Forward Forever Episode 23 Recap
> Forward Forever Recap
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A Yi confessed to Chong Liming that he had taken Yu Chu to meet Zhou Jue, but their encounter had not gone well, resulting in Yu Chu leaving distraught. Concerned for her, A Yi urged Chong Liming to check on her, explaining that he thought introducing Yu Chu to Mr. Zhou would help resolve her prejudices.
Chong Liming was upset, reminding A Yi that he had explicitly told him not to involve himself with Zhou Jue, let alone bring Yu Chu into it. Meanwhile, Yu Chu, having recognized Yang Ming as her biological father (who had cruelly abandoned her mother and her to marry a Mongolian princess years ago), sat distraught. Mary, noticing Yu Chu's distress, approached to comfort her. Yu Chu shared her painful past, though she kept silent about having just seen her father.
Mary, empathizing, then revealed her own tragic history: an orphan raised by a cruel beggar chief, she was eventually bought by an Englishman who gave her a new, dignified life. Following this, Mary asked for Yu Chu's help to eliminate Zhou Jue, whom she identified as a major obstacle to the upcoming railway signing. Yu Chu, fueled by her deep-seated resentment, readily agreed to the task.
Mary explained that Zhou Jue had a formidable protector whom Mary's own men might not be able to handle. Yang Ming, haunted by Yu Chu's intense gaze during their meeting, felt a chilling sense of hatred emanating from her. He confided in his attendant, who identified Yu Chu as A Yi's sister, expressing a premonition that the girl was dangerous and seemed to harbor a desire for revenge.
That same night, Yu Chu covertly entered the inn, intending to use a small crossbow to assassinate Zhou Jue. However, Yang Ming intervened, stopping her with a drawn pistol and demanding her identity. Yu Chu spoke her mother's name, Yuanning, and then Ruowan, but Yang Ming stared blankly, recognizing neither. He revealed that he had suffered a severe injury ten years prior, which resulted in complete amnesia, leaving him unable to recall even his own name.
Yu Chu seized his pistol when he was unprepared. Desperate for answers, Yang Ming pleaded with Yu Chu to tell him who he was and what he had done to incur such hatred, as she was the first person in a decade to recognize him. Realizing his genuine amnesia, Yu Chu was momentarily conflicted, her resolve to kill him wavering, and she left the room angrily without harming him.
Yang Ming was left alone, profoundly distressed, repeatedly questioning his own identity. Chong Liming, who had been waiting outside Yu Chu's residence late into the night, watched her return, looking utterly lost. He comforted her, and Yu Chu, overwhelmed with emotion, tearfully confessed that she had seen Yang Ming, her biological father, but he remembered nothing. She cried inconsolably in Chong Liming's embrace, unable to comprehend his memory loss.
Chong Liming, despite her pain and insistence that Yang Ming was not her father, gently urged her to seek answers from Zhou Jue, emphasizing that Yang Ming was still her father. Later, Yang Ming confided in Zhou Jue about Yu Chu's visit, expressing his unease and fear that his past self, before the amnesia, must have committed terrible acts to provoke such intense hatred in Yu Chu.
Zhou Jue reassured him, stating that while memory might be lost due to trauma, one's fundamental nature remains unchanged, and from their many years together, he knew Yang Ming to be a good man. Chong Liming soon learned that Mary had instructed Yu Chu to assassinate Zhou Jue, seeing him as a major impediment to the railway signing.
He criticized Yu Chu for following Mary’s orders, but Yu Chu explained she was compelled to comply because Mary possessed a secret decree from Lord Zhe Yu, which commanded Yu Chu to assist Mary fully in securing the railway contract. Recognizing Mary's cunning, Chong Liming confronted her directly, demanding to know why she sought to assassinate Zhou Jue.
Mary, in turn, accused Chong Liming and the brilliant situation of incompetence, claiming that assassination was their traditional method for handling sensitive royal affairs. Chong Liming vehemently denied this, asserting that the new brilliant situation operated with integrity. Mary became enraged, dredging up their past in England and accusing him of abandoning her after misleading a seventeen-year-old girl. Their argument escalated into a heated quarrel, and Mary ultimately forced Chong Liming to leave.
Meanwhile, Fang Er reported to Xiao Ke that Liu Yanjun, the general manager of the Railway Rights Protection Association, had accepted gold bars from Mary. Xiao Ke, however, was unfazed. He explained the diverse factions within the association: the local gentry led by Liu Yanjun, the Alliance represented by Zhou Jue, and the local Green Dragon Society (which Xiao Ke now led), along with individual farmers who had invested and railway construction workers.
He reasoned that the farmers and workers primarily cared about their financial shares and would want the railway construction to continue, possibly even favoring the signing to profit further. Zhou Jue and the Alliance were motivated by revolutionary solidarity rather than direct financial interest in the railway. Most importantly, the gentry, like Liu Yanjun, had invested heavily in the railway, anticipating substantial profits upon its completion.
Selling the railway rights to the British would effectively cut off their major source of future wealth. Therefore, despite taking Mary's money, Liu Yanjun would ultimately act in his own and the gentry's best financial interest, which aligned with opposing the British deal. Later, Yu Chu, having learned of Chong Liming’s confrontation with Mary, asked for his help in persuading A Yi to distance himself from Zhou Jue.
She speculated that A Yi must not recognize Yang Ming; otherwise, he wouldn't have coexisted with him peacefully for so long. She explicitly warned Chong Liming not to reveal Yang Ming's true identity to A Yi, stressing the importance of keeping the truth hidden from A Yi, who believed himself an orphan. Chong Liming, admitting his affection for A Yi, reluctantly agreed, though he expressed his strong belief that Yang Ming was not fit to be anyone's father.
At the same time, Wen Gou caught Cao county order secretly counting a large sum of money. When brought before Chong Liming, the terrified Cao county order confessed that the money was a bribe from Mary, intended to buy off Liu Yanjun and quell dissent within the Railway Rights Protection Association. He also divulged the association's meeting location: Dingfeng Liangzi, No. 16 A. Chong Liming immediately headed to the specified address.
En route, he bumped into the Second Master of the Green Dragon Society, who quickly relayed Chong Liming's destination to Xiao Ke. Upon arrival, Chong Liming found his path blocked by several armed martial artists, whom he easily defeated. Inside the building, two masked figures ambushed him, but Chong Liming quickly subdued them. The Second Master then challenged Chong Liming with a saber.
Unwilling to waste time, Chong Liming drew his pistol and compelled the Second Master to lead him to their leader. To Chong Liming's surprise, the leader of the Green Dragon Society was Xiao Ke, who had been waiting for him. Xiao Ke immediately launched a deadly attack on Chong Liming, stating he had been waiting to repay him. Chong Liming, angered by Xiao Ke’s ingratitude, swiftly overpowered him.
As Xiao Ke ordered archers to fire, Fang Er arrived just in time to intervene, stopping the archers and imploring Xiao Ke to cease his misguided actions. Fang Er then knelt before Chong Liming, apologizing for Xiao Ke's impulsiveness and explaining their history. She recounted how, after Chong Liming had allowed them to leave for a peaceful life, she and Xiao Ke had returned to their hometown. However, Xiao Ke became involved with the Green Dragon Society.
When the former Green Dragon Society boss took Fang Er as his concubine, Xiao Ke, to protect her, killed the boss and inadvertently rose to become the new leader of the Green Dragon Society. Chong Liming wondered how the Green Dragon Society became entangled with the Rights Protection Association.
