The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"Cousin, tell me, why does this love potion flare up every month?"

"Your Gu poison hasn't shown any signs of activity?"

Hua Rongshi tilted his head, his expression genuinely puzzled, as if this question had lingered in his mind for many years.

"It looks like... it's asleep."

Upon hearing this, Bei Chenji's fingertips paused almost imperceptibly.

He didn't look up, only replying indifferently:

"Perhaps... they froze to death."

Those three days and three nights.

The ice cave, the cold wind—he should have died there, just like his mother, turned into an ice sculpture.

It's a love potion made from peach blossoms.

As his heart was about to give out, a faint, almost extinguished warmth rekindled from the depths of his blood.

That warmth, like a flickering candle in the wind, stubbornly protected his last glimmer of life, holding onto his last breath amidst the swirling snow.

The sacred Gu, passed down through generations of the royal family of Qimeng Huadu, naturally possesses its own mystical properties.

Protecting one's master is simply one of the instincts.

"Is my cousin treating me like a three-year-old?"

Hua Rongshi clearly didn't believe it, raising her eyebrows even higher and a half-joking, half-serious expression of annoyance playing on her lips.

Bei Chenji finally raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over his cousin's face, which bore a striking resemblance to his mother.

Especially her eyes, with their slightly upturned corners, always held an unconscious shimmer when she looked at people, like peach petals soaked in spring water.

His heart softened.

"If that's how you think, there's nothing I can do about it."

He looked away, his tone still indifferent, but without the sharpness.

The Beichen clan has few offspring.

He is the only one left.

How ironic.

What about being a descendant of founding fathers, what about hereditary succession of the throne to a different surname, what about the glory of sharing the fate of the nation...

Beneath the layers of glory lies a blood debt accumulated over generations and a curse that leads to a tragic end.

Sometimes, in the dead of night, he would feel an almost violent impulse—

They overturned the entire Chenyao Dynasty.

Let those who sit in the golden palace, enjoying the peace forged by the flesh and blood of the Beichen clan, and those who rely on Beichen's sword while simultaneously fearing and coveting Beichen...

They all fell together into the deepest hell.

"Cousin, do you always have that zombie-like face? You never smile?"

Hua Rongshi's voice interrupted his thoughts.

His tone was light and cheerful, with the carefree brightness of youth, which clashed with the somber atmosphere of the room.

Bei Chenji remained silent for a moment.

"Does being amused by Tangxi Xue count?"

He said slowly.

"cough--"

Hua Rong choked on her tea, and her eyes became moist and red.

He wiped his lips while unable to suppress a laugh:

"Yes! Then why doesn't it count?"

Thinking of the long list of enemies that Tang Xixue had made over the years, even he felt a chill for her.

"Cousin, let's make a deal."

Hua Rongshi put down her teacup, leaned closer, and a sly glint flashed in her eyes.

"explain."

Beichen Ji's words are concise and to the point.

"There are so many people who want to kill Tang Xixue that they could line up from the palace gate to the moat. It wouldn't make a difference if you were my cousin."

"Let's not talk about things further away, let's just talk about my dorm room—"

Lanting Villa, a residence for four people.

Aside from himself, the other two, Kong Sangyu and Yun Boyan, were both leaders of their own factions, and both had been thoroughly offended by Tang Xixue.

"She flirted with both lords of Shan Hai and Yun Jue."

Hua Rong sighed.

"You, as the master of the War Hall, should stay out of this and spare her life."

"She's also quite the troublemaker."

Upon hearing this, a hint of amusement flashed across Bei Chenji's eyes.

Only after he mentioned it did he suddenly realize that the lords of the three major dark forces in the Nine Provinces Continent had all been teased by his little niece.

Even Yun Boyan, who was known for his reclusive life and otherworldly existence, could not escape her eloquent pen and was fabricated into a series of scandalous rumors spanning a thousand and one nights.

"There may still be room for maneuver between Shan Hai and Zhan Tang."

Bei Chenji lightly tapped the table with his fingertips, producing a rhythmic soft sound, his tone carrying a hint of detached schadenfreude.

"She's offended Yun Boyan; she's probably doomed."

"No way?"

