Emperor Jingxi held her hand, watching the distance together, reveling in the joy of the moment.
Ever since he was reborn in this form, he’d never truly relaxed, but now, in this instant, he finally felt like a man in his twenties, accompanying her youthful spirit, sharing in her exuberance, looking at the sky, the earth, the great sea!
A wu picked up a pebble and tossed it into the distance, watching the spray leap up as it hit the water, laughing out loud.
As she laughed, she said, “Yeh Han-gege sent news back—Father’s ship will dock in just over ten days!”
Since finding A wu, Emperor Jingxi had investigated—Ning Yinhua in this life was no longer called Ning Yinhua, and his life had changed greatly, but Emperor Jingxi could faintly sense that, at his core, he was still the same Ning Yinhua.
He smiled, “When your father and brother return, will it be time for your coming-of-age ceremony?”
When he met A wu, she had already turned fifteen, but with her father and brother away, it had been postponed until their return.
A wu’s face was full of anticipation, “Yes!”
The wind was strong, so Emperor Jingxi gathered her hands and led her back into the cabin: “When your father comes back, I’ll pay a visit. When you come of age, I’ll attend your ceremony and bring you a gift. How about that?”
At his words, A wu sensed something, but found it hard to say aloud.
She bit her lip and looked at him with sparkling eyes, “Alright.”
That word, “Alright,” was like a drop of honey, spreading sweetness through the heart in gentle ripples.
Emperor Jingxi looked at the little girl whose cheeks were rosy from the wind and he asked, “What kind of coming-of-age gift do you want?”
A wu, “Anything I want?”
Emperor Jingxi, “Yes.”
He smiled, “If you want stars, I’ll set up a ladder to pick them for you.”
A wu looked up in surprise, long lashes fluttering.
Emperor Jingxi spoke softly, “A wu can make a wish, any wish at all.”
A wu laughed, tilting her head at Emperor Jingxi, “Are you omnipotent? Could you really be a Sea Demon?”
Emperor Jingxi, “Yes, I am a Sea Demon.”
A wu burst out laughing, “Teasing me again! I’m ignoring you!”
But in her heart, she liked it—he wished he could hold her in his palm.
How could she not know?
Even if he was a Sea Demon, he would be her very own, one who existed to fulfill all her wishes!
Amidst all the sweetness, A wu opened her eyes.
What she saw was a canopy of dark, patterned silk, and beyond it, palace lanterns emitting a hazy glow.
She realized something, turned her head slightly, and looked at Emperor Jingxi beside her.
At this moment, Emperor Jingxi was also looking at her.
He seemed to have just woken up too, his light tea-colored eyes still holding affectionate tenderness.
A wu knew that, just like her, his heart was filled with love.
As their eyes met, their gazes entangled in an instant, ambiguous and lingering, like sugar being pulled—sticky and sweet.
A wu felt utterly intoxicated.
That was her dream, and his as well.
They had found new sweetness together in the dream.
Emperor Jingxi’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he turned over, clasped her wrist, and lowered his head to kiss her—a kiss full of tangled love and gentle care.
After a long time, A wu lay limply on the man’s sturdy shoulder.
She propped her chin on his chest and asked, “Why do you think this is?”
She felt this man could do anything, solve any problem, and certainly explain anything.
So, whenever she had a question, she’d toss it to him.
But this time, even Emperor Jingxi couldn’t explain, “Perhaps it was just a fleeting illusion—a moment when we both entered a dream of Nanke. Or maybe, in another world, in the instant we slept, our hearts resonated with another version of ourselves and we felt everything from that world.”
A wu pondered for a while, “If it’s another world, does that mean there are two of us? If it’s a dream, whose dream is it—yours or mine?”
If it was a dream, it was too real—even after waking for so long, the emotions and sweetness from the dream lingered in her heart.
She didn’t want to leave.
Emperor Jingxi, “Perhaps it was mine.”
He had lived eight years in that dream, bringing about an era of prosperity for Great Hui, yet she was nowhere to be found.
So he searched for her for seven years, looking for a miracle.
His intense longing drew A wu into his dream, letting her bring him happiness there.
A wu laughed, hugging Emperor Jingxi’s arm and nestling her cheek against him, “Then let’s sleep again. Maybe we can keep dreaming.”
Emperor Jingxi gazed into her bright eyes, brimming with interest.
He asked, “What do you want to dream about? What should we do?”
A wu swung her legs and happily imagined, “I hope to dream of you attending my coming-of-age ceremony, giving me lavish gifts—gold, silver, jewels, and fireworks lighting up the sky…”
Emperor Jingxi, “Yes, I’ll give them to you.”
A wu, “I’ll be overjoyed, feeling like the happiest young lady in the world. Then, in the evening, I’ll sneak out to meet you in secret—kiss you, tease you, make you unable to resist!”
Just picturing it made her legs feel weak—such a delicious man!
Emperor Jingxi watched A wu’s blushing face, “And then? If I can’t resist, what will I do to you?”
A wu laughed, “A delicate girl like me, seducing you—you’d lose control, and we’d have an illicit affair, running off to your ship and losing ourselves in passion.”
She began to imagine with relish, “You’d go wild for me, so strong that even the ship would rock and the sea would churn! The whole Eastern Sea would be tossed up!”
Emperor Jingxi stared at her in silence, then couldn’t help but laugh.
That ship was big and steady—he wasn’t that strong.
