Chapter Thirty: Emission of Dreams

  The smile of Mu Yan is so captivating, no matter what emotions are mixed in it. The beauty's smiling face isn't something everyone gets to see. Maybe I should forget the loss I saw before, maybe that was just my mistake.

  Mu Yan smiled and turned around, stretching out her hand to pinch my waist lightly, pretending to scold me, "You little wretch, you have no sense of propriety, startling your master like that, can you bear the consequences!"

  I shook my head and pouted, feigning innocence, and replied, "This humble servant deserves to die, I hope Master will show mercy!"

  "You'd be dead? If we were to investigate, you'd probably have died many times over!" Mu Yan continued to feign anger, giving me a white-eyed glance as he sneered.

  Yes, since entering the palace, how many bad things have I done, how many mistakes have I made, how many people have I offended, and how much trouble have I caused?

  If it weren't for Mu Yan's power and influence, I'm afraid I would have been punished long ago and lost my head.

  I was just like the other slaves in the palace, clinging to power and nobility, relying on personal relationships. I never thought that such a despicable nature would also exist in a modern person like me. It turns out that people are no different, ancient and modern times are all the same.

  Thinking of this, I couldn't help but laugh again, standing there foolishly in a daze.

  Mu Yan thought I was scared, so she moved closer, shaking my hand with a worried look on her face and asked softly, "Manyah, I was just joking, don't take it to heart!"

  I knew she was joking, it's just that for a moment I realized my own inferiority and couldn't help but feel sad.

  Seeing Mu Yan's worried expression, how could I not respond? Such a beauty should be well protected and pampered, shouldn't she? But what did Mu Yan get in return?

  A title of Zhaoyuan? A cold and empty palace? A heavy hope? A heart-wrenching past event? A group of enemies waiting for an opportunity to strike? And me, this big trouble...

  I forced myself to laugh heartily and shouted loudly, "Haha, gotcha, stupid master!"

  Mu Yan glared at me with a scowl, but then couldn't help but laugh along too.

  I tightly grasped the hand that Muyan was holding onto, gripping it with force. Perhaps this way I could protect her.

  Should I protect her or myself?

  After a while, Moon brought in the dishes sent by the Shang Shi Bureau, and we slaves surrounded Mu Yan with a whoosh, serving her meal. After everything was cleaned up, Mu Yan and I curled up on the chair bed as usual, chatting idly.

  Today, Mu Yan seems to be expecting something, her gaze occasionally looking out of the window.

  It's not suitable to open windows in such autumn and winter, but Mu Yan insisted on seeing the outside scenery. Alas, what the master wants to do, how dare the slave not follow? So the two of us wrapped ourselves in blankets, put the charcoal basin nearby, huddled on the couch, and stared blankly at the window.

  What is Mu Yan looking at? I don't know. In my opinion, the scenery outside the window is no different from usual, except for the snowy scene. The snowy scene naturally has its moving place, but opening the window to appreciate the snowy scene is even more "freezing"!

  "Ah-choo!" After seeing such a cold scene, I thought I was going to sacrifice myself here, sneezing one after another.

  Mu Yan saw me like this, afraid that I had caught a cold, and also lost the heart to appreciate the scenery, closed the window and began to care about me.

  "It's all my fault, you quickly lie down and rest, I'm afraid you've caught a cold!" Muran said with a guilty face, supporting me as I lay down, while blaming himself.

  Although I was covered with a quilt, I still felt a bit cold. I wrapped my arms around my body and rubbed them against each other, trying to generate heat through friction.

  Seeing Mu Yan's guilty expression, I didn't know what to say, so I blurted out, "The ancients were fed by the lord's salary, and they bore the lord's worries. I'm just suffering from the lord's cold, but I'm also a very loyal minister! If the master feels guilty, then just add more silver to my pay!"

  She gazed at me with a hint of a smile, her expression slightly relaxed. She spat out a mouthful of saliva and said, "You're truly a loyal and good slave. If you recover, I'll reward you handsomely. But if you don't pull through, giving you silver would be a waste - you won't even get to spend it!"

