Gu Chengyin looked at Shangguan Yunying.
He looked into her eyes, seeing the fear, the persistence, and the trust within them.
He suddenly smiled, a very gentle smile.
"Alright."
Gu Chengyin held Shangguan Yunying's hand, moved it away from his lips, then placed it in his palm and gently clasped it:
"Let's not talk about that. I promise you."
"I will definitely come back."
Things had come to this point.
What needed to be tested had been tested.
What needed to be confirmed had been confirmed.
Gu Chengyin had used every method he could think of.
All results pointed to the same conclusion: Luo Zhao was in a perfect state of hypnosis.
There were no flaws.
Or rather, he hadn't found any.
But Gu Chengyin remained suspicious; this was the most basic level of caution.
When something was too perfect, too aligned with expectations, one had to be wary of whether a massive trap was being set.
However, suspicion was just suspicion. It didn't mean he had to spend all his time on endless probing.
Furthermore...
Gu Chengyin's gaze fell upon Shangguan Yunying.
She was leaning against his chest, the hem of her crimson palace dress spread across the bed, her dark hair cascading like a waterfall over his arm.
Her cheeks still bore a lingering flush, her eyelashes trembling slightly, her breathing even and long, as if she had already fallen asleep.
But Gu Chengyin knew she was awake.
She was waiting.
Waiting for his next move, his next words, his choice.
The corners of Gu Chengyin's mouth curled up slightly.
He now had a true ally.
An ally who stood by his side without needing to be hypnotized or controlled.
Gu Chengyin gently patted the beauty in his arms, making a move to get up.
Shangguan Yunying couldn't very well stay in his embrace any longer.
She followed suit, taking a step back to create some distance, and asked:
"Are you leaving?"
Gu Chengyin nodded. "Yes. Although Her Highness's bed is very soft, we can't really spend the night here, can we?"
The teasing tone of his words made Shangguan Yunying's cheeks instantly flush red again.
Not spending the night in Her Highness's bed...
Did that mean going to another bed was fine?
The moment this thought popped up, Shangguan Yunying wanted to slap herself.
What nonsense was she thinking about now!
She was the dignified Chief Lady-in-Waiting, the eldest daughter of the Shangguan family.
Absolutely not some love-struck fool!
Shangguan Yunying quickly gathered her wits, dispelling the messy thoughts from her mind.
Gu Chengyin straightened his slightly rumpled clothes, then scanned the bedchamber once more.
Every corner was clearly presented in his perception.
No anomalies.
At least, within his perceptual range, there was nothing unusual.
But Gu Chengyin already knew that perception wasn't omnipotent.
Just like Gu Xiaoli—heaven knows where she was hiding right now.
Therefore, he couldn't rely solely on perception.
Gu Chengyin strode outward, with Shangguan Yunying following closely behind.
At the same time, she didn't forget to sneak a glance back at Luo Zhao.
Upon stepping out of the bedchamber and standing under the night sky,
Gu Chengyin let out a long breath.
How should he describe tonight?
It seemed fruitful.
Yet also seemingly fruitless.
Gu Chengyin turned around and said to Shangguan Yunying behind him:
"Go back and rest. I'll be leaving now."
Shangguan Yunying stood at the doorway of the bedchamber, her crimson palace dress fluttering slightly in the night breeze.
She didn't speak, merely looking at him. Her eyes held reluctance, worry, and a trace of anticipation.
Looking at Shangguan Yunying, Gu Chengyin suddenly understood something. He took a step forward, standing right in front of her.
He raised his hand and gently tilted her chin up.
Then he leaned down, leaving a light kiss on Shangguan Yunying's lips.
A brief touch, quickly parted.
No lingering, no deepening—just a simple, gentle, farewell kiss.
"Wait for me to come back."
After leaving these words behind, Gu Chengyin turned and walked away with a dashing air.
Shangguan Yunying stood rooted to the spot, watching him leave.
The attachment in her eyes gradually faded.
Replaced by the awe-inspiring resolve of someone facing death without flinching.
What she had to face next was the true test.
Shangguan Yunying turned and walked into the bedchamber. After closing the doors,
she walked inward, step by step.
Her steps were steady, but her heart beat like a drum.
Shangguan Yunying knew what she was about to face, but she didn't shrink back.
Stepping before the bead curtain, she paused for a moment, took a deep breath, then lifted the curtain and stepped into the inner chamber.
On the bed.
Luo Zhao had, unsurprisingly, opened her eyes.
She didn't sit up, didn't show anger, and didn't interrogate. She merely lay there, quietly looking at the ceiling.
Shangguan Yunying walked up to the bed and knelt beside it without the slightest hesitation.
She didn't speak to beg for mercy, nor did she offer an explanation.
She simply kept her head down, kneeling there.
Like a sinner awaiting judgment.
The bedchamber fell into a long silence.
So long that Shangguan Yunying's knees grew numb, so long that she almost thought she would kneel here for a lifetime.
Luo Zhao finally spoke. Her voice was faint and very calm, devoid of any discernible emotion:
"The floor is cold. Get up."
These words made Shangguan Yunying tremble all over.
Luo Zhao wasn't angry.
No interrogation.
No punishment.
This calmness was more terrifying than anger.
Because anger meant Her Highness still cared, still minded.
What did calmness mean?
Did it mean Her Highness no longer cared?
Did it mean Her Highness was utterly disappointed in her?
Shangguan Yunying's heart sank to the very bottom.
But she still slowly stood up from the floor, then looked at Luo Zhao on the bed.
Luo Zhao turned her head slightly, casting a sidelong glance at Shangguan Yunying.
Those phoenix eyes were currently as calm as a deep pool, betraying no emotion.
Yet Shangguan Yunying could feel something icy hidden beneath that calm.
Luo Zhao's gaze slowly swept over Shangguan Yunying.
From the disheveled dark hair to the rumpled palace dress, to the smudged makeup, and finally to the slightly swollen lips.
The traces of what just happened still lingered there—moist, swollen, gleaming with an ambiguous luster.
It was the gift that bastard had left behind in this bedchamber, right beside her bed.
Luo Zhao's gaze lingered on Shangguan Yunying's lips.
Then, she withdrew her gaze and looked back at the ceiling.
She issued an unquestionable command:
"Come up."
These two words left Shangguan Yunying stunned.
Come up?
Up where?
The bed?
Her Highness was telling her to... get on the bed?
This command left Shangguan Yunying completely bewildered.
She didn't know what Her Highness meant.
Was it a punishment?
A humiliation?
Or some kind of judgment she couldn't comprehend?
But she didn't ask. Instead, she silently took off her shoes and socks, and climbed onto the bed.
Then she lay down beside Luo Zhao.
Neither too far nor too close.
Able to feel each other's body heat, able to smell each other's scent, but without any physical contact.
Luo Zhao continued to look at the ceiling, not looking at Shangguan Yunying.
Shangguan Yunying also looked at the ceiling, not daring to look at Luo Zhao.
The bedchamber fell into silence once again.
But this silence was different from before.
The previous silence was a unilateral, judgment-awaiting silence while kneeling on the floor.
The current silence was an eerie silence between two people lying on the bed.
After a long time.
Luo Zhao finally spoke again:
"Yunying, tell me... is there any way."
"To hypnotize Gu Chengyin?"
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
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.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down 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!
