When the sky darkened, in the imperial palace of the capital, the great doors of the Diligent Governance Hall remained tightly closed.

Cai Zhong hurried over with quick steps.

“Grandfather, it’s been a whole day now,” the little eunuch at the door said in a low voice, rushing over to him as if seeing a savior.

“Has he had his meal?” Cai Zhong asked quietly.

The little eunuch shook his head.

Cai Zhong sighed and pushed open the door.

The hall was unlit, completely dark.

“Your Majesty,” Cai Zhong called out loudly, while waving his hand to have the little eunuchs light the lamps.

The lamps were lit one by one, and the figure sitting upright on the dragon throne in the main hall gradually became clear.

Memorial scrolls were piled all over the desk, almost blocking the person behind them.

“My Emperor, you’ve read so many in one day… this… this… how can you bear it?” Cai Zhong stepped forward, calling out in a trembling voice.

Only then did the seated Emperor move his body slightly.

“Whether I can bear it or not, I must bear it,” he said slowly.

“Your Majesty, you could look at them tomorrow as well,” Cai Zhong said with a choked voice.

“Wait? I cannot wait,” the Emperor still spoke slowly. “Nothing in this world can wait, and nothing should wait.”

As he spoke, he reached out and picked up another memorial scroll.

Cai Zhong fell to his knees with a thud.

“Your Majesty, this old slave knows your heart is suffering…” he said with a choked voice.

The Emperor laughed.

“Why should I suffer? The one who should suffer is not I!” He still spoke slowly, raising his hand to throw down a memorial scroll.

The scroll fell to the ground and opened. By the light of the nearby lamp, Cai Zhong saw it was Chang Yuncheng’s petition.

A petition requesting marriage to County Princess Qi Yueniang.

“Since we did not sleep together in life, why must we share the same grave in death?” the Emperor said slowly, standing up.

Cai Zhong bowed his head and kowtowed.

“Your Majesty, Miss Qi has already been buried,” he said in a low voice.

The great hall fell into deathly silence again.

No one knew how much time passed before slow footsteps could be heard.

The Emperor walked down step by step, heading outside.

“All of you listen well. I remember, and you must remember for me – I will certainly treat Chang Yuncheng with kindness, favor, and indulgence. Doesn’t he want to achieve merit, establish his career, and gain wealth and honor? Doesn’t he want to live in glory? Then I will let him have wealth and honor, promotions and riches, rising step by step with achievements every year and rewards every season. I’ll let him live well, live in glory, live with complete satisfaction!”

The Emperor’s clear, cold voice echoed in the great hall. The palace doors were pulled open and shut again, the loud bang from the force making hearts skip a beat.

The bang made Qi Yue’s heart suddenly jump.

That suffocating feeling came flooding back like a tidal wave.

She instinctively moved her hands and feet, but her head was heavily struck by something…

What was it? She instinctively reached up to grab it.

First aid kit!

It’s you again…

A wave of dizziness made her fall unconscious again.

But the banging sound rang out again.

Qi Yue’s eyelids couldn’t help but twitch. This time there was no suffocating feeling.

There were vague voices in her ears.

“What are you doing, being so clumsy? What if you wake up your sister?”

The woman who was washing a towel in the water basin said.

The young man who had just entered stuck out his tongue.

“Mom, wouldn’t it be good if I woke up sister?” he said.

The door was pushed open again, and a plump nurse walked in.

“Auntie, you’re here so early?” she said with a smile.

“Little Huang, you’re here,” Mother Qi nodded with a smile.

“Sister Huang,” the young man also greeted with a smile.

Nurse Huang smiled and patted the young man’s arm, then walked toward the bed.

“Come, let me see how little Qi is doing today?” she said, taking a small flashlight from her pocket with a smile and standing by the bedside.

Qi Yue on the bed slept peacefully and calmly, her complexion normal.

