Chapter One: The Beginning of the Dream

  Late afternoon.

  A hazy drizzle fell from the sky, shrouding the surrounding scenery in a damp mist.

  Zhu Jishi found himself sitting silently on the stone bench, his mood a somber one, his trembling hands still cradling an ancient tea cup.

  A series of footsteps sounded, and a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue silk garment with a seemingly shaved head from the front, with a refined face but with a hint of murderous intent in his eyes, slowly walked up to Zhu Jishi under the escort of several men dressed in Qing dynasty official attire, and let out a soft sigh.

  With a crash, the teacup in Zhu Jishi's hand fell to the ground and shattered. A kind of unspeakable fear and hatred suddenly surged up from his heart.

  He slowly stood up, looking at the middle-aged man, and suddenly burst out: "Rebel! What did Ming Dynasty owe you? What did my father and I owe you? Why did I end up like this?"

  "That middle-aged man calmly opened his mouth and said: 'Zhu Ci Xun, Ming Dynasty did not owe me, your father and son also did not owe me, it's just that the country was lost. Your father is a king who lost the country, you are a prince who lost the country, what else can be said?'"

  "Ha! The Great Ming will never perish! For the Great Ming still has descendants overseas, and one day they will return with a great army to take your dog's life..."

  As they spoke, the middle-aged man suddenly waved his hand and a rope was tied around Zhu Jishi's neck, getting tighter and tighter... Zhu Jishi stretched out his hands like a helpless drowning person, trying to grab a non-existent straw. Then everything was in vain...

  "Jason..."

  "Jason..."

  A beautiful and pure voice, like a clear brook, was calling out his English name.

  "Jason!"

  Zhu Jisheng woke up with a start, his back covered in cold sweat, both wet and chilly. He stared blankly for a while before recognizing the small yet cozy room in front of him.

  The dim light of the table lamp cast a faint glow on those pale arms. Zhu Jishi turned his face, curled up the corners of his mouth, and forced a smile.

  Yve leaned in close, her bright eyes sparkling with amusement as she smiled slyly: "You've been shaking all over, sweating buckets, and screaming your head off... JASON, YOU'VE HAD THAT DREAM AGAIN, HAVEN'T YOU?"

  Zhu Jishi didn't make a sound, he just held his girlfriend tightly.

  The same dream had been going on since his junior high school days.

  However, at that time, Zhu Jisheng was still a bookworm who only focused on reading books and didn't care about anything else. He put all his energy into studying and wouldn't waste his time daydreaming. With such hard work and a bit of cleverness, Zhu Jisheng got accepted into the prestigious medical school's basic medicine department in China. After five years of hard study, he also got the opportunity to pursue his master's degree at Heidelberg University's Mannheim Medical College in Germany. It was there that he met his current girlfriend, Ye Yiren, and shared with her the strange dream he had been having for nearly ten years.

  Ye Yi was as delicate as her name suggested, with skin as white as a bird's and a pair of large, sparkling eyes that seemed to gleam with mischief. If she had a pair of pointed ears, she would have been a perfect elf. Although not a beauty, she belonged to the cute type of little girl. Her family background was far superior to Zhu Ze's, her parents being expert doctors at a major hospital in Shanghai. This precious daughter was sent to study in Germany as soon as she graduated from high school - in contrast, Zhu Ze came from an ordinary family in a small city in Guangdong and had used up all his parents' savings to come to Germany on a scholarship for his master's degree.

  However, Ye Yiren didn't pay much attention to her studies and spent her days pondering strange things like time travel, souls, and rebirth. Since getting to know Zhu Jishi, Ye Yiren often chatted with him about those boring topics of time-travel novels, movies, and TV dramas.

  After learning about Zhū Jì Shì's strange dream, he actually went online to check the historical records and then told him in a serious tone, "Do you know? Your past life was very likely to be Zhu Cí Xīn, the son of Southern Ming Emperor Yongli Zhu Yóu Gāng, who was strangled to death by Wu Sangui's order at the age of 15. He also had the posthumous title of 'Ai Mǐn Tàizǐ'. This title was secretly given by the Tiān Dì Huì (Heaven and Earth Society), which is said that Zhu Cí Xīn still has descendants who fled overseas under the protection of trusted officials, waiting for the day to restore the Ming Dynasty. The oath of the Heaven and Earth Society also contains the words 'heroes gather, overseas emperor, restore the great Ming'. By the way, Jason, you also have the surname Zhū and had such a strange dream, could you be the descendant of Zhu Cí Xīn?"

  A 15-year-old boy already has offspring? I don't know if it's the heavenly will that is fabricating nonsense or the little elf who is indulging in wild fantasies. But anyway, why do I keep having such boring dreams? Is it because of too much psychological pressure? It seems like after the New Year, I'll have to find a European female classmate studying psychology to consult with.

  "Jason, stop daydreaming and get dressed to help me pack. We still have a flight back home today." Yiren, who was petite, had already gotten out of bed and started dressing. "Bring my small medicine box, my throat seems to be a bit inflamed..."

