AEKMEM chapter 24

Previously, Chu Heng had Jiang Qi investigate the inside story of An Qiao’s failed awakening due to his serious injuries from the assassination attempt.

However, because some time had passed, the clues had gone cold, making the investigation difficult and progress almost nonexistent.

This time, during the Star Beast Forest exam, An Yuchun was injured. He survived, but his spiritual sea was destroyed, his healing ability was crippled, he lost his memory, and he became deranged and mentally unstable. As the organizer of the exam, the First Military Academy of the Empire naturally had to investigate the cause.

The person in charge of the investigation was Jiang Qi’s closest childhood friend.

This friend recounted some of the investigation process to Jiang Qi.

They had no idea how An Yuchun’s accident happened. However, while investigating An Yuchun’s daily life to identify his enemies, they discovered that he was exceptionally dark and ruthless. When An Qiao was assassinated and seriously injured, An Yuchun revealed his whereabouts.

Even after An Qiao nearly collapsed from his failed awakening, An Yuchun secretly guided him online to the Star Beast Forest to find a “magical herb” that could help him awaken again. Before An Qiao entered the forest, An Yuchun secretly sprinkled “Beast-Attracting Powder” on him. Having this powder on him would trigger a frenzied attack from the Star Beasts.

Remarkably, his childhood friend remarked that despite having the powder on him, An Qiao survived five days alone in the Star Beast Forest, only suffering severe injuries and falling into a coma.

However, Jiang Qi felt a vague sense that something was amiss. Even if it was luck, this was too lucky. The Star Beast Forest is an extremely dangerous place.

He recalled the investigation he had conducted into An Qiao after the mainframe system matched the two. He learned that An Qiao initially denied being the eldest son of the An family when he woke up in the hospital and only later acknowledged it.

The current An Qiao was completely different from before; he was almost like a different person.

At that moment, a somewhat crazy thought flashed through Jiang Qi’s mind. He suspected that the current An Qiao was not the same person as the An Qiao from the past.

He would do whatever it took to get to the hospital where An Qiao had stayed, collect the bloodstains left by the severely injured An Qiao, and perform a genetic comparison. When Jiang Qi received the results, he was completely stunned.

This “An Qiao” wasn’t the real An Qiao, the eldest son of the An family. So who was this “An Qiao”? What was his sinister purpose?

This was unbelievable and significant. Therefore, Jiang Qi immediately notified Chu Heng.

**

Upon seeing Jiang Qi’s second message on the terminal—”[Genetic comparison revealed that An Qiao is not the original An Qiao]”—Chu Heng’s hand trembled, nearly crushing the balcony railing on which he was leaning.

Following the second message, Jiang Qi sent more compelling evidence proving that “An Qiao is not the original An Qiao” was irrefutable, not mere speculation.

However, Chu Heng had already confirmed this even before reading Jiang Qi’s evidence.

He had previously suspected that An Qiao was acting strangely and felt that he was very different from the information provided. Even with amnesia and confused memories, some instinctive traits shouldn’t change too much. Yet An Qiao seemed like a completely different person.

An Qiao was arrogant and picky. He had an extremely heavy idol image to maintain and was mostly aloof and unapproachable.

Sometimes he’s a bit spoiled, lounging with his eyes half-closed in a relaxed manner like a proud, languid white cat basking in the sun.

At other times, he has a childlike innocence and naivety with intense curiosity about new and interesting things.

However, when he becomes serious and assertive, his cold and domineering superiority is fully revealed, causing people to bow their heads and dare not look him in the eye.

This kind of personality is completely unlike that of a pampered young master from a wealthy family.

Chu Heng recalled that when Zhou Xiaoxiao, who had plotted against An Qiao to embarrass him, was mentioned, An Qiao had asked, “Does this Zhou Xiaoxiao have a grudge against the old An Qiao?”

At the time, Chu Heng had a flicker of doubt about An Qiao’s mention of “the old An Qiao.” The phrase “the An Qiao of the past” sounded strange and awkward. Shouldn’t it be “the me of the past”? It made it seem like he and the An Qiao of the past weren’t the same person.

However, due to some events that occurred later, Chu Heng dismissed this fleeting doubt and didn’t investigate further.

Now that he thought about it—turns out An Qiao really wasn’t the same person as the former eldest young master.

If An Qiao wasn’t the original young master of the An family, then who was he?

Chu Heng rubbed his temples.

Then, using the secure communication channel on his personal terminal, he gave his adjutant, Jiang Qi, the following order:

[Use whatever method you prefer to destroy all relevant clues and evidence. Don’t let anyone else discover An Qiao’s true identity.]

His tone left no room for argument.

Jiang Qi was reluctant to have someone of unknown origin and danger close to Chu Heng, especially since this person was Chu Heng’s Crown Princess and was extremely close to him. However, since Chu Heng had already given the order, Jiang Qi could only suppress his worries and obey.

Lust truly has clouded his judgment!

Jiang Qi was angry at Chu Heng’s lack of self-control.

He shouldn’t have looked down on Chu Heng for being cold, hard, arrogant, and rebellious.

Now deeply obsessed with love, Chu Heng is practically a reckless madman. Still injured, he keeps this person by his side. Isn’t he afraid of being betrayed by “An Qiao” one day?