  What's wrong with you? You're so petty and narrow-minded. Hmph, fine! I'll get better just to show you!

  I kicked off the quilt on my body, sat up, and didn't care about the cold air spreading over me. I stood barefoot on the icy floor, glanced at Mu Yan with a hint of disdain, and said, "See? I'm fine now! Refreshed and great!"

  Mu Yan was amused by my foolish and childish actions, covering her mouth with her hand and laughing loudly. She took out a gold ingot from the box beside her and heavily placed it on my palm in front of her.

  "For a single piece of gold, don't be so desperate, you wretched slave! Come up quickly!"

  I fiddled with the gold in my hand, and the chill on my feet had already spread throughout my body. I shivered and quickly returned to bed, saying "This is not a problem of gold, but of integrity?"

  "What dignity? What dignity is there in bowing down for a piece of gold?" Mu Yan's face was filled with an expression of incredulity.

  "Yes, my integrity is that I have no integrity. Should I not take the gold that's within reach? Perhaps by the time I'm bedridden with illness, it'll really be of no use to me. But at least for now, this thing is still useful. Apart from it, I truly don't know what else will never betray me!"

  I play with the gold obtained from illness and say this famous saying that I secretly admire myself.

  Maybe I'm wrong, but at least for now, I'm not lying, every word comes from the heart!

  It seems like Mu Yan was also attracted by my profound words, she whispered my previous words softly.

  One word, one word, until the end, gradually lost its sound.

  I saw her mouth opening and closing in front of me, becoming increasingly blurry. The words "betrayal" seemed to be whispering incessantly, I tried to listen clearly, but my body couldn't help itself, gradually, I actually fell asleep.

  I fell into a daze and started dreaming in a confused state.

  Everything in the dream was so familiar, white doors and windows, dark brown floor, floral fabric sofa, a girl lying on the sofa with a book in her hand fell asleep.

  No, everything is an illusion, it seems real but also unreal, my head hurts, something feels off.

  I took a closer look around and at that little girl who was fast asleep. She... she wasn't... was... it was me!

  She is me, I am myself, then who am I?

  Manya, Manya, some faint sounds came from beside her ear.

  Umanyah, I am Umanyah, who is the original me? Who is the current me? Which one is the real me after all?

  I'm trapped by these unsolvable problems, just like being stuck in a black fog, wrapped tightly in a spider web, my head hurts and my body feels terrible. I try to break free from this uncertain predicament, but the more I struggle, the harder it is to breathe.

  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

  I woke up with a loud cry from my dream, in front of me was Mu Yan with a worried look, have I come back? Or should I say I haven't gone yet?

  Moyan was probably scared by my previous actions, and she tightly hugged me, gently patting the back of my neck. With a slightly tearful tone, she said, "Manyah, what's wrong? Don't scare me, I'm so afraid, I'm so afraid you'll leave me too!"

  How am I supposed to explain everything in the dream? Should I tell her that I'm not Umanya, but an unexpected visitor from a future unknown number of years away? That would only make her worry even more!

  Telling lies may not be a good thing, but not telling the truth is an option I cannot avoid!

  "It's okay, it's okay, I just had a nightmare, now I'm awake, don't be afraid, everything is fine!" I comforted Mu Yan, and also comforted my own frightened self.

  "You scared me to death, you've been burning with fever for two days, constantly shouting in pain and talking nonsense, I thought you..." Mu Yan said, choking up again.

  "It's not that I'm fine now, Master won't let me die, how dare I die!" Muran was amused by my nonsense, crying and laughing at the same time.

  I refused to mention the scene in my dream, insisting it was just a nightmare. Mu Yan looked puzzled and worried, but she had no choice but to believe me.

  Maybe everything just now was a dream, maybe what's happening now is also a dream. Which one is the real dream, I'm stupidly unable to distinguish!

  Life is like a dream, perhaps life itself is just a big dream that one can never wake up from!