Chapter 344: The Little Woman Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao

…

Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao's remark, "If that day really comes, it won't have been for nothing that we crossed over," left Zhao Yu unable to sleep.

Zhao Yu thought:

"Does her 'we' include me?"

"In other words, has she figured out, like Qing Cheng, that I'm also a crosser?"

"If that's true, when did I slip up?"

"…"

Zhao Yu had concealed this secret for sixteen or seventeen years; apart from one slip caught by the razor-sharp Yuan Qing Cheng, he had never been exposed again.

Zhao Yu had managed to hide it so long and so deeply

first, because he rarely made mistakes that revealed his identity—so much so that the five women never noticed any flaw;

second, because he had spent too much time with the five women, growing so intimately close that they had completely lowered their guard around him, saying anything to him—even details from their past lives—and whenever something suspicious arose, they used "Dreaming into the Divine Machine" as a shield, allowing Zhao Yu to deflect blame onto them.

Most cleverly, the five women were five individuals, not one; each had ample private moments with Zhao Yu, making it impossible for them to consistently suspect him of being a crosser based on his use of future elements—especially after he began imitating their mannerisms and speech. They had lost all ability to distinguish what he had learned from them, and could no longer tell any difference between him and themselves.

Notably, this was intentional. Deep down, the five women looked down on the natives of this era, regarding themselves as "higher beings" for having crossed over; they struggled to accept that they had been seduced by a native and had borne him many children. To reconcile themselves to this reality, they deliberately "trained" Zhao Yu, attempting to turn him into a "higher being" like themselves.

The male rabbit's feet hop, the female rabbit's eyes blur; when both run side by side on the ground, how can one tell which is male and which is female?

Thus, it was unlikely that Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao had deduced Zhao Yu was a crosser.

Had she learned it from Yuan Qing Cheng?

That was also unlikely.

Yuan Qing Cheng kept her mouth shut, was meticulous, and left no loopholes; crucially, she refused to share this secret with Zhang Chun, Li Lin, Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao, or Ye Shi Yun, wanting to be the only woman who knew Zhao Yu's true origin.

Therefore, Yuan Qing Cheng would never voluntarily tell Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao that Zhao Yu was a crosser.

This was evident from how Yuan Qing Cheng had guarded this secret for Zhao Yu for years already.

Moreover, the woman closest to Yuan Qing Cheng was Li Lin, not Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao; even if she truly couldn't hold it in and wanted to confide in someone, she would tell Li Lin, not Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao.

In short, neither Zhao Yu nor Yuan Qing Cheng would have revealed Zhao Yu's identity as a crosser to Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao.

But apart from Zhao Yu and Yuan Qing Cheng, no third person knew Zhao Yu was a crosser—if Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao knew, it could only have come from them.

Zhao Yu thought back on his movements over the past few days.

'A few days ago, I went to Qing Cheng's place to see her tri-seasonal rice… we casually talked about our past lives… I even told her about a funny incident when I delivered food in my previous life…'

At this thought, Zhao Yu called out to the door: "Someone."

No sooner had he spoken than Liu Mingda, the night watchman, opened the door and entered.

Liu Mingda tiptoed to Zhao Yu's side and, with perfect tacit understanding, leaned his ear close to Zhao Yu's mouth.

Zhao Yu whispered a few instructions to Liu Mingda.

Liu Mingda listened, asked nothing, and left.

Soon after, Liu Mingda returned and whispered into Zhao Yu's ear, in a voice only Zhao Yu could hear: "Empress Ma visited Empress Yuan's quarters…"

This time, Zhao Yu had no trace of hope left: 'Of course—Jiao Jiao overheard me talking with Qing Cheng and guessed I'm a crosser…'

After sending Liu Mingda away, Zhao Yu looked at the sleeping Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao and thought, 'I never imagined the second person to know this secret would be you.'

Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao had the lowest emotional intelligence among the five women, was careless, and her mind was entirely absorbed in science—focused, undistracted. Zhao Yu had always believed that, unless he revealed his identity himself, Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao would be the last to guess it—perhaps never guess it at all, waiting for Zhao Yu or someone else to tell her.

Yet, despite her low emotional intelligence, luck favored her—she happened to overhear me and Qing Cheng talking.

This was partly Zhao Yu's fault: he had always treated the five women too well, especially Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao, his beloved treasure.

Added to that, the five women had weak boundaries among themselves.

This allowed Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao to effortlessly bypass all of Zhao Yu's defenses and get close enough to overhear his idle chat with Yuan Qing Cheng.

Now that he understood the cause, Zhao Yu relaxed.

Since Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao had known for some time and shown no unusual behavior—still passionately devoted to her research, still working as hard as ever when serving him, even with other women still in bed—it proved she had mentally adjusted and accepted that he was a crosser.

Crucially, Zhao Yu had fully possessed Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao sixteen or seventeen years ago; she had already borne him six children, becoming the woman who had given him the most offspring.

Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao had also helped Zhao Yu ignite the Industrial Revolution, laying its very foundation. She had already proposed Ma's Three Laws of Motion, Ma's Law of Universal Gravitation, Ma's Three Laws of Thermodynamics, Ma's Four Laws of Electromagnetism, Ma's Three Laws of Optics and Wave Theory, Ma's Theory of Relativity, and more…

Without exaggeration, even without Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao's continued presence, Song Dynasty could still experience an explosive Industrial Revolution based solely on her existing research.

But without her guidance, the process might have taken years—or even decades—longer.

Thus, if Zhao Yu lost Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao, he would feel sorrow, even grief—but he could still accept it.

Crucially, from Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao's demeanor, she seemed to still want to pretend she didn't know he was a crosser, to continue living as before, without accusing him of deception—she simply lacked the acting skill and emotional intelligence to hide it, and had accidentally slipped up so quickly.

What problem could it possibly be if Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao knew Zhao Yu was a crosser?

Well.

There actually was one problem.

That was: Zhao Yu feared that if Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao couldn't keep his secret, neither could Zhang Chun, Li Lin, or Ye Shi Yun.

Zhao Yu would have to Haohaojiao Sect Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao.