Despite some of the vocabulary in her writing still being somewhat unfamiliar to him, he could roughly guess their meaning.
Sitting down at the desk, Wei Yun silently smiled.
After a while, he slightly opened his thin lips: “Wei Jing.”
“My lord.” Wei Jing responded, walking in and bowing to Wei Yun.
“Has the young master left?”
Wei Yun glanced towards the pavilion not far outside the window, across a pond of lotus, but did not see that shade of cyan and white.
“Yes.” Wei Jing respectfully answered.
Then, he handed over a scroll, “This is what the young master asked me to give to you.”
Upon hearing this, Wei Yun turned around to look at the scroll in his hands.
When he took it and fully spread it out on the desk, his usually indifferent eyes suddenly showed a trace of surprise.
From Wei Jing’s perspective, the painting on the scroll depicted the young Imperial Advisor’s face.
Compared to the heavy charm of ink wash painting, this painting seemed to focus more on the depiction of all external elements, making it appear more lifelike and vivid.
Qi Ji, as the son of the marquis, though indifferent to a career in government, was unmatched in the realm of painting and calligraphy in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Looking at the painting before him, Wei Yun couldn’t help but think of a special piece of paper he had placed in a box, on which was drawn a young girl with a clear and vivid appearance, as if seen with his own eyes, detailed and real.
And this painting by Qi Ji, although not comparable to that, was also a superior work of realism.
There was also a note pressed under the scroll.
Wei Yun picked it up to see it written:
“Your distinct colors, how could they be wasted? This painting is kept for brother Yanchen to use in the future for matchmaking, no need for tears. — Mingxu”
This Qi Mingxu.
With a flex of his fingers, Wei Yun crumpled the note into a ball, sneering.
At that moment, the butler Wei Bo called from outside, “My lord.”
“What is it?” Wei Yun looked up.
Wei Bo stood at the door, bowing, “My lord, this is a new osmanthus and lotus root powder cake made by the new chef in the kitchen. You haven’t eaten today, why not have some first?”
“No need…”
Wei Yun said, but he paused, and when he lowered his eyelids, his gaze stopped on the corner of the gold-sprinkled letter paper pressed under the painting scroll, he then said, “Bring it in and put it here.”
Upon hearing this, Wei Bo quickly nodded in response.
“Wei Jing.”
After Wei Bo came in, placed the plate of cakes on the desk, and left, Wei Yun then said, “You need to keep a close eye on the affairs of the Astrology Pavilion.”
“The King of Xin will arrive in Yingdu tomorrow, and the palace banquet is imminent, we must be cautious.”
Hearing this, Wei Jing respectfully bowed his head and said, “Yes.”
Then, he turned around and walked out.
At that moment, the sound of rain could still be heard outside the window. Wei Yun rolled up the scroll again and casually placed it on the desk, then turned his attention to the plate of desserts that Wei Bo had placed on the desk head. He simply took out the bronze badge and placed it on the desk.
Then, he picked up the plate of desserts and placed it right next to the bronze badge.
He had hardly ever tried very sweet food, so this plate of osmanthus and lotus root starch cake was intended to shut up that chatterbox.
However, he did not notice that the corner of the porcelain plate holding the desserts had touched the scroll he had casually rolled up and left aside.
So, when a faint golden light emerged from the bronze badge, Wei Yun saw the plate of desserts and the scroll on the desk in front of him disappear into thin air.
Wei Yun’s expression changed slightly, and by the time he reached out, it was already too late to retrieve the scroll.
—
After taking a nap, Xie Tao finally felt much better.
Rubbing her eyes, she glanced outside the window and noticed that it seemed to still be raining.
Reaching out from the pillow, Xie Tao lazily yawned and then noticed a delivery notification message on her phone screen.
There was a package for her in the community’s delivery locker.
By now, delivery lockers had become quite common, almost every community was equipped with them.
Each resident had their own locker, which only they could open at will, while couriers could only open the lockers to place deliveries by using a unique tracking number password.
After one use, the password would automatically reset, so there was no issue of couriers being able to repeatedly and freely open a resident’s delivery locker.
The locker had sensors that, upon detecting added weight, would automatically send a notification message to the resident to collect their delivery.
Suddenly receiving a delivery, Xie Tao wondered if Aunt Fu had sent her something again?
Xie Tao simply got up, dressed, and ran downstairs to the place in the community where the delivery lockers were located.
But when she entered the password and opened the locker, she found, to her surprise, a plate of cakes inside.
…Have deliveries now started coming without boxes?
Xie Tao was puzzled.
When she took out the plate of cakes, she realized that even the plate holding the cakes was made of porcelain, with a light, sky-blue color.
The osmanthus and lotus root starch cakes looked translucent, sprinkled with osmanthus on top, appearing very appetizing.
Xie Tao carefully carried the plate of cakes back home and then called Fu Miaolan.
“Aunt Fu, why did you send me something again?”
Fu Miaolan sounded puzzled on the other end, “What did I send you? I didn’t.”
“It wasn’t you?” Xie Tao was stunned.
Fu Miaolan laughed, “You child, if I were to send you something, wouldn’t I tell you first?”
After hanging up the phone, Xie Tao scratched her head, a bit puzzled about who else it could be.
She thought of Zhou Xinyue and hurriedly opened her data to check WeChat.
