The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Throughout the entire palace, only Princess Tang Xixue was qualified to have her carriage driven directly to the outside of Qianqiu Palace.

The carriages of others, whether princes or princesses, all stopped outside the palace gates.

Those are ironclad rules, regulations, and strict laws that no one dares to transgress.

Only her.

You can ride in that magnificent carriage with its flowing tassels, passing through countless palaces, all the way to the Hall of a Thousand Autumns.

Even the area outside Chengtian Hall can be reached directly.

That was a favor granted by Emperor Shengchen himself.

No one dared to speak out.

No one could argue with it.

Qingdai carefully folded the snow-white priest's robe and put it into the sandalwood box she was traveling with.

She followed behind her prince, her gaze secretly sweeping over the figure in the moon-white crane cloak before quickly lowering her eyes.

The Grand Preceptor and His Highness boarded the carriage together.

She tactfully followed along the side of the carriage, separated from the interior by a hanging curtain, never stepping over it.

When His Highness is alone with the Imperial Advisor, she always tries to stay as far away as possible.

Songyun, the scribe waiting outside the Qianqiu Palace, gasped when he saw this scene from afar.

"Goodness..."

He murmured, his handsome face filled with complex emotions.

"How come I've run into this little devil again?"

He watched the carriage slowly drive away and began to seriously consider where he should hide later.

Should I hide behind the pillars, or just take a sick leave?

"Sir, is he going to eat such meat again so early in the morning?"

Although Songjun's muttering was soft, it did not escape Qingdai's ears.

She glanced at him, her eyes filled with amusement.

"Lord Songyun, you're meddling way too much."

Her voice was soft, but every word was clear.

"It is an immense honor for your master that His Highness is willing to bestow his favor. Your master is more than happy to receive it—"

She paused, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

Be content.

Upon hearing this, Song Jun's handsome face stiffened slightly.

"...We adults don't go out of our way to give away so much!"

He muttered, his voice growing softer and softer, his confidence waning.

Because he knew it very well in his heart.

His celestial-like Imperial Advisor, in front of Princess Mirror, was more than just willing.

It was absolutely—something I would gladly and couldn't ask for.

Inside the carriage, the draped brocade curtains shut out the noise of the outside world.

He Lichen sat upright on the soft couch.

The moon-white crane cloak draped meticulously over his body, his posture upright as a pine tree, his aloofness as cold as frost.

He lowered his eyes, his gaze fixed on the star chart on his lap, as if he were seriously studying some important classic text.

He exudes an aura of asceticism.

But those slightly curled knuckles, those occasionally trembling eyelashes, and that heartbeat that was half a beat faster than usual.

Everything about it is revealing something.

"Weaving."

When he spoke, his voice was like moonlight tempered by frost and snow, clear and pure, untouched by the filth of the world.

"During the sacrificial ceremony, you will be traveling with Brother Huaixian, so you have nothing to fear."

He paused, then looked up at her.

Those clear, cool eyes were now filled with a tenderness that belonged only to her.

"The rules are all set by me. You have no taboos."

His daughter, Zhizhi, was personally raised by the Empress Dowager from a young age.

She already knew those complicated etiquette rules by heart, so he didn't need to say anything more.

"Uh-huh."

Tang Xixue nodded, as obedient as a little fox that had tucked its claws in.

The carriage started slowly, the rumbling of its wheels rolling over the snow-covered palace road.

She suddenly tilted her head.

Those peach blossom eyes were filled with a sly smile.

"Then—Brother Huaixian, why don't you teach Zhizhi something else?"

Before he could finish speaking...

She got up quite naturally.

She fell into his arms.

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

The series of movements were fluid and natural, as if they had been done a thousand times, so familiar that they seemed like instinct.

He Lichen froze for a moment.

My heartbeat went out of control for a moment, as if something had slammed into my chest.

He instinctively wanted to say something, to push her away, and to maintain his aloof and self-possessed demeanor.

But his hand wrapped around her waist first.

Playing hard to get.

That's all there is to it.

Just as he was lost in thought, Tang Xixue's slender, jade-like fingers suddenly brushed against his hair.

