Return of the Queen Episode 22 Recap
> Return of the Queen Recap
After Lu Siyu leaped from the bridge into the treacherous river below, Ye Haimeng, without hesitation, also jumped in after him. Amidst the strong currents, only Ye Haimeng was pulled to safety and rushed to the hospital. Lu Siyu's whereabouts remained unknown. A dejected Lu Changdong returned to Cloud Manor with his people. Lu Siyue, upon seeing them, immediately questioned, "Didn't you go to Mare Nubium? Isn't the board meeting scheduled for today? Why are you back?"
She then urgently asked for her brother, "Where's Siyu? Where's my brother?" She pressed Jiang Lin, "What's with that face? I'm talking to you. Where is Lu Siyu?" With a heavy heart, Jiang Lin informed her that Lu Siyu was gone, leaving Lu Siyue stunned and asking, "What do you mean by that?" In the hospital, Ye Haimeng regained consciousness, immediately asking for Lu Siyu.
Ye Bochen tried to calm her, explaining her critical condition with lungs filled with water, but she insisted she was fine and demanded, "Call the police! Call the police to find him!" As she struggled to get up, Ye Bochen revealed, "Siyu is gone!" Haimeng, distraught, pressed him for details, asking, "What happened to Siyu?" Ye Bochen somberly explained that the area where Lu Siyu fell was known for its fierce undercurrents.
Despite everyone jumping in to save them, only she was found, and Lu Siyu had been swept away. He added that the police, rescue teams, and boats had searched for nearly two hours but found no trace of him, implying he was lost to the sea. Haimeng cried out, refusing to believe it, repeatedly exclaiming, "That's impossible! You're lying! It can't be true!" as medical staff intervened.
Back at Cloud Manor, Lu Siyue confronted Lu Changdong about Lu Siyu's disappearance, expressing disbelief and grief. Lu Changdong, however, dismissed her sorrow, stating, "He's gone. He's just gone. He brought it on himself. He jumped down himself." Lu Siyue was horrified, reminding him that while Lu Sinan was her half-brother, Lu Siyu was her full-blooded sibling whom she cherished despite her complaints about favoritism. She couldn't comprehend how he could be so cold.
Lu Changdong, unmoved, declared that life and death were Lu Siyu's own choices. He scornfully denounced both his sons, one for scheming with a notarized will and the other for jumping into the sea to escape family control. He exclaimed, "You all prefer death, right? Then you can die! I, Lu Changdong, don't need sons, don't need daughters, and don't need a family. You're nothing but my burdens. Just dead weight! Purely useless!"
leaving Lu Siyue stunned as he walked away. While Ye Bochen was away signing documents, Ye Haimeng, upon regaining consciousness, slipped out of the hospital and went to the special withered tree on the mountain. There, she hallucinated Lu Siyu and ran towards him, but the vision quickly faded. Desperate, she frantically tried to make phone calls, begging, "Go to the Fire and Maritime Rescue Bureau immediately to get Siyu! . . .
Mr. Fei, could you help me find Siyu? He jumped into the sea. But I know he must still be alive." When Ling Ke and Ye Bochen found her, Ling Ke tried to reason with her, revealing that rescue teams had searched for Lu Siyu all day to no avail. " He's gone. He has disappeared! He's not coming back!" Ling Ke insisted. Haimeng fiercely refused to accept it, clinging to Lu Siyu's promises. Suddenly, she received a message.
It was a voice message from Lu Siyu himself. In it, he reminded her of a third, unfulfilled request from when they first got together. His final wish was for her to "keep living." He urged her to remember her resilience in past hardships and to "be brave and firm, and follow your heart to live freely" even without him. He ended by reaffirming, "Haimeng, I really love you."
Overwhelmed with grief, Ye Haimeng broke down, crying inconsolably, with Ling Ke comforting her. Later, Jiang Lin returned to the Lu residence. A distraught Lu Siyue immediately questioned him about the search, asking, "How's it going? Did they find him? Is there any news about Siyu? Did they rescue him?" Jiang Lin reluctantly shared the grim news: despite a three-day and three-night extensive search by rescue teams, only Lu Siyu's jacket had been found.
