"Look! There really are two moons!"
On the streets of Beijing, citizens pointed upward in terror. Xu Qing, jostled by the panicked crowd, stared at the eerie crimson moon, his stomach churning. The system interface showed a countdown: **71 hours 23 minutes until timeline collapse.**
"Master Xu! His Majesty summons you!" A Imperial Guard pushed through the throng.
Outside the Gate of Heavenly Purity, officials were in chaos. Astronomers from the Imperial Observatory kowtowed repeatedly, chanting prayers. Zhu Youjian stood atop the steps, his face grim as he studied the sky.
"Minister Xu." The emperor approached swiftly. "*This celestial phenomenon...*"
"It's a sign of temporal fusion," Xu Qing whispered urgently. "*Your Majesty, I must return to my time immediately to find Lin Lan's anchor device.*"
Zhu Youjian's brow furrowed. "*Now? Cilang is still in the Western Hills—*"
"The Crown Prince's signal is stable," Xu Qing showed the GPS tracker. "*But if the timelines collapse completely...*"
A bloodcurdling scream interrupted him. The crowd recoiled—the red moon's surface now bore a *distinct human face*!
"*Demons! The demons reveal themselves!*" An elderly minister fainted.
Zhu Youjian's face darkened. Suddenly, he produced a remote and pressed a button. Projectors hidden on the gate's towers activated, casting a massive golden dragon illusion across the sky.
"*We are the true Son of Heaven!*" Zhu Youjian's voice boomed. "*This omen warns of the Jiannu invasion! Stay calm!*"
The golden dragon's brilliance contrasted sharply with the red moon. Officials prostrated themselves. Xu Qing marveled at the emperor's quick thinking—this not only stabilized morale but reinforced divine legitimacy.
---
Back in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Zhu Youjian ordered city defenses reinforced while secretly dispatching Imperial Guards to hunt Cao Huachun. Xu Qing prepared for time travel.
"*How long this time?*" the emperor asked.
"*Twelve hours at most,*" Xu Qing checked the energy gauge. "*But time flows differently—only two hours may pass in my era.*"
Zhu Youjian nodded, then untied a dragon-engraved jade pendant. "*Take this. In case—*" He paused. "*...No, your people wouldn't recognize it.*"
Instead, he wrote and sealed an edict. "*This should hold value in your time?*"
Xu Qing pocketed it. "*I'll be careful. The anchor is likely hidden in our university lab.*"
Zhu Youjian hesitated. "*Minister Xu... if all fails, stay in your era.*"
Xu Qing looked up, startled. The historically paranoid emperor's eyes held only sincere concern.
"*I'll return,*" Xu Qing vowed. "*For both the Ming Dynasty and the modern world.*"
---
The time jump was more violent than ever. Xu Qing felt *ripped apart* before crashing onto his lab floor. Gasping, he checked the time—**21:17, March 15, 2023**. Only two hours had passed.
A quick search revealed global panic over the "twin moons." Historians were losing their minds—photographic evidence showed *Ming Dynasty records changing in real time*, with Chongzhen's reputation shifting from "tyrannical" to "visionary."
"*Too fast...*" Xu Qing muttered. Temporal fusion was accelerating.
Creeping toward Lin Lan's old lab, he found the door labeled "*Under Maintenance*" but with light seeping through. He pushed it open—
The room was empty except for a humming device at its center: a miniature particle collider, its core a color-shifting crystal suspended within electromagnetic fields.
"*Quantum anchor...*" Xu Qing stepped forward—
"*Freeze, timeline criminal.*"
A woman in a black trench coat aimed a pistol at him. Her badge read **T-1793**—the Temporal Bureau's ID!
"*I'm not a criminal! You contacted me!*"
"*Prove it.*"
Xu Qing handed her Zhu Youjian's edict. She scanned it with a device, then lowered her gun slightly. "*Agent Su Yu, Temporal Bureau Branch 7.*"
"*What's happening?*"
"*Lin Lan modified the anchor to merge multiple Ming-era timelines,*" Su Yu gestured at the device. "*If unchecked, both eras will collapse.*"
She handed Xu Qing a U-shaped device. "*Insert this into the core. It'll trigger controlled quantum collapse.*"
As Xu Qing moved to comply, alarms blared!
"*They're here!*" Su Yu drew her weapon. Three armed men burst in!
Gunfire erupted. Xu Qing typed frantically as the anchor shrieked. A attacker broke through—
**BANG!**
Su Yu's bullet dropped him. "*Three seconds! Go!*"
They fled as the lab imploded *silently* behind them—the anchor and part of the table *vanished*, leaving a perfectly smooth cut.
"*Did it work?*" Xu Qing panted.
Su Yu checked a wrist device. "*This anchor is gone, but Lin Lan has another in the Ming era. You must destroy it.*" She handed him a metal capsule. "*Temporal beacon—it'll locate Lin Lan. You have 71 hours.*"
---
The return trip was agony. Xu Qing rematerialized in the Palace of Heavenly Purity to find Zhu Youjian shouting:
"*Minister Xu! Emergency!*"
Princess Changping stood beside him, holding a strange metal box.
"*Cao Huachun sent this,*" Zhu Youjian rasped. "*He demands our 'celestial devices' in exchange for Cilang.*"
Xu Qing opened the box—a small screen showed Zhu Cilang bound to a chair, with Lin Lan and another quantum anchor visible behind him!
"*They gave us one hour,*" Zhu Youjian's knuckles whitened.
The image switched to Cao Huachun's wrinkled face: "*Your Majesty, this old servant has no choice. Hand over the immortal devices, and the Crown Prince shall be spared.*"
Xu Qing noticed something chilling—a map behind Cao Huachun showed Qing troop movements *diverging from history*, with drone symbols marking key targets!
"*Your Majesty!*" A guard rushed in. "*Signal fires at the Western Hills! The Qing army approaches!*"
Zhu Youjian turned to Xu Qing. "*What now?*"
The temporal beacon pulsed—the red dot was at Lingfu Temple. "*I'll rescue the prince and destroy the anchor. But you must stay here—this is a diversion!*"
After a long silence, Zhu Youjian unsheathed his sword and offered it to Xu Qing. "*Bring my son back.*"
As Xu Qing turned to leave, Zhu Meichuo blocked him. "*I'm coming.*"
"*Princess—*"
"*I know the Western Hills. And... I know how to handle Cao Huachun.*"
Zhu Youjian nodded. Xu Qing checked the system—**39.5% divergence, 70 hours 18 minutes remaining**.
Then—a commotion outside. Wang Cheng'en stumbled in:
"*Your Majesty! The red moon—it's CRACKING!*"
They rushed out. A black fissure now split the crimson moon, revealing... *a reflection of another Forbidden City*!
"*Temporal rift...*" Xu Qing breathed.
Zhu Youjian remained eerily calm. "*Go. We will hold here.*"
As Xu Qing and Zhu Meichuo departed, he cast one last look back—the emperor stood alone before the palace, his dragon robes billowing against the fractured sky.
In that moment, Xu Qing remembered the historical record of Chongzhen's death:
"*...The emperor perished on Coal Hill, his eyes fixed on the Forbidden City as tears gave way to blood.*"