Gently stroking it.

That wisp of frosty white lingered around her fingertips.

"How about—Brother Huaixian tells Zhizhi?"

She tilted her head slightly and looked at him.

Her voice was soft and clear, carrying a hint of doubt, a touch of seriousness, and an irresistible stubbornness.

"What's this? Hmm?"

He Lichen paused slightly.

Something flashed across those cool, clear eyes.

His daughter has always had an excellent memory.

He didn't have this strand of white hair until recently.

She remembers it clearly and distinctly.

Tang Xixue looked at him, and the scene above the sky that night suddenly flashed through her mind.

The myriad stars are like points of light on a sand table, each with its own predetermined trajectory, and each beam of light intertwines to form an unbreakable celestial net.

His destiny star is closely linked to hers.

That's what's recorded in ancient books—the Star Covenant.

The caster must sacrifice their most precious fortune to forcibly bind two stars that should not intersect.

If the star of the one who initiates the ritual is extinguished, the starlight of the caster will also dim, until...

Together we fall into eternal night.

"so--"

Tang Xixue's voice was soft, yet it carried an undeniable certainty.

"It's to save Zhizhi, right?"

She looked at him.

Those peach blossom eyes were filled with heartache, emotion, and a stubborn questioning.

"Brother Huai Xian".

"Don't lie to Zhizhi."

She leaned forward slightly, her nose almost touching his.

That soft, clear voice fell into his ear, carrying a hint of coquetry, a hint of seriousness, and a hint of tenderness that left him nowhere to escape.

"You have to tell Zhizhi what you'll give in order to get a reward."

He Lichen looked at her.

Looking into those eyes that reflected my image, and seeing the clear heartache and unwavering determination in them.

He suddenly sighed softly.

He shook his head helplessly.

How could his weaving be so perceptive?

He clearly saw it; it was just a few gray hairs.

He was in such a hurry to see her that he didn't have time to find a way to cover it up.

But she still found out.

He remembered what the old imperial advisor had once told him.

"Huai Xian, this technique can change fate, but it can also take it away. It should not be used unless absolutely necessary."

At that time, he knelt before the astrolabe, gazing at the teetering, almost extinguished star of destiny, and listening to the old imperial advisor's warning.

But he had no other choice.

"only……"

He spoke.

His voice remained clear and cold, as if tempered by frost and snow.

But at this moment, when he slowed down his speech, his cool demeanor softened, revealing a sense of calm and detachment.

"Half of his lifespan was cut short."

He looked at her.

Those clear, cool eyes were filled with tenderness, like the first ray of moonlight suddenly falling on a snow-covered mountain.

"But Brother Huaixian can still stay with Zhizhi until the end of my life."

He paused.

The voice deepened slightly, like distant mountain clouds slowly drifting over the pine peaks.

"Zhizhi, there will be many people protecting you. Brother Huaixian..."

He smiled softly.

That smile was as faint as snowflakes, as light as moonlight, yet as warm as the March breeze.

"It could be just one of them."

—It could be just one of them.

Tang Xixue's eyes suddenly reddened.

she knows.

She knows.

That star contract is a desperate gamble, a sacrifice of lifespan, a life-for-life exchange.

He sacrificed half his life to forcefully prolong her life and prevent her fate from extinguishing.

Now she's back.

His backlash also began.

A strand of gray hair every day.

The day his hair turns completely white will be the day his lifespan ends.

Why—

She spoke, her voice hoarse and choked with emotion.

Why take such a desperate gamble?

She recalled those years.

I recall those days of struggling in the darkness.

She thought she was a person.

She thought no one knew where she was.

She thought—

No one will wait for her.

But she didn't know.

There was a man who, out of her sight, gave his life to save her.

He Lichen looked at her reddened eyes and gently raised his hand.

He brushed his fingertips across the wetness at the corner of her eyes.

The movements were extremely light and gentle, as if afraid of hurting her.

"A world without weaving."

He looked at her.

Each word and phrase is like a vow, like a heartfelt confession.

"It's better not to wait any longer for Huai Xian."

That moment.

