C51

After hearing Meng Jinhuai’s question, Shang Mengzhen couldn’t help but take a small step backward. She was wearing a pair of high-heeled shoes, when she stepped back, Shang Mengzhen’s heels hit the stone floor and made a crisp sound. Because the hall was too quiet, the sound of the heels seemed unexpectedly obvious.

But as an actress who had some experience in the show business, a queen of movies who had seen big scenes, Shang Mengzhen still quickly stabilized her emotions. She smiled a little nervously towards Meng Jinhuai and then said, “Lord Marshal, how are you?”

Probably because of the good conversation with Admiral Kong just now, Meng Jinhuai’s mood seemed to be okay. He smiled and nodded at Shang Mengzhen as he always did, then turned to Duan Hengye and looked at him, waiting for his answer.

Duan Hengye didn’t need to think about it to know that Meng Jinhuai definitely still remembered what happened when he met Shang Mengzhen at the banquet a few months ago. And the relationship between him and the heroine …… although “friend” was not enough, but there seemed to be no more appropriate words to use.

So he nodded his head and said, “Yes.”

After hearing these words, Meng Jinhuai slightly narrowed his eyes. If he remembered correctly, there seemed to be only two friends that Duan Hengye had ever acknowledged. One of them was the pharmaceutical genius of An Luo University, Lan Jingchi, and the other one was the woman in front of …… him.

No matter which way he looked at it, Shang Mengzhen and Lan Jingchi were not from the same world as Duan Hengye. The most important thing was that in just a few seconds, Lord Marshal found a commonality between Shang Mengzhen and Lan Jingchi – Duan Hengye seemed to have helped them.

In fact, at that time when he first knew about Duan Hengye and Shang Mengzhen, even Meng Jinhuai was not sure of Duan Hengye’s purpose for doing so. But now, after several months of observation and waiting, Meng Jinhuai finally came to the conclusion that Duan Hengye was indeed giving Shang Mengzhen a hand that day.

Hearing Duan Hengye admit that he and Shang Mengzhen were friends, Meng Jinhuai turned to Shang Mengzhen once again and said with a smile, “Really, how are you?”

As a citizen of the Ye Tian Empire, Shang Mengzhen, just like everyone else, had often seen the news about Meng Jinhuai on the Star Network before. But today was the first time she came into close contact with Meng Jinhuai himself. As a celebrity, Shang Mengzhen was naturally sensitive.

She found that Meng Jinhuai was obviously just smiling and greeting her, but she had the illusion of being read by the other.

But …… perhaps this was not an illusion.

Shang Mengzhen really didn’t like dealing with people she couldn’t see through, although she still admired the legendary imperial marshal, psychologically, Shang Mengzhen had slowly drawn Meng Jinhuai out of her future communication range … Shang Mengzhen thought she’d better not get into trouble.

Duan Hengye only saw that in just a few seconds, Meng Jinhuai and Shang Mengzhen each looked at the other with probing eyes. And immediately after that, Shang Mengzhen’s expression became a bit odd.

Although Shang Mengzhen was mentally terrified by Meng Jinhuai’s eyes, she still maintained her outward elegance. She smiled at Duan Hengye and also Meng Jinhuai and then said, “Well, I just came to express my gratitude to Professor Duan today, so I won’t bother Professor and Lord Marshal now.” After saying that, she didn’t wait for Duan Hengye to say anything further, then she lifted her skirt and walked quickly in the other direction of the hall.

And as Shang Mengzhen walked away, Meng Jinhuai also turned to look at the other party’s back at the same time. Seeing Meng Jinhuai turn around, Duan Hengye couldn’t help but feel strange. In his impression, Meng Jinhuai was not a person who would easily be curious about “unnecessary” people.

Looking at that, Duan Hengye couldn’t help but sigh in the bottom of his heart, the female lead proved to be the female lead.

Meng Jinhuai didn’t turn around until Shang Mengzhen completely disappeared into the sea of the banquet hall. To the surprise of Duan Hengye, Meng Jinhuai frowned slightly at this time, as if thinking about something.

He couldn’t help it …… Duan Hengye surprisingly tensed up.

Although he didn’t understand why he was nervous over Meng Jinhuai’s expression, after a pause, Duan Hengye still opened his mouth towards Meng Jinhuai and asked, “Is Lord Marshal thinking about something?”

Duan Hengye’s words dragged Meng Jinhuai’s thoughts back, he looked at Duan Hengye and didn’t open his mouth for a long time. Until Duan Hengye thought that Meng Jinhuai would not answer his question, he finally heard the other party slowly reopen his mouth and say, “The actress just now, looks like someone I know.”

