled, a rare occurrence, to ease the tension.
Lian Junchu looked down at her hand, which was still resting on her heart, and said, "How could I forget?"
Yue Ruzheng gently patted his collar and said nothing more. Then he left the boat and went ashore, gradually disappearing from Yue Ruzheng's sight.
Lian Junchu returned to Seven Star Island with a heavy heart. Danfeng, Chongming, and the others were quite surprised that he had returned alone. Before Lian Junchu accompanied Yue Ruzheng back to Luzhou, he had already sent word of this. They all assumed that the two of them would definitely go and return together, but seeing Lian Junchu's gloomy expression, they did not dare to ask rashly.
Lian Junchu spoke first, instructing Danfeng to find the older servants, ensuring that no one who had served Lian Haichao and Madam Lian was overlooked. Danfeng hurriedly left, and after a long while, she brought several maids to the foot of the Forget-Love Pavilion.
After dismissing the others, Lian Junchu asked the servants if they remembered the necklace. Everyone looked cautiously at the necklace that Danfeng had placed on the stone table, their expressions filled with confusion.
"This was a congratulatory gift sent by a female Taoist priest from Shenxiao Palace back then. Don't you really remember?" Lian Junchu asked anxiously.
The servants looked at it for a long time before one of them kowtowed and said, "This old servant vaguely recalls that this necklace is indeed a treasure of the former island master."
"He hasn't given it to anyone else?" Lian Junchu couldn't help but stand up and walk closer to her.
The old woman looked at the necklace again and said, "At that time, the old master received many rare treasures, some of which were directly sent to the Forget-Love Pavilion's storeroom, but he gave this necklace to his wife to wear."
"Madam?" Lian Junchu was taken aback. "You mean Lian Junxin's mother?"
"That's right." The old woman recalled for a moment, then continued, "This old servant didn't used to work in the madam's room. I only knew about this necklace because I saw it on her dressing box when I was cleaning the room."
Upon hearing this, the others nodded in agreement, only then recalling that Madam Lian had once worn this item, but later her health deteriorated and she was bedridden for many years, so the servants rarely saw her wearing jewelry anymore.
Lian Junchu couldn't understand why the ornaments that originally belonged to Madam Lian had ended up outside her possession. After a moment of contemplation, she asked, "Has anyone seen these ornaments after Madam Lian passed away?"
Another middle-aged maid replied, "I did help with the Madam's funeral arrangements, but when I was inventorying the burial jewelry, I didn't see this necklace."
"Speaking of which... this necklace seems to have disappeared after the madam gave birth to the second young lady prematurely," the old woman said hesitantly, pondering deeply.
Lian Junchu sighed silently in her heart. Seeing that they only vaguely knew some of the past, she couldn't help but ask, "Could it be that besides you, no one else served Father and Madam Lian?"
"Even some of the maids who came with the lady of the house married far away, and some passed away a few years ago. The old master has very few close servants around him..." Before the old woman could finish speaking, someone behind her suddenly said, "Aunt Chen, didn't the island master used to have a maid who served him for a long time?"
The old woman paused for a moment, then her face darkened. "That girl has committed a grave mistake. How dare you bring her up again?"
The person who had interrupted was so frightened that he quickly shut his mouth. Lian Junchu had never heard of this matter before. Seeing everyone silent, she asked the old woman, "Who are you talking about?"
The old woman hesitated for a moment before bowing her head and saying, "It's not that I'm deliberately hiding anything, but the old master forbade us to mention her again. We servants dare not ask why. That maid was once a favorite of the old master, but for some reason she suddenly disappeared without a trace and has never been seen again..."
Lian Junchu thought he had finally gotten some inside information, but the conversation ended there again. He sat down at the stone table with some regret, gazing at the necklace with its faint blue hue, lost in thought.
The old woman kindly suggested, "Young master, why don't you ask the second young lady? After all, she's been with the madam and the old master since she was little; she might have heard something."
"Lian Junxin?" Lian Junchu was momentarily stunned, only then realizing that he hadn't seen her during his return to the island. After dismissing the servants, he hurriedly summoned Danfeng to inquire about Lian Junxin's whereabouts.
"Seeing that there was nothing happening on the island during this time, the second young lady went out on her own." Although Danfeng had her head down, her words contained a hint of resentment.
Lian Junchu felt a pang of sadness.
Chapter 85
No one on Seven Star Island knew where Lian Junxin had gone. When she left, she only said she wanted to wander around, without specifying where she was going. It was Yue Ruzheng who thought of someone, perhaps the very person Lian Junxin was looking for.
That was Wei Heng.
After traveling for many days, they arrived at Tingyu Villa in Huangshan. Wei Heng initially denied that Lian Junxin had ever been there, but Lian Junchu later told him the whole story, which greatly surprised him.
"To be honest, she did come..." Wei Heng said somewhat awkwardly, "but as you know, I don't like her. I was quite surprised when she showed up at my door out of the blue."
"And then?" Lian Junchu asked.