The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Outside the White Jade Capital, outside the Seven Strings Bamboo Garden.

Dusk fell, and the mountains were covered in snow.

The distant sky is like dark eyebrows, and the nearby bamboo is shrouded in mist.

A few slender bamboo stalks protruding from the garden wall were swayed by the evening breeze, their leaves touching each other and making a soft, melodious sound like the notes of a zither. Each leaf was a different string in the wind.

A magnificent carriage was already waiting outside the garden gate.

Silver bells hung from the four corners of the carriage hood, tinkling softly in the wind, their sound mingling with the clear sounds of the bamboo forest on a snowy night, creating a silent farewell.

Si Xingzhou stood by the carriage and personally lifted the curtain.

He watched his younger brother slowly step out of the garden gate, and the seriousness between his brows, which had remained unchanged for years, softened a bit at this moment.

"Ah Zhe," he said softly, "you look much better."

It's not a question, it's a statement.

The voice held an almost desperate joy.

Si Xingxuan helped his brother into the carriage, and surprisingly, he wasn't panting like usual when he sat down.

He pulled the cashmere blanket around his lap—it had a warm, lustrous color and fine stitches, and was not one of his usual old items.

A slight smile unconsciously curved her lips.

"Hmm." He lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes casting a small, quiet shadow on his eyelids, while the tips of his ears were subtly tinged with a thin blush. "Today... Junior Uncle personally wove my meridians to prolong my life."

He paused, his voice as soft as if afraid to startle the snowflakes resting on the branches:

"I feel much lighter now."

The words slipped from his lips with a hint of unspoken shyness.

He raised his eyelids, and the layer of illness that had lingered in his eyes for years seemed to have been gently wiped away, revealing a clear glimmer of light that had not seen the light for a long time.

Si Xingzhou looked at him and suddenly felt a tightness in his throat.

He looked away, gazing at the snow-covered bamboo outside the car window, his tone questioning:

"Has the Celestial Physician of Destiny treated you?"

"Hmm." Si Xingxuan nodded, his fingertips tracing the fine woolen surface of the cashmere blanket on his lap, a faint hint of pride in his voice, "My grandmaster once said that my junior uncle's medical skills were far superior to mine. At that time, I was young and arrogant, and I was not convinced."

"Now, I am completely convinced."

He spoke those four words very softly, yet with utmost solemnity.

Unfortunately, he never got to see his junior uncle's face.

He only remembered those hands—slender and white as jade, with a faint medicinal fragrance lingering at the fingertips.

When I placed my hand on his wrist, it felt as cool as snow, yet it carried a distinct, calm, and reassuring warmth.

He still remembered her voice.

It's very light and soft, like the first drop of snow melting under the eaves in early spring.

He was in a daze at the time, his mind teetering on the edge of lucidity and confusion.

But the voice was like a thin, resilient thread, pulling him back inch by inch from the boundless darkness.

He couldn't explain what that feeling was like.

Even now, thinking about it still stirs a strange, unfamiliar flutter in my heart.

That voice—for some reason, it made him feel a strange itch.

It seems...it seems very familiar.

Upon hearing this, the subtle melancholy between Si Xingzhou's brows quietly dissipated.

He remembered that Tang Xixue had promised him that she would help save A Zhe.

He promised her that he would fully support Chen Yao when the Nine Extremes Alliance was held.

Now that she has already kept her promise, he naturally will not go back on his word.

Although it seems now that he didn't agree to her conditions, Ah Zhe has already been saved.

But he didn't care about these details; he only cared about the result.

"She is indeed capable," Si Xingzhou said calmly, his voice three degrees gentler than usual.

He lowered his eyes, his fingertips gently tracing the silver-threaded, openwork glass water jug ​​beside him.

The intricate floral patterns on the teapot shimmered with a warm luster in the headlights, and it felt slightly cool to the touch, yet he couldn't bear to let go of it.

He really liked her.

He even secretly kept her water bottle by his side, unwilling to return it to her.

After all, this was the only thing she left with him.

Si Xingxuan did not notice anything unusual about his brother.

He leaned back against the cushions, his thoughts still lingering on that brief, almost illusory encounter from earlier that day.

After a long silence, he suddenly spoke, his voice carrying a chilling coldness:

"Brother, Qi Wang is truly despicable; he actually dared to kidnap you."

He looked up, the rare softness in his eyes gone, leaving only a sharp, cold glint.

"I have already ordered the Star Abyss Guards to visit him—he'll be lucky to escape with his life, or at least suffer a severe beating."

Upon hearing this, Si Xingzhou smiled faintly.

His younger brother was cold-hearted by nature, and there were very few people in the world who he cared about.

And his elder brother happened to be one of them.

Ah Zhe's protective nature is just like his.

"It's not Qi Wang." Si Xingzhou pulled himself out of his thoughts and said calmly, "It's Yun Jue."

"Last time, I parted on bad terms with Yun Boyan. His sudden rebirth must be related to the matter of saving people that we had discussed before."

Si Xingxuan was taken aback, then frowned:

"Is it not a premonition?"

He paused, a cold glint of almost regret flashing in his eyes:

"Well, let's just say he's unlucky."

"How do you intend to teach Yun Boyan a lesson? The Star Abyss Guards are ready to respond at any time."

His voice was calm, yet every word was laced with a cold, murderous intent:

"No matter how powerful Yun Jue is, I, Xing Ze, am no less capable. How can I let my elder brother off lightly after suffering such humiliation?"

Si Xingzhou shook his head:

"That's enough."

He paused, his voice becoming extremely soft, as if concealing a hint of unconscious tenderness:

"I have granted permission to leave this matter alone."

