The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

The moment she regained consciousness, Hua Rongshi felt as if the sky had fallen.

It's not an exaggeration.

It really collapsed.

He opened his eyes, and what he saw was neither the rosewood carved canopy bed in the Crown Prince's bedroom in the Dream Flower City, nor the silk gauze curtains hanging in the Floating Dream Palace, nor the gilded Boshan incense burner burning with calming incense in the Northern Star Prince's Mansion.

It's a prison window.

It's a cold wall.

It was a dimly lit, chilling, four-sided cage that sent shivers down one's spine.

"...What have you done to me?"

He murmured, his voice hoarse as if it had been ground by sand and gravel.

The Crown Prince of the dignified Menghua Empire, the noble legitimate son of the Qimeng Flower City, a golden branch and jade leaf who has been pampered and spoiled since childhood.

He was sitting in a cold and damp cell at the deepest part of the execution platform.

The surroundings were filled with the lingering smell of mildew and rust, and dried straw was piled up in the corner.

Is this hell?

He looked down at himself.

His pale pink brocade robe was wrinkled like pickled vegetables, and he was so disheveled that even he himself couldn't bear to look at himself.

"...What happened?"

He closed his eyes, trying to salvage those fragmented images from his chaotic consciousness.

Then--

I remembered.

I remember everything.

In that instant, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning, frozen from head to toe, from the tips of his hair to his fingertips, into a jade statue that could not move.

A belated sense of shame washed over him like a tidal wave, engulfing his entire being.

A burning sensation spread from his ears to his neck, and even his fingertips felt hot on his handsome face.

"Ahhhhh—"

He buried his face in his palms and let out a mournful cry like a trapped beast.

He actually did it.

He actually hugged Tang Xixue so enthusiastically.

He couldn't help but shower her neck with kiss after kiss.

So...

He dared not think any further.

If it weren't for the sudden chill of dusk, if it weren't for that palm strike that sent him flying.

He might actually, in a state of complete unconsciousness, devour that adorable little snowflake completely...

When the words "live-fire attack" popped into her mind, Hua Rongshi felt completely numb.

He was the dignified young master of the Dreamy Flower City, who prided himself on being a charming but not vulgar gentleman who could pass through a sea of ​​flowers without getting entangled with them.

Those flower bushes weren't places he intended to pass by; it was mainly because his natural beauty was hard to ignore, and countless bees and butterflies were always eyeing his good looks.

He almost accidentally knocked over his beloved little snowflake.

But, just the way—

Among those fragmented memories, some images always linger.

She was fragrant and soft as she leaned against him, her dark hair damp, her misty eyes gazing at him like a pool of spring snow about to melt.

When she was moved, her extremely beautiful face flushed, her eyebrows curved, and the corners of her lips turned up slightly, like a little deer that had secretly hidden honey.

Her soft, sweet breaths fell gently on his ear, like feathers lightly tickling the most itchy spot on his heart.

Every detail perfectly captured all his preferences.

"Although...but..."

He murmured, the slight shame and guilt in his eyes gradually being replaced by a more intense emotion:

"My wife...she's so cute."

He was almost completely drunk.

Even though he was in a cold, dark cell, in a perilous situation where his life hung in the balance, the corners of his lips involuntarily turned up in a silly, upturned smile when he recalled those images.

"I love it."

He uttered those three words softly, as if savoring something extremely precious.

Then, he suddenly remembered something else.

He looked down at his hands, then touched his neck, wrists, and any other place that might have touched her—

No.

There were no red marks.

There was no burning sensation.

There were no familiar, densely packed peach blossom-shaped marks.

"I touched her—and she didn't have an allergic reaction?!"

His eyes widened in disbelief.

For over twenty years, his love potion has caused large red marks to instantly bloom on his body whenever he touches anyone's skin, regardless of gender.

Each petal felt like a branding iron on his skin, causing him to question the meaning of life.

But last night...

He held her in his arms.

He kissed her.

Skin to skin, intimately connected.

but--

It didn't hurt.

The poison did not torment him; instead, it made him sink deeper, more thoroughly, and more willingly into its clutches.

He stood there, motionless for a long time.

A voice in my heart whispered:

The Peach Blossom Love Potion is only for those you love, and has no hostility towards them.

So it was true.

This love potion binds him to the fact that he can only touch his lover in this lifetime.

He suddenly laughed.

