According to Wei Yun’s previous guess, he thought that Xie Tao’s world might be hundreds of years or even longer in the future after the Great Zhou Dynasty, where he currently resides.
However, in the general history book from Xie Tao’s world that she sent him, Wei Yun discovered that all the history after the Yi Dynasty was completely different from the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty going back over three hundred years.
And all the history before the Yi Dynasty was almost identical without any significant discrepancies.
But after the Yi Dynasty, everything changed.
The Great Zhou Dynasty, where he resides, could not be found in this general history book at all.
If their two worlds were unrelated, then why is the history before the Yi Dynasty almost exactly the same?
But if she comes from the future, then why does the history recorded in this general history book after the Yi Dynasty have so many discrepancies?
What exactly is going on?
Wei Yun had been pondering this matter for days, but he still had no clue.
One day, Wei Yun spread out the map of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the map Xie Tao had sent from her place on his desk to compare them.
Unlike his map, the one Xie Tao sent was obviously clearer and more detailed, and the material was somewhat harder and even smoother than ordinary paper.
Whether it was the text on the map, the records in the general history book, or the text Xie Tao used in their initial correspondence, compared to the text transmitted after the Yi Dynasty, there were some differences, but overall, they were consistent.
After comparing the two maps, Wei Yun found that at least a few places he had visited were particularly similar to some geographical locations on the map Xie Tao had sent over.
Even the terrain and features surrounding the locations of cities were uncannily similar.
But that was only a few places, and it didn’t prove anything.
However, such suspicions had already left a mark in Wei Yun’s heart, like rocks briefly exposed by the tide before being submerged again, as if something was about to emerge, yet always veiled, making it unclear.
When Xie Tao returned from the dessert shop, she initiated a video call on WeChat and saw Wei Yun playing chess alone.
A jade chessboard was placed beside an incense burner carved with complex patterns, from which wisps of white smoke were drifting, and he casually held a black chess piece in his hand, his eyes and brows adding a touch of indifferent composure amidst the faint smoke.
Or seeing her, from the start, propping her chin and watching him without speaking, Wei Yun spoke up, “Why aren’t you talking?”
“Watching you play chess.” Xie Tao’s voice was soft, revealing a hint of warmth.
Hearing her, Wei Yun glanced at her, smiling teasingly, “Do you understand what you’re seeing?”
“…”
Xie Tao puffed her cheeks, glaring at him with wide eyes.
Wei Yun slightly curved his lips, gently placing the black piece on the chessboard.
Seeing his smiling profile, Xie Tao couldn’t help but be spellbound, no longer feeling upset.
She lay on the desk for a while, then hesitantly asked, “The thing I sent you last night, you received it, right?”
Just as Wei Yun was about to pick up a white piece, he paused upon hearing her question, his expression briefly stiffening.
This reminded him.
“Xie Tao.”
He suddenly called her full name, his voice cold, revealing no emotion.
“Hmm?” Xie Tao tilted her head, looking at him.
“I’m quite curious.”
He looked up at her, his lips twitching slightly, “What does the white iris signify?”
“…I just thought it was pretty, so I bought one.” Xie Tao answered without thinking.
She had just finished shopping at the supermarket outside the neighborhood and saw someone selling flowers at a stall when she thought the clusters of white iris were particularly beautiful, so she bought some.
“Why would you give them to me?” Wei Yun stared at her.
Xie Tao smiled a bit, seemingly a little embarrassed, and pursed her lips without daring to meet his gaze.
After a while, she murmured softly:
“I just wanted to give them to you…”
That branch of white iris was just an impulse purchase.
And giving it to him was simply because, when she finished packing the box of butter cookies she made, a sudden thought struck her, so she ended up giving both the cookies and the flowers to him.
What kind of feeling was that? Xie Tao couldn’t say clearly.
She just instinctively wanted to share everything she found good with him.
Just, it was as simple as that.
Upon hearing her words, Wei Yun’s chess piece fell back into the box, and he suddenly bowed his head, coughed lightly, and said, “In the future, there’s no need.”
“Why?”
Xie Tao asked hurriedly, “Don’t you like it?”
Wei Yun looked at her for a moment, his brows relaxed, and a faint look of helplessness appeared in his eyes.
Finally, he sighed as if compromising: “Alright, have it your way.”
Xie Tao finally smiled again, then asked him, “What about the butter cookies?”
“I made them, you know, there are many flavors! Remember to eat them!” she added another sentence.
“Okay.”
He responded gently.
“By the way, I borrowed a lot of books for you from the library today.”
As Xie Tao said this, she left the phone screen, walking away with her slippers clattering, and ran to the other side.
Wei Yun watched the girl return to the screen after a moment, now holding a large stack of books.
Xie Tao put the stack of books on the table and then hurriedly placed the phone on top of it.
Wei Yun originally had a copper pendant placed on a small side table, and the sudden appearance of the stack of books pressed the copper pendant firmly underneath.
“Wei Yun, Wei Yun, why can’t I see you anymore?” the girl’s voice came through.
“…”
Wei Yun had no choice but to move the books one by one.
At that moment, the old voice of Wei Bo came from outside the door:
“Sir, it’s time for your dinner.”
Wei Yun responded lightly: “I know.”
“Wei Yun, are you going to have dinner?”
With sharp ears, Xie Tao seemed to hear an old man’s voice and asked quietly, “Hmm.”
Wei Yun discarded the chess piece in his hand, grasped the copper pendantlion, and covered it with his wide sleeves. He stood up and walked towards the study door, whispering to her, “Don’t make a sound.”
It wasn’t dark yet, and servants were still coming and going in the courtyard.
When Wei Yun sat down at the dining table in the hall, Wei Bo began to order servants to serve dishes one after another.
