The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"Should we inform His Highness the War King of this?"

Mo Jian asked.

"No need."

Pei Yanchuan shook his head, his voice filled with unwavering certainty.

"The people around Lingzhi are not clean. Sending his men out to search is just a smokescreen to mislead Qi Zhan."

He knows Qi Zhan too well.

That emperor appeared gentle and refined, but in reality, he was extremely meticulous and suspicious.

Qi Zhan is definitely someone who keeps an eye on Qi Wang.

It would be better to send his men out for a spin, making Qi Zhan think they were still searching aimlessly.

Meanwhile, the Yunlin Guards, who were truly searching for the missing person, had already quietly made their way to Guixu Palace.

"Has Aunt Chang Le arrived yet?"

Pei Yanchuan continued to ask.

"Your Highness, the Princess has arrived."

Mo Jian quickly replied.

"At this moment, we are performing a Gu remedy on the Prince..."

Without offspring, the silk-pulling gu cannot survive on its own.

The mother Gu within Qi Si's body had no chance of survival the moment Mei Ruohuan's offspring Gu died.

Tangxi Snow has temporarily revived it, but it must be replaced before it completely withers away.

For this reason, they invited the eldest princess of the Qi tribe, Qi Chang Le.

She is Qi Si's elder sister and one of the most senior and experienced Gu Masters in the Qi Clan.

She has always remained neutral, neither taking sides nor participating in court disputes, nor favoring either side.

But since it concerned her own brother's life, she ultimately made an exception and took action.

Qi Zhan really went too far this time.

Their Qi clan had already lost too many members of the royal bloodline due to the palace coup of that year.

Now, only a handful remain.

She only has one younger brother.

"What kind of Gu poison did Aunt Chang Le use to save Father King?"

Pei Yanchuan asked in a low voice.

He dared not make too much noise, for fear of disturbing Tang Xixue who was sleeping peacefully in the inner room.

Mo Jian paused for a moment before answering softly:

"The Forgetfulness Potion".

Pei Yanchuan closed his eyes.

Forgetfulness Potion.

Of course he knew what it was.

"Oh...how could I forget?"

He muttered to himself and sighed softly.

"The Thread-Pulling Gu represents the deepest love and affection, but only the Forget-Love Gu can devour it and take its place."

The Forgetfulness Gu feeds on the threads of love.

It will carry the host's memories, attachments, and love.

Everything related to love was devoured clean.

In the end, the host will no longer remember who he once loved or who he once cared about.

Like a sheet of rice paper covered with writing, it is bleached by human hands, becoming clean and empty.

Pei Yanchuan slowly opened his eyes.

"That's enough. It's already a blessing that my father survived."

How many things in this world are truly perfect?

More than anything, there is regret.

Father survived, but he will forget Mother.

Forget that he once loved someone so deeply.

Forget that he once planted the "Entangling Silk Curse" on that person.

Forget that he once knelt in the wind and snow, crying, begging, and going mad.

At least he's still alive.

As long as you're alive, there's always tomorrow.

Pei Yanchuan turned around, and the moonlight fell on his profile.

"Once the Cloud Scale Guards find the exact whereabouts of Mother and the others, report back immediately."

"Yes."

Mo Jian bowed and accepted the order, his figure silently disappearing into the darkness.

The study returned to silence.

Pei Yanchuan picked up his pen and wrote a line on the paper on his desk.

A night breeze blew by, ruffling the stray hairs at his temples and stirring the manuscript of poetry on the table.

There was only one line of text on it, the ink still wet.

It was the line she had casually recited just now:

"White jade rises like smoke in spring rain, a single branch still shyly embraces half of its own."

He looked at her for a long time, his gaze extremely gentle.

Then, he turned and walked back into the inner room.

The silvery moonlight shone through the window, covering the bed with a frosty hue.

The snow in Tangxi is still asleep.

