The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Inside Ranxia Studio, a warm fragrance filled the air like mist.

Outside the carved round window, plum blossoms fall like snowflakes. Several scrolls unfold layer upon layer, the ink strokes varying in depth like distant, dreamlike mountains.

The plain gauze curtains hung silently from the beams, swaying gently in the breeze that swept through the hall, like the shallow breath of time itself.

The moment Tang Xixue stepped across the threshold, she felt a burning gaze fixed on her.

On the main seat, Hua Rongshi wore a dark pink, layered, wide-sleeved robe, covered by a ethereal silk gauze garment, the wide sleeves flowing like clouds, brushing against the soft silver fox fur beneath her.

His amorous peach blossom eyes were slightly upturned, looking over with a half-smile.

"Tsk," Hua Rongshi's red lips parted slightly, her voice lazy yet clear, carrying undisguised mockery, "What a small world, Tang Xixue."

"Butterfly—long time no see."

Tang Xixue remained calm and walked straight to her own painting table, where she sat down and slowly arranged her brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone.

She glanced at him, a faint smile playing on her lips.

He is so striking.

That pink dress would inevitably look gaudy on others, but on him it became a dashing and unrestrained embellishment.

It was as if the peach blossoms and sunset of late spring had draped over her, making her dazzling and impossible to ignore.

When her face was flushed, she was drunk.

In Southeast Dream Continent, the young master of the Dream Flower City is also the "Number One Painter Under Heaven," renowned throughout the Nine Provinces.

Everyone says he is more beautiful than any woman; he is charming and amorous, and has a unique fragrance.

Rumor has it that the peach blossom fragrance surrounding him is so alluring that it easily stirs up romantic thoughts, causing countless women to go mad for him.

At this moment, the sweet and intoxicating fragrance of peach blossoms is permeating the studio.

"Didn't I tell you that if you dare show your face in front of me again, I'll throw you into Taiye Lake to calm down?"

Hua Rongshi sat up straight, her charming peach blossom eyes slightly narrowed, but her gaze was somewhat cold.

"Who do you think you are? Who gives you the right to tell me what to do?"

Tangxi Xue spread out the Xuan paper, picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, her movements were fluid and graceful, and her tone was calm and even.

The drawing test is open to free choice, and the final grade is determined by the examiner.

She has already begun to concentrate on her ideas.

"No way?"

She suddenly looked up, her eyes clear and bright, filled with undisguised sarcasm.

"The dignified Crown Prince of the Dreamy Flower City, could it be... that he intends to marry into my family, Chen Yao, and become my consort?"

She paused, her smile deepening, but devoid of any warmth:

"What a pity, you're too dirty. I... wouldn't even look at you."

"Snow in Tangxi!"

Hua Rong's breath hitched, and a faint blush instantly rose on her beautiful face, whether from anger or something else, it was hard to tell.

"Who are you calling dirty?!"

His knuckles, gripping the paintbrush, turned slightly white.

"No matter how dirty I am," he sneered, retorting, "I'm afraid it's not as wonderful as your 'One Thousand and One Nights' with Saint Yuefan."

"Thank you for your concession."

Tangxi Xue remained unfazed, and her brush had already sketched several freehand outlines of lotus flowers.

The two's sharp and witty exchange had already left the other students in the dormitory dumbfounded. They all lowered their heads like quails, even holding their breath, wishing they had heard better.

"You, you, you..."

Hua Rongshi was speechless at her stubborn and unyielding attitude.

For a moment, he couldn't find a more cutting remark. After a long pause, he finally snapped, "Shameless!"

"Yes, yes, yes," Tang Xixue continued writing, her tone perfunctory, "I'm shameless."

Her gaze swept meaningfully across his chest, a slight smile playing on her lips:

"But I do know—how many peach blossoms are tattooed on Young Master Fuzui's chest."

"Ahhh! Tangxi Snow—!"

Hua Rongshi completely lost her composure and suddenly stood up from the chair.

He pointed at her, his fingertips trembling slightly.

"Are you even a woman?!"

How dare you say such things in public?!

"Whether I'm a woman or not, others may not know, but surely Young Master Fuzui... knows?"

Tang Xixue finally stopped writing, looked up and stared directly at him, each word spoken with the same gritted teeth.

The air suddenly became deathly still.

You could hear a pin drop inside the room.

All the students stood frozen in place, not daring to even glance around, their minds buzzing.

Is this... is this the kind of scandalous history they're allowed to hear?!

Hua Rongshi froze on the spot, her beautiful face flushing red and then turning pale, her peach blossom eyes now churning with shame, anger, and embarrassment.

After Tang Xixue finished speaking, she stopped looking at him, lowered her eyes again, and focused on the drawing paper in front of her.

However, the slender fingers gripping the pen tightened slightly, revealing that she was not entirely calm inside.

After all, the time-traveling woman, in her body, actively climbed into her bed, offering herself as a concubine, only to be ruthlessly packed up and thrown out the window—such a glorious feat…

It is definitely one of the top three "glories" on her black history list.

At this moment, Hua Rongshi, the one who had climbed into his bed, broke down.

And the original owner, Tang Xixue, was forced to inherit the scandalous history of sleeping with someone...

It broke through the defenses too.

