The moment these words left her mouth, before Gu Chengyin could even react, Luo Zhao exploded internally, almost switching out of her conscious puppet state.
What is wrong with Shangguan Yunying?!
Was this the plan?!
This wasn't what she said at all!
Weren't you, Shangguan Yunying, supposed to be the one being bullied?!
This was all to solidify the illusion of the hypnosis, to make Gu Chengyin believe that everything was truly under his control.
But now?
What is Shangguan Yunying doing?!
Not only was she not following the plan, but she was also saying such... such indecent things in front of Gu Chengyin!
Is Shangguan Yunying still the Chief Court Lady or not?!
Does she have even the most basic loyalty left?!
Or could it be...
Did Gu Chengyin drug Shangguan Yunying?!
Is this bastard really that good?!
Meanwhile, Gu Chengyin froze upon hearing her words.
Immediately after, alarm bells rang in his head.
Something was wrong.
This was a massive trap!
This was absolutely not something Shangguan Yunying would say.
At least, not something a dutiful Chief Court Lady would say.
Was she probing him?
Or seducing him?
But whichever it was, it carried an intent he could not currently comprehend.
"Yunying, what are you saying."
Gu Chengyin took a half-step back, creating some distance between himself and Shangguan Yunying, and said with a hint of mild anger:
"How could I possibly have such thoughts? Besides, the person I like is you."
Gu Chengyin spoke these words fluently and naturally, with utmost sincerity.
But what greeted him were Shangguan Yunying's smiling eyes.
She wasn't disappointed by his denial, nor did she retreat because he stepped back.
She merely gestured toward Luo Zhao on the bed, the corners of her lips curving into a sly arc.
"Really?"
"Then why are you controlling Her Highness, and using her to threaten me?"
Shangguan Yunying leaned forward a half-step, closing the distance between them once more.
Her gaze locked straight onto Gu Chengyin, the amusement in her eyes deepening.
"No matter how I look at it, you don't seem like a good person at all~"
These words...
Gu Chengyin's breath hitched slightly.
This tone, this demeanor, this phrasing...
Half-reproachful, half-angry, half-truth, half-falsehood.
She didn't seem at all like a court lady being blackmailed; rather, she seemed like she was flirting with her lover.
Gu Chengyin could no longer figure out Shangguan Yunying's thoughts at all.
What on earth was this woman thinking?
Could it be that because Luo Zhao was under hypnotic control, she lost her psychological burden and simply let herself go completely?
Or was this actually some sort of superior probing, using this borderline betrayal to test his true attitude?
Gu Chengyin's brain worked at lightning speed.
But no matter how he deduced, he couldn't find a completely reasonable explanation.
Because women, fundamentally, had no logic.
Especially a woman as smart and beautiful as Shangguan Yunying.
Gentle and capable on the surface, but actually incredibly meticulous and sensitive.
Seemingly unfailingly loyal, but harboring complex emotions.
She should hate him to the bone, yet she liked him so much she couldn't help herself.
The behavioral logic of such a woman had long surpassed the realm of deduction.
Ultimately, Gu Chengyin decided to give up guessing and asked directly:
"Yunying, what exactly are you trying to do?"
His voice was calm, with no questioning or anger, only a frank sincerity.
The smile on Shangguan Yunying's face slowly faded.
That sly, teasing look receded, replaced by an unparalleled seriousness.
"Gu Chengyin, you are actually still suspicious of Her Highness, aren't you?"
Gu Chengyin was slightly taken aback.
He didn't answer immediately, but quietly looked at Shangguan Yunying.
After a long while, he finally nodded.
"Yes."
Shangguan Yunying seemed to have expected this answer long ago; there was no look of surprise on her face.
She continued asking:
"Is it because last time, Her Highness broke free from your control, so this time you can never truly put your mind at ease, right?"
Gu Chengyin nodded again, admitting to this fact.
The moonlight shone through the window onto his face, casting his features in half-light and half-shadow.
A trace of complex emotion flashed in Shangguan Yunying's eyes as she slowly spoke:
"I want to give you an opportunity."
"An opportunity that will let you completely put your mind at ease."
Gu Chengyin's pupils suddenly contracted as he looked into Shangguan Yunying's eyes.
There was no trace of a joke in those eyes, only profound determination.
She was serious.
This realization made Gu Chengyin's heart skip a heavy beat.
Shangguan Yunying was Luo Zhao's Chief Court Lady.
Her loyalty had never wavered.
But now... she was saying she wanted to give him an opportunity?
Is this reasonable?
Countless questions flashed through Gu Chengyin's mind in an instant.
Is this a trap?
Is it a more advanced probe authorized by Luo Zhao?
Or could it be that Shangguan Yunying had developed feelings for him strong enough to betray Luo Zhao?
Gu Chengyin did not speak.
He just quietly looked at Shangguan Yunying, trying to find the answer in those eyes.
And Shangguan Yunying seemed to see right through his doubts.
"Are you thinking right now..."
"Aren't I the Chief Court Lady? How could I do such a thing?"
Gu Chengyin nodded.
Let alone him, anyone would be suspicious of such a thing.
Suspicious of Shangguan Yunying's motives, suspicious of her loyalty, suspicious of whether there was a grander conspiracy hidden behind this.
But Shangguan Yunying didn't explain, didn't justify herself.
She didn't even continue this topic.
Instead, she opened her arms and stepped forward to embrace Gu Chengyin once again.
Wrapping her arms around his waist, she buried her face in the crook of Gu Chengyin's neck.
"Gu Chengyin..."
"Have you ever thought about..."
"How important you are to me, and to Her Highness?"
Shangguan Yunying spoke these words very slowly, each syllable seemingly dug out from the deepest depths of her heart.
Gu Chengyin was stunned, momentarily not knowing how to respond.
Shangguan Yunying continued speaking on her own:
"Last time, Her Highness did indeed break free from your control."
"But did Her Highness do anything to you?"
"She didn't do anything at all, did she?"
Gu Chengyin frowned. Put that way, it wasn't wrong.
After breaking free from the hypnosis last time, Luo Zhao truly hadn't taken any action.
But not doing anything didn't mean forgiveness; enduring silently was just preparation for a counter-kill.
Gu Chengyin was still very clear on the difference between the two.
"Yunying."
"I understand what you mean."
"But this is merely mutual exploitation."
This was the most rational explanation he could provide.
Luo Zhao needed him, and he needed Luo Zhao.
Each taking what they needed, mutually exploiting each other.
Nothing more.
However, these words seemed to strike Shangguan Yunying's most sensitive nerve.
She abruptly lifted her head, her eyes already turning red. She stared straight at Gu Chengyin, her eyes churning with near-collapsing emotions.
"Then what about me!?"
Shangguan Yunying's voice suddenly rose, sounding particularly piercing in the quiet bedchamber.
But she didn't care at all whether she would wake up the soundly sleeping Luo Zhao.
She just stared dead at Gu Chengyin, tears finally rolling down from her eyes.
Sliding down her cheeks, sparkling in the moonlight.
"I am Her Highness's Chief Court Lady!"
"You are the person I like the most!"
"If in the future, it must come down to life and death between the two of you..."
"What am I supposed to do!?"
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!
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