Hearing Meng Jinhuai’s words, the long-lost alarm in Duan Hengye’s brain sounded again.

He once again quickly recalled the plot of “Dumping Interstellar” currently serialized to, as a 10,000-strong female lead, Shang Mengzhen and many of the male counterparts in the book had an indefinable relationship. And in this book, which had not officially announced the final male lead, Marshal Meng Jinhuai was a person who was extremely popular and recognized by readers as having a male lead aura.

Just when the readers of this novel speculated that Meng Jinhuai was the male lead, the author suddenly appeared and positively denied the speculation. Her original words seemed to be, “As an author with a superbly positive outlook, I don’t mean for Meng Jinhuai to become the male lead.”

So …… if Meng Jinhuai wasn’t the male lead in the book, then why would he be familiar with Shang Mengzhen? What did this have to do with the author’s views?

Duan Hengye felt that his imagination was somewhat inadequate.

But the next moment, after seeing Meng Jinhuai’s serious thinking eyes, Duan Hongyi’s heart suddenly had a very bizarre speculation.

It wasn’t …… really the same as what he thought, right?

Meng Jinhuai was silent for a moment, then said to Duan Hengye: “…… Shang Mengzhen, looks very much like a deceased elder in my family.” After saying that, Meng Jinhuai stopped and then adjusted his expression, he looked at Duan Hengye and said, “It’s okay, I will investigate this matter in private.”

A deceased elder of the family?

Meng Jinhuai’s words actually matched Duan Hengye’s brainstorm that was somehow born just now!

As the heroine of a slightly Mary Sue novel, how could Shang Mengzhen not have a noble origin that was difficult for ordinary people to grasp …… The description of her origin made in the early part of this novel was very vague, and it was really possible that she was waiting to give the reader a surprise.

Suddenly finding the truth, Duan Hengye’s mood was really very complicated ……

With the passage of time, the atmosphere at the banquet finally livened up little by little. Perhaps seeing the appearance of Shang Mengzhen just now, slowly someone finally came to speak with Meng Jinhuai.

Now the people who came to the Lord Marshal were basically people who were already closer to the military, they knew that no one could accurately grasp the balance between the capital star and the southern star. Instead of walking a tightrope carefully, it was better to stand directly behind one side.

Although there was no direct statement, this was already a very obvious stand.

For the sake of business, Meng Jinhuai once again left the quieter corner of the banquet hall. And after Meng Jinhuai left, finally an unexpected guest slowly walked over.

It was the Empress of the Ye Tian Empire.

“Director Duan, good evening.” She held a wine glass in one hand while one hand gently rested on the elbow of the other. The Empress’ body leaned back slightly as she spoke, looking somewhat lighthearted.

Although Duan Hengye was the director of the Ye Tian Empire’s Mecha Research Institute, he was usually addressed as “Professor Duan”, and few people would directly call him director.

This was the first time he’d ever heard the Queen’s voice, and it was hard not to notice the mockery of it. The Queen’s voice was already very penetrating, and she deliberately amplified the volume when she spoke.

The moment her voice fell, the eyes of the surrounding people all turned towards this place.

Although it was known that Duan Hengye was adopted and raised by the Empress family, but in fact, a careful recollection of the public events the two attended together revealed that they almost never communicated.

Now was the time when the relationship between Southern Star and the royal family was delicate, what exactly was the Empress suddenly coming over for?

Perhaps most of the people present did not understand, but Duan Hengye understood the meaning of the other party’s words just now. As Su Mingge had always thought, Duan Hengye’s previous achievements were actually not enough to take on the heavy responsibility of being the director of the Ye Tian Empire’s Mecha Research Institute at a young age.

In fact, the original owner was able to get to this position in such a short period of time with some credit behind the Empress’s family.

On the one hand, it was for the sake of the royal family’s power-sharing, for the family’s greater interests. And on the other hand, perhaps there were some Meng Jinhuai’s reasons ……

In fact, the royal family chose Duan Hengye to be the other party in this political marriage. The other side of the political marriage was not without reason. As a diamond-level bachelor in the stars, countless people were concerned about Meng Jinhuai’s feelings. And the more people asked, the more they could naturally feel a bit of his ideal type …… coincidentally, Meng Jinhuai, who had been nostalgic about meeting that person when he was young, the look of that person outlined in his words was Professor Duan.

Seeing this scenario, the empress simply went along and continued to perfect the persona of Duan Hengye, the flower of the high mountain. And behind the scenes, she provide help to push him to the director position.

Now the empress mentioned the word “director” to his face, undoubtedly reminding Duan Hengye that he did not rely on his own merits to get to where he was today.

