The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

In the Imperial Study of Chengtian Hall, pale blue gauze curtains hung down like frozen waves, each fold reflecting a cold, snowy light.

Outside the huge, sandalwood-carved window, snow weighed down on the slender bamboo, and moonlight washed over the edges of the bamboo leaves, making them gleam with a cool silver.

The staggered gilded candlesticks stood majestically, the candles burning silently, casting the emperor's long shadow on the carpet.

Emperor Tang Xi sat upright behind his desk at night, a memorial in his hand that he hadn't touched for a long time.

The candlelight flickered between his deep-set brows, yet it couldn't illuminate the dark, gloomy clouds in his eyes—a mist that even moonlight couldn't penetrate.

The elegant yet slightly oppressive scent of ambergris floated in the air, but now it seemed to have solidified into amber, sealing away time and breath.

"Your Majesty," Shen Cuo, the commander of the Imperial Guards who was standing by his side, finally couldn't help but speak in a low voice. His black armor and silver plating gleamed coldly in the candlelight. "You've been reading this memorial for almost an hour."

Tang Xiye slowly raised her eyes.

That gaze made Shen Cuo's back stiffen slightly—not from thunderous rage, but from a bottomless, almost fragile calm.

"Shen Qing," the emperor's voice was soft, like snow falling on bamboo leaves, "in your opinion, it was I... who restrained her?"

Shen Cuo's Adam's apple twitched slightly.

He lowered his head, his knuckles clenched white as he clasped his hands together: "Your Majesty, I dare not presume to know your intentions. Your Majesty's plan is naturally comprehensive."

"comprehensive?"

Tang Xiye repeated the word softly, a faint smile curving her lips.

He put down the memorial, his slender fingers tracing the cold edge of the white jade paperweight, a gesture as gentle as if he were touching someone's eyebrows and eyes.

"When have I ever restricted her access to the palace? When have I ever mistreated her?"

His voice gradually lowered, sinking into a kind of bewildered, almost soliloquy:

"The wind and snow outside are so fierce, and the world is so treacherous... The whole world is full of scoundrels, eyeing each other covetously, each with their own ulterior motives."

"My Zhizhi, so delicate, so clean."

He raised his eyes, and those eyes that had once seen through the storms of life and death now revealed a rare hint of confusion and sadness:

"How can I feel at ease when they are not before my eyes, not within the complete coverage of my wings?"

"Shen Cuo, tell me," his voice was so soft as if afraid of disturbing something, "what did I do wrong? Why did she... feel so restrained?"

"So they're leaving."

The last three words, scattered in the air mingled with incense and candlelight, carried a weight as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Shen Cuo felt that the lining of the armor on his back was soaked with cold sweat.

The emotions the emperor displayed at this moment were more unsettling than rage.

He stared intently at the patterns of light and shadow on the ground, his heart filled with turbulent emotions—

Your Majesty, haven't you realized that your pampering is almost...

Has overindulgence become a cage?

Which princess, after reaching marriageable age, is so meticulously cared for by her brother that even a glance at her residence outside the palace makes the emperor so uneasy?

He even recalled folk tales about hiding beautiful women in golden houses.

Your Majesty, please wake up!

The thought had barely formed when he ruthlessly extinguished it.

A chill ran down my neck.

"Shen Cuo?" The emperor tapped his fingers lightly on the imperial desk. "Is he mute?"

Tap, tap, tap.

The extremely soft and rhythmic sounds echoed alone within the luxurious and spacious palace, like some kind of countdown.

Shen Cuo remained silent.

If you don't speak, they'll think you're mute.

If I tell you the truth, you won't want to hear it.

This job is getting harder every day.

He just wanted the night to end quickly.

When Tangxi Xue's carriage passed the last palace gate and entered the imperial road paved with white marble, it was nearly midnight.

The gilded palace lanterns in the Hall of Longevity shone warmly in the snowy night, like stars hanging in the sky.

The crystal bells stopped, the brocade curtains were lifted, and she stepped off the carriage with Wei Yu's hand, but she froze the moment she stepped into the palace.

Two vermilion and gilded doors were wide open, revealing the interior of the hall to her without reservation.

This is no longer the Changsheng Palace as it was when she left this morning.

The Hall of Eternal Life in my memory is deserted.

After years of neglect, and with her selling off most of the furnishings to raise money, the vast hall was left with only the necessities, so empty that one could hear the echo of footsteps.

But at this moment...

The mica-paved ground seemed to gently pour the entire Milky Way over it, shimmering with light.

Outside the round, carved window, snow plum blossoms reflect the moon, and beneath the window stands a jade screen with the sound of tides from the Azure Wave Immortal Dynasty—it is said that the jade can remember the sound of the waves, and with a light touch of the fingertip, one can hear the distant tides.

In front of the screen was a soft couch made of shimmering brocade, a tribute from the City of Dreams. The brocade shimmered with a dreamlike luster under the lamplight, as if a piece of the sunset had been cut off.

On the corner of the table is a floor-standing glass lotus lamp from the otherworld, with candlelight flickering in the ice-blue glass petals, casting a hazy dreamlike atmosphere over the entire hall.

A dazzling, icy blue gauze crystal curtain hangs down from the beam, rustling softly in the breeze.

The air was filled with the delicate and slightly sweet fragrance of cold plum blossoms, not the strong spices commonly used in the palace, but the soul of plum blossoms that had just bloomed after the snow, carefully collected and steamed.

"Your Highness..."

