The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"Qizhu! What are you doing standing here? Get out of the way!"

A majestic imperial voice suddenly shattered the silence in the corridor.

The star-bearer departs during the day and returns.

The emperor's procession had long since departed, and the imperial carriage was halfway there, but he still couldn't shake his worries.

Although there are many official matters to attend to, simply send someone to deliver them.

He only has one younger brother.

Si Xingxuan had recently fallen seriously ill due to excessive grief.

After much deliberation, he decided to let the imperial carriage leave and rode back alone with his accompanying guards.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Qi Zhu hurriedly stepped aside, head bowed, still holding the empty bowl in her hand.

The door was suddenly pushed open by Si Xingzhou, and the afternoon light poured in, illuminating everything in the medicine hut in perfect detail.

The next moment, his gaze fell on the overturned alchemy cauldron on the ground.

The bronze cauldron lay crookedly on the floor tiles, its lid rolled to the side.

"What's going on?"

Si Xingzhou's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Ah, brother!"

Si Xingxuan suddenly panicked.

He quickly kicked the bronze alchemy cauldron on the ground, trying to move it to an inconspicuous corner.

Unfortunately, he was still recovering from a serious illness and his legs were not very strong.

The cauldron remained motionless, only emitting a muffled "clang".

"Brother, it started this cauldron!"

Si Xingxuan immediately froze in embarrassment.

"Oh? It struck first?"

Si Xingzhou raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms, and looked at his younger brother with a leisurely air.

"Did it hit you? Where are you hurt? Let me see."

As he spoke, he made a move to step forward, and Si Xingxuan quickly took two steps back, her blush deepening.

"I'm not hurt! I dodged quickly!"

"Brother, let me explain—or rather, just listen to my excuses. Would you believe me if I said it was practicing handstands?"

A thin blush instantly rose on Si Xingxuan's pale, handsome face, his guilt obvious.

"Practicing handstands?"

Si Xingzhou looked down at the medicine cauldron that was upside down.

"It was really into practicing, so much so that the lid flew off?"

"Yes. So, tell me, has it collapsed or not?"

Si Xing stubbornly refused to admit anything.

"Brother, didn't you leave? Why are you back?"

Unable to vent her anger on her brother, Si Xingxuan was now taking it out on the alchemy cauldron he had given her.

I never expected to be caught red-handed.

"When I was in Baiyujing, I bought some snowflake candy, thinking that it wouldn't be too bitter for A-Zhe to eat after taking his medicine."

Si Xingzhou walked over unhurriedly and placed a box of exquisite snowflake candy on the table.

"Now it seems... Ah Zhe has some objection to the medicine cauldron I gave him?"

He clearly remembered that his younger brother had liked the alchemy cauldron very much when he first received it.

I read it over and over again.

Now look what happened, it's been thrown on the ground.

"Did I offend you?"

Upon hearing this, Si Xingxuan angrily turned her head away, leaving her brother with a stubborn back of her head.

Okay, now we can confirm who Si Xingzhou is.

His younger brother is angry with him.

"What is it now? What did I do to offend you? Speak up!"

"Brother, I'm not happy that you went in with your left foot first today."

Si Xingxuan said sullenly.

He's not going to tell his brother about Zhizhi!

His brother never told him this before, and kept giving him bad advice.

The results of it?

He secretly tried to steal her away, calling her the future empress!

To hell with the Empress, his brother is destined to be single forever!

"Really? Then next time I'll put my right foot in first, okay?"

Si Xingzhou wasn't annoyed and pushed the snowflake candy towards his younger brother.

"The Tai Su Dan Fang you used last time did have some effect; you look a bit better."

"I'll cook you some of my signature dishes later. How about wild mushroom soup?"

He thought it might be because he participated in the Nine Extremes Alliance and was later busy mobilizing troops to clean up the Heavenly Dao Apostles.

He threw a tantrum because he hadn't had time to take care of his younger brother.

"Brother, don't cook, we can still be good brothers."

Si Xingxuan waved his hand, his expression instantly turning to terror, and immediately refused his brother's offer to poison him.

"Brother, I'm immune to all poisons, but I don't have a loss of taste."

"Please, please stop torturing me. My health is already so poor, why make things worse?"

His gaze fell on the crimson expanse of sky and earth outside the window.

"You should go and deal with this Crimson Dust Gu."

Si Xingxuan's greatest skill is poison.

He usually eats all sorts of poisonous fruits as snacks, and surprisingly, they're quite crunchy.

But this Crimson Dust Gu was silently eroding this land, more insidious than any poison he had ever seen.

"The Guixu Palace has gone all out this time. Does A-Zhe have a way to cure the Jiangchen Gu?"

Upon hearing this, Si Xingzhou also showed a solemn expression, and then asked.

"This is the first time I've ever seen a real Crimson Dust Gu."

Si Xingxuan withdrew his gaze and looked back at the flames in the furnace that were about to go out.

"I need to refine the Soul Nourishing Pill first; other matters can wait."

He spoke of it casually.

It was as if the snow falling all over the sky and the dust rising for miles were not as important as the elixir that had not yet taken shape in his furnace.

The life and death of all people in the world are never recorded in the ledger of the Divine Physician Zheyue.

"Alright, then hurry up. I'll have Qizhu collect a jar of Crimson Dust Gu first, and you can come back to study the antidote after you're done."

Si Xingzhou knew his younger brother's temperament.

He wasn't in a hurry at all, and you couldn't urge him to.

He suddenly remembered that when he entered the room, Qizhu was standing at the door in a daze.

"Isn't Qizhu always smiling? Why isn't she smiling today?"

The boy had a round, oval face, and his eyes were always curved. When he smiled, he revealed two small tiger teeth, which made him very endearing.

