The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"I—I don't understand what you're saying...Where are there any green fruits?"

Tang Xixue shook her head.

"Um?"

Tang Xiye tilted his head slightly, his deep eyes locking onto hers, like a cheetah scrutinizing its prey, slow and deliberate, confident of victory.

"Zhizhi, why don't you try some... ripe fruit?"

"for example?"

Tang Xixue blinked, looked up, and asked with a smile.

That smile was bright and innocent, but there was a hidden cunning in its eyes.

"Ha. You know perfectly well what I'm asking."

Tang Xiye looked at her with a low laugh.

His Zhizhi is young and her mind is not yet settled, so it is understandable that she was bewitched by those shady vixens outside.

He could be tolerant, he could wait, and he could patiently clean those arrogant and ignorant fools out of her heart one by one.

As for those who dared to try and take it from him...

Oh.

They all deserve to die!

"If Zhizhi doesn't know."

Tang Xiye gently stroked the corner of her lips with his thumb, his eyes suddenly darkening, like the heavy clouds pressing down before a storm.

"Then your brother will teach you one thing at a time, until you master it."

"I really don't know."

If Tang Xixue could suppress the corners of her lips, her words would be more persuasive.

"What if I try something wrong if my brother doesn't explain it clearly?"

"Then I... I'll feed Zhizhi myself, that won't be wrong."

Tang Xiye's gaze swept over the neatly folded plain handkerchief on the low table, and then over the still warm copper basin.

He walked over, rolled up his sleeves, and washed his hands.

Her slender fingers dipped into the clear water, slowly wrung out the cloth, then she walked back to the bedside and bent down.

He wiped her lips clean, bit by bit, with utmost care.

The movements were incredibly gentle, as if brushing away the finest dust from a rare piece of porcelain.

"Brother Xuan Yin, what are you doing?"

The snow in Tangxi remains unresolved.

"There's something dirty on Zhizhi's lips, let me wipe it clean for you. Be good, don't move."

Tang Xiye's gaze, however, was frighteningly deep.

He Lichen kissed her not long ago.

He was hiding in the shadows, his knuckles clenched so tightly they turned white, almost driving himself mad.

But he held back.

He merely gave that damned madman a few cold stares, without making any rash moves.

He's not one of those impulsive, hot-headed kids.

Know what Zhizhi wants.

Now, it's his time.

"Weaving."

Tang Xiye tossed the handkerchief back into the copper basin, then gently lifted her chin with her slender fingers, forcing her to meet her gaze.

Each word was spoken with the solemnity of an imperial edict bearing the national seal.

"Your brother is yours now. You can't abandon him after starting something. Understand?"

"Where did I start something and then abandon it?"

Tangxi Xue was both amused and exasperated.

"Okay, then let's prove it to my brother."

The moment Tang Xiye finished speaking, he covered her lips with his.

It's not about just scratching the surface.

It is a declaration, an occupation, an attempt to cover up every trace left by others, inch by inch.

Ambergris and agarwood intertwined to form an impenetrable net, trapping her within with nowhere to escape.

"Well……"

Tang Xixue's fingers clenched tightly around the front of his shirt. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back to accept everything he gave her.

"Weaving."

He whispered her name between kisses, his voice hoarse, like a torrent bursting through a dam.

"Brother misses you so much... Can you feel it?"

He held her hand and gently pressed it against his heart.

There, the heart was pounding wildly at an alarming rate, each beat making the ribs tremble.

And... something even more scorching.

"Um."

Tang Xixue's face was already flushed, her eyes were misty, and her voice was so soft it could melt your heart.

"I...I felt it."

"Zhizhi is giving me a warm welcome."

Tang Xiye chuckled softly, her fingertips slowly moving up her back with an irresistible desire for control.

He leaned down, his hot breath falling on her neck, his voice so sweet it sent shivers down her spine.

"Zhizhi, do you like this?"

"No...Brother Xuan Yin...please don't..."

Tangxi Xue breathed lightly.

"not enough?"

Tang Xiye raised an eyebrow slightly.

The suppressed longing in his eyes and a hint of resentment at being neglected intertwined to form a deep, unfathomable darkness.

His fingertips caressed her chin, prompting her to look up and meet his gaze.

"Zhizhi, look me in the eyes and say it again... Is it not enough, or do you not want it?"

She was so burned by the intense fire in his eyes that she couldn't speak.

"Oh."

Tangxi lowered her head at night.

"I'll give it all to you. My whole being, my whole heart... I'll give it all to you."

The night air permeated the crabapple blossoms.

As dusk crept up from the horizon, it spread like thick, unyielding ink, splashing into the valley and dyeing the peach blossoms in a hazy night.

The wind blew in from the mouth of the valley.

The tree petals trembled and rustled, like a thousand butterflies fluttering their wings at the same time, as if someone had lit a silent flame on the branch.

One petal was rolled up onto the window frame and got stuck in the latticework.

They can't get in, and they can't get down.

The wind pushed it back and forth, and the thin petals brushed against the wood grain, making a soft sound.

The night was deeper.

Dewdrops slid down from the eaves, dripping and pattering onto the bluestone steps in front of them.

The peach petal was finally soaked in moisture and became translucent, so soft that it could no longer maintain its original shape.

Like a butterfly that has flown for too long and finally fallen.

I stumbled into the warm, fragrant atmosphere inside the window.

The stream outside rose and fell, the front waves pushing the back waves, endlessly rushing forward.

Water seeped into the crevices of the rocks, licking the pebbles covered with a thin layer of moss again and again.

The moon slowly rose from behind the eastern mountain ridge, shattering the silvery glow of the peaks and casting a patch of shimmering light through the carved windowpane.

It crushed spring into juice and fed it to this insatiable earth.

When He Lichen stepped out of the room after changing into her robes, the faint scent of cold plum blossoms from her bath still lingered on her sleeves.

He held a sandalwood gift box in his arms, the box carved with lotus scroll patterns.

He walked along the stone path toward Tangxi Xue's residence, his pace quickening slightly. His moon-white crane cloak billowed in the night wind, its sleeves fluttering like flowing clouds.

Then he was stopped.

Yue Zhongtian, the commander of the Yuelan Guard, stood outside the bamboo gate, his figure as straight as a spear, his handsome face taut and expressionless.

"His Majesty is busy, Grand Preceptor, please return."

He Lichen paused, his gaze sweeping over indifferently.

"Busy? What are you busy with, Zhizhi? Can't you see me?"

He remained unfazed even as the moon shone brightly in the sky.

"His Majesty is indeed unable to see you."

"You made a decision for her without even informing her?"

He Lichen's voice carried the dignified authority of someone who had long held a high position; it was neither angry nor argumentative, yet it made people instinctively want to bow their heads.

Yue Zhongtian stood there, forcing himself to stay put, cursing his two brothers in his mind.

They were truly loyal to him, handing over the good job of guarding the gate for Her Majesty the Empress so readily.

It has to be said, their brotherhood is truly deep!