He smiled, “And then?”
A wu continued, “Then someone comes looking for me—they’re searching everywhere, and we’re terrified. I have to hide in your arms and not move a muscle!”
Emperor Jingxi laughed softly and held her close.
He nibbled on her earlobe, voice low and rich, “It’s your Yehan-gege—he’s looking for you.”
He imagined the scene, his voice turning hoarse, “He wants to propose and marry you, but he’d never expect that you’re already on my ship, in my arms, already mine.”
In the dream, he was twenty-five, A wu fifteen—ten years apart, perfect, their age gap narrowed.
A wu was excited, her voice trembling with suppressed delight, “Yes, yes! Anyway, I’d be so scared, just shrinking into your arms!”
She put everything she’d read in those absurd spring booklets into her fantasy, “What should I do? I’m so young and naïve, I know nothing, but I’m being held by a bad man—”
The more she imagined, the more involved she became, almost crying, “I really don’t understand, you’re such a bad man!”
Emperor Jingxi pitied her, kissing her soft cheek, “Poor thing. And then?”
A wu blinked her tear-filled eyes, “I made a noise, nearly got caught, was so scared I didn’t dare move. Luckily they left, and then we—”
Emperor Jingxi chuckled, “We continued?”
A wu, “No, no! Of course I rushed home—what if my parents were worried!”
She put on a look of filial piety.
Emperor Jingxi: Such a dutiful young lady, even dreaming of her parents.
He continued, “So I’d escort you home, ask your parents for your hand, but your brother and parents are reluctant, maybe even opposed, so I—”
A wu, “No, no! You ran away!”
Emperor Jingxi, “Why would I run away? I need to propose to your parents, at least get engaged. And there’s that Yehan eyeing you—why is he in the dream too!”
A wu shot him a resentful glance, “How should I know? Maybe you suddenly had urgent business, and ran away, leaving me behind! You big bad man!”
Emperor Jingxi: “……”
‘Fine, I ran.’
A wu looked up and sighed, “Pity me, an innocent young lady, sullied by you, soon with a growing belly—I tried to hide it from my parents, but couldn’t. My parents and brother were furious, kept questioning me, and I was so scared I couldn’t say a word.”
Emperor Jingxi, “Was I really so irresponsible?”
A wu, “Yes, you are that kind of person!”
She sighed deeply, imagining the pitiful scene, “I’d just come of age, beautiful and innocent, but was deceived by an outsider, secretly met him, got abandoned, became pregnant, and cried not knowing what to do!”
Emperor Jingxi sighed by her ear, laughing helplessly, “How many of those ridiculous booklets have you read? Did Mo Yu give them to you?”
Was his little princess getting bolder, even corrupting his empress?
A wu glared at him weakly, “Don’t laugh at me!”
Emperor Jingxi, “Alright, A wu, continue—what should a young lady do if she sneaks a forbidden taste and ends up pregnant?”
A wu, “I’d have no choice but to marry Yehan-gege.”
Emperor Jingxi, “No.”
He looked displeased, “I waited for you for fifteen years in the dream, and you want to marry someone else?”
A wu, “Yes, of course you’re not willing, so on the day of my wedding, you suddenly show up with unstoppable force!”
Emperor Jingxi: “…..”
‘Now this is a story I like.’
A wu, “You loudly declare that I am your wife and no one else may touch me—or you’ll kill them all!”
Emperor Jingxi arched an innocent brow, “If I did that, I’d never win over your parents.”
But A wu insisted, “In public, you grab my hand and stride off, scaring anyone who tries to stop you!”
Emperor Jingxi, “How did I become a villain? I don’t want to be a villain.”
A wu protested, clenching her fists and declaring, “No laughing! My dream is just like this!”
Emperor Jingxi suppressed his smile and reluctantly agreed, “Alright, I’ll be the villain.”
A wu rolled out of his arms and burrowed under the covers, “Sleep, I want to keep dreaming.”
Emperor Jingxi: “Mhm.”
A wu closed her eyes, but before she drifted off, she opened them again, warning, “You have to follow my dream—no changing it!”
Emperor Jingxi caught her hand, kissed it, and smiled warmly, “I’ll lead the troops down from the heavens, march right up to the wedding hall, lift your red bridal veil with my sword, announce to the world that you are my bride—if anyone covets you, I’ll show no mercy. Then I’ll hold your hand, steal you away in front of everyone, make you mine alone, lock you on my ship, and leave you wanting more.”
A wu listened, very satisfied—no wonder he was the emperor; the stories he came up with were exciting.
She urged, “Excellent, hurry and sleep.”
Truthfully, it was all just for fun—after all, dreams aren’t so easily summoned.
But neither of them expected that after drifting back into slumber, they would indeed return to that dream, to that other world.
At night, the sea wind blew, waves crashed against the rocks, white foam washing against the ship’s sides, and on the railing lay a soft, helpless young lady.
Her skin was like white satin, glowing gently in the moonlight.
A sea breeze lifted a lock of her hair, fluttering against the man’s magnificent robe.
Behind her was a tall, stern man pressing down, gripping her slender waist.
The pitiful young lady clung helplessly to the railing, biting her lip, tilting her flushed face up, gazing dreamily at the distant waves.
She was so scared, afraid of the Sea Demon, but also, she liked him—liked being with him like this.
The long night stretched on, waves forever surging, and the young lady’s dream went on and on.