The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

The Empress Dowager gently put down her teacup, the bottom of which touched the rosewood tabletop with a very slight sound.

She stopped looking at the food on the table and instead gazed through the rising steam of the tea, looking out the window.

They looked towards the direction of Huguo Temple.

It's as if you can hear the deep, distant sound of the morning bell in the mountains, passing through palaces and snow-covered mountains, and through those bygone days.

The fragrance settled in the warm, fragrant hall, and also fell on her ears and into her heart.

That person.

That originally most benevolent and humble crown prince.

After losing his position as heir apparent, losing his beloved, losing everything—

He didn't say anything.

There was no fighting or grabbing.

He simply turned around and walked out of the imperial city where he was born and raised.

He shaved his head and became a monk.

He is often accompanied by the dim light of the lamp and the ancient Buddha.

From then on, there was no more Prince Tangxi Qingyuan in the world, only the Undying Master of Huguo Temple.

Look at the purity of the lotus, and you will know that your heart is unblemished.

Bai Yining remembered the day he left.

It was a snowy day, with snowflakes flying all over the city and the world covered in white.

Snowflakes fluttered down, landing on his thin back, on the ends of his drooping hair, and in his gaze that never turned back.

She stood on the city wall.

The city gate tower was very high, high enough to see the outline of the entire Baiyujing city, and to see the figure gradually receding into the distance at the end of the long street.

She wore a heavy cloak, her hands tucked into her sleeves, clenched tightly, her nails digging into her palms, leaving deep crescent-shaped marks.

She didn't chase after him.

Just watching.

Watching him step by step walk into that vast expanse of wind and snow.

He didn't turn around.

Not even once.

He paused when he reached the end of the long street.

The pause was so brief that it was almost imperceptible.

But she knew that at that moment, he must have wanted to turn back.

A moment later, he continued walking.

They disappeared into the swirling snow.

She stood there, for a very long time.

So long that snowflakes covered her shoulders, so long that her nanny, Lan, gently reminded her that it was time to return to the palace.

She then turned around.

The late Emperor Tangxi Lifeng ascended to the throne by stepping over the corpses of his brothers and father.

This was a tacitly understood secret among all the officials.

That person was ruthless, cruel, and ungrateful.

He showed no mercy to anyone and could turn on anyone without hesitation.

Beneath his dragon throne lay countless bones, and his hands were stained with the blood of his loved ones.

But ironically, this applied to his gentle and kind-hearted elder brother—

I just can't bring myself to kill him.

Bai Yining had thought about it for many years and finally understood.

Perhaps it was because of my youth.

At that time, Tangxi Lifeng was just an unfavored prince born to a palace maid who had climbed the social ladder, as insignificant as a weed in the corner of the palace wall.

His father didn't even give him a name; the palace servants called him "the thirteenth prince," as if it were just a meaningless nickname.

Nobody cared about him.

He was trampled on, humiliated, and crushed into the mud. He wasn't even worthy to look up at his brothers who lived in luxury.

But his elder brother, the upright and noble Crown Prince, treated him extremely well.

It was he who personally registered him in the imperial genealogy, making him no longer an unknown nobody.

It was he who personally named him.

"The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from bitter cold, and the sharpest sword is forged through tempering."

Crown Prince Qingyuan stood in the sunlight, his eyes gentle, gazing at him:

"Sharpen your sword. May you be like a fine sword, honed and tempered, ultimately becoming a great weapon."

That was the first time in Tangxi Lifeng's life that someone had placed such high hopes on him.

The first time someone told him that he had a name.

later--

That "Sharpened Edge" sword ultimately fell upon the beautiful and precious eldest brother, the emperor.

He took everything away from him with his own hands.

Storage location.

Crown Princess.

And that Eastern Palace that should have belonged to him.

Even so, every time Tangxi Lifeng wakes up in the middle of the night, he remembers those eyes.

Clear, bright, and untouched by dust.

When those eyes looked at him, there was no resentment, no anger, only a strange, chilling calm.

Those eyes are so unbearable to look at.

It also makes one feel guilty for the rest of their life.

Tangxi Qingyuan...

Empress Dowager Bai Yining smiled gently.

That gentle and refined gentleman was a pure and untainted being.

