Gu Xiaoli's eyes were filled with resentment and grievance.
This was the first time she had shown such intense emotional fluctuations.
The reason for this was that Gu Chengyin had just used Luo Zhao as leverage, forcing her to swear a toxic oath equivalent to selling herself.
Under the framework of this new oath, she could not do anything contrary to Gu Chengyin's will.
Of course, Gu Chengyin still respected Empress Lin's dying wish and excluded Luo Zhao from this.
In other words, if Gu Chengyin subjectively wanted to harm Luo Zhao, Gu Xiaoli could still protect Luo Zhao.
However, she could only hypnotize her; she could not control Luo Zhao to do things that would endanger herself.
It was precisely because of this clause that Gu Xiaoli agreed.
Other than that, she could no longer do anything disadvantageous to Gu Chengyin, including lifting the hypnosis.
This thoroughly made the World-weary Loli his person.
Compared to Gu Xiaoli's grievance, Gu Chengyin did not care at all.
Instead, he looked at the Dao Heart mark on the palm of the World-weary Loli.
No matter what, Gu Xiaoli's attitude was still very sincere.
So regardless of what she had done before, her value was enough to earn any forgiveness.
This was just like Luo Zhao's tolerance towards him.
Even if he danced on the dignity of this Crown Princess.
He, Gu Chengyin, was still alive and well to this day.
Especially since the World-weary Loli had sworn such a toxic oath, there was nothing more to say.
Anyway, if Luo Zhao asked Gu Chengyin to swear a toxic oath, he would definitely refuse a hundred times over.
In the face of absolute interests, everything else was not worth mentioning.
Utilize everything that can be utilized, unite everything that can be united.
This was the path to ascending.
Gu Chengyin rubbed Gu Xiaoli's hair and then signaled,
Go back, Xiaoli.
This scumbag appearance of discarding her after use made the corners of Gu Xiaoli's mouth pout slightly.
But she still didn't say anything, obediently and submissively walking towards Wenli Hall.
No speaking, no protesting, just looking a bit wronged.
Gu Chengyin watched Gu Xiaoli's figure disappear, his brows furrowing.
Too smooth.
Smooth beyond imagination.
So smooth that it couldn't be any smoother.
Gu Xiaoli seemed honest, but she had actually hidden a lot of crucial information.
If not for the final toxic oath, Gu Chengyin would have doubted whether she had already lifted Luo Zhao's hypnosis.
Of course, this kind of oath could only constrain future events; it was definitely useless for past actions.
But whether it was Shangguan Yunying or Gu Xiaoli, these most loyal guardians of Luo Zhao.
When faced with him using Luo Zhao as leverage, they both showed unparalleled submission.
And neither showed a desperate struggle, nor did they show the absolute resolve to rescue Luo Zhao.
This was certainly because Luo Zhao's safety was incredibly important to them.
So they didn't dare to gamble, didn't dare to risk putting Luo Zhao in danger to forcefully lift the hypnosis.
But...
There shouldn't be zero resistance, right?
What was the difference between this and lying on the ground waiting to be beaten?
Gu Chengyin's brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
Whether it was Shangguan Yunying or Gu Xiaoli.
It seemed that as long as they agreed to his conditions, he definitely wouldn't do anything to Luo Zhao.
This kind of trust built on his character made Gu Chengyin couldn't help but sneer.
He himself didn't know when his reputation had become so good.
A person who hypnotized the Crown Princess, schemed against court officials, and played with power.
Would actually be trusted not to harm Luo Zhao?
This was too absurd.
And besides this bizarre smoothness, Gu Chengyin also astutely discovered a new piece of information.
Something he had sensed before, but only now clearly realized.
Tolerance.
Gu Chengyin had previously felt that Luo Zhao's tolerance towards him was unusually high.
And it wasn't just Luo Zhao.
There was also Shangguan Yunying.
After lifting her hypnosis this time, Gu Chengyin originally thought it would take a lot of effort to pacify her.
After all, he had done so many excessive things to Shangguan Yunying, both emotionally and behaviorally.
But the truth was, apart from chasing him around to kill him at the very beginning.
Shangguan Yunying later acted incredibly submissive and obedient.
So submissive that whatever he said went.
So obedient that she didn't resist no matter what he did.
This kind of submission and obedience didn't seem like coercion.
It seemed more like willingness.
There were more emotional factors involved.
So...
As the Chief Lady-in-Waiting, instead of thinking about how to rescue Luo Zhao, Shangguan Yunying.
How did you start getting all lovey-dovey?
Does this fit your style as a Chief Lady-in-Waiting?
Gu Chengyin's fingertips stopped tapping.
He suddenly remembered another thing.
If Shangguan Yunying knew that Luo Zhao was awake, how dared she kiss him in front of Luo Zhao?
That was her liege.
How dared she?
Unless...
She also believed that Luo Zhao was indeed under hypnosis.
Only then would she dare to make such an overstepping move in front of the hypnotized Luo Zhao.
Because she knew Luo Zhao wouldn't remember, wouldn't pursue it, and wouldn't care.
This deduction was very logical.
But it conflicted entirely with her behavior and style as the Chief Lady-in-Waiting.
The two sides were completely contradictory and clashing.
Shangguan Yunying was willing to be intimate with him, the premise being that Luo Zhao was not hypnotized.
So she wouldn't have the corresponding psychological burden.
No pressure from her duties as the Chief Lady-in-Waiting.
She could take doing these things for granted.
But if Luo Zhao wasn't hypnotized.
Then how dared Shangguan Yunying kiss him in front of Luo Zhao.
And even actively press him down?
The more he sorted through these thoughts, the more Gu Chengyin felt it was a tangled mess.
Why did it feel like he had fallen into a gentle trap?
Luo Zhao was hypnotized, Shangguan Yunying was pacified, and Gu Xiaoli was subdued.
Everything was so perfect.
Too perfect to be real.
Gu Xiaoli's words were half true and half false.
Shangguan Yunying's words were also half true and half false.
And Luo Zhao...
Was she really hypnotized, or was she pretending?
A trace of ruthlessness flashed in Gu Chengyin's eyes.
For a person like him, once suspicion and doubt appeared, they were hard to dispel.
He needed an answer.
He needed a definitive answer.
Otherwise, he couldn't proceed with the next step of his plan with peace of mind.
Especially with the sect inspection approaching.
If he set off and found out that Luo Zhao was never in his hands at all.
That would truly be the biggest joke in the world.
Although he currently had quite a few trump cards, especially Lin Qingyan's inner demon, which was an unexpected harvest.
It didn't mean Gu Chengyin would easily let Luo Zhao go.
So he absolutely could not be confused by this gentle trap, nor paralyzed by this smoothness.
He had to confirm.
He had to confirm it one more time.
Gu Chengyin took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
Sure enough, he still had to pull off something big.
Find an opportunity to send Shangguan Yunying away and confirm Luo Zhao's status alone once more.
This confirmation could not leave any leeway like before, and there could be no more softheartedness.
He had to cross the line all the way.
He had to touch the real bottom line.
He had to force out the most genuine reaction.
If it was still like this.
If it was still a perfect state of hypnosis.
Then he, Gu Chengyin, would have nothing more to say.
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
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!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
