What on earth was that? What was with that look on Liu Che’s face, as if he had been plotted against?
Confined in the side hall, Ah Jiao’s small head was filled with large doubts. Why had that old man suddenly flown into a rage and even shoved her?
Yu Li and the other two maids had also had their movements restricted. Nan Ke stepped forward and asked, "Miss, what happened?"
Ah Jiao waved her hand with an air of feigned composure. "It’s nothing. The Emperor is just throwing a tantrum. You all go out; I’m going to sleep for a while." She then whispered to Nan Ke, "Trick those two into leaving. I have business and need to go out for a bit."
Nan Ke took a deep breath, then led Mian Fu and the others away, lowering the bed curtains before exiting.
Ah Jiao raised her official tablet and performed a Deity Summoning Incantation to call upon the nearest City God. A moment later, a man dressed as a pale-faced scholar appeared in the hall. He bowed with his hands clasped. "Subordinate Zhong Yu, by order of the City God, has come to receive your commands."
Ah Jiao lifted the curtain and smiled. "I appreciate your trouble, sir. I have asked you here because I wish to learn the Art of Dream Entry."
She thought of the legends—how the High Ancestor supposedly dreamed of slaying the white snake, or how Wang Zhi claimed to have dreamed of the red sun falling into her embrace. If she could make Liu Che dream of her, many problems would become much easier to handle!
Zhong Yu smiled. "That is not difficult. However, the Incantation of Dream Entry is divided into entering another's dream and creating a dream. Entering another's dream is easy, but creating a dream with one's own spiritual power is difficult. Does the Little Immortal Official wish to learn both?"
Relying on the fact that her first visit to the City God’s manor had been in the company of Lord Yun He, she had earned the title of "Little Immortal Official" from the clerks there for free. Ah Jiao thought for a moment and said, "Teach me both, sir. I can practice them on my own."
Zhong Yu nodded. "Then let us start with the simpler task of entering another's dream." He displayed the incantation text to Ah Jiao and added, "You must be careful when casting this spell. The target must already be dreaming; if their sleep is dreamless, this method will not work. Second, when you first use this method to enter a dream, you can only be a bystander. You cannot change the dreamscape, and there are many restrictions. Once your spiritual power is profound, you might be able to alter it slightly."
"The method of creating a dream is more difficult," he continued, "but the caster can change the scenes and characters within the dream at will according to their own thoughts. Furthermore, the deeper and more practiced your power, the more realistic the dream becomes, and the caster is almost entirely unrestricted within it." He then demonstrated the technique once.
Ah Jiao quickly memorized the steps and demonstrated them back to Zhong Yu. Only after confirming the incantation was correct did Zhong Yu depart.
Creating a dream was still too difficult for her. For now, she would practice entering another's dream and go to investigate Liu Che tonight.
When evening came, the kitchens only sent a few bowls of rice porridge and a plate of meager side dishes with hardly any oil. The kitchens wouldn't dare treat her this way on their own; it had to be Liu Che’s orders.
Ah Jiao sighed. After washing up, she dismissed the servants, leaving only Nan Ke to keep watch outside.
She sat down and cast the spell.
*Why isn't Liu Che asleep yet!* Ah Jiao forced her eyes to stay open until the third watch, when Liu Che finally rose to wash and then returned to bed.
Ah Jiao probed several times until he fell asleep, and finally, she entered the dream. Her luck was good.
The setting in the dream was very familiar—it was this very Jade Hall.
The other people in the dream could not see her. Ah Jiao walked all the way to Liu Che’s bedchamber without hindrance.
On the imperial bed, a man and a woman were entwined. Their clothes were half-shed, a wine pot lay overturned nearby, and fruits were scattered across the bedding. What a sultry scene! That old rogue Liu Che was actually having an erotic dream, and he even knew to transform himself back into his younger self.
To have a fight with her during the day and then have an erotic dream at night! Ah Jiao grew even angrier.
The woman’s nails were painted a beautiful, vivid red. Her fair, slender fingers stroked the skin of Liu Che’s back, then his hair, before she unfastened the man’s topknot.
The two tumbled across the bed, kissing as they rolled. Their clothes grew fewer and fewer. When Liu Che was left with only his trousers, he rose slightly, panting, to pull at the woman’s chemise. The woman giggled and pushed the Emperor away, rolling lightly to the edge of the bed. Her long black hair spilled across the mattress, and she pulled a length of light gauze over herself.
