Chapter 29: The Woman in the Reflection
Lin Xueyi blinked several times before hurriedly shaking her head. "No! Nothing at all!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she lowered her head because she was too embarrassed to look at him any longer.
[Why is it so hard to stop staring at him?] she complained inwardly. Even so, she genuinely tried her best not to keep looking at him for too long.
"Your hair is a little messy," Rong Shuyan suddenly said.
Without thinking, he slowly raised his hand, intending to straighten the loose strand of hair by her face. But the moment Lin Xueyi looked up, he silently withdrew his hand as though nothing had happened.
Fortunately, Lin Xueyi didn’t notice becuse her mind was completely occupied with how careless she had been to neglect her appearance.
[If I show up at the palace looking like this, I’ll only embarrass myself and Yanyan.]
[He worked so hard to prepare a gift for the Emperor. Therefore, I can’t ruin everything over something this small.]
She quickly turned toward the carriage window and used the faint reflection in the glass to check her appearance. Luckily, she hadn’t drooled in her sleep. Otherwise, all the makeup her maids had carefully put on would have been ruined.
Letting out a soft sigh of relief, she gently smoothed her hair before taking a small container of lip powder from the pouch at her waist. She lightly dabbed a little onto her lips, making sure she looked presentable.
At that moment, she finally took a proper look at her appearance after being dressed by the maids.
Her long black hair had been gathered into an elegant updo, with the upper half pinned neatly while the rest flowed down her back like smooth silk.
A delicate gold hairpin decorated with small white jade flowers rested above the bun, while a pair of fine tassels hung gracefully beside her ears. A few soft strands had been left loose to frame her face, making her look both gentle and refined.
Her makeup was light but flawless. A soft layer of powder made her skin look smooth and fair, while a touch of pink blush added a healthy glow to her cheeks.
She lowered her gaze to look at her clothes and realized that she was wearing a flowing pale pink robe embroidered with delicate silver plum blossoms along the sleeves and hem.
The wide sleeves draped over her arms, while a white inner robe peeked out from beneath the outer layer, adding another touch of grace. Around her waist was a light silver sash embroidered with tiny floral patterns, making her slender figure stand out even more.
Lin Xueyi blinked, lost in thought. [I look... beautiful.]
She was just about to smile when she suddenly remembered something. [Oh, right... this is the original Lin Xueyi’s face, not mine.]
Although her real face wasn’t ugly, it wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the woman reflected in the carriage window.
[What a shame... we have the same name, but not the same face.]
Technically, she knew she shouldn’t dwell on it. After all, she had already become the novel’s Lin Xueyi, so this face now belonged to her.
But for some reason, that very thought made her feel a little sad.
[I probably won’t ever see my real face again.] Lin Xueyi sighed inwardly. [And no one in this world will ever see it either.]
After living in this world for so long, she had slowly gotten used to this beautiful face. But deep down, she still missed the ordinary face that had been with her for her entire previous life.
[If Rong Shuyan ever saw my real face, I don’t think he’d be this patient with me.]
After all, she believed most men were naturally more forgiving toward beautiful women, especially someone as breathtaking as the original Lin Xueyi.
Rong Shuyan, who had been listening to her wandering thoughts the whole time, frowned almost imperceptibly.
She really thought he was that shallow?
According to her own memories of the novel, hadn’t he ordered the execution of the original Lin Xueyi after she tried to kill him?
Could that really be called patience? Rong Shuyan certainly didn’t think so.
If anything, his patience had always been painfully limited. The only person who kept testing his patience without earning his resentment was... this Lin Xueyi.
Was it because of her face? Certainly not.
Back when the original Lin Xueyi still occupied this body, he had rarely looked at her face for more than a brief moment. Her beauty had never meant anything to him.
So why was this Lin Xueyi different? Even Rong Shuyan couldn’t give himself an answer.
Fortunately, neither of them had to dwell on that topic for long, as the carriage had finally entered the palace grounds.
"There are so many people here," Lin Xueyi murmured. Her almond-shaped eyes widened as she looked out the carriage window.
The palace was far more magnificent than she had imagined.
Towering vermilion walls stretched into the distance, while rows of golden-roofed halls glistened beneath the sunlight. Broad stone paths connected one grand courtyard to another, each lined with neatly trimmed pine trees and beds of colorful flowers in full bloom.
[Blooming flowers? That’s strange... winter is just around the corner.] Her gaze lingered on the vibrant blossoms for a moment before a thought crossed her mind. [Oh... the Emperor must have summoned a wood-element cultivator to make them bloom.]
A bitter smile slowly appeared in her heart. [How ironic.]
[He’s willing to invite a cultivator just to make flowers bloom for a banquet, yet he never bothered to look for someone who could completely cure Rong Shuyan.]
"My Imperial Father enjoys extravagance," Rong Shuyan said calmly to replied for her words earlier. "So it’s only natural for him to invite almost every noble in the empire."
Not long after, the horse-drawn carriage finally came to a stop in the spacious palace courtyard.
The carriage door was opened from the outside. "Your Highnesses," Eunuch Shen said respectfully. "We have arrived."