In the study, a servant removed the last teacup and gently closed the heavy sandalwood door.
The footsteps gradually faded, and the Crown Prince's Residence sank once more into profound silence.
Xue Qinghe sat upright behind the desk, maintaining his usual warm and composed bearing without moving. Only after the servant's footsteps had completely vanished at the end of the corridor did he slowly raise a hand.
His fingertips lightly touched the space between his brows.
The next moment, a faint golden membrane, almost impossible to see, silently peeled away from that handsome face.
It was an extraordinarily sophisticated illusion, clinging to his skin year after year. It had deceived countless pairs of eyes, even concealing his breathing and presence.
As the membrane vanished, the delicate features of the young crown prince were replaced by a face of utterly different, breathtaking beauty.
Skin like smooth jade, brows like distant mountains.
Her beauty was the kind that took one's breath away, a sight that should exist only in the heavens.
Her long golden hair cascaded like a waterfall. The astonishing aura she had deliberately suppressed now emerged without restraint, illuminating the entire study as if a sacred image enshrined in an ancient temple had descended into the mortal world.
Qian Renxue.
The greatest secret of the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family, and one of Spirit Hall's most mysterious figures.
Her slender fingers rested on the brocade box wrapped in emerald-green silk, and the corners of her lips slowly curved into a dazzling smile.
It was not the gentle smile Xue Qinghe usually wore before his subordinates, but a smile of her own, tinged with laziness and delight.
She quietly toyed with the brocade box, an unreadable light flowing through her phoenix eyes.
"So many years... I didn't dote on him for