The entire process was quiet enough that even Wei Bo’s instructions to the servants were deliberately lowered in volume.
This was always the rule at the Imperial Advisor’s mansion.
“Everyone leave.”
In the end, Wei Yun said just that.
Wei Bo immediately bowed in agreement and led the servants out.
Then, only Wei Yun was left in the hall.
He stretched out his hand, his wide sleeve slightly lifted, revealing the long-concealed copper pendant. On it, the astrolabe twinkled, and the girl in the light screen was propping her chin, still waiting obediently for him.
Wei Yun never cared much for indulgence in food, so he usually had at most three dishes per meal.
But this time, he specifically asked Wei Bo to have the kitchen prepare more.
Seeing her phone screen light up again and noticing the changed background behind him, Xie Tao hurriedly asked, “Wei Yun, can I see what you’re eating?”
As if anticipating her question, Wei Yun’s lips slightly curled, and without saying much, he held the copper pendant towards the dining table.
The table was filled with delicacies, particularly tempting, many of which Xie Tao had never seen or tasted before.
She stretched out her finger to count and found there were eight or nine dishes.
“Are you eating all this by yourself?” she asked in astonishment.
Wei Yun put away the copper pendant and looked down at her in the light screen, deliberately saying, “A lot?”
“Isn’t this a lot?” Xie Tao smacked her lips.
Wei Yun nodded slightly, his eyebrows slightly raised, “So?”
Clearing her throat, Xie Tao chuckled, her eyes curving, “I think you definitely can’t finish all this. To avoid waste, I think I can help you with some…”
“Didn’t you already eat?” Wei Yun glanced at her, a faint smile in his eyes.
Xie Tao patted her chest, “I think I can eat a little more!”
“What do you want to eat?”
Although Wei Yun’s expression remained unchanged, his tone was tinged with an involuntary hint of amusement.
“Is that duck tasty?”
Xie Tao had been eyeing the duck on his dining table for a while, looking at him with anticipation.
Like a small animal waiting to be fed by its master, her eyes sparkled with a bright gleam.
“Is this green thing tasty?”
“That one?”
“Wow… they all look so delicious.”
She fully exhibited her talkative nature, even slurping her saliva.
“…”
Wei Yun had no choice but to order someone to bring a food box and porcelain dishes. Apart from the duck she had set her sights on, he also shared a bit of each dish, placed them in the food box, and then sent them over using his copper pendant.
Xie Tao almost ran downstairs, took the food box from the locker, and then returned home.
She took out all the dishes and placed them on the table. Xie Tao set up a stand for her phone, and as she was about to eagerly use her chopsticks, Wei Yun had also put his copper pendant aside.
“Wei Yun, why can you immediately receive things when I send them to you, but when you send me things, I have to go down to the locker to pick them up?” Xie Tao suddenly realized this issue before she started eating.
Wei Yun shook his head, “I’m not sure about this for now.”
The connection established between his copper pendant and her phone, and even more mysteries surrounding the pendant itself, he had yet to uncover.
It was as if he suddenly remembered the mysterious woman who appeared in the alley before, a shadow dimmed in Wei Yun’s eyes momentarily.
Perhaps, that woman held the answers he sought.
As long as he caught her, everything would become much clearer.
Xie Tao felt she couldn’t figure out many things no matter how hard she thought about it, so she simply stopped thinking and started eating with her chopsticks.
At the same time, she was sneakily glancing at Wei Yun on her phone screen.
Even when eating, Wei Yun’s posture with chopsticks was particularly noble and elegant, unhurried, yet his cold and pale face showed no emotion.
Xie Tao looked at him and then at the duck leg she had just torn off.
When she looked up again, she met his gaze.
For some reason, Xie Tao suddenly blushed, not knowing whether to hold onto the duck leg or put it down.
She didn’t realize there was a grain of rice stuck at the corner of her mouth.
Wei Yun saw it but didn’t seem to have any intention of reminding her, only saying, “Not eating anymore?”
“Ah, I will eat…”
Xie Tao snapped back to reality, chuckled dryly, and then nibbled on the duck leg again.
But the previous carefree bites had become restrained and small.
At this moment, as the dim yellow sunset gradually sank, separated by two different times and spaces, they faced each other, and for a time, words became scarce.
Xie Tao bit her chopsticks and after a while, suddenly said, “It’s so magical… It’s as if I’m really sitting with you at the same table eating.”
“I think… it’s quite nice.”
Xie Tao’s voice became softer.
After a moment, she gently said, “That white iris looks especially beautiful.”
“Seeing it… I thought of you…”
Like clouds and snow, those seemingly cold colors, just like the snow on the mountains, pure and dust-free, stunningly beautiful.
Just like him.
She had not said such words for the first time, but still, it took enough courage to speak them out.
It helped her overcome the inexplicable blush on her cheeks, helped her overcome the drumming inside her heart that started the moment she looked at him… Such courage, always so rare.
She hadn’t felt this happy in a long time.
Wei Yun paused, lifting his eyes to look at the girl’s fair face in the light screen on the copper pendant, like a breeze brushing through willow branches in spring, stirring the ripples in his eyes. That moment, his expression gradually softened with an indescribable tenderness.
“I will treat you very well in the future! The very best kind!” she suddenly said seriously.
Before Wei Yun could react, the girl in the light screen hiccuped.
Though it was very slight, just a very short, very soft sound, it still made Wei Yun glance sideways.
At that moment, Xie Tao covered her mouth, frozen in shock.
Ah!!
Her face turned red in an instant, and she didn’t dare to look again at the young man on her phone screen, hurriedly hanging up the video call.
“…”
Wei Yun stared at the copper pendant, which had returned to its original state, and suddenly let out a light laugh.
