My eyelids felt so heavy. But I had to open my eyes. After several attempts, I finally managed to open my eyes. The first thing I saw was the ceiling of the room I was in. I looked right and left. Besides myself, there was no one else there.

My fingers felt the smooth fabric. Turned out I was lying down. It didn't take long for me to realize that I was lying on a bed. While trying to sit up, I found that there was an IV needle stuck in my left hand. Once again, I swept my gaze across the room. The decoration of such a room was, unmistakably, a room in a hospital.

I tried wiping my face. I felt a tube coming out of my nostrils and mouth. The hose connected to a machine. The machine was exactly like a ventilator machine. My condition must be so bad that I had to need two tubes at once to supply oxygen to my lungs.

My head hurt so much. I tried to remember the things that had happened. But I could only remember a few things. I only remembered my name, my age, and the place where I lived. Apart from that, I also remembered that before that I fainted. But I didn't know I had been unconscious for how long.

The room door opened. There were several people who entered with such hasty steps. They wear clothes that were usually worn by doctors and nurses. Apparently, they already knew that I was awake.

One of them stepped closer to me. He brought his face closer to mine.

"His Majesty has come to his senses!" That person said in a loud voice. I could hear clearly what he just said. I didn't know what he meant by the words "His Majesty." The hospital was really strange.

The person who said that in a loud voice was around forty. But he looked older because he wore glasses with enormous frames. It seemed he was the leader of the people who had just entered.

They all then approached and surrounded me. I had seen scenes like that in movies many times. When a patient woke up, the doctors and nurses immediately came to examine the patient.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," said the man wearing glasses with enormous frames. "Can Your Majesty hear my voice?"

At first I thought about trying to open my mouth. But that made little sense. There was a tube in my mouth, so I couldn't possibly say anything. All I could do was nod. I was just waiting to see what they would say.

"Don't say anything just yet. Your Majesty is still in a very weak state. However, that Your Majesty had regained consciousness made us thrilled."

One nurse then injected something into the IV line.

"Your Majesty, please don't move too much. Your Majesty has just regained consciousness. Right now, the most important thing is to get plenty of rest."

He repeatedly called me "Your Majesty." Was it all just a dream? Maybe I was not aware at all? It might be that such a state existed only in my mind.

"Your Majesty, don't push yourself. I understand Your Majesty would want to know what happened. But please be patient."

Even though I was confused, I could still understand that the doctor's words made sense. So I didn't want to argue with it at all. I was fully aware that I must rest to recover my body condition. I nodded while looking at the doctors and nurses.

Whether it was because of the injection, or indeed because my body was so tired, I felt my eyes getting heavy again. At that time, I didn't fight the drowsiness. I just obey my body's will. I began to close my eyes. I felt so sleepy.

When I closed my eyes, I could still hear the voices of the doctors and nurses. I was sure they were talking at a very low volume, but I could still hear them. After a while, their voices sounded faint. Until finally, I could hear nothing more.

When I opened my eyes again. I looked up at the ceiling that was above me. This ceiling was not the same as the ceiling before, meaning I was already in a different room.

It didn't feel like a lump in my mouth and nose. It turned out that the ventilator hose was no longer attached there. But the aches and pains were still in my hands. IV needle still stuck in my hand.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty!"

Just like before, I could clearly hear that sound. But that voice was not the voice of the doctor earlier. I turned towards the source of the sound. There was a man sitting on the right side of the bed. The person was in his late forties or early fifties.

"Good afternoon." I answered slowly. I wasn't sure if that person could hear my answer.

"Your Majesty. You didn't need to force yourself to answer if Your Majesty's throat or mouth is still sore," said the person.

"It's okay. I'm fine."

The person raised the top of the bed so that my position changed from lying down to sitting. The bed was an electric patient's bed, so the person only had to press a button, no need to turn any crank.

"The doctor said during these three hours that Your Majesty's condition is improving at an extraordinary rate," said the person. "They can't explain it. Medically, it's almost impossible."

"There are so many things in this world that are hard to believe."

"That's right, Your Majesty."

I was feeling worried. I didn't know who that person was. So I didn't know what to call him. If I called him wrong, of course I would look stupid. Or maybe that person might even get suspicious.

"Is there a mirror?"

I suddenly wanted to see how pale my face was. There was no mirror in the room. There was a bathroom in this room. In the bathroom, there must be a mirror. But, in this state of the body, I doubt if I could get there. Of course I was sure this person would help me, but I was too lazy to ask him to help me.

"Mirror? Would Your Majesty care to wash your face?"

"No. I just want to see how I am doing."

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will immediately get a mirror."

The person then rose from his seat. He went outside. Not long after, he came back with a small mirror. He gave me the mirror.