She is everyone's white moonlight.

It's hers too.

That day, she married into the Eastern Palace.

When the bright red veil fell, she wasn't thinking about the new crown prince, Tangxi Lifeng, who was about to become her husband.

It's someone else's face.

It is those eyes that are forever clear as spring water, and that smile that is forever gentle as a spring breeze.

It was that boy standing under the camellia tree, his clothes fluttering, his eyes shining as he looked at her.

The veil covered her face, but it couldn't hide the cold smile on her lips.

marry her?

That ungrateful wretch doesn't even deserve to be called one.

That night, Tangxi Qingyuan got drunk for the first time in his life.

He never drinks alcohol.

But he drank it that night.

I drank a lot.

He was so drunk that he was unconscious, lying in a corner of the teahouse, still clutching a withered camellia in his hand.

He personally picked that flower before her wedding. He somehow managed to get it delivered to her.

A small note was attached to the flower, without a signature, containing only one line:

"Susu, may you live a long and peaceful life."

When she received that flower, she stood by the window for a very long time.

Then she had someone return the flower to him.

They didn't say anything.

She dared not say it.

I'm afraid that if I open my mouth, tears will fall before I can speak.

At this moment, he lay in the corner of the teahouse, clutching the flower tightly as if it were the last treasure in the world.

The petals were already dry and would crumble at the slightest touch.

But he couldn't bear to let go.

She ordered him to be bound and brought to the Eastern Palace.

No one dared to ask.

Who dares to question the orders of the eldest daughter of the Bai family?

Her men quietly sneaked into the teahouse, carried him out, stuffed him into an inconspicuous sedan chair, and carried him all the way to the side gate of the East Palace.

The eunuch guarding the gate saw it, but pretended not to, after all, it was a pawn of the Bai family.

Countless Bai family spies had long been planted within the palace.

The heritage of top-tier families is never just for show.

As for the new crown prince, whom she had never looked down upon.

She had someone give her hallucinogenic drugs.

The medicine was colorless and odorless, and it dissolved in the wine; he drank it all.

A moment later, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

She didn't even bother to look at him.

"Throw it there."

She said calmly.

Thus, the new crown prince, who had just married the eldest daughter of the Bai family, was carelessly tossed onto the cold floor tiles, like a tattered bag.

The person she cherished most was helped by her own hands as they walked step by step towards the bridal chamber covered with red silk.

Bai Yining will fight for and snatch whatever she wants.

Bai Yining wanted this power, this high position.

And she also wants the white moonlight in her heart.

That night, red candles burned brightly.

The candlelight cast a soft crimson glow on the gauze curtains, like the sunset clouds falling to earth.

The nuptial wine was placed quietly on the table, with two mandarin duck cups side by side, their rims touching, as if they were cuddling or telling each other secrets.

She helped him walk in, each step very slowly.

He was extremely drunk.

He was as soft as a handful of melted snow, or like a jade figure whose bones had been removed, leaning softly against her shoulder, letting her do as she pleased.

Those eyes, usually clear as spring water, were now closed, their long eyelashes casting faint shadows in the candlelight, like two resting butterfly wings, trembling slightly, as if there was something they couldn't let go of in their dreams.

His breath was light, carrying the scent of wine, and brushed against her neck.

It's itchy.

She helped him to the bedside and laid him down.

Then she stood in front of the bed, looking down at him.

She gazed at the person who had been etched in her heart since she was thirteen.

She was thirteen years old that year, and he was fifteen.

Spring in Lintai is always long, long enough for her to have enough time to etch his silhouette into her eyes.

He always sat in the front row, sitting upright with his back straight like a slender bamboo.

She sat in the back row, watching his back, her eyes filled with stars and overflowing with affection.

She thought she had hidden it well.

But he knew.

He always knew.

He never says it.

She didn't ask.

They liked each other without ever saying a word.

Because they were each other, marriage became the most beautiful expectation.

She thought they would continue like this until he could rightfully welcome her into the Eastern Palace.

But he lost.

To lose miserably, to lose everything.

He lost so badly that he could only hide in a corner and cry uncontrollably.

But she refused to accept her fate.

Bai Yining never accepted her fate.