After the maid withdrew, she grabbed a pair of earrings from her bedside table and said irritably, “Why didn’t you sound the alarm last night?”

The liquid metal creature White Board had just awakened from its meditative state and twisted its body in confusion. “What alarm? Is something wrong with my lady’s health?”

Feng Miao Jun immediately sensed something was amiss. “Wait, you didn’t see Yun Ya last night?”

White Board sprang up. “Master came by?”

Feng Miao Jun held it up and shook it twice. “Don’t tell me you two are conspiring to play tricks on me?”

“That’s unfair!” White Board stretched its body straight. “This palace chamber is guarded by so many formations at night, even if I wanted to be an accomplice, I wouldn’t know how to disable them. How could I possibly escort Master Yun Ya inside?” Male Master visited? Really? Perhaps it should secretly invite him in at night?

After all, he was its master too. Shouldn’t it treat both masters equally?

“Did you lose focus last night?” White Board also served as a sentry, usually stationed at her bedside to guard her safety.

“Not at all.” White Board was practically swearing to the heavens. “The night rain stopped before the hour of Hai, then the moon came out. I practiced cultivation all night without even a single dose. In your chamber, forget about people—not even a ghost appeared!”

Then where did the Yun Ya she saw last night come from? It was almost impossible for that fellow to bypass the imperial guards and layers of protective formations to sneak to her side without alarming anyone, including the liquid metal creature.

Could it have been an illusion?

No, that wasn’t right. The sensation of skin contact had been too real, and how could an illusion possibly bind her and shamelessly take liberties with her?

Feng Miao Jun unconsciously touched her lips, as if the man’s warmth still lingered.

So his lips were also unusually warm.

White Board snickered: “Are you thinking about him during the day and dreaming about him at night?” Judging by her mistress’s expression and movements, something must have happened in her dreams last night.

But before it could ask further, the mistress flicked her finger, sending the earring flying. White Board slid down the wall and sheepishly crept back to the bedside.

If she didn’t want to admit it, fine, but why take it out on him?

Feng Miao Jun, however, was enlightened by its words.

Yes, last night besides her and Yun Ya, there hadn’t been another living being in the chamber. But where had White Board gone?

It claimed to have been guarding her side the whole time, never leaving for a moment. And it also said the heavy rain had stopped by the hour of Hai, after which the clouds broke and the moon appeared.

But during her experience that night, the rain had never ceased, and the window outside was pitch black with nothing visible.

These were two different spaces.

If White Board wasn’t lying, there was only one explanation—

She had truly met Yun Ya in her dream!

This conclusion was absurd and would have been dismissed with contempt in the past. But in this world of strange powers and mystical theories, what was impossible?

“My lady—” White Board approached cringingly, but Feng Miao Jun cut it off: “Silence!”

A flash of inspiration crossed her mind.

Feng Miao Jun closed her eyes, recalling the records she had seen in the Smoke Sea Tower.

It was an ancient book written in Celestial Demon script, left to gather dust on the most remote shelf of the Smoke Sea Tower. It mentioned that besides the Netherworld, there existed another realm in the human world called the Dream Realm. When intelligent beings like humans gather in large numbers, their essence, energy, and spirit give birth to another immaterial world.

The most common name for this world was simply the realm of dreams.

When humans fell asleep, their consciousness entered the dream world. The locations in dreams were constructed based on reality, so dreamers were unaware of their situation. However, this world was highly subjective; one’s thoughts and desires often manifested there, which was why dreams were mostly bizarre and strange.

If this was true… Feng Miao Jun couldn’t help but smile coldly. She had wondered how Yun Ya dared to sneak into the royal palace alone; it turned out he had never physically been there but had merely infiltrated her dream to behave inappropriately—his words and actions weren’t things she could have imagined out of thin air, so he must have been behind it.

This man’s powers were vast, and the number of arts he had mastered was unknown; being able to enter dreams wasn’t surprising. But Feng Miao Jun also remembered the book mentioned that to achieve a specific person’s dream, the two individuals needed to be as close as possible in the real world for a higher chance of success. Additionally, it was best if they established a special bond through direct contact, which served as coordinates to guide one to the specific dreamland.

These two conditions truly made her shudder. It meant that Yun Ya himself was already in Ursel City, probably not far from the royal palace. Moreover, they must have had direct contact recently.

That fellow stood out in a crowd like a beacon; if they had made contact, she couldn’t possibly have forgotten. So the best explanation was that he had disguised himself as someone to approach her again.

Just thinking about it made her uneasy. Feng Miao Jun rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. She had met too many guests before the Annual Feast, and this man always perfectly assumed whatever disguise he chose. How could she identify which one was Yun Ya?

Besides, even if she found him, what could she do? Cut him into pieces?

She dared not; she feared death.

Perhaps capture him, tie him up, and then do this and that?

Feng Miao Jun held her head and wailed softly.

What was she thinking? After last night, everything seemed off!

The last time her heart was in such disarray, she could have simply fled to the ends of the earth. This time, she had responsibilities to manage and couldn’t act on a whim anymore.

Fortunately, her status was also different now. From the moment she had secretly left Taiping City, she understood that she no longer needed to fear Yun Ya.

As daylight grew stronger, she got up to wash and dress, then attended court affairs—everything just like usual.

With the Annual Feast approaching, various arrangements and preparations needed to be discussed.

These matters didn’t require Feng Miao Jun’s personal decisions. She listened absently, her thoughts gradually drifting back to the scenes from last night.

Oh, stop it! Was it appropriate to think of such things in broad daylight, amid important state affairs?

But where was Yun Ya now? Wandering around Ursel City, or secretly changing his appearance to sneak into the royal court? Feng Miao Jun scanned the faces of the court officials with her beautiful eyes, wondering if he might be among them.

At this moment, the city defense guard mentioned that the Wei envoy’s lodging had been surrounded and attacked by commoners who threw dog blood and rotten eggs. The remnant people of An Xia had suffered greatly under Wei’s invasion, and since the fall of An Xia occurred only a decade ago, most people still remembered it clearly and harbored a deep hatred for Wei.

Ordinary people only sought vengeance; who cared about national interests?

Xu Guangxiang was indignant, while the Right Minister tried to pacify her with kind words. But where to accommodate her became a difficult problem. The envoy’s carriages all bore their national emblem and would be recognized in public. However, if Xu Guangxiang were asked to remove the emblem, she would consider it a great humiliation—there had never been an envoy who concealed their national emblem out of fear of public hostility. Moreover, this would highlight the New Xia court’s incompetence.