“She’s even gotten plump from lying down. When she wakes up, she’ll be worried about losing weight again,” Nurse Huang said, shaking her head. This sentence sounded relaxed and joking, but her expression was downcast. After saying this, she looked again at the peaceful sleeping face, sighed softly, picked up the small flashlight, and placed one hand on Qi Yue’s eyelid.

The light stimulation made Qi Yue somewhat uncomfortable, and she instinctively wanted to avoid it.

Though in her consciousness she nimbly turned her head to dodge, in reality it only manifested as her head moving slightly, almost imperceptibly.

This tiny movement wasn’t noticed by people, but the machine detected it.

Nurse Huang’s hand paused, and she looked somewhat surprised.

“What’s wrong?” Mother Qi noticed and asked.

The young man also nervously stepped over, unobtrusively supporting his mother’s arm in case something happened…

“Qi Yue, Qi Yue,” Nurse Huang looked at the instrument, then at the person on the bed, and couldn’t help but raise her voice. “Qi Yue, you can hear me, can’t you? You heard me, didn’t you? Move your eyelid! I’m Huang Ying, if you heard me, blink your eyes for me!”

Mother Qi’s body went limp, and the young man quickly supported her.

“Little Huang, you… what are you saying?” she asked in a trembling voice.

Having hoped for too long and been disappointed too many times, not daring to think even of the slightest chance, suddenly hearing these words, she really was…

Sister Huang? Huang Ying…

The nurse she had the best relationship with…

Was she dreaming again?

Qi Yue blinked.

Nurse Huang suddenly stood up, wanting to say something but unable to speak.

She turned and ran outside, bumping into the water basin that Mother Qi had just brought out in her panic. The clattering noise echoed in the hospital room, making people outside look in.

Nurse Huang didn’t stop and rushed out.

“Dr. Qi! Dr. Qi!” she shouted as she ran.

The neurology outpatient clinic was on the fourth floor. When Nurse Huang rushed up, Qi Yue’s father had just seen off a patient and was talking with three people.

“I’ve told you many times, just come when you come, don’t bring things,” he said, looking at the large and small packages at the three people’s feet.

The three were dressed plainly, clearly from the countryside.

“Home-grown, home-grown, not worth much,” one of the older men said sheepishly, sitting there somewhat restrained. “Little Dr. Qi is because of us…”

“Not because of you,” Father Qi interrupted, shaking his head. “On the contrary, if it weren’t for you carrying her down the mountain all night to meet the ambulance, saving her life, I should thank you.”

The three became even more restrained, rubbing their knees and repeatedly saying they didn’t deserve it.

“Dr. Qi, we came this time first to visit little Dr. Qi, and second to thank Dr. Qi for helping us secure the cooperation funds. This is a great help to our grassroots hospital,” a man dressed better, obviously a cadre, stood up and extended both hands. “We’re really so grateful.”

Dr. Qi quickly stood up and shook hands with him.

“You’re too kind, too kind,” he said.

“Oh, by the way, Dr. Qi, there’s one more thing,” the cadre said. “We found something a few days ago, it should be little Dr. Qi’s. We brought it along.”

Father Qi was somewhat surprised.

“Right, right. A few days ago when our township was planting trees, we found it while digging ditches,” the younger man said, quickly pulling over a large bag from the wall and opening it. “Really strange, it was not far from where Dr. Qi had her accident. How did we not see it then? It’s been thrown in the wilderness for so long, it’s almost rotten.”

As he spoke, he opened it and took out a broken and battered box, on which the red cross symbol could still be faintly seen.

“Oh, this,” Father Qi quickly reached out to take it, looking at the medical kit. “Yes, it’s Little Yue’s.”

Just as he finished speaking, Nurse Huang’s shouting came from outside the door.

Father Qi was somewhat surprised – was there an emergency?

It was rare for anyone to shout for him so loudly in the hallway.

The three people also knew that experts like Dr. Qi were always busy. Hearing this, they tactfully stood up.

“Dr. Qi, you’re busy. We’ll go to the ward to see little Dr. Qi and then leave,” the cadre said, extending his hand again.

Father Qi shook it, giving it a shake.

