Whether it was time travel or amnesia, both explanations sounded utterly preposterous. After hearing her out, Officer Zhang was more inclined to believe that Zhu Qingyu either had some reason for not wanting to speak or was afraid to tell the truth. He tried a few indirect questions about other matters instead.
Zhu Qingyu’s answer was always the same: she didn’t know, didn’t understand, and couldn’t remember.
The police could investigate a case, but whether someone had genuinely lost their memory after suffering a shock, was pretending to have lost it because of the shock, or was simply pretending because they did not want to talk was difficult even for the police to determine. That required medical testing.
Perhaps worried that pressing her further would only upset her, Officer Zhang asked a few more questions before saying to Zhu Qingyu and Mei Tang, “For now, focus on getting better. If you remember anything, call me anytime.”
Not long after Officer Zhang left, Zhu Qingyu’s older brother, Zhu Qingfeng, heard that she had regained consciousness and hurried over in his white coat.
Zhu Qingfeng worked in neurosurgery and was the lead surgeon in the department. After hearing about Zhu Qingyu’s symptoms, he took her to his department for an examination.
After the full battery of tests, one of his colleagues from neurology pulled Zhu Qingfeng aside.
“There are no signs of any organic disease. Do you want to take your sister to see someone in psychiatry and psychology?”
Zhu Qingyu sat in a wheelchair, waiting for Zhu Qingfeng to take her back. When she noticed her brother looking at her, she turned to look at him as well.
In her memory, her usually composed older brother looked, in that moment, as though he were about to shatter.
The instant their eyes met, Zhu Qingfeng composed himself, walked over, crouched beside the wheelchair, and smiled gently as he coaxed her.
“Qingyu, let’s go see someone in psychology too. You can have a chat with the doctor. All right?”
Zhu Qingyu smiled back at him.
“No, Brother. I’m a little tired. Could you take me back first?”
Zhu Qingfeng did not force her. As he wheeled her back, he comforted her.
“It’s all right, Qingyu. You’re back now. We can talk whenever you’re ready.”
Zhu Qingyu stayed in the hospital for several more days. During that time, her parents and brother took turns looking after her. Many of her former colleagues from the emergency department, as well as her classmates and friends, came to visit one after another. Every one of them was tactful, speaking carefully and seeming afraid to ask too many questions.
Then, one day, a stranger came to her hospital room—a stylish young woman in high heels, carrying a bouquet of roses, a designer handbag hooked over her arm, and sunglasses perched on her face. Her short hair was cut in a neat, sharp bob.
She was not very tall, but she had an imposing presence. She was also astonishingly outgoing. The moment she took off her sunglasses, she greeted Zhu Qingyu enthusiastically.
“Oh, Qingyu, hello! I’m Yuan Hui. I finally get to meet you! Oh my gosh, you look so much like your brother. Have you ever thought about entering show business? Gorgeous, striking women like you are incredibly rare in our industry right now. Sign with me, and I guarantee I’ll make you a star! See that actor who won all those awards? And that famous actress? I discovered and managed both of them!”
Zhu Qingfeng appeared in the doorway with a thermos in hand. He looked at Yuan Hui with a mixture of helplessness and fondness.
“Is that your opening line every time you meet someone for the first time?”
Yuan Hui clicked across the floor in her heels, set the roses on the cabinet, and put on an utterly serious expression.
“Teacher Qingfeng, do you have some misunderstanding about my professionalism? My standards are very high, you know!”
Oh, this had the unmistakable scent of gossip!
Gossip made people happy. Gossip gave people energy.
For the past few days, Zhu Qingyu had spent most of her time lying in bed thinking about Gu Zhao and Gu Heng, barely speaking at all. But for the moment, she forgot the pain of being separated from them. Her eyes lit up at once, and she looked from Zhu Qingfeng to Yuan Hui and back again, so busy taking everything in that she nearly wore herself out.
Zhu Qingfeng placed the thermos beneath the cabinet and introduced Yuan Hui.
“My girlfriend, Yuan Hui.”
Oh! Oh! So it really was true!
Her older brother, who seemed to live in the operating room every day, had gotten himself a girlfriend while she was away!
This was her brother’s officially acknowledged girlfriend. Yuan Hui had just praised her looks, so Zhu Qingyu immediately returned the courtesy.
“Hi, Sister Hui. You’re really beautiful.”
Yuan Hui’s outgoing nature seemed to know no bounds. She immediately sat down beside the bed and gazed at Zhu Qingyu with undisguised admiration.
