Empress Dowager Xiaoxuan

Chapter One: Coma

In the classroom of Class 7, Grade 1 at Huakai Academy, this moment is a joyous time for all the students. Winter vacation has arrived, and they can finally sleep in as much as they want without worrying about getting up early.

Lin Yue, who had served as a substitute homeroom teacher for five months, was now at the perfect moment for relief. Looking at the students who both angered and delighted her, a helpless smile appeared on her face. She believed that there was no teacher in the world more tormented than her.

Winter break, winter break is finally here!

“Dear teacher, even during this long winter when we are separated, I will build a warm castle for you in the deepest part of my heart. If you miss me during our time apart, remember to contact me anytime; my phone is always open for you.” Mao Chong stood on a stool and loudly poured out his heart to his acting homeroom teacher, Lin Yue. After hearing his words, although Lin Yue had goosebumps, she still forced a smile and said, “Mao Chong, thank you for thinking of your teacher so much. Have a good holiday too. See you in the new semester!”

As she watched the last student, Mao Chong, rush out of the classroom, Lin Yue's smile vanished. Gritting her teeth, she cursed inwardly: "You brat!"

After looking around, Lin Yue found the classroom empty. She began a final check of the classroom. If there were no problems, she could lock the classroom door, make a phone call to the principal to report, and then begin her relaxing vacation.

She exhaled a long breath, feeling much more relaxed, when a schoolbag caught her eye.

That was Zhong Xuan's seat.

Zhong Xuan... Zhong Xuan!

Class monitor Zhong Xuan was still in the office helping me record my final exam scores. How could I have forgotten about her? Thinking of this, Lin Yue picked up her schoolbag, left the classroom, locked the door, and ran towards the office. Reaching the office door, she pushed it open and saw Zhong Xuan asleep on the desk. Lin Yue couldn't help but smile, walked over to the desk, gently patted Zhong Xuan's shoulder, and called out, "Xiao Xuan, Xiao Xuan."

"Teacher!" Xiaoxuan groggily opened her eyes and replied.

"I'm so sorry to have made you so tired. Go home now. Winter break has already started. Have a good holiday." Lin Yue said apologetically to Zhong Xuan, who was severely sleep-deprived due to preparing for final exams.

"Okay." Taking the schoolbag from Lin Yue, Xiao Xuan stood up and said, "Teacher, bye, see you when school starts."

"Okay, see you when school starts."

After saying goodbye to Lin Yue, Xiao Xuan walked out of the office and headed out of the teaching building.

A loud "Boom!" was heard. Lin Yue looked out the window and saw that thunder was rumbling outside.

Still half asleep, Xiao Xuan stepped out of the teaching building and glanced at the gloomy sky, thinking to herself, "Are you kidding me? I just came out!" Suddenly, the sky turned pitch black, as if terrible weather was about to strike. Looking at the low-hanging clouds, Xiao Xuan muttered to herself, "Hail? Sleet? Blizzard?"

Two cars were parked outside the school gate, each with a boy inside, all waiting for Xiaoxuan to walk out of the school.

A bolt of lightning peeked out from the dark clouds, its graceful form appearing as if searching for a target, occasionally peeking out from the clouds.

Xiao Xuan slowly walked towards the school gate. At the same time, Tian Ye and Kang Xuan, Xiao Xuan's classmates who were sitting in the car, got out of the car, looked at each other, and looked at Xiao Xuan who was slowly walking towards the school gate.

A blinding flash of lightning pierced the clouds above Xiaoxuan's head. Tianye and Kangxuan both closed their eyes briefly at the blinding light. When they opened their eyes again, Xiaoxuan was lying on the school grounds.

"Xiao Xuan!" "Xiao Xuan!" the two exclaimed simultaneously.

They sprinted back to the campus, and the two of them ran to Xiaoxuan's side at the same time, squatted down at the same time, and pulled on Xiaoxuan's body at the same time.

"Let go of me! Xiaoxuan is mine! I'm taking her to the hospital!" Tianye shouted.

"Let go of her! She's the one I've chosen! I'm taking her to the hospital!" Kang Xuan shouted.

My head hurts, my head really hurts. Who's been yelling in my ear? I can tell from their voices it's those two again. With a sigh, Xiaoxuan opened her eyes and was startled.

Where am I? Ugh, why am I floating in mid-air? What's going on? Where's my body? Why can't I see my own body? My body... my body, in the hands of those two idiots! Floating in mid-air, Xiao Xuan looked down at the noisy Tian Ye and Kang Xuan on the ground, speechless. What's wrong with me? Is my soul leaving my body? My soul leaving my body...

