When Lin Wanwan uttered those earth-shattering words, "I am not a person of this world at all," the air in the entire Kunning Palace seemed to be sucked out.
Time seemed to stretch out infinitely at that moment.
The moonlight outside the window was as cold as water, quietly shining through the carved window lattice onto the gold brick floor, but it could not penetrate the thick, impenetrable silence between the two people.
The expression on Xiao Che's face was absolutely priceless.
His bloodshot phoenix eyes suddenly narrowed, his pupils filled with utter astonishment, as if he had heard the most absurd rambling in the world.
Immediately afterwards, the sharp edge he had painstakingly built up, ready to get to the bottom of things, was extinguished as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head. In its place was a complex and indescribable expression. There was shock, there was bewilderment, but more than anything, there was a deep, sorrowful weariness.
He looked at her, at her pale face flushed with emotion, at the broken resolve in her eyes, a resolve to give up everything.
He remained silent for a long time, so long that Lin Wanwan almost thought she would suffocate in the deathly silence.
Finally, he moved.
He slowly raised his hand, as if he wanted to... touch her forehead.
His voice, no longer carrying the interrogation and pressure of before, had become unusually hoarse, even carrying a hint of caution that he himself was unaware of.
"Wanwan..." he sighed, the bloodshot in his eyes seeming to deepen, "Are you... sick? Or have you upset yourself these past few days?"
He did not send a letter.
Lin Wanwan's heart felt like it was being gripped by an invisible hand, the pain making it almost impossible for her to breathe.
He not only didn't believe it, he even thought she was crazy.
Yes, how could a normal, native-born empress of the Dali Dynasty say such crazy things? In his opinion, it must be the pressure of the three-day cold war, coupled with the head injury she suffered while saving Tuanzi, that drove her crazy.
The pity in his eyes wasn't because of her words, but because of her "illness".
Lin Wanwan gave a self-deprecating laugh, a laugh that was more painful than tears.
She knew that if she couldn't convince him today, she would truly have lost everything.
“I’m not crazy, Xiao Che.” She looked at him calmly, surprisingly composed. “I’m not sick either. I’m telling the truth.”
She took a step back, avoiding his outstretched hand, and also creating distance between them.
“I come from a place that you, and indeed everyone in this world, cannot imagine.”
Her tone was calm, as if she were stating a fact unrelated to herself, but every word carried a strange power, striking Xiao Che's cognitive barriers.
“Do you remember? The first time we met?” she asked.
Xiao Che's brows furrowed tightly.
First time meeting?
Of course, it was that night, the night for the wedding to bring good luck.
"The moment I opened my eyes," Lin Wanwan's gaze was somewhat unfocused, as if she had pierced through time and returned to that night that changed her life, "right here on this dragon bed. Wearing a bright red wedding dress, surrounded by a group of trembling palace servants kneeling around me, and there was also... you, with a pale face, sinister eyes, and an aura of 'keep away' written all over your body."
Xiao Che's heart skipped a beat.
These details are absolutely perfect.
But what does this mean?
Lin Wanwan ignored the surprise and doubt on his face and continued talking. Her voice began to take on a dreamlike quality, as if she were describing a distant and unattainable fairyland to him.
“Where I came from, there was no palace, and no emperor. The houses we lived in were very, very tall, made of steel and glass, capable of… piercing the clouds.” She tried her best to describe the skyscrapers in words he could understand. “The Zhenguo Temple Pagoda, the tallest building in the capital, looked like a child’s toy in comparison to them.”
Xiao Che's pupils contracted again.
The Zhenguo Temple Pagoda, standing ninety-nine zhang tall, is already a marvel of its time. A magnificent palace that pierces the clouds? Is that… a celestial palace?
"Our vehicles don't use oxen or horses," Lin Wanwan continued. "They are 'boxes' made of sheet metal. People sit inside, and they can speed along roads as smooth as a mirror, covering a thousand miles a day—it's not just a dream."
A behemoth made of iron that doesn't need oxen or horses? Traveling a thousand miles a day?
