Yun Ya frowned: “What do you mean?”

Feng Miaojun’s gaze swept across his handsome face, seeing his genuine surprise, which only intensified the anger in her heart: “The way you’re treating me now, isn’t this just toying with me?” How was his fondness for her any different from a child’s fondness for a pet cat or dog?

She softened her tone: “Yun Ya, I am the Queen of New Xia. If you don’t want to reignite war between our two nations, you’d better release me now.” She was no longer a helpless young girl; she had an entire nation backing her. Provoking her meant making an enemy of all New Xia!

From this perspective, she no longer needed to fear him.

Yun Ya showed a look of sudden realization as if he had just understood this point, and then, his thin lips curved upward bit by bit: “Capturing you might make it easy to control all of New Xia, wouldn’t it?”

Feng Miaojun’s heart tightened, but she shook her head: “You wouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Earlier, when you saw Fu Lingchuan and the false princess, you didn’t make a move.” Feng Miaojun looked at his perfect profile, his expression now returning to its usual indolence, clearly indicating that the most difficult Yun Ya to deal with had returned. “You have no interest in An Xia.”

She expressed her thoughts. Actually, this idea had formed early on, but recently it had become increasingly clear as her understanding of the situation deepened.

“But now, I’m interested in An’an,” he said softly. “What shall we do?”

Feng Miaojun replied calmly: “By dawn at the latest, someone will come in here. You can’t keep me captive forever.” She spoke word by word: “I am no longer your handmaid.” If Yun Ya didn’t intend to kill her, he would have to let her go sooner or later.

Tomorrow, they would be like bridges and roads—each going their separate ways.

This was the new challenge her change in status brought to their relationship. “Your interest means nothing to me.”

“Whose interest does matter to you?” His peach blossom eyes narrowed, flashing with dangerous light. “Fu Lingchuan’s?”

The way Fu Lingchuan looked at her contained a man’s appreciation and passion for a woman—did she not know this?

“He is the State Preceptor of New Xia, and you—” Feng Miaojun met his gaze without yielding, “—are the State Preceptor of Wei. Who do you think is more important to me, to New Xia?”

She must have angered him, for she saw the turbulence in Yun Ya’s eyes, his anger seemingly gathering like a tsunami. Having followed him for so long, she had never seen him this angry.

But in the next second, Yun Ya closed his eyes, and his breathing became long and even again.

He was calming himself.

After a few breaths, he slowly opened his eyes, his gaze restored to its usual tranquility.

She deeply admired this ability to control his anger at will.

“Indeed, you are now the Queen of New Xia,” Yun Ya said softly. “What are your plans for the future? To use yourself as a bargaining chip to secure a powerful ally for New Xia?” Her beauty was indeed her most powerful weapon, certainly capable of bringing men to their knees.

Feng Miaojun bit her lip: “That’s none of your business.”

He raised her chin with his finger, forcing her to look at him: “Then, would you like to ally with Wei, hmm?”

Wei? Feng Miaojun laughed: “No, I have no interest in Xiao Yan.”

Yun Ya’s gaze darkened as he lowered his head to punish her again. Feng Miaojun quickly said: “Wait, wait, I chose my marriage partner and would never use it as a condition for an alliance!”

He stopped, raising a long eyebrow: “Oh?”

“After becoming Queen of New Xia, I went to Taiping City. The King of Yan wanted the Nineteenth Prince to marry me and tried to detain me in the city.” They were very close again, and she leaned back as far as possible. “But that prince was intent on securing his position, so we reached an agreement without much effort.”

“Zhao Yun?” Yun Ya thought for a moment and couldn’t help but smile. So the Princess Changle who had stirred up the entire Yan Capital was her. Yes, this seemed like her handiwork.

He lowered his head and pecked her on the forehead: “Aren’t you afraid of offending your financial backer? Over the past few months, the King of Yan has been overwhelmed with the major corruption case of the Gao family.”

Feng Miaojun endured it, pouting: “It’s not like I made the Gao family corrupt. He should thank me for digging out these pests.”

“He should indeed thank you, but unfortunately, the timing was wrong.” Yun Ya smiled. “Yan Kingdom intended to invade Xi but wasn’t fully prepared. Your interference forced them to act prematurely to divert attention, resulting in rushed military and food supplies. Soldiers who had yet to return and recuperate from attacking Pu Country were redeployed to the front lines, causing great resistance among the troops. After the war entered the hard-fought stage, the drawbacks of the low morale among Yan troops became evident.”

He paused: “The timing of launching the war was also wrong. Now Yan troops are blocked east of the Qinglan River, with a thousand-mile plain just across the river. If they had launched the war later, the water volume of the Qinglan River would not have been so abundant after June, making it much easier to cross. Yan Kingdom has countless capable people; they couldn’t know this principle. The precious few months of delay gave Xi Kingdom more breathing room.”

He laughed softly: “An’an, wouldn’t you say this is your achievement?”

Ah, this butterfly effect. Feng Miaojun blinked her eyes: “At the time, I only wanted to leave Taiping City with dignity.” And Liu Dali was also quite pitiful. Within her capabilities, she had just given him a helping hand.

It was just a coincidence.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew in from outside the hall, interrupting his words.

The wind came so fiercely, making the curtains flutter. Yun Ya suddenly said: “It’s late; you should sleep. We will meet again.”

He was coming back? Feng Miaojun felt a chill down her spine. But before she could voice this thought, Yun Ya passed his palm over the back of her head, and she slowly closed her eyes, unable to resist the drowsiness that swept over her.

Everything around her gradually became blurry.

When Feng Miaojun opened her eyes again, daylight had arrived.

The rain had stopped at some unknown time, and even a hummingbird had accidentally entered the tent but couldn’t find its way out. Its wings, beating at a frequency barely visible to the naked eye, generated a slightly cool breeze.

Feng Miaojun sat up abruptly, immediately looking at her hands.

They were perfectly fine, not only unbound but without even the slightest red mark. She casually lifted the curtain, and the hummingbird flew away with a chirp.

The servants outside heard the movement and slightly raised their voices: “Your Majesty, you’re awake.”

“Come in.” Feng Miaojun immediately called her in. “Where were you last night?”

“Just—just outside the Azure Pool. This morning when the formations were deactivated as scheduled, your servant came in.”

The Azure Pool outside the sleeping quarters and the entire small garden were included within the range of the formations. She frowned: “The formations weren’t broken?”

“No. All seven formations functioned properly.”

This was strange. If Yun Ya hadn’t forcibly broken through, how had he circumvented the watch of the seven formations to enter the inner hall? Could there be a secret passage here?

Feng Miaojun’s gaze swept around, suddenly remembering something, and she said to the maid on the floor: “You may go now.”