There was an old man's face in the mirror. Very weird. I remembered nothing, but I was pretty sure I was not that old. The face in the mirror reminded me of an old photograph of my grandfather. The facial expressions in the old photo were exactly like the facial expressions in the mirror in front of me.

I had to check what day it was, and what month it was. I vaguely remember the last time I looked at the calendar. I forgot what had happened then, but I still remembered the date, month and year. However, for a moment, there was a doubt in my mind. Asking for the date and month might still make sense, but asking for the year? I was worried that it would make the doctor think that my condition had worsened again.

"Can I read today's newspaper?"

"I don't think this is an excellent idea. Your Majesty need to rest a lot. It's not time to take care of other matters yet."

"Can I read today's newspaper?" I repeated myself. This time in a much louder voice. I hope he understood I was not kidding.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will fetch today's paper," said the man. He then got up from his seat and left the room. He returned with a stack of newspapers. There seemed to be five or six newspapers he had with him.

The man gave me a newspaper. He put the other newspapers on the table to the left of the bed.

I quickly scoured the first page of the newspaper. My primary goal was to find out what date and month it was.

I almost couldn't believe my own eyes. The year stated in the paper was not at all the year I remembered. The time between the year I remember and the year stated in the newspaper was thirty-five years.

I could only shake my head. I know that anything was possible in the world. But what just happened to me was really hard for me to believe.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"Fifteen days, Your Majesty," the man replied.

"Fifteen days?"

This was really crazy! Thirty-five years was definitely not the same as fifteen days. So I had forgotten about the things that had happened in the past thirty-five years. That means my condition had reached a very worrying stage.

"The doctor said that Your Majesty may have lost some memory. Just like it had happened several times."

"Had this happened before?"

"That's right, Your Majesty. This is already the sixth time Your Majesty had been unconscious for as many days. Once Your Majesty had regained consciousness, there were usually a lot of things that Your Majesty could not remember."

"So I've often been unconscious for fifteen days?"

"Previously, it was only between three and seven days. This is the first time Your Majesty has been unconscious for more than two weeks."

"Meaning, there is a possibility this will happen again. Could even worse."

"I dare not speculate like that. Let the doctor explain to Your Majesty."

I started reading the news in the newspaper. The news posted there was normal news. It did not differ from the news I usually read. I was amazed. Even though I didn't know what happened to me, I still remembered what news I usually read in everyday life.

"Actually, where are we?"

"Your Majesty are currently in the hospital."

"I know this is a hospital. I mean, which hospital?"

The person fell silent. After a few seconds, he continued his words in a cautious tone.

"We're in an underground bunker. Deep underground. More specific matters, I think someone else has more authority to explain."

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That person seemed afraid to reveal a lot of things. Actually, what was the task here? What's my position? They called me "Your Majesty". It was so weird. Such designation was only for one person. It just didn't make sense for me to be in that position. But if I really was in that position, then why was here? They seemed to limit me from doing many things. Such restrictions led me to a conclusion. Could it be that I was a prisoner?

"Can I walk outside this room or not?"

"Your Majesty's condition is still very weak. I think we should wait for the green light from the doctor."

"Didn't you say earlier that my condition is improving at an incredible speed?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, but perhaps not well enough to be able to wander outside the room."

"What if I use a wheelchair? You can push my wheelchair."

The person thought for a moment.

"Yes, Your Majesty! I will ask first."

He got up from his chair and went outside the room. This time, he was gone for a while. I almost fell asleep waiting for that person to come back. It was only about twenty minutes later that the person returned to the room. He pushed a wheelchair.

"Your Majesty may look around the situation outside in this wheelchair. But only fifteen minutes at most."

I nodded. Fifteen minutes was more than enough. At least for that day. Hopefully, the next day I could do the same thing.

The man helped me out of bed. My legs were still weak, so I really needed help. But other than that, I felt fine myself.

After I sat in the wheelchair, the person who was with me immediately pushed the wheelchair towards the bedroom door. After the door opened, we slid out right away.

We were in a corridor like those in a typical hospital. The corridor was about two meters wide. I couldn't estimate the length of the corridor because as far as my eyes could see, I couldn't see either end of the corridor. The room I was in was only one of the many rooms on the right and left of the corridor.

That person was pushing the wheelchair I was in. After about three hundred meters from the room, we met a doctor and two nurses. They entered the door of a room that was there. But less than a minute, they came out again.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty." The doctor greeted me with such a respectful attitude.

"Good afternoon." I answered briefly.

The two nurses who were with the doctor were also respectful. They bent their bodies towards me. The three of them then went in the direction they had come from.

"Are we allowed to enter this room or not?"

There was no response from the person pushing my wheelchair. Even though I couldn't see him, because he was standing behind me. But I could feel that the person was at a loss for words to answer that question.

