True Appearance Under the Moon

Three days later, Heaven Dou City, Crown Prince's Mansion.

Night fell, and lanterns throughout the estate flickered to life one after another. When Yi Chen stepped into the Crown Prince's Mansion for the second time, the guards at the gate already recognized him. There was no announcement, no obstruction; they simply bowed in salute and pushed open the heavy doors.

He traversed the bluestone path and arrived before the study. The door stood open, but the space behind the desk was empty.

A servant hurried over from the corridor, lowered his head respectfully, and said, "Elder, His Highness has set up a tea service in the back garden. Please, follow me."

Yi Chen followed the servant through two moon gates and into the back garden of the Crown Prince's Mansion.

The garden was not large, but it was laid out with exquisite care. A shallow pond sat in the center, flanked by clusters of bamboo whose shadows swayed within the glow of the lanterns.

In the middle of the pond stood a small pavilion containing a low table, upon which sat two cups of tea and a plate of refreshments.

Xue Qinghe sat in the pavilion. Tonight, he had changed into casual, blue-gray robes, his hair tied back simply. He lacked the solemnity of the Crown Prince he projected during the day, possessing instead the refined elegance of a noble scion.

Seeing Yi Chen approach, he rose and gave a slight nod, a gesture of welcome.

Yi Chen entered the pavilion and sat opposite him. Without rushing to speak, he first picked up the tea cup, inhaled its aroma, and took a sip.

"Good tea." He set the cup down, offering a brief assessment.

"The first harvest of the year from the West Mountain Tea Garden in Heaven Dou City. The yield is small; even I only received less than a pound," Xue Qinghe's tone remained gentle and polite. "If you enjoy it, Elder, you may take some with you when you leave."

Yi Chen did not take the bait. He set his cup aside, fixed his gaze on Xue Qinghe's face, and went straight to the point: "Your Highness, you did not invite me here tonight just to drink tea."

Xue Qinghe did not answer immediately. He picked up his own cup, lowered his head to gaze at the leaves floating in the tea, and remained silent for several breaths. Then, he spoke, his voice lower and deeper than before: "I have thought long and hard about what you said when you left three days ago."

Yi Chen did not interrupt, waiting for him to continue.

"I do not know how you discovered this, Elder, nor do I intend to ask." Xue Qinghe set down his cup, looked up, and met Yi Chen's gaze with a calm expression. "But I want to know, now that you know this secret, what do you intend to do?"

Yi Chen leaned against the pavilion pillar, hands crossed over his stomach. His posture was relaxed, his tone as casual as if he were discussing what to have for dinner: "I don't intend to do anything."

Xue Qinghe's gaze flickered slightly.

"Whether you are a man or a woman, whether you are Xue Qinghe or someone else, it makes no fundamental difference to me." Yi Chen's tone remained indifferent.

"What I value is your ability and your position. The identity of the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire is a key node in the expansion map of the Golden Spatula. As for who lies behind this identity, that is your own business. I have no interest in interfering, nor do I have any interest in exposing you."

He paused, then added, "However, I do have one small request."

"Please, speak, Elder."

"Next time we meet, could you use your true appearance?"

Yi Chen's tone remained light, but his gaze held a trace of seriousness.

"I am not accustomed to discussing partnerships with someone wearing a mask. A mask may be for outsiders, but with a partner, I wish to see the real side."

The pavilion fell silent for a moment. A koi in the pond occasionally leaped from the water, creating a soft splash before returning to stillness.

Xue Qinghe lowered her eyes, remaining silent for a long time. When she finally looked up again, her expression had changed. It was no longer the hostile scrutiny of someone forced to reveal a secret, but a look of renewed assessment, filled with both observation and curiosity.

Then, she performed an action.

She raised her right hand, pressed her index and middle fingers together, and tapped lightly between her brows.

A soft golden light ignited at her forehead, flowing slowly along the contours of her face. The disguise, conjured by the Angel Soul Bone, began to recede from the edges of her face like thin ice melting under the sun.

This was no silicone mask, but a true art of soul bone transformation.

The power of the Angel Soul Bone had circulated within her for over a decade, constructing a near-perfect male exterior—from the shape of her Adam's apple to the frequency of her voice, from the proportions of her frame to the texture of her skin, everything was deceptive to the point of reality.

And now, this disguise, maintained for over twenty years, was fading away layer by layer under her own will.

The disguise at her throat dissipated first, revealing the slender lines of her neck.

Then came the changes to her facial contours; the jawline shifted from square to soft, the height of her cheekbones adjusted slightly, and the arc of her brows transformed from bold to delicate.

Finally, there were her eyes. The originally mild black pupils, under the reflection of the golden light, gradually revealed an amber luster.