The students standing nearby remained frozen in place, their souls seemingly drifting out of Ranxia Study, wandering aimlessly in the biting cold wind.

Today's painting test, even before I've started painting, already seems too exciting.

This gossip is even more fascinating than a painting!

"If the Northern Star Empire were to use your shamelessness to build its city walls, the border would be forever impregnable, and the beacon towers would be overgrown with weeds!"

Hua Rong glanced at Tang Xixue, who was painting with her eyes downcast, her peach blossom eyes flashing with sharp daggers.

Tangxi Xue paused slightly on the Xuan paper with the tip of her brush.

"Not as fragrant as the drunken young master, whose body is adorned with peach blossoms; wherever the wind blows, bees and butterflies naturally form an army."

"The military budget of Dream City will probably be saved a lot."

"you--!"

Hua Rongshi was choked by her words, her beautiful face showing a series of changes in expression. After a long while, she managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth.

"She's really... sharp-tongued."

This was the first time he had truly experienced the attack power of Tang Xixue.

The entanglements of the past, though annoying, were at least somewhat humble and ingratiating. Never before have they been so... head-on, not giving an inch.

It was so sharp it was like a knife piercing the heart.

"Be quiet, you're noisier than the birds outside the window."

Tang Xixue lowered her head again, focusing on outlining the lines under her pen, her tone revealing obvious impatience.

"Are you here to proctor the exam, or to cause trouble?"

She continued writing, her voice calm yet threatening:

"If you say another word, I will report you to the examiner for neglecting your duties and disrupting the examination."

"..." Hua Rongshi immediately shut up.

He glared at her fiercely, then sullenly sat back down in his chair and remained silent.

But those amorous peach blossom eyes remained fixed on her, their gaze sharp as knives, as if they wanted to pierce a thousand transparent holes in her.

There are plenty of people who want to get into his bed.

Men and women, all sorts of people, he was used to it all.

That bastard who might actually climb into his bed—and even managed to pull off his blanket!

What's most infuriating is that this bastard actually used the royal family's top secret guards to do such a despicable thing!

He was half asleep when he suddenly felt a warm, soft body in his bed, which terrified him.

Without a second thought, he wrapped the person up in a brocade quilt and threw him out of the second-floor window.

If Chao Han hadn't caught her securely, Princess Jing would have broken her leg on the spot.

Later, somehow, this matter came to the attention of the Mountain and Sea Spirit Disciples, whose eyes and ears were spread throughout the Nine Provinces, and the story spread like wildfire.

He was ridiculed by his cousin Bei Chenji for three whole months, until...

It wasn't until Bei Chenji himself fell into the hands of this little devil and caused an even more embarrassing commotion that they started hurting each other, which barely made things even.

Thinking of this, Hua Rongshi felt a surge of anger rise even higher, and her gaze toward Tang Xixue became even more ferocious.

Tangxi Xue, however, seemed oblivious.

She was completely immersed in her own artistic world, her brush tip fully dipped in ink of just the right shades, slowly moving across the snow-white Xuan paper.

Sometimes outlining, sometimes blending, his expression so focused that it seemed all the surrounding disturbances had vanished.

She is drawing a woman.

Each stroke meticulously depicts the figure deep within my memory.

Hua Rongshi sat at the head of the table, but due to the limited angle, it was impossible to see exactly what she was painting.

He only remembered that in his previous painting class, Princess Mirror's painting skills were utterly appalling.

Her drawings were either smudged with ink or had crooked lines, which angered her so much that her teacher once threw her drawing paper in the classroom, scolding her as "a piece of rotten wood that cannot be carved."

"She can't draw at all, yet she dared to choose the drawing exam..." Hua Rongshi sneered inwardly, "She really has no self-awareness whatsoever."

He had originally planned to enjoy watching her make a fool of herself today.

But as I watched, the initial mockery and anger gradually took on a different flavor.

Sunlight streamed through the carved windows, casting a hazy, shimmering glow on the floor.

She sat in that beam of light, her face bare of makeup, her skin as smooth and lustrous as the finest mutton-fat jade, almost transparent in the light, gleaming with a cold luster.

Her long eyelashes drooped, casting butterfly-wing shadows under her eyes; her nose was straight and delicate; and her lips were a natural pale pink, like the petals of a newly blossoming crabapple.

Her whole being was as aloof as thin snow on a branch, yet as radiant as a crabapple blossom in the snow.

Her simple silver-patterned snow dress, without much embellishment, accentuated her ethereal beauty, making her seem like a snow fairy who had mistakenly entered the mortal world, causing the paintings in the room and the world outside the window to pale in comparison.

"hiss--"

Hua Rongshi suddenly gasped and snapped back to reality.

He... he was actually staring at Tang Xixue in a daze just now?!

He was clearly determined to torture her with his eyes!

How could I have been so captivated by her beauty?

So—given her celestial beauty, why did she have to resort to such despicable methods as climbing into someone's bed?

Couldn't you... just put in a little more effort?

So you have to go straight for the kidneys, right?

Hua Rong felt a surge of unease.

He gritted his teeth inwardly, his gaze fixed on that beautiful figure with complex emotions.

Hey, how come it's kind of cute?

"She's incredibly resourceful."

"..."

Tangxi Snow: It's just breathing.