The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"Your Excellency, please come in."

"Our prince is in the courtyard."

The moment He Lichen stepped into Zhiyun Xiaozhu, he was enveloped by the fragrance of peach blossoms and the warm light of the courtyard.

He was dressed in a moon-white crane cloak, his sleeves still damp with the morning dew and pine breeze of the mountain path, but his eyes were red on his ethereal face.

It's as if the plum blossoms in the depths of winter are covered by frost and snow, yet they still stand tall, unable to hide the melting snow water on their petals.

"Yes, I saw her."

His gaze swept past everyone else and landed directly on Tang Xixue. His voice was hoarse and restrained, as if he had suppressed all his anxiety and helplessness into those two words.

"Weaving."

"I am coming."

"Brother Huaixian!"

Tang Xixue turned around upon hearing the sound, her lips already curving into a smile, but she paused slightly when she saw his reddened eyes.

She got up and walked towards him, her skirt brushing against the bluestone ground, her voice carrying a hint of worried inquiry.

"What's wrong? Have you run into some trouble?"

As soon as she finished speaking, two pairs of eyes, sharp as knives and swords, swept towards He Lichen at the door.

Xie Jinlian paused slightly in the teacup, her gaze turning cold and icy as she looked up. Her face remained expressionless, yet the surface of the teacup rippled gently.

Yun Boyan cursed inwardly:

"He Huaixian arrived really quickly! That persistent pretty boy!"

He and his brother had finally managed to sit down with his sister-in-law for a sweet and intimate moment, but before they had even eaten a few bites of their food, this person arrived.

He Lichen ignored the two gazes; at that moment, he had only one thing on his mind.

"Zhizhi..."

His voice choked, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly, as if he were swallowing his pride and reserve before speaking with difficulty.

"Could you... save my senior brother?"

Tang Xixue's gaze fell on his tightly clenched sleeve, where his hand was trembling slightly.

Without the slightest hesitation, she asked softly, "Is it that Daoist Ling? Has he arrived yet? Bring him in."

Her beloved brother Huai Xian had sacrificed so much for her, and now that he was asking her for a favor, how could she possibly refuse?

She turned and glanced outside, then looked back towards the direction of the medicine hut, and after a moment's thought, said:

"Let's place them in the medicine-refining room next to the medicine hut. There are already patients in the medicine hut today, so it's not convenient to add anyone else."

Her Cloud-Weaving Cottage has now truly become a place to shelter patients from all directions.

Not to mention her sickly but beautiful master, whose face was still pale, rushed from Baiyujing to stay by her side.

Her beloved brother Huai Xian was also still recovering from his illness, standing in front of her with red eyes.

Everyone around her needs her to mend and repair things.

Whose empress's harem is in such a dilapidated state?

One by one, they were either injured or ill, or they were either poisoned or cursed.

Lying in the medicine hut is the war god Qi Wang, his body shattered into pieces.

Now, Ling Zixian, the unconscious master of the inner palace of the Si Ming Palace, was also carefully carried in.

There are too many to save, absolutely too many to save!

Tang Xixue walked to the door and immediately saw the boy standing next to the carriage.

"Not clear!"

She called out, her voice tinged with surprise and heartache.

Saint Feiming stood under the shade of a peach tree, his snow-white Buddhist robes fluttering in the mountain breeze, and the Bodhi prayer beads on his wrist hanging quietly.

He had become even thinner than when we last met, and the lines of his jaw were more defined, making his clear eyes appear even larger and deeper, like a still night lake filled with them.

"Please come in quickly."

Tang Xixue waved to him, her tone revealing a mixture of regret and joy.

"You've come at the right time. I wanted to look for you when I was in Baiyujing last time, but unfortunately you had already left."

She also remembered that Xie Jinlian had told her about Sheng Feiming.

That day in Baiyujing, she originally intended to go find him, to ask him about his recent situation in person, and to take his pulse.

But when she woke up the next day, Sheng Feiming had already quietly left, and no one knew where he had gone to travel.

I never expected to meet you again in the Valley of Divine Medicines today. This must be fate.

When Sheng Feiming heard Tang Xixue call his name, his lips moved instinctively, and the words "Sister Zhi" were already on his lips.

But there was no sound.

Those lips parted slightly.

He pursed his lips in a panic, swallowing back the silent call.

Then, she raised her head and gave Tang Xixue a faint, clean smile.

