The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"Zheyue, sit down and have some tea with me."

Tang Xixue opened the food box, took out a plate of snow-white cloud cakes, and placed them on the porcelain plates in front of the two people.

"You should try my eldest sister's and third brother's cooking."

Si Xingxuan sat down beside her, picked up a piece of cloud cake and put it in his mouth.

The cake is soft and fluffy, sweet but not cloying, with a subtle osmanthus fragrance.

He raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with surprise.

"Uncle Liu and Third Uncle? Those two can also make cloud cakes?"

He chewed it slowly, as if he were savoring some extremely rare food.

"Tsk, I never would have guessed. They're all usually so difficult to get along with, but they act like they've seen a thief when they see me."

"It's just that I picked a few medicinal herbs from them. It's not like they're anything valuable. Why did they chase me, the valley master, down the whole street?"

He spoke of it casually, even with a hint of grievance.

"Luckily, I sprinkled some poison, and they all fell down."

Tang Xixue was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this. She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and suppressed the smile on her lips.

"It seems you two get along quite well."

She instantly understood why her senior brothers and sisters gritted their teeth when they mentioned Si Xingxuan.

Stealing medicinal herbs, scattering poison, chasing after the valley master—the daily life in Divine Medicine Valley is truly spectacular.

"good."

Si Xingxuan picked up another piece of cloud cake, her tone filled with a sense of entitlement.

"I earned this position as the Valley Master because they couldn't do anything to me; I earned it through my own strength."

As he said this, he reached out to take the teacup that Yun Boyan handed him.

With a slight twitch of his sleeve, a wisp of colorless and odorless poison powder drifted silently toward the cup in front of Yun Boyan.

At the same time, the sword light that Yun Boyan gathered at his fingertips, like an invisible frost blade, flashed past his hair, but he dodged it precisely by slightly tilting his head.

In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged a move.

On the surface, however, both host and guests appeared to be enjoying themselves.

"This is truly excellent tea."

Si Xingxuan smiled and raised his glass to Yun Boyan, his eyes flashing with a sharp, needle-like glint.

Amidst the thin clouds, a silver butterfly fluttered out, circled the teacup once, and absorbed all the invisible poison powder into its thin wings before landing back in his hair, as quiet as an exquisite silver ornament.

Yun Boyan remained unfazed, picked up his teacup, and took a small sip.

"Ah, indeed... the aroma of tea is wonderful!"

If the Lord of Clouds were so easy to kill, he wouldn't be able to hold onto his position as the Supreme Ruler of the Dark Realm.

"So it was Yun Jun who served the tea. No wonder it has such a strong flavor."

Si Xingxuan may appear delicate and fragile, but she is actually unfathomable.

He is the richest man in the Nine Provinces, and many people want to take him down, but none have succeeded so far.

Those who thought he was easy to bully, their graves are now overgrown with weeds.

"Zheyue."

Tang Xixue spoke up at the right moment, breaking the silent confrontation between the two.

Could it be that these two are incompatible according to their birth charts?

They start fighting the moment they meet? Do they think she's blind?

"I heard you've developed an antidote for the Crimson Dust Gu?"

Si Xingxuan withdrew his gaze and turned to her, his eyes showing only the gentleness he had when facing her.

He nodded, his tone indifferent.

"Fight poison with poison, and kill them. The method is fast-acting, but it's somewhat harmful to the body. This method is not suitable for the elderly, the weak, the sick, or the young, but it can be used in emergencies."

His mastery of poisons had long been unparalleled.

What others cannot crack even after a lifetime of effort, he can do with just a few medicinal herbs and a few cooking times.

But when he spoke of these things now, there was no hint of boasting in his eyes; he was simply stating the facts.

His lips curled slightly upward, and his eyes were full of enthusiasm for making money!

"This batch of antidote has sold out like hotcakes at our Seven Generations Pavilion."

"As long as you can live, suffering a little is nothing."

He said this calmly.

But Tang Xixue could hear the bitterness in his voice.

Before Si Xingxuan was even born, he was poisoned in his mother's womb.

