The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Feng Zhuo suddenly came to his senses, feeling as if he had been stabbed in the heart by an ice shard, and was suddenly brought to his senses.

They... are no longer at the age where they could share a palace and act without any inhibitions.

He was a foreign official, a general, and she was an unmarried princess. In the dead of night, how could he possibly stay overnight at the Palace of Longevity?

What's more, she was so heartless to him back then.

He really has a short memory of how he forgot the pain once the wound healed.

This realization seemed to chill his blood for a moment, only to be followed by a wave of intense embarrassment and self-loathing.

He's insane!

How could such an absurd thought even come to mind?

Haven't we learned our lesson yet?

The wound in his heart that almost cost him his life was still there.

Why can't he learn his lesson!

"I...I'm leaving!"

He dared not look at her again, and almost awkwardly said a few words before opening the ink plum blossom oil paper umbrella.

The umbrella burst open in the wind and snow with a "whoosh," blocking her gaze and also concealing the burning heat and panic on Feng Zhuo's face that he could no longer hide.

Without looking back, he practically fled into the swirling snowstorm.

"Feng Ranzhi, Feng Ranzhi, stop being a moth drawn to a flame..."

He muttered to himself.

A dark cloak flashed across the pale snow.

He walked quickly and hurriedly, his footsteps crunching through the snow, but he dared not stop for a moment, much less look back.

He feared that turning back would lead to an abyss, and that lingering even for a moment would mean certain doom.

The snow in Tangxi is more terrifying than the abyss.

"Clatter—"

He was running so fast that his boots slipped on the snow-covered stone steps, causing him to lose his balance and stumble forward.

The black cloak billowed up, like a black crane with its wings suddenly broken, about to fall awkwardly into the fluffy snowdrift beside it.

At the critical moment, he twisted his waist, braced himself with one hand on the ground, and tightly gripped the oil-paper umbrella with the other. The umbrella shook violently in the wind and snow, and more snow fell down.

He managed to steady himself, though his posture was inevitably a bit awkward.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the umbrella in his hand was not broken.

This umbrella was given to him by Xue.

Inside the palace, the light was warm and inviting.

Tang Xixue watched his retreating figure the whole time, taking in the entire scene.

Seeing that he had barely managed to stand firm and hadn't actually fallen, the slight worry that had been rising in my heart quietly subsided.

Immediately, a very light and gentle smile, like a spring breeze melting thin ice, silently spread across the corners of her lips.

The lamplight reflected in her clear eyes, shimmering with tiny, warm points of light.

Burn it...

Just like when he was a child, he's still impulsive and adorable.

"Your Highness."

"The academic assessment at Lintai will begin tomorrow morning. If you fail this assessment, you will be expelled from school according to regulations."

Qingdai's voice was calm and quiet, like falling snow, and it rang out softly in the study where the candlelight flickered.

She placed the examination regulations, meticulously copied onto a plain silk scroll, on her desk.

Tang Xixue looked up from the pile of writing materials on the table, but had not yet had time to examine them closely.

Qingdai lowered her eyes and added, her voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible worry:

"According to reliable information from the Directorate of Ceremonial, the chief examiner this time is... the Imperial Preceptor, He Lichen."

"Crane, Glass, Dust".

Tang Xixue almost clenched the words, grinding the name between her lips and teeth.

In an instant, my fingertips felt slightly cool.

Yes, how could she forget?

Over the past five years, this body has been occupied by various transmigrated women, leaving behind not only a tarnished reputation but also a shocking blank space on the Lintai study book.

It's truly a pitiful state to have fallen to the point of being forced to quit.

If the examiner were someone else, perhaps it would be possible to negotiate or try to maintain the status quo by borrowing some of the emperor's influence.

But it was He Lichen.

It was that very man who had been in her palace tonight, pinned beneath her, kissed wantonly, and ruthlessly taken advantage of by her, enjoying the best of this high-and-mighty flower, ultimately causing him to turn cold and leave in a huff.

That person was the Regent, whose enforcement of the law was as strict as ice and snow, allowing no room for the slightest flaw.

Trying to cheat under his nose is practically suicide.

"Qingdai, go and find all the textbooks and lessons I have taken at Lintai over the past five years."

