The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Tang Xixue reached out and took it, her crimson sleeves like brocade.

As your fingertips trace the snowflakes and lotus petals, you can feel how every detail has been polished to a smooth, jade-like finish.

Those lines, with their varying depths and subtle transitions, conceal the tender thoughts of a person, day and night.

Sunlight streamed through the window and fell on the piano, making its silvery glow flow like a stream gently leaping among the rocks.

It's breathtakingly beautiful.

"Did Little Lotus make this herself?"

She looked up and gazed at Xie Jinlian.

Those peach blossom eyes were filled with amazement and surprise.

The light was so bright, it seemed to illuminate one's very soul.

"Was this prepared especially for me?"

Xie Jinlian nodded slightly.

"Return to your highness."

Wen Song spoke up to claim credit for his lord.

"This is a gift that our lord spent a year collecting materials and six months meticulously crafting."

He glanced at Xie Jinlian's seemingly calm face and added another sentence.

"It was originally intended as your coming-of-age gift, but unfortunately I haven't been able to give it to you yet."

Tangxi Xue lowered her eyes.

My fingertips gently caressed the delicate patterns on the instrument.

That's how he meticulously crafted this pipa for her, bit by bit.

I engrave those restless longings into every snowflake.

Carve those unspeakable longings into every lotus petal.

"Little Lotus".

She looked up at him.

The tenderness in those peach blossom eyes was like ripples on a lake, spreading out in circles.

"Does this pipa have a name?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Jinlian's aloof and otherworldly face broke into a smile.

The smile was faint, as faint as a wisp of mist on a distant mountain, as faint as snow falling on the water.

"The name of the piano——"

"Huai Xue"

His voice was deep and resonant.

Snow in my arms, a person on the strings.

A zither laden with snow, a heart filled with snow.

Lotus blossoms in the snow, covered with snow.

This is called "Huai Xue" (怀雪).

The snow fell silently.

The courtyard was covered with a thin layer of pure white, and plum trees were lying horizontally.

Sunlight filtered through the sparse shadows, spreading across the ground like flowing fragments of gold.

Tang Xixue lowered her eyes, her red flowing fairy dress fluttering in the wind.

My fingertips gently plucked a string.

"Zheng—"

A clear, melodious sound, like an ice bead falling onto a jade plate, lingered and spread in circles throughout the quiet courtyard.

There was snow in that melody.

It was the snow that never melted on the summit of Kunlun Mountain for thousands of years, the white that she knew best draped in his hair.

In that zither music, there is a lotus.

He was like a lotus blooming alone in the snow; when she first saw him, he was as pure and otherworldly as a lotus.

There was another person in that melody.

It's hidden in her heart, and also hidden in this zither.

She kept it hidden for so long, so long that she thought she would never have the chance to play a song for him again in her life.

She played "A Gentle Breeze on the River".

The melody is soothing, like a mountain stream, neither too fast nor too slow.

Every note was clear and melodious, falling on the snow, among the plum blossoms, and into his ears.

Xie Jinlian held the Burning Dream Flute to her lips and began to play it gently.

The sound of the flute begins.

The sound was not as clear as the sound of a piano, but deeper and more mellow, as if it flowed from the depths of time.

Its gentle melody is like the wind passing through a pine forest, while its soaring melody is like the moon shining on a cold pool.

The sounds of the pipa and the xiao intertwined, entwined, and chased each other.

Like two streams that have missed each other for too long, finally flowing together into the vast ocean at this moment.

The wind blows across the blue waters, and the Milky Way seems to be in a dreamlike state.

Tang Xixue raised her eyes and looked at that figure.

The city was bathed in sunlight.

Her silver hair cascaded down her snow-white robes, each strand shimmering with a soft light.

His eyes were obscured by a white veil, but the curve of his lips was visible.

The curve was extremely faint.

It was as faint as a wisp of mist on a distant mountain, as faint as a trace on the snow.

But there was everything she knew in that smile.

It was the undisguised smile on her face when he first saw her open her eyes.

It was when she called him "Master" that the corners of his lips turned up slightly.

It was the unchanging tenderness she saw every time she turned around.

Tang Xixue looked at him, and a smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.

Not strong, not intense.

Yet it was exceptionally moving.

Looking at him, she felt a sense of peace and tranquility.

Even though he can't see her right now.

But she believed he could sense it.

You can feel her gaze, her smile, and all the emotions she hides in the music.

The wind rises again, gently brushing the plum blossom tips.

A few plum blossom petals, adorned with glistening snowflakes, fluttered down, twirling and dancing in the air.

It fell on his silver robe, on her red dress, on the shimmering silver pipa, and on the misty, dream-burning flute.

The sunlight was perfect.

Snowflakes fell on my shoulders, and into my arms.

At that moment, they all became each other's snow-covered embrace.

The wind is stronger up in the Star-Picking Tower.

He Lichen leaned against the railing, a corner of her moon-white crane cloak fluttering in the wind.

He tilted his head slightly, listening to the sounds of the pipa and xiao drifting in the wind, his fingers gently caressing the astrolabe in his hand.

The music was beautiful.

It was so beautiful that he could almost picture the scene in the courtyard—snow, plum blossoms, two figures, a pipa, and a xiao (a type of vertical bamboo flute).

He lowered his eyes, suppressing the bitterness in his heart.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.

A sharp arrow, carrying a murderous aura, pierced through the air from the shadows below the mountain, flying straight towards Xie Jinlian.

A fallen swordsman, everyone wants to step over his corpse and become famous throughout the world.

The secret that Kunlun Sword Immortal is crippled cannot be hidden forever, as long as there are clues to follow.

He Lichen's fingertips twitched slightly.

A ray of light flowed out from the star chart.

A ray of starlight descended from the Zhou Tian Star Array above the Mountain and River Palace.

The starlight was extremely faint and pale, like a ray of moonlight that had been accidentally sprinkled down.

But as it fell, the arrow, along with the person who secretly fired it, was annihilated in that ray of starlight.

It's as if it never existed.

The winter sun shines down, making the snow in the courtyard gleam slightly. Melting snow drips from the eaves, one drop at a time, landing on the bluestone and making a soft, rustling sound.

Yun Boyan walked out of the hall carrying a food box, his silver robe gleaming in the sunlight.

"Brother, sister-in-law, the Zhichun pastry is ready. The sun is warm and the breeze is gentle, let's have some tea and snacks first."

He approached and gently placed the nine-square wooden box in his hand on the stone table covered with a brocade cushion.

The wooden box was exquisitely crafted, with lotus scroll patterns carved along the edges. When the lid was opened, a sweet fragrance wafted out.

Inside the box, the Zhichun pastries are layered upon each other, each piece as exquisite as a painting.

Some are made in the shape of peach blossoms, with layers of pink petals and a touch of pale yellow in the center;

Some were shaped like magnolias, with white petals spread out and edges tinged with a very faint blue.

Others resemble apricot blossoms, with five evenly spaced petals and a few honey-soaked stamens in the center.

In the nine-square grid, nine kinds of flowers and nine colors are arranged in a staggered and orderly manner, as if the whole spring has been captured in this small space.