The moment the disguise completely faded, the entire pavilion seemed to brighten by a degree.

Yi Chen's hand, holding his tea cup, froze in mid-air.

He had seen countless beauties in his past life, but Qian Renxue's beauty still caused him to lose his focus in this instant.

It was a beauty that transcended the boundaries of gender—not a fragile, delicate charm, nor a sharp, cold allure, but a divine, almost unreal beauty.

Her golden eyes shimmered with an amber luster under the moonlight, as if they could see through a person's heart, yet also held a thousand unspoken words.

Her features were as exquisite as the most painstaking work of a deity; every line was just right—a fraction more would be excessive, a fraction less would be lacking.

What made it impossible to look away was the innate pride and sharpness between her brows. It was the temperament belonging to an heir of the Angel God, a nobility and resilience carved into her very bones that no disguise could ever conceal.

Yi Chen looked at her face, memories of his past life surfacing in his mind.

He remembered her life: sent to the Heaven Dou Empire in childhood to pose as the Crown Prince, spending her entire childhood and adolescence amidst lies and danger.

She had never enjoyed a single day of true familial affection. Her mother, Bibi Dong, hated her; her father, Qian Xunji, had long since passed away. The only person she could rely on was herself.

She had used the Angel Soul Bone to disguise herself as Xue Qinghe, maneuvering through the imperial court of Heaven Dou for over twenty years, calculating every step, walking on thin ice.

Everything she did was not for power, nor for revenge, but simply to prove that her existence had value.

He had liked her very much in his past life.

Not just because of her peerless beauty, but because of the pride and resilience she maintained even in the face of despair.

(ps: There are many who like Qian Renxue, but regardless, she is my absolute favorite.)

She had never bowed her head to fate. Even if the entire world stood against her, she still walked the path she had chosen with her spine held straight. This strength of character moved him even more than her beauty.

It took him about two breaths to regain his composure. He set the teacup steadily back onto the table and spoke, his voice lower than usual: "As expected, this appearance suits you better."

Qian Renxue tilted her head slightly, her golden eyes filled with a hint of scrutiny and curiosity: "The Elder's reaction is much calmer than I imagined."

"It is not calm." Yi Chen picked up his teacup and took another sip, using the motion to mask his momentary lapse in composure. "It is that I had anticipated it, yet seeing it with my own eyes is still... more beautiful than I had expected."

Qian Renxue's eyebrows arched slightly. She clearly had not expected Yi Chen to compliment her beauty so directly. In her expectations, he might have been shocked, vigilant, or perhaps begun to re-evaluate her value and threat level, but she had not expected his first reaction to be a compliment.

"...The Elder's focus is quite unexpected to this Highness." Her tone carried a subtle trace of amusement.

"I am merely speaking the truth." Yi Chen set down his teacup and looked at her with a steady gaze. "Your Highness—or perhaps I should address you as Miss Qian Renxue—the fact that you are sitting here in your true form to discuss a partnership with me demonstrates your sincerity. I will not fail to live up to that sincerity."

Qian Renxue's gaze lingered on his face for a few seconds, and then she smiled.

It was a smile entirely different from that of Xue Qinghe; it was colder, sharper, but also more genuine.

"The Elder is indeed an interesting person." She raised her teacup, gesturing toward Yi Chen. "Then, I wish us a pleasant cooperation."

Yi Chen also raised his teacup and clinked it lightly against hers: "A pleasant cooperation."

The two took a sip of tea and set their cups down. Yi Chen stood up and smoothed his robes: "It is getting late, so I shall not disturb your rest. Regarding the Golden Spatula affairs within the Heaven Dou borders, someone will deliver the first batch of files to the Crown Prince's Mansion tomorrow. You may look them over when you have the time."

He turned and walked out of the pavilion, following the stone path he had arrived on toward the exit of the mansion. After a few steps, he stopped and, without looking back, added: "Oh, and about that tea."

Qian Renxue looked down at the teacup in front of her.

"Next time I come, I will prepare some tea that better suits your tastes." A hint of a smile laced Yi Chen's voice. "What a young lady likes should be quite different from what a Crown Prince prefers."

With that, he continued walking forward, disappearing into the interplay of moonlight and lantern light.

Qian Renxue sat in the pavilion, watching the direction in which Yi Chen had vanished. She looked down at her teacup again, then picked it up and took another sip.

West Mountain First Harvest—it was indeed good tea.

But she also found herself wondering, what kind of tea would be "better suited to her tastes" as he had described?

She set the teacup down, her fingertips gently tracing the rim, a curve forming at the corners of her mouth that she herself had not even noticed.

This Yi Chen was far more interesting than she had imagined.