"Tell you what. I'll just go in myself. You wait outside."

I hope my proposal can be a middle ground between what I could and couldn't do.

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied the man. He then opened the door to the room.

I was trying to turn the wheel in the wheelchair. But it turned out to be more difficult than I thought. It seemed that it took some special practice to get the wheelchair to move forward smoothly. The person I was with then pushed the wheelchair into the room.

Unlike the room where I was, in that room there were two beds. But there was only one bed occupied. The person accompanying me then pushed the wheelchair until it was right next to the bed, filled with the patient. The patient lying on the bed was surprised to see me.

"In ten minutes I will bring Your Majesty back to the room," said the man who escorted me.

I nodded. The person then immediately left the room.

The person lying on the bed looked at me with a confused look. He was a young man of about thirty years of age.

"Do you know who I am?"

The young man lying on the bed nodded.

"Your Majesty is Tianmu Shanquan. The Great Emperor of our New World."

This time I was really surprised. Actually, I could already guess. The title "Your Majesty" was meant for the Great Emperor. But the affirmation that this person uttered still surprised me.

"Did Your Majesty forget again?"

The expression on this young man's face looked strange. A mix of pity and despair.

"Have we met before?"

The young man sighed. He then said in a very slow tempo. He seemed worried that I wouldn't get what he meant if he spoke at a normal tempo.

"I started being here about a month before Your Majesty was transferred here. Since then, Your Majesty had lost consciousness several times. Once you woke up, Your Majesty usually suffers from partially amnesia. About a week after you woke up, only then will Your Majesty be able to recall things that have happened in the past."

"So we do know each other."

"Of course."

"And we often talk?"

"There isn't much for us to do here. So we often play chess to pass the time."

"Okay! You're right. I can't remember much right now. Can you tell me a little now about why I got here?"

"Your Majesty, please don't worry. In about a week, Your Majesty will remember these things on your own."

"One week is too long. I want to know now."

"All right, Your Majesty. Where do you want me to start?"

"Starting from, why did I become emperor? There are so many people in Tianmu and Duanmu's family. Why did they choose me?"

The person started to stare. His eyes stared blankly ahead.

"All of this started one day ten years ago."

"Wait a minute, what's your name?"

"My name is Linghu Jianzhi."

"Linghu?"

"That's right Your Majesty. You know my father, Linghu Weideng."

"Oh!"

That name sounded familiar. But I couldn't remember who that person was.

"And the person who escorted you in here earlier was Qiulin Yuzhou. Your Majesty also knew his father."

"Before you start telling me, I'm curious. Why did the doctor and the two nurses who came into this room just be inside for an instant?"

"They want to check on the person next to me," Linghu Jianzhi pointed at the empty bed next to him. "After coming into this room, they found out that other doctors and nurses had taken the patient to the laboratory about half an hour ago."

Actually, it's a bit strange. It turned out that the doctors there lacked coordination with each other.

"Okay, now tell me briefly about what happened. You have heard what Qiulin said. So, I don't have much time."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Ten years ago, there was a rebellion. The emperor who reigned in Tianjing was killed. Within three months after that, the rebels killed many members of the Tianmu family. The surviving members of the Tianmu family chose to change their names and go into hiding."

"So that's why the imperial supporters chose the emperor of the Duanmu family?"

"That's right, Your Majesty! The Tianmu Family is a branch of the Duanmu Family. So one could say that the Duanmu Family is the parent clan of the Tianmu Family. In fact, before the Tianmu Family was formed, power in this new world rested in the hands of the Duanmu Family."

"But there are so many people in the Duanmu Family. Why should they choose me? Even I have never had an intense relationship with the Duanmu Family. We live far from association with the Duanmu Family."

"Your Majesty was not the only member of the Duanmu Family to ascend the throne as Emperor. During the first five years after the rebellion, many members of the Duanmu Family rose to the throne as emperor in succession. As soon as they ascended the throne, usually the rebels could trace their whereabouts. They were then caught and killed. And so on. Almost every month there was a new emperor."

"Was it that easy to catch an emperor?"

"The rebels have a lot of spies. They infiltrated the group of people who are still loyal to the empire. They regularly reported to the rebel side. So it's not that difficult for the rebels to catch people who are determined to become emperor. "

"The rebels have succeeded in coming to power. Why didn't they install an emperor from among themselves?"

"The rebels believe that supreme power should not be left to one person. And rulers should not pass that power on to their descendants. According to them, power should not be inherited."

"It's an interesting concept. In a different time and place, it's entirely possible that I would have endorsed the concept."

Linghu Jianzhi laughed at what I said. I also laughed after seeing that young man laugh.