He explained that the area of the fall had fierce undercurrents, and Lu Siyu had been swept away during high tide, making his survival unlikely, especially now that the golden window for rescue had passed. Lu Siyue refused to accept it, heartbroken that her brother was gone without a word to her. She lamented feeling overlooked in the family, but stressed her desire for her brothers to live.
Jiang Lin consoled her, affirming that both Lu Siyu and Lu Sinan considered her closest family. Desperate, Lu Siyue suggested they find Ye Haimeng to beg for peace, hoping to save the Lu family and her brothers. Jiang Lin quickly countered that Lu Siyu's fate was unrelated to Ye Haimeng and approaching her would only worsen the family conflict.
As Lu Siyue continued to express her grief and wish for her brother's life, Jiang Lin urged her to calm down, stating that as the remaining young generation in the Lu family, they needed to shoulder their responsibilities and that "everything will get better" once the Ye family matter was resolved. Meanwhile, Ye Yuezhi confronted his wife, Xiao Ting, asking why she was back late. When she mentioned "cleaning things up," he revealed his shocking discovery: "Ling Ke.
She's Zhang Yujie's daughter." He explained that Zhang Yujie, the former CFO of Mare Nubium, had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in prison years ago and was released on medical parole, taken by Ling Ke. Xiao Ting, surprised, wondered why they hadn't known. Ye Yuezhi chastised her for her lack of awareness, asserting that Ling Ke had deliberately befriended Ye Haimeng and was now "after us."
When Xiao Ting asked what to do, Ye Yuezhi declared they must "get out of this mess as soon as possible," instructing her to immediately "prepare the documents for going abroad." He reasoned that if they stayed, they wouldn't be safe, and when asked where to go, he decisively replied, "We'll go wherever our money is!" Xiao Ting agreed.
Inspired by Lu Siyu's final message, Ye Haimeng put aside her grief and called Ling Ke, announcing, "I'm going to fight back." Together, they analyzed the Lu family's scheme. Ling Ke revealed that Mare Nubium's involvement with Changlu Capital originated from a land transaction in West Asia, which Ye Haimeng's father, the former chairman, had recognized as a trap set by the Lu family, leading him to refuse to sign.
However, Ling Ke noted, large sums of money were still secretly withdrawn from Mare Nubium, and Ye Yuezhi had flawlessly balanced the accounts for the past five years. She further explained that Changlu Group's rapid expansion overseas six years prior had led to massive losses, forcing them into high-interest loans. To prevent collapse, Lu Changdong devised a plan to plunder Mare Nubium, using the Ye family as a financial lifeline.
Ye Haimeng summarized this, and Ling Ke confirmed it was the starting point of all their troubles. Regarding Mare Nubium's internal situation, Ling Ke informed Ye Haimeng that the notarized will for Lu Sinan had re-frozen their 37% shared inheritance, and Lu Changdong's planted shareholders were hindering her control. Branch companies had also declared independence from headquarters, effectively closing financial and administrative channels. Haimeng needed time to devise a strategy. Ling Ke then apologized for concealing her true identity.
Haimeng revealed that she had known Ling Ke was Zhang Yujie's daughter since she arrived at the honeymoon hotel. She explained that she had deduced Ling Ke's intentions to clear her mother's name and gain access to Mare Nubium's financial core, which is why Ling Ke chose to help her. Haimeng affirmed that she no longer saw Ling Ke as a pawn, acknowledging Ling Ke's vital role in her journey, and thanked her, a sentiment Ling Ke reciprocated.
Later, while alone, Ye Haimeng discovered Lu Sinan's Latin book in Lu Siyu's arrow case. Examining it closely, she found handwritten notes which, once translated, revealed a crucial message: "The secret documents are behind the painting."