“I’ll arrange lunch, eat before you go,” he said.

Before he finished speaking, the door was banged open by Huang Ying.

“Dr. Qi, Qi Yue is responding!” she shouted directly.

A large group of people walked hurriedly through the corridor. When the elevator doors opened and they saw so many people, the few people inside were startled.

Among them, a young man with glasses saw Father Qi and lowered his head slightly.

“Uncle,” he called.

Father Qi glanced at him and grunted.

Huang Ying beside him pulled a long face when she saw him and turned her head away.

They walked out, and the people here hurriedly went in. The elevator doors slowly closed.

“…When did Little Yue start responding? Just now? Light response?”

Before the elevator doors closed, this sentence reached the young man’s ears. He, who had been about to leave, suddenly stopped.

“Jianfeng?” his companion looked back questioningly.

The young man said “oh” and looked at the numbers on the elevator.

5, 6, 7, finally stopping at the 8th floor.

That was the neurology ward.

It was normal for neurology doctors to go to the neurology ward, but…

“Jianfeng, what are you doing? Let’s go,” the people ahead called impatiently.

“Well, I won’t go first,” the young man said. “I remembered there’s a case file the director wants to see. I’ll go get it and give it to him at the meeting later.”

Everyone waved and left first.

The young man pressed the elevator button.

Qi Yue felt she was already floating on water. She could breathe smoothly and no longer felt that heavy, dragging sensation.

What was happening?

What was wrong with her?

“Qi Yue, Qi Yue…”

The calling voices in her ears grew more and more numerous and louder.

“Qi Yue, can you hear? Blink your eyes…”

“Little Yue, Little Yue, I’m mom, can you hear? Move your finger…”

“Sister, sister! I killed your Brazilian turtle…”

Qi Yue couldn’t help but want to laugh.

This little brat!

“She smiled!” Qi Yue’s younger brother shouted loudly.

His loud voice drowned out all other sounds in the room.

“Dad, did you see? She smiled!” he pointed at the bed and shouted again.

Father Qi naturally saw it. His hands trembled slightly as he took a deep breath.

“Please call Dr. Kang and the others,” he said.

Huang Ying responded and turned to run out.

The young man standing at the door quickly stepped aside and turned around, listening to Huang Ying’s footsteps running in the other direction.

He turned around again and looked through the open hospital room door at the inside.

“Wonderful, wonderful…”

“I said little Dr. Qi would definitely be fine…”

“Exactly, exactly, it’s been almost a year, finally good news…”

“…The incense at Grandma Temple really works, we must kill a pig to fulfill our vow when we get back…”

The three country folk who had followed in spoke excitedly.

The young man outside the door couldn’t help but exhale, his expression also excited.

Someone suddenly patted his shoulder from behind.

The young man was startled.

“Wu Jianfeng, what are you doing?” a female voice called.

Wu Jianfeng looked at the woman in front of him and sighed with relief.

“Cui Xiu, you scared me,” he said.

“I’m the one who got scared,” Cui Xiu said, snorting, then looking past him at the hospital room door. “What’s this? Getting case files brought you to your ex-girlfriend’s place?”

Footsteps came from the corridor, interrupting their conversation.

“She really is responding.”

“That’s wonderful.”

Huang Ying led three or four doctors walking quickly. Seeing the two people standing at the door, they all paused slightly.

Wu Jianfeng lowered his head and nodded slightly to everyone – these were all his seniors.

“Old Kang!”

Father Qi’s voice came from the hospital room.

Everyone stopped lingering and walked in quickly.

Soon the room filled with happy cheers, applause, and congratulations.

“Oh my, really? She woke up?” Cui Xiu was very surprised and wanted to walk in to see.

Wu Jianfeng reached out to stop her.

“Let’s go. There are so many people, don’t add to the chaos,” he said, turning to leave.

“Hey, who wanted to come here anyway?” Cui Xiu glared and said, glancing at the hospital room, then shaking off his hand and chasing after the man who had walked away with big strides. “But that woman really woke up? She really has quite a life…”