**"Your Majesty, hold my hand tight!"**
Before Xu Qing could finish, Empress Zhou gasped as the disorienting vortex of the time portal whipped her phoenix crown askew. Her gold-embroidered robes flapped violently in the temporal corridor. When the blinding light faded, she found herself in a sterile white room—walls smooth as mirrors, ceiling lamps glowing without flame.
"Is... is this the underworld?" She staggered back until her spine met the cold wall.
"This is Peking Union Medical College Hospital," Xu Qing explained quickly. "We chose it to showcase modern medicine."
The empress turned toward the window—and froze. Skyscrapers towered like mountain peaks; steel beasts roared through streets; in the distance, the twisted spire of the CCTV Headquarters pierced the clouds. Her knees buckled.
"Xu *qing*... Did His Majesty see *this*..." Her voice trembled. "...and become so changed?"
Before Xu Qing could answer, a nurse entered with a medicine cart. Spotting the empress in imperial regalia, she dropped her clipboard.
"Are you... filming a drama?"
"Exactly! Costume shoot." Xu Qing flashed a smile while secretly recording. "Your Majesty, this is a modern female physician."
Empress Zhou stared at the nurse's exposed calves and white coat, her face flushing. "A woman... practicing medicine so immodestly? How—"
A blaring alarm cut her off. Code Blue echoed through the hallway as medical staff sprinted past.
"Peds ICU—fulminant myocarditis! ECMO stat!"
Xu Qing seized the moment. "May we observe? Just outside the glass?"
Behind the NICU window, they watched doctors connect a cyanotic infant to a machine (ECMO) that circulated blood outside the tiny body.
"Such dark sorcery..." The empress covered her mouth.
"Life-saving sorcery," Xu Qing whispered. "That machine breathes for the child."
When the flatlining EKG jumped back to rhythm, Empress Zhou's nails dug into the windowsill. "That child was *dead*—"
"Revived." Xu Qing pulled up medical archives. "Diseases that doomed millions in your era—like Your Majesty's lung infection last year—are now cured with pills."
She stiffened. "How do you know of my—"
"History records it." He reluctantly showed her Wikipedia: *"On March 18, 1644, Empress Zhou..."*
The words *"hanged herself to follow the fallen dynasty"* drained the color from her face. Xu Qing swiped away. "But history *is* changing! The emperor is saving the Ming with future tech."
In the pharmacy, Empress Zhou traced the shelves of drugs like sacred relics. "Can these... return with us?"
"Theoretically." Xu Qing lowered his voice. "But weight limits mean prioritizing antibiotics."
At the outpatient hall, chaos erupted when she spotted a child with a feverish rash—classic smallpox symptoms to Ming eyes.
"*Isolate that child!*" Her shout drew stares.
"Your Majesty!" Xu Qing dragged her aside. "Smallpox was eradicated in 1980. This is just roseola."
He showed WHO's eradication announcement video. Watching global celebrations, a tear slid down her cheek. "Ten thousand Ming subjects die yearly from this scourge..."
Before returning, Xu Qing took her to a supermarket. Stunned by overflowing shelves, she whispered, "No famines?"
"Average citizens live better than Ming princes." He hefted a bag of premium rice. "This imperial-grade grain? Peasant food now."
As the portal reopened, Empress Zhou clutched her medical kit with newfound resolve. "Xu *gongzi*, I *will* help His Majesty remake destiny!"
---
**Unseen Machinations**
Unbeknownst to them, Imperial Astronomer Zhang Yuchu visited the disgraced Wei Zaode.
"The heavens don't lie." Zhang unrolled star charts. "Mars in Heart Constellation foretells doom. The emperor is bewitched—now even the empress dabbles in sorcery!"
Wei stroked his beard. "Your proposal?"
"In three days, a solar eclipse will dim the Imperial Star." Zhang leaned closer. "The perfect moment to—"
A creaking floorboard cut him off. Neither noticed the black listening device above them, streaming every word to Zhu Youjian's headphones.
---
**Palace Counterplot**
The emperor smirked as Empress Zhou demonstrated modern medicine to awed eunuchs.
"Xu *qing*," he asked, "can we showcase these 'surgeries' in our next livestream?"
"'Ancient vs. Modern Medicine'—ratings gold!"
When Luo Yangxing reported the conspirators' movements, Zhu Youjian's eyes glinted. "Let them expose themselves."
He tested their new toy—an industrial drone with thermal imaging. "This 'Heavenly Eye' sees through walls?"
"And detects body heat." Xu Qing calibrated the controls. "During the eclipse, we'll track every official."
Zhu Youjian nodded, then asked quietly, "How did history record my sons' fates?"
Xu Qing's fingers froze. Historically, all three princes died young or vanished.
The emperor sighed, producing a sealed box. "If I fall—"
"Your Majesty! The timeline *has* changed!"
Zhu Youjian shook his head. "I keep dreaming of that old scholar tree at Coal Hill..." He gripped his stun gun. "But this time, I *fight*."
Suddenly, the system shrieked:
**ALERT: Temporal Flux 15.7% - Reverse Contamination Detected**
The log showed an impossible entry: *"Ming Dynasty artifacts appearing in modern Beijing."*