Ste Grace chuckled. “I know it must be dangerous. How could that be? Are you a spy?”


    Rond Cher just gave her a guarded, restrained smile.


    Ste knew that was all she was getting, so she stopped asking. She bowed her head and took a sip of coffee.


    The tension quickly dissipated, leaving behind an awkward atmosphere.


    Rond cleared his throat. “Do you like history?”


    “I took a ss on domestic and foreign history when I was studying psychology abroad. It was mainly about analyzing historical figures. Why? Do you?” Ste asked casually.


    “My ex-girlfriend’s father likes it. He is an expert in this area. He contributes to the research of ancient geographicalndscapes. He can restore maps of entire time periods, and ces where important events had happened in the past,” Rond exined.


    Ste recalled a map she acquired at Tavers Vige. Perhaps his ex-girlfriend’s father could analyze it.


    Wait a minute, Rond and Ryan knew each other. Ryan might already have a copy of the map in his hands, and Ryan might also know Rond’s ex-girlfriend’s father too!


    Could thend that Rond wanted to acquire, contain the treasure on the map?


    Ste was a little excited. She couldn’t wait to tell Jasper Milton about her theory.


    Her hand holding the coffee cup shook. She tried to calm down. She said respectfully, “Each industry has its own specialization, and there are powerful people in every industry. That is to be expected.


    I remember a show about the appraisal of antiques. The experts on it could tell whether an antique was genuine and how much it was worth with a single nce. It was awesome.”


    “Silly girl, that’s all part of the show. By the time the filming began, the experts would have already studied them for several days,” Rond said with a smile.


    Ste continued chatting to get him to lower his guard. “That’s still impressive. If those experts made a replica, I’m sure people would be fooled.”


    “A lot of the stuff you see in museums are actually such replicas. The genuine articles are locked away somewhere. However, some of the techniques have been lost so the replicas aren’t exactly the same.”


    Ste drank her coffee. “Have you studied them? Do you like antiques?”


    Rond spoke leisurely. “I like them. They’re very interesting, they bring me back to another era. Did I own them in my past life? Where would I have put them if I did? What were they used for? Why were they used as burial items? What does it mean?”


    “What kind of antiques do you like?From what you have said, I guess…porcin?” Ste asked tentatively.


    “I prefer something even more special.” Rond took out a jade pendant and put it on the table. “Do you know who wore this?”


    The pendant looked very delicate, the engravings intricate. She was dazzled. “Who?”


    “Pan An (Pan An was a historical Chinese poet),” Rond said confidently.


    Ste smiled. “Pan An was convicted of treason, leading to three generations of his family members being exterminated. Since he didn’t die in glory, he couldn’t have had precious burial goods with him. So, this pendant can’t be genuine, you must have been conned.”


    “There’s something you don’t know. Pan An was a handsome man with an impable fashion sense. He had many friends and was very talented. He also liked to roam the streets.


    One day, he went out and bought this pendant. He wore it all the time. However, when Yang Jun (Yang Jun was a Jin dynasty official from ancient Chinese history) was framed and Pan An was implicated, he sent the pendant to a friend of his, Gongsun Hong.


    Gongsun Hong saved him and kept the pendant,” Rond exined.


    Ste shrugged. This was all just spection. If the man did not have any precious goods buried with him, who could have worn the pendant? But since Rond was so sure, she didn’t want to disappoint him. “Have you ever imagined yourself as Pan An?”


    Rond was a little embarrassed. “I think he was the most innocent person on the. ording to the records, he was extremely charmingbut also frivolous and hot-tempered. I don’t think that’s urate, though.”


    Ste nodded. “I agree. I can think of a few examples that contradict that image. First, when Yang Jun was framed, Pan An was smart enough to distance himself from trouble. That doesn’t sound like an impetuous man to me.


    Secondly, when his mother fell seriously ill, he resigned his position to take care of her. What was the point of wealth and glory if he couldn’t look after his family? He was recorded in the list of the 24 Filial Sons, but was soon removed.


    Thirdly, he had a wife. He was only 32 years old when she died of an illness. He was in the prime of his life. He became an official and got rich, but never remarried or took a mistress. He remained single for 18 years, that proves he valued love and loyalty. He was a rare kind of man.”


    Rond pped, he had found a true friend. “My thoughts exactly. The emperor couldn’t let him be glorified because of his involvement in a rebellion, so he was stricken from the records, including the list of the 24 Filial Sons.


    However, Pan An was too popr. His story spread through gossip and rumors. The emperor couldn’t stop it, so he resorted to censoring what was written instead ofpletely omitting him from the records.”


    Ste agreed.“Well,that’s the way it is. If you seed, you are glorified; if you fail, you are reviled.


    “Aren’t there a few famous stories about Emperor Hongwu (Emperor Hongwu was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty in Ancient China)? After he became the emperor, people who used to know him came to seek refuge with him. If he found them pathetic, they were beheaded. Only those who were loyal to him were promoted.” She took a sip of her coffee.


    Rond looked at Ste excitedly. It was as if he finally found his soulmate after searching for such a long time. He knew then that he and Ste would get along very well.


    “How are you and your husband?” Rond asked concernedly.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org.


    “Very good,” Ste said sinctly.


    She confided in him at first because he was a stranger then.


    But when this stranger tried to enter her life, she rejected him.


    Ste took a look at her mobile phone and changed the topic. “It seems that my appointment is running a littlete.”


    “Ste, as a friend, I’d like to remind you to be careful at the State Mayor’s house. Don’t poke your nose in anything that doesn’t concern you,” Rond reminded her.