A soft yet excited voice rang out.

Tang Xixue turned her gaze and saw Li Shuang wearing a pale yellow, forsythia-like, double-breasted top and a matching pleated skirt. Her adorable double buns were adorned with golden velvet flowers, and she was gracefully bowing.

When she looked up, her eyes were filled with a bright light, and her cheeks were flushed with excitement.

"You're finally back! Look at all this... His Majesty personally oversaw the arrangements this afternoon!"

She got up and led Tang Xixue inside.

"This servant spent the entire afternoon counting them, but still couldn't finish. His Majesty said that these are all rare treasures newly presented as tribute by various countries this year, and you should choose first; the rest will be put into storage."

The previously empty display cabinets and antique shelves are now filled with a dazzling array of rare and exotic treasures from across the land.

The Celestial Star Sand of the Northern Star Empire, held in a purple jade box, shimmered with starlight; the Millennium Mirage Pearl of the Azure Wave Immortal Dynasty, placed in a crystal cup, faintly revealing undulating pavilions within its shimmering light; the Golden Lotus Fruit from the Lotus Song Ancient Kingdom, lying on a velvet cushion, gleamed with golden light…

Each piece carries the elegance of a distant land, yet they are arranged with exquisite care, their arrangement creating a harmonious and poetic effect.

She walked into the hall and pointed to a large sandalwood chest in the west corner:

"And this too! His Majesty specifically instructed that you personally review it."

Tang Xixue's gaze fell on the box.

The box has a simple and unadorned shape, but the wood is oily and has a subtle fragrance—it is top-grade sinking sandalwood.

A thought flickered in her mind, and she gestured for Li Shuang to open it.

With a soft "click," the brass clasp was released.

Li Shuang forcefully lifted the heavy box lid.

In an instant, a golden light surged forth.

It is not the shimmering light refracted by jewels and jade, but the luster of the heavy, solid gold itself.

The entire box contained neatly stacked gold coins, with intricate intertwined floral patterns cast along the edges and the iris emblem of the Tangxi royal family at the center.

They stood close together, bathed in the warm golden light of countless lamps in the hall, coating the surrounding air with a magnificent and warm hue, making the air seem heavy.

"His Majesty said that you don't need to be stingy with your money. If you need more, just go to the Imperial Household Department... You don't need to sell any of your personal belongings."

Tang Xixue stood quietly in front of the box, her eyes lowered as she gazed at the deep gold.

The light and shadow cast a faint shadow under her long eyelashes, obscuring the emotions in her eyes.

Only the slightly curled fingers inside the sleeve betrayed the turmoil in her heart—they trembled slightly as if burned.

"What else did my brother instruct?"

Li Shuang quickly snapped out of her daze, her face breaking into a smile again, her tone becoming even more cheerful:

"There's plenty more! His Majesty not only gifted these treasures and gold coins, but also specially assigned the best craftsmen to meticulously renovate our Hall of Longevity, inside and out, even the most secluded side rooms and corridors!"

"Even the flowers and plants in the courtyard were replanted according to the layout you liked best when you were a child, all under His Majesty's personal supervision—the old plum tree under the west window was moved here from the plum garden by His Majesty, who said that you loved to swing under it when you were a child..."

As Li Shuang spoke, her eyes reddened slightly.

"His Majesty has been so indifferent to you all these years... I thought he had stopped caring about you. I never expected him to care so much now."

Tang Xixue knew what she was thinking.

Tang Xiye's treatment of the transmigrated women who possessed her body was completely different from her treatment of the real Zhizhi.

As for the former, he simply protected the body from death, maintained the most basic dignity, and then silently cleaned up the mess.

I don't inquire about it, I don't get close to it, I treat it like a piece of porcelain that must be preserved.

But for Zhizhi...

He meticulously arranged every tile and ray of light in her palace, and even every blade of grass and tree in her courtyard, personally ordering their proper placement.

It is a meticulous, straightforward, and passionate form of pampering.

It's the obsessive desire to present the whole world to her after losing and regaining it.

Tang Xixue raised her hand, her fingertips gently brushing across the smooth wood grain on the window frame—it was the finest golden nanmu, polished to a warm, jade-like finish.

I then glanced at the porcelain vase with ice-crack glaze on the nearby display shelf. The glaze was like a clear sky after snow, and the cracks were like a spider web. It was cool to the touch.

Every detail silently speaks of how much we cherish it.

It was the emperor's unreserved, almost overwhelming favoritism.

She walked to the west window and opened it.

A cold wind carrying the fragrance of plum blossoms rushed in, ruffling the hair at her temples.

Outside the window, the old plum tree indeed stood in the moonlight, its branches gnarled and covered with a thin layer of snow, its subtle fragrance wafting in the air.

When she was little, she did love to swing on it.

Her elder brother would push her from behind, pushing her very, very high, so high that she felt she was about to fly, to fly to the moon.

Then he would smile and say, "Zhizhi, hold on tight, don't fly away."

So he remembered everything.

A slight curve slowly appeared on Tang Xixue's lips.

The smile was faint, yet it was like the first rays of the sun melting snow, instantly bringing her cool and aloof face to life, and even her eyes shimmered with gentle light.

"My brother..."

She murmured softly, her voice carried away by the wind:

"As always... biased."

Outside the window, plum blossoms fell like snow again.

The subtle, quiet atmosphere gently enveloped the entire Hall of Longevity.

Inside the palace, golden light flowed quietly, like a silent river encircling her.

Warm as spring, and airtight.