Those eyes seemed to say, "Sister Zhi, I'm fine."

Tang Xixue's gaze froze.

She is a healer, with an instinctive sensitivity to people's breath and subtle changes.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, deliberately adding a hint of reproach to her tone, and tentatively began to speak:

"Feiming, why aren't you even calling me 'sister' anymore? Do you have a problem with me?"

Upon hearing this, Sheng Feiming immediately shook his head frantically, his bald little head shaking like a rattle drum, his brows and eyes full of anxiety, afraid that if he hesitated even for a second, Sister Zhi would think that he didn't like her anymore.

His lips moved, silently and urgently trying to explain something, but he couldn't utter a single word.

"Then call me 'sister,' and I'll believe you."

Tang Xixue pressed on relentlessly, but her tone was extremely gentle, as if she were coaxing a child who refused to speak.

Saint Feiming was stunned, his eyes welling up with tears, looking utterly pitiful.

He stood there, nervously clutching his Bodhi prayer beads.

"Our holy monk is unable to speak, please do not make things difficult for him, benefactor."

The martial monk Liaofan finally couldn't help but step forward, put his hands together in prayer, and shielded his holy monk from this question that he could not answer.

When Sheng Feiming heard that Fan had so bluntly revealed the secret he had kept hidden all the way, he immediately became anxious.

He turned his head and glanced at Fan, his eyes clearly saying, "Stop talking."

But he couldn't even utter a word of "shut up," and could only watch helplessly as Tang Xixue's expression changed little by little.

"Feiming, this is speechlessness..."

Tangxi Snow murmured softly.

My heart suddenly ached.

She still remembered the young holy monk's clear and melodious voice.

The voice was like jade imbued with Buddhist scriptures, tranquil and peaceful, carrying a power to cleanse the mind of worldly cares; just listening to it made one feel refreshed and relaxed.

But now, that voice has been taken away.

He couldn't even bring himself to call her "Sister Zhi" anymore.

She watched his thin, frail body standing in the wind, his wide Buddhist robes hanging on his slender frame, as if a stronger gust of wind could blow him away.

A misty haze unconsciously settled in Tang Xixue's eyes, her long, curled eyelashes trembled slightly, and her gaze was as hazy as mist and rain as she quietly looked at Sheng Feiming with heartache.

The young monk lowered his head slowly as she looked at him, staring at the grass blades swaying in the wind at his feet for a moment, then raised his head again and opened his mouth.

His lips moved silently, clearly conveying the message: "Sister Zhi, I'm alright."

Tang Xixue understood his lip movements, and in that instant, her heart felt like it had been crushed and then squeezed again.

Sheng Feiming is so sensible.

He himself was in tatters and rags, yet he still wanted to comfort her.

He was afraid she would be sad because of him, so he tried his best to put on that pitiful smile.

"Sister Zhi, look, I'm really nothing serious."

He said this silently to himself.

"Is it not the light of day, but perhaps the five signs of decay in the celestial beings?"

Tangxi Xue asked.

"Yes, our holy monk also doesn't know why he has suffered this calamity of the five signs of decay in heaven and man."

Liao Fan glanced at Tang Xixue's expression, then at the Imperial Preceptor standing not far behind her, and a glimmer of hope ignited in his heart.

This female benefactor seems to be from the Divine Medicine Valley. Even the Grand Preceptor personally came to ask her to save people, so her medical skills must be extremely high.

He gritted his teeth and blurted it all out.

"He lost his sense of smell earlier and is now unable to speak... A few days ago, in order to save people from the Heavenly Apostles, he was poisoned by a Gu poison and is suffering from it every day."

He spoke faster and faster, his voice becoming increasingly urgent.

He didn't notice that Saint-Fémin was constantly giving him meaningful glances.

"The old monk doctor at our mountain temple said that if this curse isn't cured, the patient will die of heart failure on the eighth day. Today is already the fifth day."

As Liao Fan spoke, he knelt down on the ground with a thud, his knees hitting the gravel with a heavy thud.

"Please, please save him. Or, could you show us a way and introduce us to a Gu master who can cure this curse?"

"Our holy monk is only seventeen years old. Since he can remember, he has been saving all sentient beings, doing good deeds and keeping the precepts. He has never done a single evil thing. He is an extremely good person... Please, show him a way to live."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and fiercely wiped away his tears with his rough cloth sleeve.

This tough martial arts master cried like a child the moment he knelt down.