If that person is Little Snowflake, then it's fine to let her touch him alone.

That smile lacked his usual flirtatious and playful demeanor, and instead contained a gentle solemnity that even he himself was unaware of.

But that smile only lasted for a moment.

Because he suddenly remembered something else.

When the Peach Blossom Love Poison takes effect, the peach blossom fragrance emanating from his body will cause those around him to fall into a frenzy of passion.

That incense was part of the Gu poison, a poison he couldn't control.

He poisoned her.

He almost hurt her.

that--

How is she now?

Is the poison now cured?

Has anyone been able to help her?

Hua Rongshi's face suddenly turned pale.

"At that time... I don't think I had time to give my wife the antidote..."

He muttered to himself, his voice trembling slightly.

"Oh."

A deep voice came from outside the iron bars:

"You should be glad it didn't come to that."

Hua Rongshi suddenly raised her eyes.

Bei Chenji stood outside the prison cell in a crimson robe, his body shrouded in a chill that lingered throughout the night.

His face remained handsome, but his narrow phoenix eyes now held a complex mix of emotions.

Anger, helplessness, exhaustion, and a hint of... tenderness.

After all, they were his only remaining family members.

When has his pampered cousin ever been so miserable?

"cousin!"

Hua Rongshi suddenly stood up and rushed to the iron bars, her peach blossom eyes sparkling with anticipation:

"My wife—is she alright?"

Looking at his cousin's disheveled yet radiant face, Bei Chenji suddenly felt a pang of jealousy.

That bit of tenderness for his cousin vanished in an instant.

He hasn't settled accounts with him yet.

He, on the other hand, keeps referring to his wife as "my wife."

"she--"

Bei Chenji paused, then gritted his teeth:

"I'm fine."

You are fine.

Of course, I'm fine.

He checked.

Last night, Feng Zhuo went to Jingye Xuelu and left late at night.

It is said that the young general ran several laps around Mirror Moon Lake, and after finishing, he stared at the lake and grinned foolishly for a long time, as if he had found a treasure.

Thinking of this, the nameless fire in Bei Chenji's heart burned even more fiercely.

"You're the one who's in trouble now."

He spoke coldly:

"Let's figure out a way to save our lives first."

Hua Rongshi blinked.

Looking at Bei Chenji's cold and stern face, he suddenly understood something.

"Cousin, you've been to Chengtian Hall?"

he asks.

Bei Chenji did not answer.

But that silence itself is the answer.

Hua Rong lowered her eyes, then after a moment, raised her face again, her smile as radiant as ever.

"Oh. It's good that she's alright."

He loosened the iron bars, stepped back a few paces, patted his wrinkled light pink brocade robe, and sat cross-legged on the pile of dry straw.

In the dimly lit cell, his smile remained bright, like a peach blossom that had fallen into a ditch, blooming despite being in the mud.

"Don't worry about me, cousin."

He waved his hand, his tone as relaxed as if he were talking about the moonlight tonight:

"Go back and rest."

Bei Chenji looked at him.

Looking at his cousin, who had been pampered since childhood and had never suffered any hardship, now sitting in the cold prison cell, thinly dressed but smiling like a fool.

He suddenly didn't know what to say.

"My wife is so adorable—"

Hua Rongshi spoke again, her bright, sparkling eyes brimming with undisguised infatuation:

"Cousin, do you know?"

"She's so beautiful..."

"It's so beautiful I almost died on the spot."

"I really can't imagine—the day my wife pushes me down on the tatami mat—"

Bei Chenji: "..."

He took a deep breath.

I closed my eyes briefly.

I resisted the urge to kill him right now.

This is my cousin, hold back!

He's a bit crazy!

Don't bother arguing with a madman.

"You should still—"

He turned around, the hem of his crimson robe tracing a sharp arc in the dim light:

"Let them live or die on their own."

As soon as he finished speaking, he disappeared around the corner.

Hua Rongshi blinked, looked in the direction her cousin had disappeared, and suddenly burst out laughing.

The laughter echoed in the cold, gloomy cell, carrying a hint of exhilaration, a touch of sweetness, and a dash of reckless nonchalance.

He leaned against the cold stone wall, looking up at the small window through which moonlight shone through the iron bars.

"Little snowflakes..."

He murmured, a soft smile curving his lips:

"Wait for me to come out."

Outside the window, the moonlight was perfect.