My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

The Qin Prince's Mansion was exceptionally lively in the early morning because of the arrival of Li Shimin and his family.

With messy hair and a reluctant expression, Li Chen was dragged out of bed by Li Shimin.

He yawned, walked to the white marble table in the backyard, and plopped down on it.

The table was already laden with various breakfast items delivered by the imperial kitchen on horseback.

Steaming hot meat buns, crystal-clear shrimp dumplings, and thick, flavorful congee with preserved egg and lean pork fill the air with aroma.

Li Shimin had no airs of an emperor; he ate with a steamed bun in one hand and a bowl of porridge in the other, his face glowing with health.

"Eat, eat, all you ever do is eat."

Li Chen rolled his eyes in annoyance. "The Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty comes to his son's house every day to freeload breakfast. Aren't you afraid that the entire court will laugh their heads off if word gets out?"

"They know nothing!"

Li Shimin swallowed the food in his mouth and said indistinctly, "Eating one meal here is better than taking ten doses of tonics in the palace. The air here is full of divine energy; if I take a few more breaths, it might even prolong my life."

The three people sitting next to Qin Qiong, father and son, watched the most noble father and son in the world bickering like ordinary people, and they all involuntarily lowered their heads, trying to suppress their laughter.

Qin Qiong's complexion was much better than yesterday. Although he still couldn't eat meat in large quantities, he drank most of a bowl of hot porridge with the help of his eldest daughter, Wan'er, and his whole body exuded a long-lost vitality.

I've had breakfast.

Li Shimin went to the east courtyard to instruct Crown Prince Li Chengqian on martial arts, while Empress Zhangsun watched with a loving expression.

After eating and drinking his fill, Li Chen stretched and turned back to the main hall to catch up on his nap.

Only the Qin siblings and Xiao Sizi remained in the courtyard.

"Sister Wan'er!"

Little Sizi, with two cute little buns on her head and clutching the black ice crystal staff tightly in her hands, ran up to the eldest daughter of the Qin family with her short legs.

The little girl tilted her head back, her big, watery eyes sparkling.

"Sister Wan'er, Sixteenth Brother went back to sleep, and there's no one to play with Si Zi. Would you like to play with Si Zi?"

Looking at the exquisitely beautiful Tang Dynasty princess before her, who resembled a porcelain doll, Wan'er's heart melted instantly.

She smiled gently, squatted down, and took out a handkerchief to gently wipe the pastry crumbs from the corner of Xiao Sizi's mouth.

"Okay, what would the princess like to play?"

"Let's build a snowman! Then freeze it into an ice block!"

Xiao Sizi excitedly grabbed Wan'er's hand and pulled her to a patch of snow in the corner of the yard.

Wan'er looked at the short, black staff in Xiao Sizi's hand, which looked like a fire poker, with some confusion.

"Princess, what is this?"

"This is a magical treasure that Sixteenth Brother gave to Sizi! It's incredibly powerful!"

Little Sizi presented the ice crystal staff to Wan'er like a treasure, pointing to a small protrusion on the handle, "Sister Wan'er, try pressing this."

Wan'er was puzzled.

She thought it was just a child's toy, so she stretched out her slender, fair fingers and gently pressed down on the small bump.

"Buzz—!"

The moment she pressed down, a slight tremor suddenly came from inside the short staff.

Immediately afterwards!

The unremarkable, round stone at the tip of the short staff suddenly burst forth with a dazzling, icy blue light!

"what!"

Wan'er was startled and instinctively tried to let go, but the short staff seemed to possess some kind of magic.

A fist-sized ice crystal, radiating terrifying cold, shot out from the tip of the staff with a whooshing sound!

"Bang!"

The ice crystal hit an empty flowerpot not far ahead with pinpoint accuracy.

The icy aura exploded outwards with a deafening roar!

Under the utterly shocked gazes of Wan'er and Qin Huaidao, who was standing not far away.

The clay flowerpot, along with the snow piled up inside, was completely frozen into a solid lump by a thick layer of ice that exuded a chilling aura in the blink of an eye!

A layer of icy white frost instantly formed on the ground within a few feet around the area, and the temperature plummeted!

"What...what is this?!"

Wan'er was so frightened that her face turned pale. Her hands trembled, and her staff fell to the snow. She retreated, her beautiful eyes fixed on the flowerpot frozen into an ice sculpture, her mind blank.

Qin Huaidao was also shocked. He rushed forward and shielded his sister behind him, looking at the short staff that had fallen to the ground with a wary expression.

"Giggle! Sister Wan'er is so silly, she got scared!"

Little Sizi wasn't scared at all. She happily ran over, picked up the ice crystal staff from the snow, and jumped and bounced around holding it in her arms.

"This is a magic stick that Sixteenth Brother made! Just press it once, and it releases super cold ice! Isn't that fun?"

Wan'er and Qin Huaidao exchanged a glance, and both siblings saw the undisguised shock and disbelief in each other's eyes.

An ordinary woman with no internal energy or cultivation.

Just pressing that stick was enough to unleash such terrifying frost magic?!

If this weapon were deployed on the battlefield...

As a military general, Qin Huaidao instantly realized the terrifying power this thing could unleash amidst a vast army. No bows and arrows needed, no arduous martial arts training required; a group of ordinary soldiers wielding this weapon could freeze enemy heavy cavalry into ice sculptures!

"A celestial artifact...this is definitely a genuine celestial artifact!"

Qin Huaidao gasped, and a layer of cold sweat instantly seeped out from his back.

Wan'er took several deep breaths before she could barely calm her wildly beating heart.

She raised her head, her gaze involuntarily drawn to the tightly closed door of the main hall.

The sixteenth prince, who always seemed unruly and lazy, could actually create such terrifying artifacts that defied conventional understanding and use them as toys for his younger sister.

This kind of transcendent power, this kind of composure that regards the world as nothing.

This deeply stirred the sense of awe within this young woman from a military family, who was just reaching the prime of her life. At the same time, an indescribable curiosity and admiration, like wild grass in spring, quietly and wildly grew in her heart.

……

The next few days.

Life in the Qin Prince's mansion was peaceful and routine.

Every day without fail, Li Chen used his elixir to reshape Qin Qiong's bones and repair his meridians.

Wan'er silently stayed by his side every day. She looked at Li Chen's focused profile, at his increasingly refined and otherworldly aura under the sunlight, and the affection in her eyes grew stronger, yet she carefully hid it deep in the heart.

Before we knew it, it was the seventh day of treatment.

It was also the last day.

At dusk, the setting sun was like blood.

The atmosphere inside the guest rooms of the Qin Prince's Mansion became extremely solemn.

Li Shimin and Cheng Yaojin arrived early and stood guard at the door of the room, not daring to utter a sound.

in the room.

Qin Qiong sat cross-legged on a soft couch, his upper body bare.

After several days of repair, although the hideous scars on his body are still there, the muscles under his skin are no longer as withered and shrunken as before, but instead have a healthy rosy glow.

Li Chen stood in front of him, his expression unusually serious.

"In the first six days, your meridians and bones have been completely opened and repaired."

Li Chen flipped his wrist and took out an exquisite small bottle of mutton fat jade from his storage bag.

"Today is the final step. The toxins have been removed and the broken bones have been reconnected, but the vital energy and blood you've depleted over the past ten years cannot be replenished simply by eating."

A soft "snap" sound.

Li Chen uncorked the jade bottle and poured out a pill the size of a longan, dark red in color, with a faint golden light flowing on its surface.