Her eyelashes were quietly covering her face, and her breathing was long and steady, like a crabapple tree bathed in moonlight.

Her hair was scattered on the pillow, dark in color and as soft as silk formed by the night.

A faint blush lingered on her cheeks, the warmth of his kiss from moments before, not yet completely gone.

Pei Yanchuan quietly lay back down beside her and gently pulled her head into the crook of his arm.

She instinctively leaned closer to him, letting out a very soft murmur.

"Ah Lin..."

"Mmm." He responded softly, his fingers gently brushing through her hair, from her forehead to behind her ear. "Your Highness, I'm here."

He closed his eyes, and amidst her steady breathing, he finally drifted into a long-awaited dream.

He was really exhausted.

Exhausted, both physically and mentally.

I thought he would be filled with anxiety tonight, plagued by nightmares, and tossing and turning in the dark.

With Tang Xixue by his side, he felt incredibly at ease.

It's hard to say who is truly comforting whom.

Meanwhile, at Baiyujing, at the Zhaixing Tower.

Inside a top-tier weapon-refining room, starlight flowed and brilliance shone.

Xie Jinlian and Yun Boyan stood side by side in the Star Radiance Array, while He Lichen sat on the array's core, his fingertips forming hand seals, drawing upon the faint starlight above the sky.

"My sister-in-law needs someone by her side, but none of us are here..."

Yun Boyan said in a low voice, his gaze falling on his elder brother who was using spiritual power to condense the soul lamp, a trace of worry appearing in his eyes.

They have been busy from last night until tonight, without sleep or a drop of water.

"Isn't there Tangxi Night?"

Xie Jinlian continued working, her voice calm, yet carrying a barely perceptible hint of bitterness.

"He's like a piece of chewing gum now, sticking to Zhizhi and refusing to let go."

Yun Boyan was slightly taken aback.

"Oh... Tang Xiye's luck can indeed protect her." He paused, his brows furrowing slightly. "But aren't they... a little too close?"

He was already furious last night after only seeing Tang Xiye holding her.

Thinking back on it now, even Wuqing's Dao Heart is somewhat unsettled.

"Ayan".

Xie Jinlian looked up at him, her gaze calm yet carrying the authority of an elder brother.

"Focus on cultivating your ruthless path and don't concern yourself too much with worldly affairs."

"When you smashed so many statues of the sun and moon last time, did you collect any of their Hearts? The life force contained within them is of great use to Zhizhi."

Yun Boyan's expression stiffened slightly.

No. I didn't notice.

He was as shrewd and decisive as he left back then, and he's just as conflicted now.

He didn't pick up a single one of the statues he had shattered, or the hearts of the sun and moon that had rolled to the ground.

Looking back now, it was such a waste.

Xie Jinlian gently shook her head and said nothing more.

The soul lamp in his hand was gradually taking shape, its body as clear as ice, with a faint silvery-white light flowing inside.

"Huai Xian, how is it? Is this enough starlight?"

He Lichen stood within the Star Radiance Array, his moon-white robe fluttering in the winds flowing through the array.

He looked up at the sky, his fingertips guiding the wisp of starlight, carefully merging it into the soul lamp, bit by bit.

"Not enough." His voice was cold, yet tinged with weariness. "It needs more of your natal starlight to guide this soul lamp to the location of Zhizhi's soul."

He paused, then looked up at the faintly twinkling star in the sky.

"Zhizhi's destiny is very stable now. With Xuan Yin protecting her, we don't need to worry."

Xie Jinlian nodded, and the furrowed brow faded slightly.

"Yes. Once we've refined the Soul Lamp, Zhizhi will be able to find souls more accurately, and we won't have to search for them like looking for a needle in a haystack anymore."

His body has not fully recovered.

After condensing the soul lamp for such a long time, every bit of spiritual power felt like it was being drawn out of his bones and blood.

His face gradually turned pale, and even his lips became a little lighter in color.