Gu Chengyin led Cui Zilu out of the Left Vice Minister's estate, once again bathing in the outdoor sunlight and gentle breeze.
Outside the estate gates, the Cui family's carriage and guards waited quietly.
Just as he was about to board the carriage, the Heir Apparent Token in his robes suddenly vibrated.
Gu Chengyin paused his steps, reached into his robes, and took out the token.
A faint light swirled across its surface, revealing a concise line of text:
(Discoveries made regarding the imperial merchants in Lanling Commandery)
Gu Chengyin's eyebrows shot up.
So fast?
At this speed, either the efficiency of Wenli Hall was astonishingly high, or the things hidden within the accounts of Lanling Commandery's imperial merchants were simply too obvious.
So much so that upon investigation, they immediately exposed themselves.
He put away the token and, with an unchanged expression, led Cui Zilu onto the Cui family carriage.
"To the Heir Apparent's Palace," Gu Chengyin instructed the driver.
The carriage started smoothly, leaving the district where the Left Vice Minister's estate was located, and headed toward the Heir Apparent's Palace.
Inside the cabin, Cui Zilu sat quietly, her gaze occasionally drifting out the window with curiosity at the passing street scenes.
She also secretly glanced at Gu Chengyin, who was deep in thought beside her.
When the Cui family carriage stopped in front of the Heir Apparent's Palace, Gu Chengyin looked at Cui Zilu beside him and found himself in a dilemma.
Take her inside with him?
Go straight up to the second floor of Wenli Hall and participate in core confidential discussions?
This was obviously inappropriate.
While Gu Chengyin was still weighing his words, Cui Zilu seemed to see his predicament and took the initiative to speak.
"Brother Chengyin, I won't go in with you. I'll just wait for you in the carriage."
Her voice was crisp, carrying an understanding and obedient tone.
As she spoke, Cui Zilu's gaze drifted toward the gates of the Heir Apparent's Palace outside the window, and she said timidly,
"Sister Her Highness... I am a little afraid of her."
This reason sounded perfectly reasonable.
As the Heir Apparent, Luo Zhao had long held a high position; her temperament was cold and aloof, possessing a natural majesty. Ordinary people would feel an invisible pressure upon seeing her.
However, only Cui Zilu herself knew that this was merely half the reason.
The other half of the reason she secretly muttered in her heart:
"If Sister Yunying sees that I dressed up so carefully, specifically changing into these clothes and styling my hair like this, she will definitely realize that I was lying to her yesterday."
Gu Chengyin nodded and said in a gentle tone, "That works. Then you wait for me in the carriage."
"Mhm! Brother Chengyin, go quickly, I will wait for you!" Cui Zilu nodded vigorously, a bright smile blooming on her face to show that she was completely fine with it.
Gu Chengyin turned and got off the carriage, walking steadily through the gates of the Heir Apparent's Palace.
He familiarly made his way to Wenli Hall.
He ascended the stairs and entered the second floor.
Luo Zhao sat behind the main desk, holding an account book in her hand. She was discussing something in a low voice with Shangguan Yunying beside her, her finger occasionally tapping on a certain line in the ledger.
Not far away, at a relatively smaller desk, Gu Xiaoli had her head buried as the writing brush in her hand flew rapidly across the paper.
The moment Gu Chengyin appeared at the door, Gu Xiaoli, who had been burying her head in her writing, twitched her ears slightly.
She immediately snapped her head up. Her large eyes, like the most precise radar, locked directly onto Gu Chengyin's figure.
When she saw clearly that the newcomer was Gu Chengyin, Gu Xiaoli's eyes suddenly lit up.
She opened her small mouth, wanting to call out, but realizing the setting, she quickly covered her mouth with her hands, simply staring at Gu Chengyin without blinking.
Gu Chengyin naturally saw Gu Xiaoli as well. Meeting her eyes that were filled with starlight, he nodded and revealed a comforting and encouraging smile.
This subtle interaction did not escape the perception of Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying.
The two stopped their discussion, raised their heads, and turned their gazes toward the door.
Upon seeing Gu Chengyin, there was no surprise on Luo Zhao's face. However, deep within her cold eyes, some emotion seemed to flash by extremely quickly, so fast that it was uncatchable.
She put down the account book in her hand and picked up a stack of organized and marked papers from the pile of documents in front of her.
"You're here."
Luo Zhao's voice was calm and placid, devoid of any discernible emotion.
She handed the stack of documents to Gu Chengyin.
"These are the suspicious and abnormal records compiled from the accounts of the relevant imperial merchants in Lanling Commandery over the past three years. See if there is anything you need among them."
Gu Chengyin took the stack of documents. They were still warm to the touch, clearly having been compiled just recently.
"Thank you, Your Highness. Everyone has worked hard," he said politely, his gaze falling onto the documents in his hands.
Then, standing beside Luo Zhao's desk, he began to flip through them page by page, extremely carefully.
Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying did not disturb him, merely watching quietly.
Gu Xiaoli also stopped her pen, rested her chin on her hands, and stared unblinkingly at Gu Chengyin.
Time passed minute by minute.
Gu Chengyin's flipping speed was not fast; sometimes he would even linger on a single page for a moment.
His gaze repeatedly swept over certain numbers or entries, his brows furrowing slightly at times and relaxing at others.
Finally, when he reached the middle section, Gu Chengyin's fingers suddenly paused.
His originally smooth page-turning motion stopped completely, his entire attention seemingly firmly drawn in by the contents of this page.
He brought the paper closer, reading line by line by line.
He read every word on it extremely slowly and carefully, even every inconspicuous annotation mark.
From time to time, he pulled out a few pages and placed them together.
Until he pulled out the last page, Gu Chengyin's eyes suddenly lit up, like the sun parting the clouds.
He looked at Luo Zhao and said,
"Your Highness."
Gu Chengyin waved the small stack of carefully selected documents in his hand.
"These things."
"Will overturn the entire Xiao Clan."
Gu Chengyin solemnly handed the stack of documents back to Luo Zhao, instructing,
"Your Highness, please keep these safe first, and wait until I return from the Cabinet."
"In addition, regarding the final conclusion of the sudden death case of Xiao Bichang."
"It is suicide out of fear of punishment."
Luo Zhao took the documents, her fingertips able to feel the slight coolness of the paper and the unevenness of the ink.
In her heart, she was actually very curious about what exactly inside could make Gu Chengyin assert this so confidently.
But the following sentence directly drew her attention away.
The sudden death case of Xiao Bichang closed as a suicide out of fear of punishment?
This was entirely different from the relentless pursuit style Luo Zhao had expected from Gu Chengyin.
Gu Chengyin did not wait for her to ask, but took the initiative to explain.
"Your Highness, the evidence in the sudden death case of Xiao Bichang is irrefutable. The opposing party has made foolproof preparations."
"From the scene, autopsy, to the physical and witness evidence, all proof seamlessly points to suicide out of fear of punishment."
"Within the three-day limit set by His Majesty, it will be very difficult to find substantive flaws sufficient to overturn the case."
"Forcibly entangling ourselves in the case itself will only waste time, and we might even be bitten back."
Luo Zhao frowned slightly, hearing the unspoken meaning in Gu Chengyin's words.
"So...?"
Gu Chengyin said, "So, I plan to close the case first and then split it."
"Split the case?" Luo Zhao's eyes flickered, as if she had caught onto something.
"Exactly."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