Hua Rongshi's eyes widened, her face full of disbelief:

"Brother Yun is so gentle! He plays with his white jade prayer beads every day, his face is as radiant as moonlight and as beautiful as autumn water... How could he possibly be a bad person?"

I recall Yun Boyan's long, silvery-white hair, as bright as moonlight, and her flawless, divine face. When she looked up, it was like spring water just beginning to flow; when she lowered her eyelashes, it was like a butterfly perched on a flower branch.

Hua Rongshi's values ​​immediately and without principle shifted towards the idea that beauty equals justice.

"..."

Bei Chenji closed his eyes, feeling that the fatigue of the past few days had reached its peak at this moment.

His cousin, as the crown prince of a country, is so naive. How will he inherit the throne in the future?

"Yun Boyan is gentle?" He opened his eyes, his gaze icy. "Rong Shi, do you know what the name Yun Jue means in the Dark Realm of the Nine Provinces?"

It was a sword hanging over the heads of countless powerful and wealthy people, a presence that even the royal family had to fear.

How could the person in charge of Yunjue be a good person?

Hua Rongshi was completely unaware, spreading out a sheet of Xuelang Xuan paper and preparing ink and brushes by herself.

The ink stick slowly rotates on the Duan inkstone, grinding out a uniform and fine ink that gleams with a dark luster.

He pondered for a moment, then picked up his brush and dipped it in ink.

The moment the pen touched the paper, his expression suddenly became focused.

The lines flowed from his wrist, and with just a few strokes, the silhouette of a girl holding a brush and painting was beginning to take shape.

Her black hair was half-tied up, with the rest cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall.

If it's not Tangxi Xue, then who is it?

Bei Chenji couldn't help but raise his hand and rub his temples hard.

"I used to think you were picky," he said, his tone complex and carrying a sense of unbelievable absurdity, "but now it seems that was a huge misunderstanding."

"Now it's certain—you're not picky, really, not picky at all."

Hua Rong paused, her pen poised, and looked up.

The candlelight danced in his eyes, spreading a radiant halo.

His lips curved into a smile, a smile so pure and untainted:

"I simply appreciate the beauty of the snowflakes."

"Snow on earth is a guest from heaven."

He recited softly, his gaze returning to the painting, his eyes as gentle as if he were looking at a rare treasure.

"You vulgar person, don't you understand?"

He hadn't felt such a strong urge in a long time—to capture someone's essence forever on paper.

At this moment, my heart follows my brush, and my mind is filled with the image of Tangxi Xue bowing her head and painting during today's annual examination.

Light and shadow flowed across her lowered profile, from her full forehead to her delicate nose and then to her refined jawline.

Every transition is just right; any more would be too intense, any less would be too bland.

Long eyelashes, like butterfly wings, cast soft shadows on her eyelids.

That focused tranquility made her radiate an almost sacred light.

She was so beautiful that she seemed otherworldly.

"Fine, I am a mortal."

Bei Chenji was too lazy to argue with him anymore, so he turned up and stood up.

The crimson brocade cloak billowed with gold with her movements, shimmering with a dark, flowing light in the candlelight.

He picked up the wooden box containing his mother's portrait and turned to walk out of the study.

His steps were unhurried, his clothes trailing silently on the ground, leaving behind only a single, emotionless remark:

"You can stay here and slowly admire your little angel."

"I will go find Yun Boyan and ask him about the background of that young man on the Asura Platform."

"Cousin, wait for me!"

Hua Rongshi quickly put down her brush, laid out the unfinished painting to dry, and hurriedly followed after him.

Before the ink was dry, the girl's eyebrows and eyes in the painting slowly blurred on the rice paper, making them appear even more hazy and vivid.

"Speaking of which, the young man on the Asura Platform that night was quite a formidable character."

He walked beside me, his tone filled with admiration.

"He publicly humiliated both Shan Hai and Yun Jue."

Bei Chenji did not stop walking, but his eyes deepened.

He was naturally aware of the matter concerning the Asura Platform.

That boy who appeared out of nowhere.

Their identity is a mystery, and their origins are unknown.

But their strength is terrifyingly high.

"If he is not one of Yun Jue's men, then I will recruit him to the Battle Hall."

As the night deepened, the two walked towards the Orchid Pavilion Villa.