At that moment, a WeChat message popped up.
It was from that blank avatar, next to the name she had specifically noted — “Wei Yun.”
Upon seeing a message from him, Xie Tao’s eyes lit up, and she hurriedly opened it.
Inside the chat interface, there was a picture.
It was evident that it was drawn stroke by stroke, but it abandoned the free-spirited essence of ink painting in favor of a meticulous realism.
The person in the painting wore a dark red brocade robe, a gold crown, and a jade belt, with long, dense black hair, eyebrows slightly furrowed, as if soaked in the most splendid colors among the thin mists of distant mountains. With a pair of peach blossom eyes slightly narrowed, they seemed innately unemotional and indifferent in expression.
It was a face of extreme elegance, stunning at first glance, leaving one at a loss for words.
Xie Tao stared at that picture for several minutes, even spacing out for a moment.
What kind of deity is this?!
“Did you draw this?”
Coming back to her senses, Xie Tao quickly typed and sent a message.
“What?” The reply from the other side was still slow.
Xie Tao typed: “The picture you sent.”
At that moment, Wei Yun furrowed his brows slightly upon reading her message.
The transmission of physical items seemed different from other things.
He suddenly remembered the paper piece printed with her likeness from before.
It seemed, she truly hadn’t realized that what separated her and him was two different worlds.
Wei Yun stood there, looking down at the copper pendant, his gaze deep and complex.
What secrets did this object hide?
Xie Tao waited, probably for more than ten minutes, before she finally received a reply from Wei Yun:
“A friend’s work.”
Just three simple words, still consistent with his usual reticence.
A friend?
Xie Tao walked to her desk and sat down, supporting her chin with one hand.
His friend seems to be a master! The painting is too good!
“Then, who is your friend’s painting of?”
Xie Tao was a bit curious.
Does a person looking like this really exist??
Is his friend definitely not a deity painting deities, painting deities online?
While waiting for a reply, Xie Tao opened the image, zoomed in, and carefully observed it again.
What a heavenly beauty!
Xie Tao couldn’t help but exclaim.
But when she caught a glimpse of the elegantly written “Wei Yun” in the bottom left corner of the portrait, she was completely stunned.
???
Was it as she thought?
Impossible, right??
Xie Tao exited the photo viewing interface, and then hastily typed:
“Is this… you?”
Her tone was a bit cautious.
Probably after a few minutes, her phone vibrated slightly. The other party had sent over just one word:
“Yep”
Xie Tao stared at that word, silent for about two minutes.
Then she widened her eyes.
“…I think it would be more believable if you told me you were actually a seventy-year-old grandfather.”
After sending this message, Xie Tao held her phone, staring fixedly at that portrait for a long time.
It was… too good-looking.
Xie Tao was a bit dazed again.
“Didn’t receive anything else?”
At that moment, her phone screen lit up again.
Anything else?
It took a moment for Xie Tao to react until she turned her head to see the plate of osmanthus and lotus root powder cake she had placed on the table.
Something flashed through her mind.
Her almond eyes wide open, “Was the osmanthus and lotus root powder cake sent by you?!”
“Yep”
His reply was still a simple and light single word.
Xie Tao didn’t know why, but she felt as if there were carbonated bubbles popping one by one in her heart, making her burst into laughter. She casually grabbed a piece of osmanthus lotus root powder cake and took a big bite.
It was delicate, smooth, and moderately sweet. After eating one piece, Xie Tao couldn’t help but take another.
But how did he know her address?
Xie Tao paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered that a few days ago, she mentioned to him that the delivery company had sent the chili sauce Aunt Fu sent her to the wrong address, delivering it to a community across the street with a similar name to her own.
It seemed she had mentioned her address at that time.
Receiving the gift unexpectedly, Xie Tao was munching on the pastry, her eyes curved into crescents. She happily typed:
“The pastries are delicious! Thank you, Wei Yun!”
“But, are you also in Nan City? The pastry is still warm; it must have been sent through local express delivery, right?”
Upon seeing her message, Wei Yun still sat upright at his desk, his posture as straight as a pine.
Although he wasn’t sure what she meant by “express delivery,” he was certain that the method of transmitting paper objects to her world seemed different from other things.
Yet she hadn’t noticed anything unusual about it.
Thinking of that mysterious person who had never shown himself and was determined to see him dead, Wei Yun’s expression grew frosty, his gaze cold and stern.
Was she really an outsider, or the most critical piece in this chess game?
Xie Tao didn’t know what Wei Yun was thinking at the moment. After eating two pieces of the osmanthus lotus root powder cake, she couldn’t bring herself to eat any more.
She propped her head up, staring at the plate of pastries, her eyes filled with surprised joy.
“I haven’t received a gift in so long, I’m so happy, thank you Wei Yun!”
The girl’s words were filled with pure joy.
When Xie Tao looked at the portrait again, she couldn’t help but be a bit distracted.
Then, she moved her finger, pressing down on the photo for a long time until the option “Save Image” popped up on the screen, and she lightly tapped it.
Her face inexplicably flushed.
Outside, raindrops slid down in winding arcs, their pitter-pattering sound faintly audible through the glass.
Inside, the girl lay on the desk, holding her phone, quietly setting that picture as her wallpaper.
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