  "It's just a minor inflammation, don't take antibiotics randomly." Zhu Jishi picked up the medicine box on the bedside table and opened it to frown: "There are so many messy things, including sutures, gloves and scalpels! Knives can't be brought on planes."

  "Oh, I forgot, quickly take out the knife... right, also bring my 'External Science' textbook and put it in my backpack, I need to review my lessons on the plane."

  "Reviewing homework? Wow, Ye Xiaojie also has a diligent side?"

  "Hmph, what's that supposed to mean? I've always been diligent in my studies and striving to improve every day."

  Four hours later, Zhu Jishi and Ye Yiren had boarded a flight to Shanghai. However, Ye Yiren didn't review her lessons on the plane; instead, she handed over her backpack containing textbooks and other miscellaneous items to Zhu Jishi. She herself took out an iPad to watch her favorite boring time-travel show, while Zhu Jishi held onto Ye's backpack and dozed off.

  "Jason, how can you fall asleep as soon as you get on the plane?" Yiren was probably feeling a bit bored and decided to tease Zhū Jìshì. "Come on, let's play a game of witty questions. If one day you suddenly woke up in the morning and found yourself in the Qing Dynasty, what would you do?"

  Zhu Jishi smiled and said, "Of course, I want to be a doctor. My dream since childhood is to become a doctor."

  Ye Yi pouted and hummed softly, "Just by looking at your name, I can tell that being a doctor is either your dream or your parents'."

  Zhu Jishi scratched his head, "If I'm not a doctor, what can I be? I've studied medicine for six years. Besides, I don't know how to do any other business, am I supposed to go back to the Qing dynasty and farm?"

  Ye Yiren thought for a moment, "When it comes to the Qing Dynasty, shouldn't we rebel? There's a famous saying online: 'Wearing Qing clothes but not rebelling is like putting a chrysanthemum on an electric drill.'"

  "Haha, chrysanthemum drill, this phrase is quite interesting. But I'm a medical student, not a political or military one, how can I rebel? Have you ever heard of doctors rebelling?"

  "Ah, wasn't Sun Yat-sen a medical student?"

  "Hmm, it seems like there's something going on, but rebelling seems quite expensive, so we should probably get rich first."

  "And then?"

  "Of course, it's getting married and starting a family! Haven't you heard of the saying 'becoming wealthy, getting married, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world'? And besides, in the Qing dynasty, it seems like one could marry many wives... Ah, ouch, why are you pinching me?"

  Just as the two people were joking, the plane suddenly shook slightly, as if it had encountered turbulence. Then the voice of the captain came from the loudspeaker, "The plane has encountered turbulence, all passengers please fasten your seatbelts and do not leave your seats."

  Such a scene, Zhu Jishi and Ye Yiren had encountered many times before, so they were not flustered. Ye Yiren stuck her face to the window, gazing at the rolling clouds outside, and said softly: "I always feel that your dream is not that simple, perhaps there really is some fate..."

  She turned her head, took out a milky white jade pendant from her pocket and handed it to Zhu Jishi. "Jeson, there's something I've been wanting to tell you. Look at this jade pendant, it was my father's collection, with dragon patterns on it, and a seal character 'Huan' in the center. This jade pendant might have belonged to your past life."

  Zhu Jishi said with a bad tone: "You're speaking as if it's true, is today April Fool's Day?"

  Just then, the plane seemed to dive into a black hole, all lights went out instantly, and no light came in from outside. All passengers screamed silently, flight attendants were busy comforting, and the scene was chaotic.

  Before long, the plane finally returned to normal, passing through what seemed like a black cloud that had appeared out of thin air. All the lights also came back on. Ye Yiren let out a sigh of relief and turned her head, only to let out another startled cry.

  "Jason! Zhū Zǐ Shì! Good heavens, where have you gone?"

  She suddenly found that there was a soldier in blue uniform sitting next to her, who looked like an oriental person, but she didn't know which country he was from.

  "Sir, who are you? How did you end up sitting in my boyfriend's seat?"

  The soldier seemed to understand Chinese, looked stunned for a moment, turned his head and stared at Ye Yiren for a while, "Miss, my name is Luo Yaoguo, I am Captain of the Imperial Chinese Air Force, this seat is mine, I sit here as soon as I get on the plane."

  "What did you say? This position is clearly Zhu Jish's! Where is Zhu Jish?" Ye Yiren's eyes were wide with anger, staring fixedly at the military officer named Luo Yaoguo in front of her, and the more she looked, the stranger it seemed.

  Luo Yaoguo shook his head, suddenly thought of something, frowned and said: "Miss, who did you say was sitting in this seat?"

  "Zhu Jishi, he is my boyfriend!"

  "Zhu Jishi!? Not many people have this name!" Luo Yaoguo burst out laughing, pulled out a one-yuan bill from his pocket and pointed at the portrait on it: "Miss, your boyfriend isn't this old man, is he?"

  "Ah... Ah... Ah..." Ye Yiren took the banknote and looked at it carefully, only to find that the portrait on it was indeed an older Zhu Jishi. Ye Dajie was stunned for a long time, unable to utter a single word.