Be Good and Obey

In the suffocating silence, Gu Chengyin slowly spoke:

"Then listen well, Yunying."

"I want you to return to Her Highness's side and continue being her chief lady-in-waiting."

"Handle official affairs as usual, protect Her Highness as usual, and do everything you are supposed to do as usual."

Shangguan Yunying froze.

This request... was too simple.

So simple that she even suspected she had misheard.

"As long as you obediently keep my secret, I won't do anything to Her Highness."

That was it?

A flash of disappointment crossed Shangguan Yunying's eyes; she had thought there would at least be something else.

A faint smile touched the corners of Gu Chengyin's lips as he continued,

"Of course, there is one more thing."

Shangguan Yunying's heart skipped a beat.

Here it comes.

"Tonight after dark, I will go see Her Highness."

"You must help me hide my tracks and ensure that there is no one else in her bedchamber besides you."

This was a practical request.

But Shangguan Yunying frowned:

"What do you want to do to Her Highness?"

Her tone carried instinctive vigilance and resistance.

Gu Chengyin shook his head:

"Just to see if her condition is stable. If any accidents were to happen to Her Highness, it wouldn't be good for either of us."

This explanation was very reasonable.

But Shangguan Yunying was still somewhat uneasy:

"Just to see?"

"Just to see."

Gu Chengyin nodded, then suddenly changed the subject, his tone becoming ambiguous:

"Besides, Yunying, compared to Her Highness..."

"I like you more."

Shangguan Yunying's heart leaped, her cheeks instantly flushing red.

Like?

He said... he liked her?

Compared to Her Highness, he liked her more?

This realization made her mind go blank for a moment, but immediately after, reason forcibly suppressed the throbbing in her chest.

This was a trap.

It had to be a trap.

Using sweet words to bewitch her, make her lower her guard, and make her willingly be used by him...

"Save your sweet talk!"

Although she was still in Gu Chengyin's arms, Shangguan Yunying abruptly looked up, trying hard to make her expression look angry and clear-headed:

"Gu Chengyin, I've seen right through you now! You are just a despicable, shame—"

She didn't finish her sentence.

Because Gu Chengyin didn't give her the chance to finish.

He interrupted Shangguan Yunying's words in an extremely domineering manner.

With a kiss.

It was a kiss without any warning.

Gu Chengyin's right hand suddenly clamped onto the back of Shangguan Yunying's neck. The force was not heavy, but it was enough to make it impossible for her to break free.

His left hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her entire body toward him.

Then, he lowered his head and accurately sealed the lips that were still scolding him.

"Mmph!"

Shangguan Yunying's pupils suddenly contracted.

She instinctively wanted to resist, pressing her hands against Gu Chengyin's chest, pushing hard to get away.

But Gu Chengyin's movements were faster than hers.

In the instant her true qi was about to erupt, his left hand gently pressed an acupoint on her lower back.

It wasn't a heavy blow or a sealing of the acupoint, just a perfectly timed stimulation of true qi.

"Ngh!"

Shangguan Yunying let out a muffled groan, the true qi she had just gathered instantly dissipating.

It wasn't forcibly scattered, but rather its circulation path was interfered with in a much more subtle way, rendering her unable to mobilize her true qi for a moment.

Thus, her resistance gradually turned from fierce to weak.

It wasn't that she couldn't resist; if she really fought for her life, she could absolutely bite down or break free using a more violent method.

But Shangguan Yunying didn't.

Because her body was more honest than her reason.

When Gu Chengyin's scent completely enveloped her, when his body heat transmitted through their clothes, when his kiss shifted from forceful to tender...

Shangguan Yunying found that she was actually responding.

This realization made her want to die of shame.

But her body betrayed her will.

Her hands went from pressing against his chest to gradually gripping his lapels tightly.

Her body went from stiff and resistant to gradually becoming soft and submissive.

Her breathing gradually merged into his rhythm, changing from rapid and chaotic.

A long while passed.

It wasn't until Shangguan Yunying was almost suffocating that Gu Chengyin slowly let her go.

"I am just a what?"

Gu Chengyin's voice was a bit husky, carrying a satisfied smile and a trace of malicious teasing.

He was asking about the sentence she had been interrupted from finishing earlier.

Shangguan Yunying's face was flushed red, like a ripe peach.

She wanted to push him away, to scold him, to regain her previous anger and clarity.

But her body's reaction was too honest. She could even only lean in Gu Chengyin's embrace to maintain her balance.

In the end, Shangguan Yunying gave up resisting and pounded his chest with her fists.

Her voice, filled with annoyance, shame, and coquettish anger, rang out:

"You are just a bastard who only knows how to bully me!"

Gu Chengyin laughed.

"Then what should we do?"

He lowered his head and whispered in Shangguan Yunying's ear:

"Who told Her Highness to be in my hands right now? If you don't obediently listen to me, I will have to make Her Highness..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Because Shangguan Yunying suddenly looked up and interrupted him with a pleading tone:

"I know! I will listen to you obediently! As long as Her Highness is safe, I will do whatever you ask!"

Gu Chengyin raised an eyebrow.

He leaned in closer, asking with dangerous temptation:

"Do whatever I ask?"

He had asked this question just now.

But asking it again at this moment held a completely different meaning.

Earlier, it was testing boundaries; now, it was confirming a promise.

Shangguan Yunying's face turned even redder.

She didn't dare to meet Gu Chengyin's eyes. Her gaze drifted to the adjacent wall, looking at the mottled brick patterns and the withered yellow vines.

"Mm."

A simple nasal sound.

But in this context, this "Mm" meant too much.

It meant she had completely given up resisting.

Gu Chengyin looked at Shangguan Yunying.

Looking at her flushed cheeks, her trembling eyelashes, and her tightly pursed lips.

Then, he suddenly straightened up, releasing his hands and pulling away slightly to create some distance.

"Rest assured, Yunying."

"I promise Her Highness will be fine. After all, you've experienced it."

Shangguan Yunying heard the subtext in his words, but a trace of disappointment inexplicably rose in her heart.

Because Gu Chengyin didn't continue.

He didn't continue that kiss, didn't maintain that ambiguous distance, and didn't push the temptation of doing whatever he asked.

He just stopped like that, as if he had completed a transaction or confirmed a clause, and then drew the line.

"Hmph."

Shangguan Yunying turned her face away, trying hard to make her voice sound cold:

"If I hadn't experienced it and known what it feels like to be controlled, I would have risked my life to kill you."

These words were harsh, but her tone held no real killing intent.

It sounded more like she was acting out of pique.

Gu Chengyin leaned in again.

This time, he didn't kiss her. He just looked at her from up close, wearing that rogue smile that made her both hate him and feel a flutter in her heart:

"Then... Master Yunying~ can you forgive me now?"

This form of address was very intimate, and also very presumptuous.

But Shangguan Yunying found that she didn't dislike it.

She turned her face away, raised her hand, and wiped her lips hard with the back of her hand, as if wiping away something unclean, though it seemed a bit like trying to cover up her true feelings.

Then, she walked to the corner and picked up her sword from the ground.

The blade was still cold, but held in her hand, it no longer possessed the killing intent from earlier.

Afterward, without even looking at Gu Chengyin, she turned and walked out of the alley.

Her steps were fast and her back was stiff, as if she were fleeing from something.