Ah Jiao was horrified! *How is it me?!*
Heavens and gods, could it be that even though she had been dead for over twenty years, Liu Che still had her in his heart and often met her in his dreams?
Ah Jiao shuddered. Then, she felt even worse, because the Ah Jiao on the bed was draped only in a thin red gauze embroidered with "Drunken Hibiscus." She lay half-turned, her eyes full of flirtatious intent as she used her foot to touch Liu Che’s leg, sliding it all the way up.
What kind of move was this! Liu Che laughed and caught the woman’s foot, dragging her directly toward him before pinning her beneath him. The woman, as if playing a prank, tried to scramble toward the foot of the bed, teasing Liu Che as she went.
Playing hard to get!
Ah Jiao’s face turned beet red! She felt as if her ten-plus years of married life with Liu Che had been lived in vain. She had always strictly followed the teachings of her nannies; though she wasn't exactly stiff in marital affairs, she had never been so... wanton!
"Chen Ah Jiao, if you run again, believe it or not, this master will make it so you can't get out of bed or close your legs tomorrow!" Liu Che did not refer to himself as "Zhen" (the imperial "We") but instead used "Ye" (this master/lord) like the profligate sons of the capital, which Ah Jiao found incredibly strange.
The Ah Jiao in the dream laughed coquettishly and said, "This little one is so scared! Don't come over here, Master!" Having said that, she threw herself into Liu Che’s arms, her jade-like arms hooking around the man’s neck.
Ah Jiao felt... had Liu Che had so many women that he had confused her face with someone else's?
This wasn't her personality at all. She would never do such things with Liu Che in bed.
She stood up to walk out, feeling a bit tired and her chest a bit tight. As expected, a young girl shouldn't go several nights in a row without sleep.
*Thud!* A sound came from behind her. Ah Jiao spun around in a panic to see that Liu Che had fallen to the floor, with the woman’s snow-white foot stepping on his chest.
Ah Jiao was bewildered! An erotic dream was one thing, but why had it turned into a fight? And he had dreamed of himself being beaten!
The woman lifted her foot and picked up the thin gauze Liu Che had torn and tossed to the floor. She wrapped herself in it, squatted down, and gently took the Emperor’s most vulnerable part into her hand, stroking it. Her voice turned somewhat dark. "If Master ever mentions another woman’s name to this little one again, this little one will snap Master’s Dragon Root, so that Master can never think of another woman again!"
Ah Jiao took a deep breath. She thought to herself that even when her grandmother was still alive, she wouldn't have dared say such a thing to Liu Che... saying she would snap his... *cough cough*. If she had ever said such words and her grandmother found out, the old lady would have made her kneel in the Changxin Palace for a whole day!
And this Ah Jiao was still saying "this little one" while wearing a face so cold it could drop ice shards.
After playing for a while, the woman knelt over the man and slowly lowered herself down, letting out a long sigh of relief. Liu Che wasn't angry at hearing such words; instead, he grinned and reached out to stroke the woman’s body, kneading and squeezing.
Absurd! Liu Che’s dream was utterly absurd!
Ah Jiao fled the bedchamber as if running for her life, yet she could still hear the sounds of moaning coming from within.
Calling him "husband" or "cousin" would have been one thing, but how could she possibly say those lewd words she had never even heard of... The two of them laughed and giggled; even after Ah Jiao ran down the steps of the Jade Hall, she could still hear them clearly.
Seeing a vast white expanse in the distance, Ah Jiao finally realized this was the edge of the dreamscape. She cast the spell to exit Liu Che’s dream. The moment she emerged, she felt herself instantly drenched in sweat. she touched her face; it was burning hot.
"Miss?" Nan Ke poked her head in from behind the curtain.
"Hmm?" Ah Jiao was startled and jumped. Coming to her senses, she waved her hands repeatedly. "I’m fine, I’m fine. You go out!" As she spoke, she muffled herself under the quilt.
The plan for today was to investigate what kind of madness Liu Che was suffering from. Now, what was the point of watching a live erotic show of herself!
Ah Jiao pondered for a moment, then used a Teleportation Spell to move to the Emperor’s bedchamber. The weather was turning cold, and the room was hung with magnificent yet thick curtains.