Tang Xixue finally burst into tears after suppressing them.

One by one.

It fell silently.

It hit the back of his hand and was incredibly hot.

She is not a fragile person.

Never.

But...

Ironically, the better others treated her, the less resilient she became.

Her beloved brother Huai Xian.

Such a smart person.

Holding the stars and discerning the secrets of heaven, their fingertips manipulate the destiny of dynasties and the pulse of the land.

The rise and fall of the Purple Star Emperor, the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of Mars guarding the heart, are all within his divination.

He is Chenyao's anchor, the calmest strategist amidst the undercurrents.

Even emperors had to show him respect.

But unfortunately—

Star trails can be measured.

The human heart is hard to fathom.

What is especially difficult to see is that star that belonged to her, which had somehow fallen into his frozen heart.

He knew she was a calamity, a fire, a variable that suddenly lit up on his destiny chart and became entangled in his affairs.

Reason should be abandoned, suppressed, and used to push her out of her destiny using the art of star orbit.

He was born to embark on the path of immortality.

But when those clear eyes looked at him...

When that "Brother Huaixian" was uttered with a smile.

The path to immortality has been shattered, revealing its first crack.

The mortal world surges like a tide, overflowing the dikes of tranquility.

That moon-white crane cloak couldn't contain the increasingly burning heartbeat.

People all say of him: "He is like celestial dew and bright pearls, like frost and snow on high mountains."

But no one knew.

Beneath this moon-white attire lies a pure and innocent heart, untouched by worldly concerns.

He is easily embarrassed.

After being looked at by her a few more times, her earlobes blushed slightly before her cheeks, like white jade infused with the glow of the sunset.

His Adam's apple bobbed imperceptibly, and his fingertips unconsciously tapped the edge of the astrolabe, producing a soft, tinkling sound that betrayed the turmoil beneath the calm surface.

But at this moment.

He held her in his arms.

He let her tears fall into his palm.

They didn't dodge.

There was nothing hidden.

"Weaving."

He called her softly.

His voice was low, as if afraid to startle the snow falling from the branches.

"Don't cry."

Tang Xixue raised her tearful eyes and looked at him.

Looking at his cool and aloof brows, at his slightly reddened ear tips, at the faint smile on his lips, as light as snow.

She suddenly realized.

How fortunate I am to have lived this life.

The emperor protects you.

The Imperial Advisor protects the soul.

The Sword Immortal Slays the Heavens.

And then there was the Empress Dowager, who chanted sutras and prayed for her at Huguo Temple for over 1,800 days and nights.

They tried everything to get her back.

How could she—

Not strong?

She reached out her hand.

Gently wipe away the tears on my face.

Then, she placed a very light kiss on the corner of his lips.

He Lichen froze.

The tips of her ears turned even redder.

It was as red as the candlelight in the Hall of Eternal Life that night, as red as his heart pounding uncontrollably when she first called him "Brother Huaixian".

Tang Xixue looked at his expression.

Looking at the panic in his clear, cold eyes, at the blush on the tips of his ears that he couldn't hide, at the contradiction between his desire to push her away and his increasingly tighter grip on her.

She suddenly stopped crying and started laughing.

"Brother Huai Xian".

She leaned against him.

Listening to his heartbeat, which had lost its rhythm.

One moment, one moment.

It was so fast it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.

Her lips curved into a smile.

"From now on, Zhizhi will protect you too."

She looked up at him.

Those peach blossom eyes were filled with tears, but also with light.

"You saved Zhizhi's life."

"Zhizhi, I'll give you a lifetime."

He Lichen looked at her.

Looking at the light in her eyes.

The light was so bright that it shattered all the composure and aloofness he had maintained for over twenty years into dust.

He lowered his head.

His forehead touched hers.

"it is good."

He said softly.

His voice was hoarse, yet solemn, like the final stroke on a star chart.

"Brother Huaixian, wait for me."

Outside the window, cars and horses rumbled by.

Inside the car, two hearts beat in unison.

One moment, one moment.

Like those two closely intertwined life stars on a star chart.

From this day forward, we will never be apart again.