In the third year of the Taiqing era of the Liang dynasty, the imperial capital Jiankang was besieged by the rebel Hou Jing. The city descended into a living hell of carnage and starvation, with aristocratic clans massacred. Xie Yuqing, the eldest legitimate daughter of the Xie clan, fled in a carriage with her younger siblings to save them. When soldiers came to capture her, she entrusted her siblings to the retainer Ling Ye and jumped out to create a diversion. Cornered by Xianbei soldiers, she was rescued by a man in white armor whom she knew and trusted. He embraced her, then treacherously stabbed her in the heart, covering her mouth until she died. He took a brocade pouch from her and declared that by killing her he could approach an enemy to avenge the Xie clan and that she would never belong to anyone else. He left her corpse and vanished.In the second year of the Heqing era of Northern Qi, in the Zheng family mansion at Yingyang commandery, the Fourteenth Young Master suddenly fell violently ill, his limbs convulsing and his face contorted, unable to speak. Old Madam Zheng Lu desperately sought a physician. A maid recalled that a month ago, the young master had encountered a veiled woman in Peach Blossom Valley and tried to force her into concubinage. She refused and predicted he would relapse into this exact condition. The villagers called her a divine physician. The old madam immediately ordered a carriage to the remote village, a scenic haven of rivers, bamboo, and peach blossoms. At the hut, a stunningly beautiful boy named Fenghuang appeared. He refused to treat the patient, stating that the young master had attempted to assault his master, Qing Gege. Despite the old madam’s pleas and Li-shi’s haughty insistence, Fenghuang remained unyielding. He quoted Buddhist principles, arguing that saving a wolf only brings more suffering. Finally, the old madam set aside her pride and promised to return the fertile land, captive woman, and refugees that her grandson had unjustly seized. Fenghuang then agreed, insisting the patient be brought to the hut for treatment. Inside, Qing Gege, a young man with delicate features, was absorbed in an unfinished painting and tormented by fragmented memories. When the old madam called out, he emerged with a dazed expression and asked the meaning of medicine to bolster the right and eliminate the evil. Then, in sudden confusion, he declared, “I just remembered, I am a woman?” but quickly corrected himself, “No, I am a man. A man who refuses to admit he is a woman.” Fenghuang guided him back inside and told the stunned old madam to treat the symptoms first, assuring her that Qing Gege would now consent to see the patient. The story thus intertwines the betrayal and death of Xie Yuqing with the mysterious, memory-wracked physician, who is haunted by a past he cannot fully grasp.
