The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Twenty years ago, on a snowy winter day, the Zichen Palace was filled with a warm, fragrant aroma.

At the Ninth Princess's full moon celebration, all the relatives gathered.

On the throne, the late emperor's gaze swept across the hall, finally landing on the young Prince Beichen, who had just inherited the title and was only five years old, yet already displayed a composure beyond his years.

"Ji'er," the late emperor's voice was gentle, yet carried the unique majesty of an emperor, "you are now the youngest elder in the royal family. Do you have any ideas about the name of the Ninth Princess?"

This move is quite significant.

At that time, the Beichen Prince's Mansion had just suffered the tragedy of being wiped out, leaving only this five-year-old child.

The late emperor's actions were both a way of comforting and showing affection to his young nephew who had suddenly lost his loved ones and whose mind was still unsettled, and also a silent test.

To test the child's spirituality, will, and attitude toward the royal family.

Five-year-old Bei Chenji stood below the imperial steps, still small in stature, yet standing ramrod straight.

He raised his eyes, his still-childish eyes looking at the emperor high above him, clear and unambiguous.

Although his voice had the tenderness characteristic of a child, his enunciation was clear and his tone was neither arrogant nor humble:

"Uncle, on my way back to the capital, I encountered a blizzard overnight. The world was white, and I could not see the road ahead. I was almost in a dead end."

"But at dawn, the wind and snow suddenly stopped, the clouds broke and the sun shone, the snow reflected in the sunlight, and the world was clear and bright, showing a new look of life."

He slightly raised his small face, and sunlight streamed through the palace window.

"When the snow clears and the sky brightens, it is a sign that things are about to turn around and things will turn around."

"Since my little niece was born in winter and at the beginning of a new life, I personally think that the word 'snow' is very fitting."

May she be like the first clear day after a snowfall, cleansed of all gloom, with a bright future and a smooth life.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

The late emperor gazed at the child below the steps for a long time, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, which then turned into deep approval and an indescribable complexity.

A five-year-old child, having experienced such a tragic change, not only did not panic or become despondent, but was able to understand the meaning of rebirth from the wind and snow, demonstrating his remarkable resilience.

"Snow……"

The late emperor slowly repeated, tapping his fingertips lightly twice on the imperial desk, the sound exceptionally clear in the silent hall.

"Tangxi Snow. Excellent, this name is wonderful. Pure yet not cold, noble yet not arrogant, it also carries the meaning of overcoming adversity and welcoming the new, cleansing the universe."

His face was relaxed and serene.

"As you have said, the Ninth Princess bestows upon her the name Tangxi Xue."

The three characters "Tangxi Snow" were then engraved in the imperial genealogy.

In the years that followed, Bei Chenji cared for his little niece with meticulous care and quiet devotion.

Unlike Tang Xiye, he did not openly and passionately reveal his preferences.

His kindness was quiet and unassuming, hidden in the dewy rose he carried in his sleeve with every time he returned home weary from his travels. It came from a distant, dreamlike city.

It is that plain silk kite painted with colorful butterflies, which can fly high against the wind in March in Jiangnan.

It was the strange lotus seed from the ancient kingdom of Lian Ge, which was said to be able to bloom into a seven-colored illusion lotus. He carefully wrapped it in damp cotton, just so she could plant it for fun.

These are hawthorn balls coated in frosting sugar by Kitagawa Unting.

It is a bronze sparrow meticulously crafted by the artisans of Tiangong City, capable of flapping its wings for a moment with the press of a mechanism.

It is a pink conch shell on the beach of Yunshadu, polished smooth by the passage of time...

Xiaotangxi Xue would also secretly slip him her newly made leaf bookmarks inlaid with dried flower petals.

The first handful of lotus seeds from that seven-colored illusion lotus will be wrapped in a brocade handkerchief and sent to the Prince of Beichen's residence by a palace servant.

When she found him lying unconscious on the shore of Mirror Moon Lake in the snowy winter, she did not hesitate to take off her most cherished snow fox fur coat and gently cover him with it. She also carefully placed her favorite star sugar into his cold palm.

She knew that the young imperial uncle possessed profound inner strength, and also knew that he was proud and arrogant, and would certainly not want others to see him in such a disheveled state.

So she silently instructed her guards to keep watch from a distance, and quietly left, leaving him with dignity.

Born into a dark vortex and raised on the edge of power, he was destined to have no weaknesses, no vulnerabilities, and no one could know what he truly cared about.

His father, a hero in his day, even after being betrayed, could have escaped unscathed to seek medical help, had it not been for buying time for his wife and children to flee, instead of succumbing to the poison and dying...

That tragedy left an indelible mark on young Bei Chenji:

Having nothing, one has nothing to lose;

Once you have something you care about, you have a fatal weakness.

The only warmth he clung to was the portrait painted by the master painter himself, left behind by his mother.

He hid it in the most secret place in the Prince's bedroom, and even his personal guards never saw it.

Only when Tang Xixue was young, during a visit to the Prince's mansion, was led by him to see the gentle and smiling beauty in the painting.

"Xue'er, this is my mother." The boy's voice was soft, carrying an unspoken tenderness. "I'm showing this to you alone."

However, when the transmigrated woman took over her body, she set fire to the portrait that contained all of Bei Chenji's tenderness, burning away his only remaining hope.

