The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Just then, Qingdai neatly folded the paper with dried ink and written prescriptions on it and presented it to Si Xingxuan with both hands.

The stack of papers was not thin, and it exuded the weighty presence unique to ink and brush.

Si Xingxuan's sarcasm stopped abruptly, like a string that had been snapped.

"I'd like to see what kind of tricks you can come up with..."

He reached out and took it, his fingertips pausing almost imperceptibly as they touched the delicate texture of the paper.

He then suppressed all outward emotions, leaving only an almost cold focus.

He lowered his eyes, and the more closely he looked, the more turbulent the emotions churned within those unfathomable eyes.

He had read extensively in ancient books and knew how obscure and difficult the "Tai Su Dan Jue" was. The strange and unusual combinations of those elixir formulas and the profound descriptions of the timing and temperature of the fire could not be memorized by brute force.

But she... she actually managed to write it down from memory.

Not only in dictation, but her handwriting is as elegant and graceful as ever, and the layout of the text is perfectly organized. She even accurately reproduces several easily confused ancient variant characters.

He checked it again and again, and the shock in his heart grew stronger with each passing moment.

"I didn't expect you to actually have some skills."

The candle wick grew shorter, and the night deepened to the point of being as dark as ink.

"Alright, this is the last page. The whole book has been memorized. Can we let this matter drop?"

As Tangxi Xue finished her last stroke and gently put down her wolf-hair brush, the deep chill of midnight seeped through the window.

She got up and took out a palm-sized, purple copper hot water bottle engraved with intertwined crabapple branches from the warming basket beside her.

Then he picked up a neatly folded cashmere blanket that was soft and thick to the touch.

"It's a cold snowy night, Young Master Sixing, please don't catch a chill here."

He walked slowly to Si Xingxuan, who was still engrossed in the stack of pill formulas, and silently placed the pills on the low table beside him.

"Dream on!"

He coughed lightly, his whole being exuding a sense of brokenness.

"It can't be explained away."

Every cause has its effect; you shouldn't have provoked me.

"Scared now? Too late!"

This renowned physician, known throughout the land for his ability to ward off evil spirits, is said to have suffered severe damage to his meridians and internal organs from testing countless herbs and poisons on himself since childhood.

Despite possessing the ability to bring the dead back to life, his own body was even more fragile than a flickering candle in the wind, fearing cold and dampness, and spending his days with the medicine furnace.

It's truly remarkable that he, despite his frail health, managed to sneak into the Hall of Longevity to kill her on this bitterly cold, snowy night.

Even... she didn't hesitate to lower herself and hide under the phoenix bed with its brocade curtains hanging low.

"Apologizing verbally seems useless and pretentious; I'll just offer compensation as an apology."

"I will never bother you again."

A faint, almost self-mocking glint flashed in Tang Xixue's eyes.

The fact that the transmigrated woman had treated their Medicine Valley as her lifeblood, and had finally managed to unlock the Thousand Machine Lock and obtain the rare copy of the "Tai Su Dan Jue" (a secret manual for the Supreme Elixir), only to throw it directly into the cold waves of the Taiye Pool, truly irritated him.

That hatred must have seeped into his very bones, chilling him to the bone even more than the snow on this winter night.

"Qingdai, send someone to the medicinal garden in the palace's warm courtyard to fetch three Heavenly Frost Orchids."

"In addition, have someone send the scroll from the secret compartment in my bedroom to my elder brother."

Upon hearing this, Qingdai, who was standing to the side, immediately curtsied and quietly retreated to the door to give the instructions.

The royal medicine garden was heavily guarded. All the eunuchs knew that the Frost Orchid of that day was a precious treasure personally tended by Emperor Shengchen. There were only five of them in total, making them extremely valuable.

Ordinary people would not even be able to catch a glimpse of it, but Princess Mirror asked for three plants.

In fact, Qingdai didn't know if His Majesty would agree, after all, he had been so angry that night.

Si Xingxuan, who had been carefully reading the prescription, paused slightly upon hearing this.

"That day, Shuanglan was Emperor Shengchen's darling, yet Princess Jing dared to make such a boast."

He admired the elegant and aloof beauty of the Tian Shuang Lan orchid, and was also aware of its precious medicinal value.

The words of refusal that were about to rise in his throat turned at the tip of his tongue and were swallowed back silently.

I was originally going to give him a hard time and tell him I didn't want it.

