The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

"The white jade statue in the center is the first generation of the Medicine God - Liu Yun."

Jiu Fangzhi lowered his voice, afraid of disturbing the ancient city's residents who were living quietly in the square.

He leaned down slightly, his lips almost touching Tang Xixue's ear, his breath warm and restrained.

"As dawn breaks and all things shine, she is the former head of the medical world, and her name is still engraved on the Nine Provinces' Thousand Autumns Ranking."

"She's the first Medicine Goddess?"

Tang Xixue looked up at the square.

The white jade statue stood silently in the shimmering water.

The woman, clad in a long robe, held a blooming white jade flower in her hands. Her face was ethereal and otherworldly, and her eyes conveyed divine majesty and compassion.

She had long, icy, starry hair, and her clothes were woven from extreme cold mist and flowing laws. Behind her, a magnificent and intricate back ornament unfolded.

Star trails crisscross, interspersed with solidified starlight, extending outwards in layers.

Ice blue, moon white, and dark silver blended together, and countless luminous particles slowly swirled around her.

She looked down at the world below, as if she were looking down upon all living beings.

"So, the Flowing Cloud Medicine Goddess is a woman."

Tang Xixue spoke softly, a hint of discontent in her voice.

Jiu Fangzhi turned his head to look at her without saying anything, just waiting quietly.

He knew she still had something to say.

"Millions of years have passed, and people only remember that the first Goddess of Medicine saved the world from calamity, but no one mentions that she was a woman."

Her gaze lingered on the face of the white jade statue, and the light in its starry eyes gradually sharpened.

"Her name is engraved on the list of historical figures, but those who praise her achievements have intentionally or unintentionally erased her gender."

"It's not that I forgot."

Jiu Fangzhi's voice was low and calm.

"There are people who don't want to remember."

Tang Xixue turned her head and met his deep eyes behind the mask.

"Senior brother is right."

She gave a slight twitch of her lips, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"It's not that there are no precedents, it's not that there are no role models. It's that some people don't want those who come after to know that women can also stand so high."

Jiu Fangzhi did not look away.

He looked into her eyes as if he were looking into a burning star.

"Junior Sister saw it, and she won't let this lie continue."

Tang Xixue was slightly taken aback, then smiled.

This time, the smile was genuine.

"In the eyes of the world, women do not need to be talented."

Her voice was clear and distinct, carrying an undeniable power.

"Just be gentle and virtuous, follow the rules, be a good wife and mother, and be a vase placed in the house."

"Business, politics, medicine, law, writing books, establishing schools of thought—these are not things women should do," they say.

"But they forgot."

Jiu Fangzhi calmly took over the conversation, his tone as if stating an undeniable fact.

"The Flowing Cloud Medicine Goddess is a woman. The number one person on the Thousand Autumns Ranking is also a woman."

"Even so, no matter how gentle, yielding, or law-abiding those women are, there will still be people pointing fingers and gossiping."

Tang Xixue's voice rose slightly, carrying a power that had been suppressed for too long and was finally bursting forth.

"They're criticized for not being obedient enough, for not being well-behaved enough. It's as if their talent isn't an honor, but a sin. Their very existence is an offense."

"That's because they're afraid."

Jiu Fangzhi's voice was still very soft, but it was like a knife, precisely dissecting the core of the problem.

"They fear that once women are educated, they will no longer blindly obey; they fear that once women gain power, they will no longer be obedient; they fear that if women stand too high, they will no longer be able to reach them."

He paused, his eyes behind the mask gazing intently at her.

"So they built an invisible cage, using the Three Obediences and Four Virtues as fences and the saying 'a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent' as chains. They wanted all the women in the world to be safely confined inside."

"But the door to the cage always opens outwards."

Tang Xixue's eyes shone brightly at that moment, colliding with Jiu Fangzhi's gaze.

"As long as one woman goes out, all the women in the world will see that the door can be pushed open."

She withdrew her gaze and turned to look at the white jade statue in the center of the square.

The Flowing Cloud Medicine God held the Ganoderma lucidum in his hands, looking down at her as if he had been waiting for these words for millions of years.

"Should women be allowed to be manipulated? To hand over their lives in exchange for a mere label of 'virtuous and kind'?"

She did not wait for Jiu Fangzhi's reply.

She doesn't need to wait.

"No. We women are entitled to wealth, power, and profit. Why can't women have everything that men can control?"

A light burned in her eyes.

Bright and intense.

"We are all born as human beings, possessing the same talents and ambitions. Why is it that men always sit on high places while we kneel at the bottom?"

Jiu Fangzhi looked at her, his voice calm and deep.

"But people always say it's the will of Heaven."

Tang Xixue raised her hand and pointed her fingertips at the white jade statue in the center of the square.

"Is this the will of Heaven? If Heaven decrees that women should be submissive and subservient to others—"

She withdrew her hand, placing it behind her back, her long robe fluttering in the wind.

"Then let's overturn this sky. From this day forward, I will sit on the clouds."

Jiu Fangzhi looked at her, his eyes flashing behind the silver mask.

Like a wall that has stood for too long, it was gently pushed by something, and the first brick fell down with a rustling sound.

He had seen far too many women.

Meek, timid, patient, disciplined to the point that they dare not even speak loudly.

But his junior sister, standing in front of the statue of the Flowing Cloud Medicine God, said she was going to overturn the heavens.

The world has no need for more people who follow the rules.

What's needed are people who dare to kick open the cage door.

He lowered his eyes, his voice as firm as a vow.

"If Heaven tries to stop you, I will ferry you across."

"Junior Sister, no matter when or where, your senior brother will always stand by your side."

He gazed at her, his eyes filled with pity and tenderness, like the deep, calm, and unfathomable Milky Way.

"Of course I believe my senior brother."

Tang Xixue curved her lips into a smile. Her peach blossom eyes, with their naturally upturned corners, seemed to forever hold a hint of spring night's intoxication, yet were as clear and bright as the moon reflected in a cold pool.

You can see the light, but you can't touch the bottom.

She lowered her eyes, her eyelashes casting a small shadow.

There's a sentence in my heart that resonates deeply.

"I can trust people, but I can't rely on people alone. I can have a way out, but I can't only have a way out."

Relying on the trust of others is like a bridge built in the clouds. If one day the bridge breaks, she cannot allow herself to fall into the abyss.

"The most reliable support in this world is never anyone's favoritism."

It's myself.

Therefore, she must always maintain the ability to turn the tide against all odds.

Only by maintaining a degree of clarity and keeping some trump cards up our sleeves can we stand firm, go far, and climb higher when storms come.

Go and compete with the men of this world for control of the land and rivers, and see who will prevail!

She raised her peach blossom eyes, and beneath that three-tenths smile lay seven-tenths of resolute determination to forge a path through mountains.

"From now on, the annals of Kyushu should include more women's names."

"The first one will start with me."