In fact, Duan Hengye wasn’t a very thick-skinned person, if he had just transmigrated not long ago when he encountered such a thing, he would definitely submit. But unfortunately, Duan Hengye had been in this world for some time, and now he already had his own results – although they hadn’t been announced yet.

All the people could see was that Duan Hengye, dressed in white, walked up to the Empress’s side and then bowed slightly towards the other side. Now Duan Hengye’s expression was still the usual bland look, but people were inclined to see a bit of carelessness in his movements.

Miraculously, no one felt that this time Duan Hengye was rude, but instead, he looked elegant.

Having known Duan Hengye for many years, the Empress could also see his attitude at a glance.

Seeing this, the woman walked to a position extremely close to Duan Hengye, then lowered her voice and said to him, “Long time no see, have you forgotten your identity.”

Although wearing a super high heel, Duan Hengye was still a great deal taller than the woman in front of him. He looked down and instantly a sense of oppression that could not be ignored came over him. The queen instinctively wanted to take a step back, but the instinct cultivated by years of being in a high position still told her to stand in place.

Duan Hengye shook his head gently towards the woman and then said, “Your Highness, I am an undercover agent sent by the royal family to the Southern Star.”

“…… you!” The empress choked on Duan Hengye’s words. After hearing his words, the woman dressed in red couldn’t help but look around in slight panic, and after seeing the curious but not shocked gazes of the people around her, she let out a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, what Duan Hengye just said was not heard by others.

“Are you crazy!” She lowered her voice and asked in a stern voice.

At that Duan Hengye slightly bent his waist, but instantly the distance between the two shrank once again. Although there were countless secrets in his heart, the amazing thing was that Duan Hengye’s eyes had always had a childlike clarity. His eyes were very light in color, and at this time, under the light of the hall, they actually gave the illusion of a light golden color.

It was like a shallow stream at sunset.

This moment, onlookers read a different temperament from Duan Hengye’s body, that was – sexy. A kind of naivety and complexity, pure, detached, and unrestrained intertwined, making him look seductive.

“No. Your Highness, I was just answering your question.”

The Empress had never been teased by an undercover agent like this, and at this moment, she was already looking at Duan Hengye with a completely crazy look in her eyes. As an ordinary person, the Empress certainly wouldn’t have thought that the Duan Hengye at this time was no longer the same person as the one she knew earlier. She instinctively blamed the other party’s change on the poison torture during this recent period that made Duan Hengye start holding a grudge against the royal family.

As an undercover agent who had stolen military secrets countless times, Duan Hengye’s own black history was deep enough. The queen did not think he would make that choice to die together to get back at them.

So the woman calmed down a little, then said to Duan Hengye: “If you show us a little sincerity, the royal family certainly will not poison you again. If you can’t show sincerity, don’t forget that you still have a family member at the hands of the royal family.”

…… wait, if the empress didn’t say this now, Duan Hengye really almost forgot that he still had a brother here.

To be honest, this threat from the Empress was really bad.

After hearing the Queen’s words, Duan Hengye slowly stood up straight.

The woman who was facing him had the illusion of him sneering.

Duan Hengye said to the Empress: “You can rest assured that I will show sincerity.” When saying these words, although Duan Hengye had a serious face, in his heart, he was secretly laughing at the other party.

The royal family still underestimated Duan Hengye’s expertise in the end. What they didn’t know was that just during this recent period of time, Professor Duan had already taken action and deleted certain things in the royal family’s Starnet system that they shouldn’t have kept ……

Seeing that Duan Hengye agreed to come down, the empress was finally relieved, but before the woman could say anything else, she heard Duan Hengye speak, “Then can the royal family also show me some sincerity?”

“Of course, the antidote I will ……” Before the woman could finish her sentence, she saw Duan Hengye, who was facing her, slowly shake his head and said, “It’s not the antidote.”

“Then what else?” The empress, who had always liked to stand tall and admire other people’s panicked appearance, finally understood the feeling of being pressured by others step by step this time.

Those who were peeking this way noticed that after chatting in a low voice for a while, the Empress suddenly couldn’t help but take a step backward. Duan Hengye wearing a  white shirt, obviously still looked as if he didn’t care about anything, but at this time the aura on Duan Hengye was simply about to soar through the roof.

He was really worthy of being Professor Duan …… somehow, at the same time, such an exclamation emerged in many people’s hearts.

“Nothing,” Duan Hengye gently shook his head seemingly casually: “Just suddenly remembered a little something from my childhood, about that experimental accident ……” Duan Hengye’s speech was very slow, he spoke while staring intently into the eyes of the woman opposite him.