But this gift truly touched his heart, making it hard for him to refuse.

Let's see if she has the ability to obtain the Heavenly Frost Orchid from Emperor Shengchen.

He curled his slightly cool fingers hidden under the blanket, but ultimately remained silent, only holding the hot water bottle in his arms tighter, his gaze returning to the vast sea of ​​prescriptions.

"Before the Heavenly Frost Orchid arrives, I will first verify a few details with Young Master Si Xing."

As Tang Xixue spoke, her slender white fingertips pulled a sheet from the neatly arranged pages and gently touched one of the brightly colored medicine names.

"In my humble opinion, the original book contains arisaema, which has an overly strong medicinal property, and it slightly clashes with the overall meaning of the prescription."

"If we were to use Pinellia ternata instead, taking advantage of its effects of relieving nausea and vomiting, harmonizing the stomach, drying dampness and resolving phlegm, it might be more appropriate and safer."

She looked up at Si Xingxuan:

"This is the record from the original unique copy."

Si Xingxuan looked in the direction of the sound.

The candlelight reflected in his eyes, revealing a bluish-gray hue reminiscent of the clearing rain and distant, misty mountains, as deep and secluded as an ancient pool.

His gaze was fixed on the two characters "Nanxing," his brows furrowed slightly, as he rapidly deduced in his mind the myriad changes of the medicinal herbs and the true and false flow of qi, blood, and meridians.

After a moment of contemplation, the still water seemed to be rippled as if a small stone had been thrown into it.

What she said was absolutely correct.

Even the substitution of "Pinellia" is more ingenious and harmonious in terms of both reason and effect.

"Your Highness is also knowledgeable in medicine?"

He spoke, his voice slightly hoarse from not speaking for a long time, carrying a hint of scrutiny and surprise at being asked about his area of ​​expertise.

"One becomes a doctor through long-term illness."

Tang Xixue said softly, her eyelashes casting faint shadows beneath her eyes.

"I have been taking medicine since I was a child. When I had nothing to do, I would read a few medical books and learned a little bit about medicine."

As she spoke, the delicate, cool fragrance of crabapple blossoms wafted over her with her slight leaning posture.

The fragrance was neither sweet nor cloying, like a wisp of a cold, ethereal flower escaping from a branch weighed down by winter snow, exquisitely pure.

Si Xingxuan has always been sensitive and discerning about the scents of the world, but at this moment, with this cool fragrance lingering around her nose, she inexplicably did not feel any aversion.

On the contrary, the chilling sensation intertwined strangely with the refreshing and slightly sweet taste of the autumn pear cake in his hand, which actually suppressed the cough that was about to rise in his throat.

"This formula is remarkably effective for lung and visceral deficiency and cold, and for persistent cough."

Tang Xixue's fingertips were still lightly touching the name of the medicine, her voice calm and undisturbed.

"Since you need to use it, Pinellia ternata is even more mild and gentle. Long-term use can reduce some of the damage to your fundamental health."

She didn't look at him, and her tone was ordinary, as if it were just a casual discussion.

However, Si Xingxuan, being a perceptive person, immediately understood the profound meaning behind her drawing out this prescription and pointing out the areas for improvement.

This was precisely the prescription that was most suitable for his current deteriorating health and symptoms.

Si Xingxuan's Adam's apple slid almost imperceptibly.

The warmth of the hot water bottle in my arms soothed my cold chest through my thin clothes, the soft blanket under my fingertips was exceptionally soft, and the sweet taste of the autumn pear cake I had just tasted was still lingering in my throat.

The stack of lost and recovered prescriptions before him, along with this unexpected and precise concern, stirred a strange and unfamiliar feeling in his usually cold and gloomy heart, a feeling that even he himself could not quite discern.

"Um."

He ultimately only gave a very soft reply, which was his response.

With pale, slender fingers, she quietly pulled out the page of the pill formula and placed it on top.

"If you had been more normal before, and hadn't gone crazy, perhaps—you wouldn't have ended up being disliked by everyone."

Si Xingxuan's gaze lingered on the still-fragrant prescriptions, his fingertips carefully tracing the edges of the pages, his voice almost a whisper.

He carefully arranged the verified prescriptions one by one in a sequence known only to himself, his movements as gentle as if handling the downy feathers of a newborn bird, before finally putting them away with utmost care.

That almost fanatical passion for medicine burned silently in the depths of his eyes, temporarily overshadowing his usual gloom and sarcasm.