Tang Xixue closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, the nonchalant and languid look in her eyes had been replaced by a sharp and resolute determination.

Cramming at the last minute?

Yes.

After all, a person cannot, and should not, be... a useless person.

Upon hearing this, Qingdai showed no surprise, only giving a slight curtsy: "Yes."

She turned and walked towards the towering rosewood bookshelf on one side of the study, reaching all the way to the ceiling, her steps as light as if she were walking on water without leaving a trace.

Before long, he brought over stacks of brand-new books, so fresh that you could almost smell the lingering scent of raw Xuan paper and ink sticks, and gently piled them on the large desk, forming a silent little mountain.

"Geography of the Nine Provinces", "Strategic Insights", "Study on the Division of Stars and Lands", "Commentary on the Book of Rites"...

The cover was crisp, the pages were neatly trimmed, and there wasn't even a rough edge from being flipped through; it was as clean as a tacitly acknowledged absence certificate that had lasted for five years.

"Your Highness, if we exert ourselves now, it will likely be... a drop in the ocean."

Qingdai's voice remained steady, yet it was like ink dripping into water, spreading a faint trace of helplessness.

"And this time, Young Master Pei... I'm afraid he won't be able to take the exam for you as he always has."

Pei Yanchuan, the poor boy who was exceptionally brought back by the princess and raised in a side hall of the Changsheng Palace as a servant, but who was able to enter the Lintai Academy due to his unparalleled talent, was once the only lifeline for her princess in her academic assessments over the years.

"It's alright. Relying on others is not a long-term solution. From now on, I'll rely on myself."

Tang Xixue reached out and took the top book, ran her fingertip over the title, and opened it.

The candlelight illuminated her lowered profile, highlighting her intense focus, while her long eyelashes cast butterfly-like shadows on her fair skin.

Her gaze swept across the text with an almost terrifying speed, not aimlessly, but with an almost frightening efficiency.

With a glance, the complex geographical history, the convoluted policy essays, and the exquisite star charts seemed to be seized by an invisible hand and imprinted into the mind.

The ability to memorize anything at a glance was an innate talent she possessed.

Now, after five years of neglect, this ability has been rekindled on this snowy night.

"That's not enough."

Her clear, melodious voice was exceptionally distinct in the silence.

"We gathered all the lectures, notes, and even the essential summaries circulating among classmates over the past five years, all of which were related to the coursework at Lintai."

The sound of pages turning was as fine and delicate as silkworms eating leaves.

She finally looked up from between the pages of the book, her eyes reflecting the candlelight with an astonishing brightness.

"Also, go and invite Pei Yanchuan over."

"Yes."

A glint flashed in Qingdai's eyes. Without saying another word, she curtsied and quietly withdrew.

Dressed in a light blue palace gown, she moved with a slight flutter of her sleeves, quickly disappearing into the night and the fragrance of plum blossoms in the outer corridor of the palace.

Outside the window, snow fell silently; inside the hall, light and shadow swayed red.

Tang Xixue buried herself in books, as if trying to reclaim the five years that had been stolen from her during this long night.

Before long, extremely light footsteps came from the end of the corridor, shattering the jade-like surface, approaching from afar.

Outside the tightly closed palace doors, the wind and snow seemed to pause for a moment. A wisp of chilly wind, mixed with the scent of snow and pale ink, quietly seeped into the warm interior before the person arrived.

Pei Yanchuan, we've arrived.

He stopped three feet inside the door, precisely at the boundary between the warmth of the candlelight and the chill of the corridor.

He wore a faded blue Lintai school uniform, with two hair ties hanging down with his hair.

Fine, downy snowflakes still clung to her shoulders, melting into tiny damp spots upon contact with warmth and seeping into the fabric.

"Your Highness."

He bowed his head in greeting, his voice clear and melodious, not loud, yet extremely pleasant and distinct.

The candlelight cast a long, thin, and fragile shadow of the boy.

Slender as bamboo, broken as porcelain.

He was extremely tall, but due to long-term poverty and hard study, he became somewhat thin and bony.

His eyebrows and eyes were as black as lacquer, which should have been an outstanding appearance, but there was a fragile weariness between his brows.

He stood upright like a pine tree, his back straight, his eyes lowered, awaiting her instructions.