"Yeah, it's funny if the reigning emperor doesn't even support imperial institutions."

Linghu Jianzhi nodded in approval.

"So instead of appointing an emperor, the rebels created a collective leadership. This leadership group consisted of 73 people. In reality, however, there were only 72 people sitting on the committee. One person had refused from the start. He simply refused to be involved in the course of the rebels."

"Are they not willing to replace that one person who refused with someone else who is willing to cooperate?"

The information really caught my attention. So, there was one person among the rebels who later regretted his actions. This kind of thing was very rare. After winning, usually people would become crazy to continue to achieve even greater power.

"The one person who refused was the one who wrote the manifesto for the rebels. So we can say that the person was the leader of the rebels. But it seemed like he didn't expect that their movement of rebellion then actually succeeded in overthrowing the empire. So after their struggle was successful, that person instead chose to retreat."

"Sometimes we always hesitate just as we're stepping foot in the door. I can understand how he feels."

I didn't know if what I just said made sense. At that time, I suddenly wanted to say something like that.

Linghu Jianzhi nodded his head. Then he continued his speech. "So officially he is the number one person on the ruling committee. Even though he blatantly doesn't want to interfere, his name is still listed as the leader in the committee."

"Then who took over his position on the committee?"

"The deputy committee chairman who is also that person's student then takes over as the number one person on the committee. But formally he is still a vice-chairman. He doesn't want to fire his teacher at all."

"I guess we could call him a devoted disciple."

I laughed after saying that. Suddenly I remembered something. I was a teacher. Or at least been a teacher for years. I also suddenly remembered some things related to that. Apparently, conversing with other people like that could stimulate the return of my memory.

"I remember I was a teacher. In my decades of teaching, there have been one or two students who thought that way."

"Five years ago, when Tianmu Jingkang was killed, no one from the Duanmu family dared to declare himself emperor. It was then that a group of people kidnapped Your Majesty and then crowned Your Majesty as emperor."

"Tianmu Jingkang? This name feels very familiar. Maybe later I can remember clearly."

"Before he ascended the throne, people knew him as Duanmu Jingkang. He was a very famous businessman. He was one of Your Majesty's supporters. According to some analysts, he deliberately sacrificed himself by becoming emperor so that Your Majesty would be willing to step forward after he died. "

"That's such a stupid thing!"

"Foolishness and loyalty are sometimes very thin, Your Majesty."

"The line between loyalty and foolishness is sometimes too thin, Your Majesty."

"You're right!"

Silent situation for a moment.

"Then why didn't they immediately kill me after that? Did the rebels' splendid spy ring suddenly become dysfunctional?"

"I don't know for sure. But what is clear, Your Majesty had always managed to escape the ambushes of the special forces sent by the rebels."

"When they finally caught me?"

"One year ago they caught Your Majesty. I don't know where they had detained Your Majesty, but three months after the arrest, they transferred Your Majesty to this place."

"So for a year, they put me under house arrest. This is very interesting."

The young man nodded.

"Then why did they arrest you, too?" I wonder why this young man was here. Was he also an important figure in the movement against the rebels?

Linghu Jianzhi laughed.

"Because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. A year and a half ago, when the rebel special forces raided a place that was used as the Duanmu family's secret meeting, I happened to be in the vicinity."

"You were not coming to the meeting?"

"No, Your Majesty. I just happened to be there."

"Then why didn't they let you go?"

"Because they later realized that I am the son of Linghu Weideng, a supporter of the empire. Over the past few years, my father had indeed become a fugitive."

"Then where did they imprison you?"

"I don't know, Your Majesty. But I suspect they imprisoned me in the city where they arrested me. Ten months ago, they transferred me here. They said I was sick, so I had to be treated in this underground hospital. I don't know what my illness is . I feel myself fine."

"You said that the rebels always executed those who ascended the throne to become emperor. Then why am I still alive today?

"The Deputy Chief of the New World Rescue Committee, as they call the committee they created, insisted on not executing Your Majesty."

The bedroom door opened. Qiulin Yuzhou appeared from behind the door.

"Ten minutes have passed, Your Majesty. I really want to give Your Majesty some more time. But if I do that, there will be consequences I will have to accept."

I felt sorry for that person. I didn't think I should drag him into trouble.

"I understand. Alright, I'll go back to the room now."

Qiulin Yuzhou walked into the room and moved to the back of the wheelchair. He then pushed the wheelchair toward the bedroom door.

When the wheelchair arrived at the door of the room, suddenly there was something that really piqued my curiosity.

"What's the name of the Deputy Chairman of the Committee? I mean, the one who decided not to sentence me to death."

"He is one of the Young Masters of an influential conglomerate network. His name is Mingzhu Caihong," Linghu Jianzhi replied.