A peasant girl travels through time with a hospital, rising to become an empress.

Nie Qianqian's clothes were patched all over. After running around all day, the stray hairs on her forehead were wet with sweat and stuck to her face. Carrying three bamboo baskets, she looked dusty and out of place with her surroundings. The scholars passing by couldn't help but glance at her.

"Who is this peasant woman? What brings her to our Tiande Academy?"

"Her outfit is truly an insult to civility."

"But this woman is truly beautiful."

"Brother Wang, you haven't taken a fancy to a peasant woman, have you? That's truly an insult to scholarship, hahaha."

Nie Qianqian ignored the scrutinizing glances and whispers from passersby and strode towards Tiande Bookstore to find Gu Xiao.

As soon as she entered the bookstore, Nie Qianqian spotted Gu Xiao sitting quietly in the corner copying books. Just as she was about to walk over, she saw two students dressed as students from Tiande Academy walk up to Gu Xiao before she did.

One of the plump scholars opened his folding fan with his right hand and fanned himself a couple of times in a pretentious manner, while his left hand casually flipped through the bookshelf, seemingly picking out books, but his eyes were always fixed on Gu Xiao.

The plump scholar spoke slowly: "Brother Fengyang, I suddenly had a thought today. Do you think the differences between people are predetermined by nature?"

The scholar beside him chimed in sarcastically, "Of course, some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth and are destined for a bright future in officialdom, while others are unlucky and have to bow down for a meager living, making a living by copying books."

The fat scholar sneered, "Ha, the most ridiculous thing is that the latter thinks he can change his fate just because he has some talent. It's really laughable, hahahaha."

The two burst into laughter, which sounded particularly jarring to Nie Qianqian.

She overheard their conversation clearly. These two weren't looking for books at all; they clearly had a grudge against Gu Xiao and were deliberately coming here to humiliate him!

She observed Gu Xiao's reaction. Most people would not be unmoved by such insults, but Gu Xiao seemed to have not heard their words at all. He sat there quietly copying the book, as still as a deep well, and even the speed and force of his writing were not affected in the slightest.

It was as if none of this concerned him.

Although Nie Qianqian and Gu Xiao didn't have a deep relationship, he was her husband, and she couldn't tolerate being humiliated by outsiders.

She walked over, threw the three bamboo baskets she was carrying on the ground, dusted off her hands, and said to the two of them with seven parts disdain and three parts nonchalance, "Tsk tsk tsk, what kind of nonsense is this?"

The two men, who were feeling quite smug, were stunned. Looking at the ragged, dusty peasant woman in front of them, what was with that disdainful look in her eyes? How dare this woman from a poor peasant family look at them like that?

Who gave her the confidence? Who gave her the courage?

Uncle is so patient, but Auntie couldn't hold back anymore.

The fat scholar immediately flew into a rage, pointing his fan at Nie Qianqian and angrily saying, "Who are you, woman? How dare you spout such nonsense?"

Nie Qianqian, channeling her inner drama queen, gaped open, staring at the two of them in disbelief, and said in an exaggerated tone, "I'm talking nonsense? Isn't it you two?"

The fat scholar, in a fit of anger, waved his paper fan at Nie Qianqian, "What do you, a woman, know?"

In her past life, Nie Qianqian hated it most when people pointed at her. She narrowed her eyes, reached out with her right hand and pushed, and before the fat scholar could even see her movement, the folding fan in his hand was already in Nie Qianqian's hand.

Nie Qianqian opened her folding fan, fanned herself, then closed it, twirled it in her hand, and said, "It's already the beginning of autumn, and the weather is so cool. I don't know what some people are doing with their fans all day long. It's like putting garlic in a pig's nose, just pretending to be an elephant."

The fat scholar, who was used to quoting classical Chinese, had never argued with anyone like this before. His face turned red with anger, and he shouted, "You, you, you shrew, stop talking nonsense!"

"I am but a woman, so it is one thing for me to speak recklessly. But you, as students of Tiande Academy, well-versed in the classics, how can you also speak recklessly? According to what you just said, doesn't this mean that the court selects talent based on family background rather than ability and virtue? Isn't this completely contrary to the original intention of the imperial examination system established by His Majesty? Are you questioning...?"

Before Nie Qianqian could finish speaking, Gu Xiao interrupted, "Qianqian."

Seeing his serious expression, Nie Qianqian knew he was telling her not to speak ill of the Emperor, so she didn't continue.

The first time I heard him call my name, I thought to myself, how come the words "Qianqian" sound so beautiful coming from his mouth?

The scholar named Feng Yang, hearing her unfinished words, looked around somewhat guiltily.

“That’s not what we meant at all. Don’t make baseless accusations.”

The fat scholar said, "What nonsense are you spouting? What's your relationship with Gu Xiao that you're taking his side like this?"

Feng Yang drawled, "Oh, Brother Gu usually seems so refined and gentle, I never imagined he'd have such an ambiguous relationship with this country bumpkin."

Nie Qianqian snorted, "Your eyes are really dirty, everything you see is dirty. We know our relationship very well. I am his wife. What, can't a wife say a few words for her husband?"

The two were taken aback. Wife? They had no idea that Gu Xiao was already married.

Nie Qianqian: "But what about you? What is your relationship with my husband? Coming here in broad daylight to gossip about others, do you have nothing better to do? Are you jealous of my husband's looks and talent, and knowing you can't even catch up to him, you can only try to find balance by talking about your family background?"

Both of them blushed slightly; Nie Qianqian's words had really hit a nerve.

"Don't be embarrassed or angry. Looks are determined at birth. You and my husband are worlds apart, especially, cough cough."

Nie Qianqian didn't continue speaking, but looked at the fat scholar with a look of disdain and pity.

