Deep within the passage, a cold, eerie wind drifted through.
It was mixed with a strange fragrance.
Feng Zexuan suddenly stopped in her tracks.
This scent was even more sophisticated than the world’s top perfumes.
“Prince of the Northern Frontier, what’s wrong?”
Crown Prince Xiao Mingxuan asked nervously.
“Nothing. Keep moving.”
Feng Zexuan suppressed her doubts and continued forward.
【System, this fragrance is way too complex!】
【Host, the air contains special chemical compounds!】
Princess Xiao Mingyue, walking behind them, couldn’t help but exclaim.
“So fragrant… it smells ten times better than the best imperial incense!”
She took a deep breath.
Her entire spirit felt refreshed.
Passing through the corridor, the space suddenly opened up.
The innermost chamber was over two hundred square meters.
At the center of the room stood a crystal coffin.
Completely transparent and flawless.
Light from luminous pearls refracted through the crystal.
Rainbow-like glows flowed across the chamber.
The entire space felt dreamlike.
The strange fragrance was coming from the coffin itself.
Rich but not cloying, fresh but not weak.
Inside the coffin lay a man quietly.
He wore a bright yellow imperial robe embroidered with a five-clawed golden dragon.
His hands were folded over his chest, his expression peaceful, as if he were merely asleep.
Feng Zexuan leaned in for a closer look.
The man had a refined face, balanced features, and gentle brows.
But…
He was absolutely not an unrivaled peerless beauty!
At most, he was a mildly handsome, easy-on-the-eyes type.
Compared to the stunningly beautiful self-portraits of Emperor Xiyan on the palace walls, it looked like two completely different people!
【System, this is the real Emperor Xiyan!】
【What the—he got catfished! The difference is way too huge!】
【Still… even if he’s not as exaggerated as the portraits, he’s actually quite pleasant-looking.】
Above the coffin hung a golden plaque.
On it were words that made people both laugh and cry:
“Sorry to disappoint you all. In truth… I, the beautiful emperor, have an ordinary face.”
Below it were smaller words:
“But I believe true beauty comes from within!!! (Of course, my inner self is also very beautiful.)”
【System, Emperor Xiyan is surprisingly self-aware. But the parentheses completely expose him—still bragging even after death!】
“Th… this is Emperor Xiyan?”
Xiao Mingyue stared at the figure inside the coffin.
Then looked at the words above it.
She was completely stunned.
“The portraits are completely different! The paintings show him like a celestial being, but this… this…”
She wanted to say “ordinary,” but felt it would be disrespectful to the dead.
After struggling for a while, she finally stammered:
“This… looks quite… quite kind.”
Crown Prince Xiao Mingxuan was equally shocked.
He carefully examined the body.
“Strange… why hasn’t his corpse decayed after so many years?”
“It looks as if he’s just asleep, even his skin still has a sheen.”
Xiao Mingxuan reached out to touch the coffin—
But a burst of cold air forced him to pull his hand back immediately.
“So cold! Why is this coffin so icy?”
【System, do you know why?】
【Host, this coffin is made of thousand-year cold jade. It has preservation properties! It also contains top-tier mummification incense!】
“It must be because of this crystal coffin.”
Feng Zexuan said in a deliberately profound tone, pointing at it.
“This material is called Thousand-Year Cold Jade. It preserves and prevents decay.”
“Combined with special preservation incense, it keeps the body intact.”
“I see!”
The crown prince nodded in realization.
【System, what cheat ability does Emperor Xiyan have as a transmigrator?】
【He has one! A divine beauty filter! In the eyes of others, he looks like a peerless painting-level beauty!】
The system explained excitedly.
【It’s like a modern beauty filter camera—it automatically adds effects! So everyone sees him as unbelievably handsome, but his real appearance is just like this corpse!】
【The downside is that the more narcissistic he becomes, the stronger the filter gets!】
【This is way too useless!】
Feng Zexuan complained internally.
【Other transmigrators get systems or space storage or martial arts manuals… and he gets a beauty camera?】
【But… in this face-obsessed world, at least it lets him get by.】
【Ancient times really are a world where looks decide justice.】
She understood now.
【No wonder Emperor Xiyan became so narcissistic—it’s the side effect of his cheat!】
【It’s a vicious cycle: the more narcissistic he gets, the stronger the filter; the stronger the filter, the more narcissistic he becomes!】
【Still, looking at his real face… he’s actually quite decent.】
【Not a peerless beauty, but harmonious features and a gentle temperament.】
Although Feng Zexuan was a looks-obsessed person, her standards weren’t based on appearance alone.
Whether someone was attractive depended only 30% on looks.
Personality and talent each accounted for another 30%, and the final 10% was fate.
【If I like someone, even their acne would look adorably real.】
【But if someone has a perfect face yet a rotten personality, they instantly become ugly.】
Xiao Mingyue quietly nodded, deep in thought upon hearing this.
The crown prince also deeply agreed.
Although Emperor Xiyan’s appearance was ordinary, the things he left behind suggested he was not a bad person.
【System, he’s been dead for so long—why is there still fragrance? And such a complex one at that?】
【Host, that’s the effect of top-tier preservation incense! It can last hundreds of years without fading!】
【Also… Emperor Xiyan himself was a master perfumer in life!】
【What? He even made perfumes? This transmigrator is too all-rounded!】
Feng Zexuan was stunned.
It seemed Emperor Xiyan might not have been great at ruling, but he clearly had talent in other areas.
Just then—
A faint “click” echoed from the bottom of the coffin.
The three of them looked down simultaneously.
The base of the crystal coffin was slowly splitting open.
Revealing a hidden compartment.
Inside lay a delicate small box.
Engraved on it were the words: “My Ultimate Secret”
“There’s more?”
Xiao Mingyue reached out excitedly.
“Wait!”
Feng Zexuan stopped her.
“Check for traps first.”
After carefully inspecting it and confirming it was safe, she nodded.
Xiao Mingyue cautiously took out the box.
It was small, palm-sized.
Made entirely of gold and inlaid with various gemstones.
Inside the box was a palm-sized mirror.
Its edges were finely carved.
The surface was as smooth as water.
“Just this? A mirror?”
Xiao Mingyue pouted in disappointment.
“Wait, there’s something underneath.”
The crown prince noticed a hidden layer at the bottom.
Feng Zexuan opened it.
Inside was a piece of paper.
Written neatly in simplified characters:
“This mirror is my cheat ability—the beauty filter.”
“Usage: look into it, and others will automatically see you as ten levels more attractive.”
“Side effect: it makes people increasingly narcissistic. Use with caution!”
“This thing ruined me. From an ordinary programmer, I became a narcissistic maniac.”
“But honestly… it works really well. I became emperor thanks to this face.”
“If a destined person finds this mirror, remember: looks matter, but character matters more.”
“Don’t become like me. Too much narcissism leads to ruin!”
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