Ah Jiao lifted the Emperor’s bed curtains and indeed saw Liu Che lying inside, fast asleep, his face flushed.
Ah Jiao crouched there for a while, but aside from mumbling a few lewd words, Liu Che didn't reveal anything useful. She could only prepare to head back in disappointment.
Just as she turned around, a hand grabbed her own. "Oh no!" Ah Jiao tried to cast a spell to leave, but she suddenly found herself unable to use her magic.
"Who are you, to dare trespass into His Majesty’s bedchamber?"
Ah Jiao looked back and saw a person in shimmering golden armor. One hand gripped her, the other held a blade, but the face was that of Liu Che.
"Who are you?" Ah Jiao was even more terrified.
The golden-armored figure didn't reply, dragging Ah Jiao toward the exit. In a panic, Ah Jiao quickly summoned her official tablet to flee. To her surprise, the golden figure immediately let go of her, and even the golden light surrounding it dimmed.
On the bed, Liu Che rolled over. Ah Jiao was startled. Holding her official tablet, she approached the golden figure. The figure retreated to the bedside, lowered its head, and then transformed into a beam of light that flew under Liu Che’s pillow.
Ah Jiao reached out to feel for it and pulled out a palm-sized golden figurine of a man in armor, holding a long blade. The hilt of the blade seemed to be wrapped in some kind of thread; looking closely, it was actually hair. Hadn't Liu Che been scared enough by those three golden statues with eyes hidden inside? He actually still kept golden figurines!
Why hadn't she seen this last night? When the official tablet appeared just now, the golden figure hadn't looked afraid; it had simply turned back obediently—clearly, it wasn't an evil thing.
On a whim, Ah Jiao plucked one of her own hairs and tried to wrap it around the figure, but it wouldn't work. Faint talisman seals appeared around the golden man. It seemed a specific incantation or formation was required. Ah Jiao had no choice but to put the golden man back under the Emperor’s pillow.
Looking at the Emperor on the bed, who was still breathing heavily, Ah Jiao felt a surge of anger. *You scoundrel, to actually imagine me as such a wanton woman in your dreams. It’s a complete waste of all those years we were husband and wife.*
Ah Jiao was indignant. She could never act in such a dissolute and fawning way toward Liu Che, nor could she be so rude and overbearing. At most, she had once slapped Liu Che and pushed him off the bed—and she had been scolded by her grandmother for it afterward.
Just what kind of image did he have of her in his heart!
The Emperor breathed heavily again and called out, "Ah Jiao." Back in the Underworld, her mother had once asked her if she would be heartbroken if Liu Che didn't choose her when he eventually arrived. At the time, she had comforted her mother with a few jokes. But despite that, she still harbored strange emotions in her heart.
Lord Yun He said this was called "unwillingness"—the unwillingness of mortals. At the time, she had teased him, saying that since Lord Yun He didn't even have a lover, he must be talking nonsense. But after returning this time, she felt that perhaps she was unwilling after all.
Nearly thirty years of affection seemed to have been given in vain. Yet Liu Che seemed to fall in love with "Chen Guan" the moment he saw her. She didn't know what kind of grudge she was nursing, but she simply didn't want Liu Che to know she was Chen Ah Jiao—even though acting as Chen Ah Jiao would clearly make things more convenient.
How had the once-straightforward girl become such a twisted character? Ah Jiao shuddered. Malice rose in her heart, and she pressed down hard on Liu Che’s vulnerable area through the quilt before flickering away back to the side hall.
"Miss, where did you go?" Nan Ke saw her return and hurried forward. Ah Jiao nimbly stripped off her clothes, lay down, and said, "Nothing, nothing. I’m sleeping!"
*Thump, thump, thump.* Her heart was racing in her chest. Ah Jiao had never done such a thing in her life. For a moment, she was afraid—what if she had caused a real problem for Liu Che? If she went back to the Underworld, her uncle and grandmother would surely beat her, wouldn't they?
Ah Jiao was both ashamed and afraid, unable to sleep until there was a commotion outside.
"What’s happening?" Ah Jiao walked to the window and asked, not daring to open it.
"Miss, I heard that for some reason, they are calling for the Chief Imperial Physician at His Majesty’s quarters."
***