Leaving aside the fat scholar's appearance, he was so fat that the more Nie Qianqian looked at him, the more he resembled her second senior brother.

The fat scholar bristled, his eyebrows furrowed, his fists clenched tighter and tighter, feeling as if he'd been kicked hard in the chest, suffocating with anger. "What do you mean by that?!"

Nie Qianqian spread her hands: "It means exactly what you think it means."

"Your appearance is already beyond your reach, but your talent can still catch up. Instead of wasting time causing trouble for my husband, you should use that time to read more books. Perhaps that can shorten the gap."

After she finished speaking, a very soft laugh came from Gu Xiao behind Nie Qianqian, so soft that it could be easily missed if you didn't listen carefully.

Nie Qianqian turned around. Gu Xiao's smile had faded, but the smile remained in his eyes. Nie Qianqian winked at him, meaning, "Don't worry, with me here, no one will dare to bully you."

Gu Xiao was slightly taken aback when he saw her playful wink. After Nie Qianqian turned around, the corners of his mouth curled up almost imperceptibly.

Feng Yang's hands trembled with anger: "Nonsense! Gu Xiao, aren't you going to stop your wife from spouting such nonsense? Is this how your family behaves?"

Gu Xiao put down the pen he was using to copy the book and said slowly, "What my wife said is all true. How could I stop her? My family are farmers, and our family tradition is to tell the truth."

This time it was Nie Qianqian's turn to laugh, but she didn't care too much and just laughed out loud.

"How utterly vulgar! How utterly vulgar! This is utterly disrespectful to a lady in public!"

The two were, after all, from a family of scholars, unlike the Nie family, a farming family. If it were Old Mrs. Nie and Nie Daqiang, they would have already used vulgar language like "little bitch," "shameless wretch," and so on.

Nie Qianqian thought to herself, "Arguing is only fun when it involves swearing. These other words don't bother me at all."

Before the two could say anything more, they heard an angry voice behind them.

"Yu Fengyang and Wang Zhiwen, you two are causing trouble for Brother Gu Xiao again. If you have any problems, come at me. Don't keep bothering Brother Gu!"

Nie Qianqian turned around and saw a scholar, also dressed in the uniform of Tiande Academy, walking over with a swagger. This person was different from the usual elegant scholar attire; he wore a gold hairpin in his hair and carried a bulging purse embroidered with gold thread.

Yu Fengyang and Wang Zhiwen originally planned to buy books today and humiliate Gu Xiao, but they didn't expect to fail and instead get a cold shoulder. Now that Jiang Wenxuan has arrived, they feel even more bored.

Wang Zhiwen touched his nose. "Jiang Wenxuan, what nonsense are you talking about? Feng Yang and I came here to buy books. We've already picked them out. If it weren't for this shrew, we would have left already."

After saying this, the two were unwilling to stay any longer and turned to leave dejectedly.

Nie Qianqian called out to the chubby scholar, fiddling with her folding fan, and asked, "Don't you want your folding fan anymore?"

The fat scholar flicked his sleeve and snorted coldly, "Hmph, I don't want it anymore."

Nie Qianqian shrugged. If you don't want it, then don't. You can just take it back and let Tuantuan play with it.

She turned around, her gaze falling into Gu Xiao's somewhat surprised eyes. Gu Xiao slowly asked, "Where did you learn these principles?"

Nie Qianqian was a peasant woman who had never been to school and could not read a single character. How could she be as confident and logical as she had been just now?

Qianqian felt a little guilty. "I heard my older brother mention it at home."

Nie Wenye came from a peasant family, a world apart from the sons of the town's high-ranking officials and nobles, so it's not surprising that he had such thoughts.

But···

"Brother Gu, who is this young lady?" Jiang Wenxuan interrupted his thoughts.

Jiang Wenxuan had just witnessed Qianqian standing up for Gu Xiao, and he was curious about the relationship between the two.

Upon hearing his question, Gu Xiao's expression became somewhat unnatural, and he seemed a little hesitant. He cleared his throat and said, "Ahem, this is, this is my wife, her name is Nie Qianqian."

"what?"

Jiang Wenxuan was somewhat surprised. He already knew that Gu Xiao was married and had a wife and child at home, but Gu Xiao rarely mentioned his wife. Judging from Gu Xiao's situation, he and his wife had a low status at home and were not living a happy life.

He had thought his wife was an ignorant little woman who was bullied by her family, but he never expected her to be such a formidable character.

Moreover, as Jiang Wenxuan scrutinized Nie Qianqian's face, his ears unconsciously turned a little red. This peasant woman was truly exceptionally beautiful, even more so than the rich girls his father had introduced him to.

Jiang Wenxuan did not look down on Nie Qianqian because of her clothes. Instead, he bowed and said, "So you are my sister-in-law. Wenxuan greets you."

Nie Qianqian raised an eyebrow. Although she said that this era valued talent over family background, she knew that class system was difficult to overcome. She did not expect Jiang Wenxuan to be so polite.

After Jiang Wenxuan finished bowing, he frowned as if he had thought of something and said, "Sister-in-law Qianqian, although this is our first meeting, there are some things I've wanted to say for a long time."

Before Nie Qianqian could even speak, he blurted out, with a heart full of indignation, "Sister-in-law Qianqian, Brother Gu is a peerless genius. Among all the people I've met at the academy, none can surpass his knowledge and insight. Why not quickly cure Brother Gu's hand ailment and send him to the academy to study? Making him copy books all day is truly burying his talent!!!"

Nie Qianqian tilted her head and looked at Gu Xiao in surprise. She originally thought that her husband was only good at recognizing some words, but it turned out that he was a genius at reading.