He hasn’t even found out who “An Qiao” originally was. They don’t know which force sent “An Qiao.” They also don’t know the purpose of “An Qiao’s” impersonation of the original young master of the An family.

Jiang Qi absolutely doesn’t believe that “An Qiao” is as sickly and harmless as he seems.

Perhaps “An Qiao” is feigning illness and harmlessness to lower people’s guard. In reality, he is an elf who was specially trained by a hostile force and is extremely skilled in mental attacks. He infiltrated Chu Heng’s inner circle and gradually developed a close relationship with him in order to assassinate Chu Heng when he was off guard.

The more Jiang Qi thought about it, the more convinced he became that “An Qiao” was far from useless and insignificant, but rather extremely cunning. Otherwise, how was he unharmed when attacked by the Bloodthirsty Vine at the Empire’s First Military Academy? Why did he obtain an S-rank Star Beast Core in the Star Beast Forest assessment area?

Jiang Qi absolutely refused to believe that it was simply a matter of “extremely good luck.”

The more he recalled, the more alarmed he became.

This “An Qiao” is absolutely, positively, involved in some kind of conspiracy!

However, since Chu Heng is currently infatuated with him, he won’t listen to advice. Therefore, Jiang Qi, as his adjutant, can only keep a close eye on him.

**

The moment Chu Heng gave Jiang Qi the order, he regained his reason and suddenly realized what he had done in his impulsiveness.

Subconsciously, he didn’t want An Qiao to leave. He didn’t want to expose An Qiao, nor did he want any accidents to expose An Qiao, and he wanted An Qiao to continue pretending.

Ideally, to continue pretending forever.

He didn’t care who An Qiao really was. He only needed to know that An Qiao meant him no harm.

His intuition was sharp, and he could sense that An Qiao harbored no ill will toward him.

The fact that the Brain System matched him with An Qiao proved that An Qiao posed no threat to the Empire.

That’s right—the Brain System matched him with An Qiao, not the original eldest son of the An family.

The Brain System monitored in real time. When the system sent Chu Heng the matching notification instructing him to go to Imperial Capital Star Hospital to find his match, An Qiao, An Qiao had already been in the hospital for half a month. Moreover, if Chu Heng hadn’t found the right person, the real-time monitoring Brain System would have alerted him, preventing the “match” from occurring.

The Brain System proactively matches marriages infrequently, but every single match is flawless and beneficial to the Empire’s interests. As for who An Qiao really is?

He was the person rescued from the Star Beast Forest, severely injured and unconscious.

While in the hospital, An Qiao denied being the eldest son of the An family.

An Qiao insisted on wearing white robes and keeping his long, silver-white hair in an elf-like style.

An Qiao seemed to have a unique talent for cultivating plants, and the plants seemed to be very fond of him.

An Qiao is picky and delicate, which suggests an excellent upbringing. His noble and elegant demeanor indicates that he has excellent manners. Paradoxically, however, An Qiao was unfamiliar with many things and often appeared to be a naïve country bumpkin¹“Country bumpkin” means: A person who comes from the countryside and is seen as unsophisticated, not used to city life, or not familiar with modern things.…

Chu Heng frowned, pondering this slowly and deliberately, when suddenly, something came hurtling toward him from downstairs.

He instinctively reached out and caught it, finding that it was a red rose.

The rose before him was exquisitely vibrant and red. Its layers of petals were adorned with trembling, glistening dewdrops. The rose looked delicate and captivating.

“What are you staring at like that for?” An Qiao looked up at him from downstairs, his chin slightly raised and his brows furrowed in slight displeasure. “You won’t answer when I ask you a question.”

Clearly, An Qiao had thrown the rose at him. Perhaps he had been lost in thought and hadn’t responded when called, so he threw the rose to bring him back to his senses.

Looking at the bright, beautiful red rose in his hand, Chu Heng, receiving a red rose for the first time, felt a mix of emotions.

A strangely soft and surprising feeling welled up inside him, like cotton candy slowly swelling in his heart—sweet and light.

At the same time, he felt a little helpless when he guessed the “truth” behind An Qiao throwing the rose at him.

An Qiao, that “country bumpkin,” probably didn’t know that giving someone a rose is a subtle way of confessing one’s feelings.

—I must emphasize this special meaning of giving roses to An Qiao later, so he won’t just throw red roses at people so casually again!

It’s fine if someone else gets hit with a red rose; they can understand that An Qiao doesn’t mean to confess.

But if he hits someone else…

Just thinking about it made Chu Heng’s eyes darken instantly. His deep rose-red eyes became even darker as if he were brewing a terrifying killing intent.

“What were you trying to ask just now?” Chu Heng asked helplessly, his gaze toward An Qiao revealing an indulgence he didn’t realize he had.

An Qiao’s beautiful brows knitted tightly as he said in a frustrated, muffled voice, “I want to ask you—do you know about that damned ‘elf detector’ thing?”

Chu Heng: “… ”

Suddenly, he recalled the silhouette of “that elf” he had seen in the Star Beast Forest assessment area.

Looking at An Qiao again, his pupils suddenly contracted as if he had realized something.

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  “Country bumpkin” means: A person who comes from the countryside and is seen as unsophisticated, not used to city life, or not familiar with modern things.