Me? Dead? Impossible! This is impossible! As she was filled with astonishment, a powerful force appeared behind her. Her ethereal soul, as if grasped by an invisible hand, was powerless to resist, manipulated at its mercy, and then cast aside into darkness...

"What are you two doing? What happened to Zhong Xuan?" Lin Yue, who ran out of the teaching building, shouted in a panic when she saw the scene in front of her.

"There was a flash of lightning just now, and it was too close to her. I guess she was so frightened that she fainted," Tianye explained.

"Then hurry up and take her to the hospital! Is this the time for you to argue?" Lin Yue said angrily. So, under Lin Yue's arrangement, Xiao Ye picked up Xiao Xuan and ran quickly to the car waiting at the school gate. Together with Kang Xuan and Lin Yue, they took Xiao Xuan to Ren'ai Hospital, the closest hospital to Huakai Academy where her mother worked.

Upon receiving the news, Xuan's mother, Liu Lu, was panicked and at a loss. What on earth had happened? Her child was on holiday, but instead, she had been frightened unconscious by lightning at school. Watching Xiao Xuan being wheeled into the emergency room, Liu Lu was so anxious that tears streamed down her face.

After more than half an hour of emergency treatment, Xiaoxuan was wheeled out of the emergency room.

Liu Lu, Xuan's mother, who had been waiting outside the door, hurriedly wiped away her tears and asked the doctor who was treating her, "How is Xuanxuan?"

“Dr. Liu,” the doctor said gravely, “just like last time, she is in a coma. Her nervous system is unresponsive. Xuanxuan’s current condition is like that of a vegetable.”

"What? What does this mean?" Liu Lu burst into tears. "Wasn't she supposed to have fainted from being frightened by lightning? How could this happen?"

“Dr. Liu, don’t worry. Do you remember when Xuanxuan was hospitalized last time? I was thinking that after being frightened, she might experience a temporary state similar to animal hibernation. Once the hibernation period is over, she will wake up on her own. Judging from her appearance, everything is normal, and her brain nerves are very active, but she just won’t wake up. This reminds me of a term that would never appear in the medical field: sealing. Her condition seems to be like that.”

After hearing what the emergency doctor said, Liu Lu had an incredulous expression on her face. She stared blankly as Xiao Xuan was pushed into the ward by the nurse. She nodded hurriedly to the doctor in the emergency room and walked heavily toward Xiao Xuan's ward.

"Auntie! That doctor said Xuanxuan was hospitalized last time? What does that mean?" Tianye asked anxiously as Liu Lu entered the ward.

“Last time, an older woman brought her to the hospital, saying she had been struck by lightning,” Liu Lu said, sitting by her daughter’s bedside, looking at her daughter who looked like she was fast asleep. “At the time, the doctors at the hospital all thought that the older woman was just old and seeing things, which is why she said that. Back then, Xuanxuan’s reactions were just like they are now, very normal. There was no sign of her being struck by lightning at all.”

"Auntie," Kang Xuan asked, looking at Xiao Xuan on the hospital bed, "when did she get better? How did she recover?"

As Liu Lu recalled the events, tears streamed down her face. "Just like this time, she was like a vegetable, sleeping soundly. There were no signs of anything. Just when her father and I were heartbroken, she woke up as if nothing had happened and was found on the rooftop terrace of the hospital."

"Auntie, how long was she unconscious last time?" Tianye asked, frowning.

“For 10 days, her father and I counted down the days. She woke up on the 10th day.” After saying this, Liu Lu covered her face with her hands and cried bitterly.

Lin Yue quickly stepped forward to comfort her, "Dr. Liu, don't worry, Xiao Xuan will be alright. Didn't that doctor just say the same thing? She'll definitely wake up; her classmates are waiting for her to go back to school together."

While trying to persuade Liu Lu, Lin Yue, who was also looking at Tian Ye and Kang Xuan, who both liked Zhong Xuan, quietly swallowed back her words about not allowing high school students to date. Now was not the time to say such things.

Xiaoxuan, wake up quickly. Don't leave the people who love you here all alone.

Xiaoxuan is so sad, she feels so sad that she wants to cry.

What happened? Why am I so sad? Where am I? Is this a black hole...? What is this pitch-black place? Where am I? I want to go home. I need to practice my song. I need to rehearse with everyone...

In the pitch-black space, Xiaoxuan kept shouting, when she heard someone call out in her ear, "Miss, wake up! Miss, you're having another nightmare!"

A shout came from her ear, and Xiaoxuan was being pu

……