Si Xingxuan raised an eyebrow.

His elder brother, though named "Zhou" (meaning "day"), was a sinister and madman at heart.

They are vindictive, meticulous, and never suffer a loss.

Never before have I been so generous.

"Who has such great influence?"

He asked, his voice tinged with genuine surprise.

Si Xingzhou lowered his eyes, a very faint smile curving his lips:

"My Queen."

"Cough cough cough—"

Si Xingxuan choked on a mouthful of water, and a faint blush instantly rose to her pale face.

He coughed for a while before he could finally catch his breath, and looked at his brother in disbelief:

"Sister-in-law?"

He blinked, and his usually cold eyes were now filled with genuine surprise:

"This... happened so suddenly?"

"I have not prepared anything at all. Should I prepare a gift? When can we meet?"

There was a rare hint of elation in his voice.

As Si Xingzhou gazed at his younger brother's unusually vivid features, a secret possessiveness quietly swelled within him.

He subtly suppressed the smile that was about to spill from the corners of his lips, his tone remaining calm and reserved:

"Okay, Ah Zhe, you can prepare it first."

He paused, then added confidently:

"I am still pursuing it."

"There are still people even I can't win over?"

Si Xingxuan was surprised, then burst into laughter:

"That's quite rare."

He didn't ask any further questions.

He never interfered in his brother's private affairs.

Just as his elder brother never questioned why he had collected and repeatedly studied all of the works of the Weaver of Fate Physician until the pages were turned to dust.

There was an unspoken understanding between the brothers.

Si Xing, holding the cashmere blanket around her lap, suddenly spoke softly, her voice tinged with a rare shyness:

"Brother, today... I saw Junior Uncle's back."

He paused, his ears turning red again, and lowered his eyes:

"Unfortunately, I didn't get a clear look at her face before I got so excited that I... fainted."

The last few words were barely audible, revealing the unique embarrassment of a young person who was unwilling to show it to others.

Upon hearing this, Si Xingzhou's hidden sense of crisis intensified.

He gazed at the blush of embarrassment on his younger brother's pale face, and at the sudden brightness in his eyes when his junior uncle was mentioned.

The light was so intense that it set off alarm bells in his mind.

Ah Zhe was so excited that he fainted just from seeing a glimpse of someone's back.

If I were to actually see her face, I don't know how I would be haunted by her.

If we go any further and get onto the bed... what would happen then?

He must, as soon as possible, win over his future empress.

—He's doing this for his younger brother's own good.

Si Xingzhou convinced himself of this.

"Ah Zhe," he said, his voice carrying the unquestionable composure of an elder brother, "your body is still weak, so you must avoid emotional outbursts."

"It would be best to see that Fate-Weaving Physician less often in the future."

Si Xingxuan raised his eyes, a hint of confusion flashing across them.

The way my brother is talking sounds... a bit strange, like he's guarding his food.

He looked away, his gaze inadvertently falling on the glass kettle that Si Xingzhou was repeatedly stroking in his hand.

The teapot has a fine texture and exquisite decorations, which is completely different from my brother's usual style of use.

"Brother," he suddenly spoke, a mischievous smile playing on his lips, "this kettle...it belongs to sister-in-law, doesn't it?"

Si Xingzhou paused slightly in the hand holding the pot.

"……Um."

"Why did you even take someone else's water bottle?"

Si Xingxuan's voice carried a hint of amusement, a rare touch of lively banter:

"You like it that much?"

Si Xingzhou lowered his eyes, gazing at the silver-threaded glass water jug ​​in his hand.

The pot seemed to still retain a faint, cool, and delicate fragrance of crabapple blossoms.

He gently traced the fine silver lines along the edge of the teapot lid with his fingertips, his voice lowering slightly:

"……nice."

He paused, then added:

"This belongs to my queen, and should be treasured."

Upon hearing this, Si Xingxuan chuckled softly.

He stopped teasing his brother and simply pulled the cashmere blanket on his lap up higher.

The blanket was soft and had a light herbal scent.

This is what he brought back from the Hall of Longevity.

A sense of bewilderment, hard to describe, suddenly welled up in my heart.

He idolizes his junior uncle.

That kind of worship took root from the moment he first read "The Record of the Heavenly Weaving of Veins," and as he flipped through each volume of the medical classic and copied each line of annotations, the roots grew deeper and deeper.

He regarded her as a soulmate, a deity, and a glimmer of light that he could only look up to but never reach, a light he pursued throughout his life.

But lately, another shadow has been quietly growing in his heart.

The figure, dressed in a flowing snow-white gown, gazed at him amidst the plum blossoms and snow-covered ground, and smiled radiantly through the swirling petals.

When she smiles, it's as if the entire Milky Way has fallen to earth.

It looks absolutely beautiful.

He remembered the look she had given him through the plum grove.

I recall her standing on the terrace of Jinyue Pavilion, her delicate hands playing the zither, the strings surging with the grandeur of mountains and rivers.

I remember her undisguised, radiant smile when she saw me.

She liked him so much.

he thinks.

If he falls in love with someone else, she will definitely be very sad.

Si Xingxuan lowered her eyes and pulled the cashmere blanket tighter.

The moonlight outside the window is like water, and the snow covers a thousand mountains.

He leaned against the cushion and sighed softly.

That's it.

Let's pamper that poor little thing.

She liked him so much, he couldn't possibly let her down.

As for Junior Uncle...

He closed his eyes, burying the silhouette he had never truly seen, along with the soft, spring-snow-like murmur, into the deepest corner of his heart.

It was very quiet there.

It is fitting to offer sacrifices to a distant and gentle moon that one has never truly possessed.