The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Qi Si's gaze swept over his daughter's thin but neat clothes, which were clearly insufficient to ward off the harsh winter cold.

She glanced at her son's tall but still slender figure.

The final image focuses on Mei Ruohuan's pale, paper-white face, yet she manages to maintain a calm demeanor—the deep weariness hidden in her eyes is like fine needles piercing them.

These five years...

How did his slender wife manage to raise two children through endless snowstorms and hardships, day after day?

They even had to hide and flee, not daring to settle down in one place, for fear of being found by those who were hunting them down.

The silken thread that was originally meant to witness deep affection has become a shackle that erodes her heart.

In the beginning, he resolutely tied his life to Yao Yao's to save her life, not to torment his beloved Yao Yao.

Are they shivering and freezing in the bitter cold of winter?

When they are bullied and treated coldly, can they only silently swallow their bitterness?

If you are sick and have no one to take care of you, can you only rely on your last breath to get through it?

Overwhelmed by intense remorse, he nearly drowned in it.

He raised his hand again to wipe away his tears, but the tears flowed even more profusely, burning the back of his hand.

His fingers clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white, his nails dug deep into his palms, and bright red blood seeped out, yet he felt no pain whatsoever.

It was as if they wanted to crush all the missed opportunities and all the bitterness of these five years in their palms.

"Yaoyao... I've let you down."

His voice was so hoarse it was almost broken, yet he tried his best to speak softly and gently, afraid of disturbing the treasure he had just regained.

He took a few steps forward and carefully, almost reverently, embraced Mei Ruohuan.

He noticed her body stiffen slightly, but she didn't push him away. His heart, which had been tormented day and night for five years, finally settled back into place, into a warm, bittersweet feeling.

"Ah Si, it's not your fault."

All of Mei Ruohuan's strength crumbled at this moment.

Tears welled up in his eyes, soaking his clothes.

He trembled as he held her even tighter.

His slender figure...it's so pitiful...

He was willing to endure a lifetime of hardship to help her through half a lifetime of wandering.

It ignites his long, agonizing night, and illuminates her with a fleeting moment of dawn.

After releasing his grip, he bent down to look the little girl in the eye, his tall frame bending like a devout bamboo.

"Ranran, don't be afraid."

He stretched out his hand, palm up, the calluses from years of wielding a sword still visible between the lines, but now the warmth was long overdue, and his movements were as gentle as touching a delicate flower petal just beginning to bloom in the morning dew.

"Father is here." He spoke slowly and deliberately, as if engraving his vow into his very bones.

"From now on, even if the sky collapses and the earth caves in, or if there is torrential rain, your father will always have his hand to protect you and keep you in a sunny sky forever. No one will be able to hurt you in the slightest."

"Father... will he really protect us forever?"

In Pei Ningran's bright eyes, the hazy mist gradually dispersed, revealing tiny specks of light, like the morning sun quietly spreading across a glass lamp, gradually brightening it.

"Then... Mother won't have to secretly wipe away her tears under the covers at night anymore, right? Brother won't have to get up early and work late every day, he can finally rest... right? Ranran... can eat candy now, right?"

Every "right or wrong" is like a tiny needle, gently pricking Qi Si's heart.

"Yes. Father is here!"

Qi Si felt a sharp pang of sadness, his eyes burning with tears. He finally reached out and gently embraced his youngest daughter.

The child was so light and small, like a plum blossom that hadn't yet grown. He felt almost weightless in his arms, yet his heart was filled with a heavy tenderness.

"All the suffering you've endured in the past ends here. From now on, I promise, your father will make your lives sweet."

The youngest daughter's hair and clothes were still imbued with the faint, familiar scent of cold plum blossoms that Mei Ruohuan carried.

It was the old moonlight he sought in his dreams, the moonlight that he would chase after even if it meant shattering thousands of snow-covered mountains and going through countless reincarnations.

The warmth that was lost and then regained was like a spring stream breaking through the ice, seeping gently into the blood.

He steadily held the young girl in his arms, then turned to look at the boy who remained silent and still in the courtyard.

"Lin'er, it is your father who has failed you."