“Exactly, exactly! Little sister, that’s what I’m talking about. Why do I like talking to you so much? You must be saying things that make far too much sense. Once we get to know each other better, you’ll discover that my talent is just as outstanding as my looks. We’re all family here, so I brought you some of my private collection. I used it the last time I was ill. Let me tell you, I have plenty of experience recuperating. The most important thing is to keep your spirits up. You have to be happy.”
Yuan Hui reached into her designer handbag and pulled out a tablet, handing it to Zhu Qingyu. She pulled up the videos for her.
“Take your time watching them. I have plenty more where those came from.”
The tablet was filled with videos of handsome men and beautiful women, though there were far more handsome men.
Holding the tablet, Zhu Qingyu looked at Zhu Qingfeng and gave him a meaningful glance.
“Brother, your girlfriend is watching other handsome men! What kind of boyfriend are you?”
Yuan Hui was completely unbothered.
“Go ahead and watch. I’m a law-abiding citizen. These videos are all from public platforms, and the content is absolutely clean. It’s part of my job. Whenever I see a good marketing angle, I save it. Watch them all, and I guarantee you’ll feel refreshed. You won’t regret it.”
The spiritual nourishment Yuan Hui provided was nothing but shallow, vulgar fun. But it was exactly what Zhu Qingyu needed to numb her pain and ease her mind. A few more days passed, and she was discharged from the hospital.
Her body had not yet fully recovered, but the human will could be stronger than the flesh.
Zhu Qingyu gradually pulled herself out of her despondency. Every day, she began searching through historical records, hoping to find the burial place of Gu Zhao and Gu Heng so that she could go and see them.
Had Gu Zhao lived a healthy, carefree life and reached a ripe old age?
Had Gu Heng been loved and cherished, growing up well and living a brilliant, uninhibited life?
She regretted that, on the day Gu Zhao had told her about the Gu family ancestral graveyard, she had not asked for the address or inquired more carefully about their branch of the family. If she had, perhaps she could have followed their genealogy and found some clues. But now, with so many people in the country bearing the surname Gu, where could she possibly begin looking for Gu Zhao’s descendants?
Official histories generally focused on emperors, generals, and ministers. A few short lines might condense the lives of countless people, while the number of figures whose names were preserved in the official records was vanishingly small.
Though Gu Zhao and Gu Heng had been members of the imperial family and figures of tremendous power in their own time, finding traces of them among the vast sea of historical records five hundred years later was extraordinarily difficult.
Zhu Qingyu spent a long time trying. She even bought the most authoritative and comprehensive history of that era and searched through it page by page.
At last, she found traces of Gu Zhao.
She first found the emperor’s biography in the historical records: Emperor Muxuan, who had ascended the throne at a young age and ruled for more than forty years. He had boldly reformed the nation at home and pursued an aggressive policy abroad, becoming a ruler who ushered in a period of revival. Because he was capable of spreading virtue and exerting his influence in all directions, defeating the northern barbarians in the north and conquering the Three Yis in the south, he was given the temple name Xuan.
She also discovered the fate of Lord Zhuang. The historical records praised him as a rare statesman capable of bringing peace and prosperity, a reformer who enjoyed a peaceful end. He rose to become Grand Secretary and was granted the honor of being enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
She was even surprised to find her own name in the historical records. It appeared only in a brief passage, mentioned in the account of Emperor Muxuan’s domestic reforms, which recorded the achievements of Zhu Qingyu, Minister of the Huizhi Medical Office, in quelling an epidemic and founding the Huizhi Medical Hall to benefit the common people.
At last, she found an account of Gu Zhao as well. At this time the following year, he would arrive in Shu, five hundred years in the past. From there, he would lead an army south and fight a great battle against the tribes of Sanyi, returning victorious and bringing about their submission.
After that, there was nothing more.
Unwilling to give up, Zhu Qingyu spent nearly another month searching through all manner of official histories and unofficial records, but she could not find the slightest trace of Gu Zhao anywhere.
On New Year’s Eve, after dinner, fireworks began bursting outside the Zhu family clinic.
Zhu Qingyu carried a chair to the doorway and watched the fireworks. Gazing up at the sky, she said,
“My lord, Gu Heng, Happy New Year! The road to Shu is treacherous. When you come here next year, please take good care of yourself.”
Five hundred years earlier, beneath that same sky, Gu Zhao held Gu Heng in his arms and watched the fireworks as well. Facing the brilliant bursts of light, he said,
“Lord Zhu, may the new year bring you great fortune. Are you feeling any better? You can see the fireworks from heaven too, can’t you? I’ll set off more—higher ones, too. Stay and watch them with us a little longer, all right?”