He survived, but I don't know how much suffering he endured.

Others only saw that he was a master of poisons and immune to all poisons.

Little did they know that his constitution was forged little by little between life and death using countless poisons and bitter medicines; even he himself couldn't remember the exact number.

"Zheyue."

Tang Xixue called to him, her voice exceptionally gentle.

"Only by living can you taste sweetness."

She opened the box of star sugar that she carried with her.

It was a small glass box filled with crystal-clear star-shaped sugar granules.

Each one is coated with a thin layer of icing sugar, shimmering with tiny sparkles in the sunlight.

She picked one up and gently placed it on the porcelain plate in front of him.

"Having tasted a thousand kinds of bitterness in half a lifetime, I finally encountered a touch of sweetness in the Milky Way."

Si Xingxuan lowered her eyes and looked at the candy.

It lay quietly in the white porcelain dish, like a solidified starlight.

He reached out, carefully picked it up, and placed it into the jade bottle he carried with him.

For a moment, I was even reluctant to eat it.

"Weaving."

Yun Boyan's voice came from the other side, carrying a hint of resentment.

"What about mine?"

Tang Xixue looked up and met his silver-gray eyes.

His gaze remained aloof and indifferent, yet a hint of grievance was clearly hidden in his eyes.

Like a proud phoenix, watching its master pet other foxes, it refused to come closer, yet it also refused to leave, sitting there upright, silently accusing with its eyes.

She couldn't help but smile.

I never expected that even a highbrow beauty would want to eat candy.

"Our Ayan also has it."

She smiled, picked up a piece of candy, and handed it over.

He didn't reach out to take it, but instead slightly opened his mouth and stared straight at her with his beautiful eyes.

Tang Xixue was stunned for a moment.

Is he... asking her to feed him?

She hesitated for a moment, then finally raised her hand and gently placed the candy between his lips.

My fingertips inevitably touched his lips, warm and soft, like a peach petal warmed by the sun.

His tongue lightly brushed across her fingertips, carrying a slightly damp warmth, a fleeting touch that vanished as quickly as a dragonfly skimming the water.

She abruptly pulled her hand back, but the tingling sensation still lingered on her fingertips.

"It's very sweet."

Yun Boyan held the candy in his mouth and slightly curved the corners of his lips.

That smile was like a faint crescent moon in the sky, yet it made Si Xingxuan's fingers, which were gripping the teacup, tighten suddenly.

"I'm so sorry, it was a slip of the tongue."

Yun Boyan seemed oblivious to the piercing gaze directed at him, which seemed intent on crushing him to dust. He took out a plain white handkerchief from his sleeve, soaked it in water, and wrung it out.

Then he reached out and naturally took Tang Xixue's hand.

She instinctively tried to pull away, but he gently held her hand, with just the right amount of force to prevent her from pulling away.

"Be good, don't move."

He lowered his head and carefully wiped her fingertips with the damp cloth.

From the fingertip to the base of the finger, and from the base of the finger to the spaces between the fingers.

"It's dirty and needs to be cleaned properly."

Every inch was polished with utmost care, as if polishing a rare treasure.

Tang Xixue looked at his serious expression, but felt that he was particularly unserious.

It's dirty!

Whoever made it dirty, that's none of my business!

Is this really the pure and ascetic Holy Son of Yuefan?

Why does wiping your hands make you so sexually aroused?

Something's not right!

"Hmm, Zhizhi is very good. I'll reward you tonight."

Yun Boyan's fingertips brushed against her fingers through the damp handkerchief; the touch was cool, yet it burned her heart.

He wiped so slowly and with such focus, as if he wanted to hold her hand forever.

Si Xingxuan sat opposite, watching this scene unfold, inwardly cursing:

"You pervert! Let go of Zhizhi's hand!"

Yun Boyan held Tang Xixue's hand, his posture as intimate as if he were treating his wife.

Tang Xixue lowered her eyelashes, her ear tips flushed slightly, but she did not break free.

The scene was so harmonious, it was almost blindingly so.

He suddenly realized that what he was drinking wasn't tea at all, but rather aged vinegar!