Pei Yanchuan slowly regained his senses from the raging waves.

Looking at the familiar regent before him—the strict teacher who once wrote annotations for him with a vermilion pen, taught him the principles of governing the country, and also punished him by making him copy policy essays all night long.

At this moment, he felt like an ordinary father awkwardly trying to please his child, with a mix of emotions churning in his chest that were hard to describe.

He remained silent for a long time, then finally pursed his thin lips and asked the question that had been lingering in his mind for so long:

"Your Highness the Regent believes everything without verification? Aren't you afraid... that Mother is deliberately deceiving you for protection?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Si simply replied:

"I will always believe in Yaoyao."

Every word was clear and resolute, without the slightest hesitation.

It is a deep belief that remains as unshakable as a jade pillar of Kunshan Mountain even after the flames of war have swept across the land.

"Moreover—even if they are not my own flesh and blood, as long as they are of Yaoyao's bloodline, I will treat them as my own."

His voice was low and deep, like the soft strings of an ancient zither, each tremor as solemn as a vow.

This is no exaggeration.

Back then, he took this boy under his wing and taught him with great care. Whenever he punished the boy, it was always his nephew Qi Wang who was punished, but he never spared him the slightest bit.

Even the courtesy name "Yinglin" was bestowed upon him—Yinglong has a reverse scale under its chin, which can control the thunder of the nine heavens.

This matter, imbued with the deep hopes for the nation, was also written by him personally, stroke by stroke, under the lamplight, with a purple brush in hand.

In the past, I only thought it was because I cherished talent, but now I realize that the deep-seated selfishness had already taken root in my bloodline.

Pei Yanchuan remained silent.

A cold wind swept past the courtyard, carrying fine snowflakes that caused the plum branches to tremble and scatter snowflakes like shattered jade.

"Lin'er," Qi Si looked into the boy's calm and unfathomable eyes, and suddenly spoke, "Are you willing to stand upright beside the one you love? Are you willing to wield power and influence, shielding her from the storms of the world and clearing away the thorns in her path?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried the regent's penetrating power:

"Your father can grant you your request."

These words, like a chess piece falling to the center, precisely resonated with the deepest echo in the young man's heart.

Pei Yanchuan of yesteryear had the well-being of the people at heart.

But now a bright moon resides in his heart.

He knew that he was of low status and his words carried little weight, and that he could not protect the person in question.

The man before him, his biological father, wielded supreme power in Yunchuan.

What she could offer him was exactly what he craved most: power, authority, legitimate status, and... the composure to calm the turbulent seas for her.

The snow fell silently.

Pei Yanchuan raised his eyes, his gaze clear as a cold pool.

He lifted the hem of his plain white robe, and solemnly knelt on one knee before Qi Si, performing a standard son's salute:

"Yinglin greets Father King."

That one word, "Father," acknowledges not only blood ties but also an unspoken covenant.

A covenant made to protect the bright moon in our hearts.

They share a kind of obsession in their blood; once they've made up their minds, they'll give everything, even their lives, to fight to the death.

A sudden, indescribable light flashed in Qi Si's eyes, and he freed one hand to firmly support him: "Good boy, get up quickly!"

Mei Ruohuan stood to one side, her eyes brimming with tears, yet her smile was tender:

"Ah Si, Princess Jing saved our lives. If it weren't for her help... we would be separated by death. She is a very good person—if possible, please protect her for me."

Qi Si nodded without hesitation:

"What Yaoyao says is destiny. I will never forget Princess Jing's kindness and will protect her for many years to come."

He looked down at his little daughter in his arms, who was gradually becoming less shy and was curiously looking at him with her bright eyes, and his son standing tall and handsome beside him. Then he turned his gaze to his beloved, whom he had lost and found again.

An unprecedented sense of fulfillment and bittersweetness surged within me, brewing into a warm tide.

However, beneath this seemingly perfect facade, a chilling killing intent was quietly brewing.

He lowered his eyes to hide the fierce glint in them.

His most treasured possession has been adrift in this world, enduring countless hardships!

The culprit who caused Pei Zhao's death, led to the decline of the Pei clan, and forced them to live in anonymity...

He will pay with his blood.