From then on, they treated each other like ice.

"Your Highness," a light rain voice pulled Tang Xixue back from her reverie, "The auction at the Seven Generations Pavilion last night has concluded. Yanxue Residence... fetched a record-breaking price of six million gold coins, won by His Highness Prince Beichen."

Tang Xixue was slightly taken aback: "Six million?"

She raised an eyebrow; the number far exceeded her expectations.

"This price... is ridiculously inflated."

According to market prices, even if the house is in a prime location, three million would be the maximum. Why would it be doubled?

"The young imperial uncle... he just had poor eyesight before."

She couldn't help but mutter to herself.

"Now even his brain isn't working properly..."

A light rain fell as he bowed his head and reported:

"According to reports from our informants at the auction house, after a mysterious buyer bid against Prince Beichen to four and a half million, His Highness Prince Beichen... immediately set himself on fire."

"Sky lanterns?" Tang Xixue suddenly realized.

The "Lighting the Sky Lantern" at Seven Generations Pavilion means that no matter how much the other party bids, one side will increase the bid by 10% until winning the bid.

This demonstrates a determination to succeed, but it is often the method with the highest cost.

"Oh?"

She accepted the flying gold token from Wei Yu.

"I never expected Yanxueju to be so popular."

"The young imperial uncle really spared no expense to give this house to Shen Yan; he was incredibly generous."

She weighed the flying gold token in her hand, her eyebrows curving upwards, her eyes sparkling like stars.

"Thanks to our youngest uncle, we've finally escaped poverty!"

"He's such a good person."

Meanwhile, inside the study of the Prince of Beichen's mansion, the air pressure was so low it was suffocating.

Bei Chenji's slender fingers gripped the land deed for Yanxue Residence, worth six million gold coins, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

"I had no idea," he said in a cold voice, his tone devoid of emotion, "that my own residence is so valuable."

The guard, Qian Su, stood to one side with his head bowed, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and asked cautiously:

"Your Highness, this land deed...should I deliver it to Miss Shen immediately?"

"No need."

Bei Chenji said calmly, his gaze seemingly softening for a moment.

"After the plum blossom banquet in two days, I... will personally give it to her."

In his other hand, hidden within the wide sleeve of his robe, he silently held a star-shaped sugar candy.

A very faint, subtle curve appeared at the corner of her lips, a curve no one would notice.

He couldn't bear to eat that piece of candy.

I only take it out when no one is around and hold it in my warm palm.

The honey-colored sugar cube, encased in wax, lay there quietly, like a tiny piece of amber, preserving the brief warmth of a snowy night.

It was as if by simply holding it like this, the long-lost warmth and sweetness could seep back into his frozen heart, across the years.

He often thinks about that night.

Amidst the wind, snow, and the sound of the zither, that clear, melodious laugh, like the sound of silver bells tinkling in the wind, struck my ears, both indistinct and yet so vivid.

In a daze, he felt that she looked exactly like his little niece from deep in his memory, who looked up at him with her porcelain-white face and called him "Little Imperial Uncle".

But then he immediately dismissed the absurd idea in his mind.

He did investigate after that day.

The information that was obtained was clear: that night, his frail little niece was clearly staying in the Hall of Longevity, how could she have appeared at Mirror Moon Lake outside the palace walls amidst the wind and snow?

Moreover... when did she ever have any reclusive master?

Since childhood, she had been protected by Tang Xiye like a precious jewel. Not to mention becoming her disciple, even ordinary outsiders could hardly get within three feet of her.

With these thoughts in mind, he lowered his eyelashes and gripped the candy in his palm even tighter.

Therefore, he must have misheard.

It was nothing more than a baseless fantasy, a... inexplicable daze.

He immediately ruled out the correct answer.

He carefully placed the candy in his palm into a thousand-machine box made of black iron.

My gaze inadvertently swept over another box containing a thousand machines—where another old object lay quietly.

A delicate necklace of sapphire pendants, the teardrop-shaped gemstones possessing a deep, starry hue.

It seemed as if a dark blue current and tiny stardust were flowing within it.

The necklace is adorned with beautiful snowflake patterns, as if it holds a light winter dream.

My fingertips lingered on the cool surface of the gemstone for a moment, and the bone-chilling coolness seemed to flow backward through my veins, reaching straight to my heart.

He closed his eyes briefly, and a barely audible sigh dissipated into the quiet air of the study.

"Perhaps... I shouldn't have done that back then."

"Your Highness."

The middle-aged man who had been standing quietly to the side for a long time slowly spoke.

He is Yuan Qi, the most loyal former subordinate of the King of Beichen, and now one of the few confidants of Beichen Ji.

Time has etched lines of hardship on his face, but his voice remains as steady as a mountain.

"Once a choice has been made, there's no need to look back. The road ahead is long, and regret... is the most useless thing in this world."

Bei Chenji slowly leaned back against the rosewood chair.

The sunlight streaming through the window cast a shadow on his profile, making his already austere features appear even more solitary.

"I understand the reasoning."

He paused, his voice growing even lower, as if carrying a tremendous weight.

"In the end, it is I who... have wronged Yan'er."

Bei Chenji raised his hand and gently closed the Thousand Machine Box, which was impervious to water and fire and had ingenious mechanisms.

With a soft "click," the past was locked away, a past that could never be revisited.