Xiao Che's breathing gradually became rapid. This was beyond his imagination; it sounded more like a magical artifact from a supernatural tale.
“At night,” Lin Wanwan looked up at the huge luminous pearl on the ceiling, “we don’t need candles or luminous pearls. In our room, there are many small, glowing beads that can be pressed lightly with a gentle touch and instantly shine brightly, brighter than daytime.”
Xiao Che's expression finally changed completely.
That self-righteous "compromise," that pity for thinking she had "gone mad," has vanished completely.
Instead, there was an undisguised shock, and... a growing sense of doubt.
He was an emperor.
He was well-read and knowledgeable about both ancient and modern times. He knew about many strange and wondrous things in the world, and he also knew about the ethereal fairy mountains and pavilions that the alchemists spoke of.
However, Lin Wanwan's description was different.
The ramblings of a madman are incoherent and illogical.
She spoke clearly and logically, with detailed explanations.
The world she described, though absurd, possessed an... intrinsic, complete logic.
This is terrifying.
He couldn't understand the concept of "time travel"; the word simply didn't exist in his mind. How could a person appear out of thin air in another world?
Could it be... possession?
But this woman before him—her joys and sorrows, her intelligence and cunning, her selflessness in shielding him from an arrow, her tenderness when holding Tuanzi… everything about her felt so real. She was definitely not some wandering ghost!
So... what exactly is she?
Xiao Che's expression slowly shifted from shock to extreme scrutiny and solemnity.
He looked at him as if he were a complete stranger.
The woman who shared his bed and bore his children had, in his eyes, become a huge, inexplicable mystery.
"What you've said..." Xiao Che's voice was dry and tense. He stared intently at her, trying to find even the slightest trace of lying on her face, "What proof do you have?"
"Proof?" Lin Wanwan smiled bitterly. "If I had proof, how could I have ended up in this state today?"
She opened her hands, her palms were empty.
"My only proof is myself. A... a lonely soul who doesn't belong here, yet is trapped here."
Her honesty, instead of dispelling his doubts, plunged him into even greater confusion and suspicion.
What an emperor cannot tolerate most is loss of control.
Now, Lin Wanwan, and the bizarre world she speaks of, have completely exceeded his control and comprehension.
When reason fails to explain everything before one's eyes, doubt and vigilance become the emperor's last armor.
Xiao Che's expression gradually turned cold.
The shock and struggle in his eyes were eventually replaced by a cold, imperial majesty.
He felt he had been fooled.
Whether she was trying to gain sympathy or had genuinely lost her mind, her way of explaining their conflict with "fairy tales" infuriated him.
"Enough!" he shouted, interrupting her as she tried to continue.
Lin Wanwan trembled and stared at him in astonishment.
“Lin Wanwan,” Xiao Che’s eyes were as cold as ice, “I thought you were anxious to save your son, and you had been angry with me for many days. I was in a state of turmoil, which is why I heard you say so many crazy things.”
He approached her step by step, his powerful imperial aura instantly enveloping the entire bedchamber.
"But there's a limit to your nonsense!"
His voice, each word like a knife, mercilessly shattered all the courage she had just mustered.
Nonsense?
Nonsense?
Lin Wanwan stared blankly at him, at the undisguised suspicion and anger in his eyes.
She knew it, she knew it would be like this!
She laid her heart bare before him, but he treated it all as a ridiculous farce!
A tremendous sense of grievance and despair instantly overwhelmed her.
Tears, which I could no longer hold back, streamed down my face.
"I'm not being ridiculous!" Driven to desperation, she screamed hysterically at him, her voice shrill with agitation. "Xiao Che, I'm telling the truth!"
Why doesn't he believe her?!
"The reason I survived and got to where I am today is not because I can 'interpret pictures,' nor because I was lucky!"
With tears welling in her eyes, she stared intently at him, and finally, she revealed the ultimate secret—more absurd than the "time travel" itself, yet the only one that could prove she wasn't lying!
"It's because—"
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