Today, however, he seemed to have lost his soul, standing at the door with an empty bowl, like a wooden stake.

"He probably lost all hope because he couldn't poison me."

Si Xingxuan waved his hand dismissively, his tone carrying a hint of disdain.

"After all, how can man conquer nature? He is a mortal, and I am nature."

"He was given a chance, but he was useless!"

"No wonder he looked so lifeless."

Si Xingzhou nodded nonchalantly.

"His reputation as a gangster is probably ruined."

He knew that his younger brother was immune to all poisons, but Qizhu was persistent and had been persisting for so many years.

"Everyone in Medicine God Valley is a big shot; his poison skills can't take down any of them. His biggest use now is just being a fence-sitter."

Si Xingxuan offered a rare word of comfort, but his tone was reluctant, as if he were giving alms.

Qi Zhu happened to walk in carrying the newly collected Crimson Dust Gu, and upon hearing this, she almost burst into tears on the spot.

"My lord, can't I just not be this inside man?"

He looked at Si Xingxuan pitifully, his voice trembling with tears.

"Even if I didn't poison you to death, I'll still be punished. That stagnant water was truly agonizing to soak in..."

Qi Zhu felt a chill run down her spine at the thought of being punished for failing the mission.

Water without a pond is most venomous.

The stronger the obsession, the deeper the pain.

It's like a thousand pounds pressing down, like a cold blade slicing through your heart; there's no way to escape it, not even a fraction of the way.

How could he possibly still be laughing?

"If you don't go to accept your punishment, why did you bring me out of the Wuchi Pond to raise Gu worms?"

Si Xingxuan didn't even look up, speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"And how am I supposed to get my hands on the latest samples of your Guixu Palace's new poison for research?"

He gave Qizhu a look of disappointment and frustration.

"Sacrifice one of you to benefit the entire Divine Medicine Valley."

"You better behave yourself as an inside man and don't get caught. Can't you be a little more useful?"

"If you're useless, I'll throw you into the cave of ten thousand snakes to keep them company."

"..."

Qi Zhu opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word.

He was completely confused about who the villain was.

Oh, right, he almost forgot—their Guixu Palace is the righteous path! They are righteous people who act on behalf of Heaven!

From the very beginning, Divine Physician Zheyue was the opposite of the Heavenly Dao.

but……

When Qi Zhu was eight years old, he had just mastered the art of poison and was sent out.

The people of Guixu Palace said that children are not easily alerted, so they let him get close to Si Xingxuan and find an opportunity to poison him.

He didn't succeed.

Not only did it fail, but it also caught the eye of Si Xingxuan.

The sickly-looking boy glanced at him through the medicinal mist filling the room and said, "Not bad, a good prospect. Keep him as my medicine attendant."

So, Xiaoqizhu, who was originally going to be thrown to feed poisonous snakes, was enslaved!

Over the years, he not only had to prepare, brew, and test medicine for him, but also help him steal things from Guixu Palace.

Whatever pool water, forbidden drugs, or secrets Si Xingxuan wanted, he had to find a way to get it.

He felt that neither side was a good thing!

Everyone's a villain!

His life has been so difficult.

"Fine, I'll let you off this time."

Si Xingxuan finally took pity on him and spoke up, pulling out a bottle of newly made poison from his sleeve and weighing it in his palm.

"I absolutely loathe Guixu Palace now. Put my newly researched medicine into the Wuchi Pond."

"My lord, they will check over there."

Qi Zhu said weakly.

"Oh! An inspection?"

Si Xingxuan sneered and opened the bottle.

A wisp of extremely faint smoke drifted out of the bottle, colorless and odorless; if Qizhu hadn't been so close, she wouldn't have noticed it at all.

"They actually managed to detect the poison I made?"

He tilted the bottle slightly and blew gently.

The wisp of smoke, as if alive, silently merged into Qizhu's skin and vanished instantly, leaving not a trace.

"Aaaaah! My lord, please don't poison me without warning!"

Qi Zhu watched as the poison seeped into her skin and vanished instantly, and she felt terrible.

I can't live like this for even a single day.

"The poison won't take effect for three days. You are the source of the poison right now."

Si Xingxuan calmly put the stopper on the bottle and put the medicine bottle back into his sleeve.

"Hurry up and have someone pick you up, then go and cause trouble for them."

"Those ants—dare to try and defy the heavens?"

"What a joke. You so-called Heavenly Dao Apostles, your Heavenly Dao will be trampled under my feet."

At that moment, he resembled a vicious villain.

"Yes, our Ah Zhe is so kind, yet they were willing to hurt him. They truly deserve to die."

Si Xingzhou nodded, his eyes filled with such a thick "brotherly" filter that they could shield him from arrows.

"..."

Qi Zhu just wanted to rush up and shake the Star Emperor awake.

What kind of look is that?

His master is extremely poisonous, okay?

His entire body was poisonous, even his hair was highly toxic!

What kindness?

That's more like utterly depraved!

Qi Zhu also did not want to betray Guixu Palace.

But Si Xingxuan is so scary!

How could such a small bamboo viper be a match for this highly poisonous and ruthless demon?

Betraying Guixu Palace only means death, but betraying the Lord is worse than death!

He can do this problem.

What else could he do but give in?

"My lord... I hope I can return alive to prepare your medicine."

Qi Zhu raised her green sleeve to wipe away her tears, looking pitiful, like a little green snake wilted by a rainstorm.

Huddled under the leaves, shivering, it couldn't muster even a trace of the imposing presence of the bamboo viper.

Whether I come back or not doesn't matter; I don't need you here anyway.

Si Xingxuan didn't even raise his head, his tone as indifferent as a thin mist.

"There are so many medicine boys in Divine Medicine Valley that you can't count them all."

Qi Zhu clutched her chest and staggered back a step.

His master is really vicious!