Duan Hengye certainly did not just casually bring up this topic. In fact, when Duan Hengye was clearing his traces in the royal family’s star network system, he accidentally retrieved a set of very old, but closely related information about himself.

It was an accident investigation report, the content of the investigation was exactly the experimental accident that changed the original owner’s life drastically many years ago.

In fact, not long after transmigrating into this book, Duan Hengye had already downloaded the official notification for that incident on the Internet. But when Duan Hengye opened the accident investigation report stored on the royal intranet, he finally realized that this report, which was not open to the public, was completely different from the one that was widely circulated on the star network.

Unfortunately, half of the content was gone, it was as if the investigation was halfway through and was deliberately terminated.

Duan Hengye still had no memory of that time, he said this just to swindle the other party.

As expected, the queen’s expression was very strange. The wine glass that the woman had been holding in her hand shook a little, the bright red wine collided with the wall, revealing the instant panic in her heart.

The empress tilted her head and looked at Duan Hengye, perhaps before she had been disdainful of Duan Hengyei, thinking he was just an ordinary undercover agent who was smart but did not know how to use his intelligence. But now in her eyes, Duan Hengye was as frightening as if he had suddenly become enlightened.

“What did you …… remember?” She steadied the glass of wine in her hand and asked.

It was different from what was imagined. After hearing the Empress’ words, Duan Hengye suddenly shook his head a little and said, “Nothing, it’s just some fragmented memories.”

Hearing Duan Hengye’s words, the Empress couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief as she asked him, “Then what do you want the royal family to do?”

Duan Hengye recalled the incident investigation report that he had only seen half of, then said almost word for word, “I would like to ask if Your Highness knows who the third person in the laboratory was at that time?”

……

This royal birthday party started off with a bang, but ended in a slightly lame way. Guests and reporters alike noticed that from the time they entered the venue, Emperor Zhuo Yan was once again missing as usual. And after a conversation with Duan Hengye, the empress, who was in a good mood, was suddenly out of it.

The media did not capture Duan Hengye talking with the Empress, so in the end …… the woman who made the most noise at the banquet turned out to be the newly promoted movie queen Shang Mengzhen – she seemed to know Duan Hengye and Meng Jinhuai?

Not talking about things in the entertainment industry. On the whole, although there were some surprises in this banquet, it was already smoother than expected.

After leaving the noisy banquet hall of the royal family and boarding the starship, Duan Hengyesuddenly felt a sigh of relief.

Although he looked very confident just now, only Duan Hengye himself knew that as a person who rarely interacted with people in person like this, he was actually nervous when he spoke.

Just now, although Meng Jinhuai was talking to someone and did not hear the content of Duan Hengye’s chat with the Empress, Yu Xinlan, who had been silently watching this side, came up to Meng Jinhuai’s side before the banquet was over and told him what had happened.

Meng Jinhuai could feel the gradually lowering air pressure on Duan Hengye, but within the banquet hall, Lord Marshal didn’t show his doubts.

It was only after boarding the starship and seeing Duan Hengye, who had removed his armor on the way back, reveal his fragile and tangled side, that Meng Jinhuai finally went to his side. At this moment, Duan Hengye was sitting on a sofa by the window, and although he was looking at the star river outside, his attention was clearly not on it.

“Ah Heng, what’s wrong?” Meng Jinhuai sat beside him and asked softly.

Because he was a bit absorbed in his thoughts, Duan Hengye didn’t notice Meng Jinhuai’s arrival. And after being awakened by the other party’s words, Duan Hengye froze slightly. He finally slowly shifted his eyes back from the window and proceeded to recall all the things he had discovered.

……

“…… I want to investigate that experimental accident back then.” Duan Hengye said to Meng Jinhuai, he didn’t say this in a consultative tone, but was simply informing the other party.

In fact, Duan Hengye could have started to break away from the royal family now, but this report found in the system made him stay for now. He wanted to follow the royal family and find the truth of that year.

Although in Duan Hengye’s memory, the original owner’s parents were only a very vague existence, and there were times when he even had to make a great deal of effort to recall what they looked like. But Duan Hengye still felt an inexplicable force driving him to find the truth of the matter and console the souls of the original owner’s parents.

Now the relationship between the royal family and the Southern Star was very complex, any small matter was enough for both sides to disperse. The investigation of the accident back then was conducted entirely by an agency under the royal family, and it was not that easy for Meng Jinhuai to intervene, as a rule. There was even the possibility of attracting unnecessary trouble.

But after hearing Duan Hengye’s words, Meng Jinhuai slowly reached out his hand after a little silence, and then he took him into his arms.

“I’m with you.” Meng Jinhuai said in a soft voice.