Shangguan Yunying stood by the bed, her head bowed and her eyelashes slightly lowered.
Moonlight flowed past her side, outlining her silhouette into a slender yet perfectly straight contour.
She appeared entirely indifferent to what was about to happen, seemingly handing Her Highness over on a silver platter.
But in reality, all of her attention was focused entirely on Luo Zhao.
She was waiting.
Waiting with great anticipation.
Waiting to see exactly what Her Highness would do.
Would she jump out and expose everything, tearing apart this hypocritical illusion of hypnosis, and then furiously condemn her betrayal?
Or would she continue to endure it, allowing Gu Chengyin to have his way with her, and personally bear the brunt of this test?
If it were the latter...
The corners of Shangguan Yunying's lips curved up in an almost imperceptible smile.
Then, as the Head Court Lady, it wouldn't be appropriate for her to step forward and stop him.
After all, Her Highness was completely conscious, willing, and tacitly permitting Gu Chengyin's actions.
And the reason the situation had developed to this point was entirely because she had made some slight adjustments to the overall plan.
Shangguan Yunying did not want things to continue like this; she no longer wanted to be caught in the middle in a constant dilemma.
She did not want to watch Luo Zhao and Gu Chengyin scheme against each other, test each other, and hurt each other anymore.
Even less did she want to face a day in the future where she had to choose between killing Gu Chengyin or betraying Luo Zhao.
So, she adjusted the plan.
She changed the target of this bullying from herself to Luo Zhao.
It was crazy.
But it didn't matter.
As long as Luo Zhao was unwilling, she could put an end to all of this at any moment.
She could instantly switch out from behind her consciousness puppet and slap Gu Chengyin across the face.
She could harshly reprimand his offense and severely punish her, the traitor.
But compared to the dilemma she might face in the future, Shangguan Yunying felt that...
A severe punishment would be much easier to bear.
At least she wouldn't have to kill Gu Chengyin with her own hands, nor would she have to betray Luo Zhao.
Furthermore, Shangguan Yunying was certain, based on her understanding of Luo Zhao.
Luo Zhao definitely had feelings for Gu Chengyin.
This point was made abundantly clear just from the extent of her endurance.
It was just that her affection was masked by endless hatred, so much so that even Luo Zhao herself might not have realized it.
If it were anyone else who dared to scheme against her like this, dared to control her like this, dared to offend her time and time again.
They would have been sliced into a thousand pieces long ago, and the kind where each slice cost a hundred taels of gold.
But what about Gu Chengyin?
Not only did Luo Zhao not kill him, but she also cooperated with him, protected him, and even allowed his transgressions.
This could no longer be explained as simple exploitation.
Clearly, as long as they revealed their true feelings to each other, everyone could be happy, or at least it would reduce a lot of pointless testing and hurting.
Yet these two, one more capable of enduring than the other, one a better actor than the other.
They simply had to let things evolve into this current situation.
Then, as Luo Zhao's Head Court Lady and the person closest to Gu Chengyin.
She naturally couldn't just sit by and watch, so she took action.
The final outcome would be nothing more than one of two possibilities.
First, Luo Zhao endures it, and after tonight, everything goes back to normal.
Second, which was also the outcome Shangguan Yunying anticipated the most.
Luo Zhao drops the act, Gu Chengyin goes on the run, and then she personally leads people to hunt him down.
But in reality, there would only be a hunt, not a kill.
Because what Shangguan Yunying truly wanted was to lock Gu Chengyin away in a place where no one could find him.
Then, he would belong only to her forever.
Gu Chengyin had already walked to the edge of the bed.
He stopped three feet away from the bedstead, his gaze first falling on Luo Zhao.
The Crown Princess still sat on the bed, the brocade quilt having slipped down to her waist, her thin nightgown outlining her slender curves.
Her expression was hollow, her eyes blank; everything perfectly portrayed the state of someone who had been hypnotized.
It was too perfect.
He looked at Luo Zhao for a moment, and then turned his head to look at Shangguan Yunying standing by the bed.
Her eyelashes were still lowered, as if giving tacit approval, or as if she didn't care at all.
Gu Chengyin still felt this situation was incredibly bizarre.
The dignified Crown Princess waiting in bed, the Head Court Lady watching from the side, and him standing in the middle...
What was this?
But Gu Chengyin quickly let it go.
After all, he had come tonight intending to do some beastly things.
To force Luo Zhao to expose a flaw using the most excessive methods.
Now that Shangguan Yunying had actively stepped aside and given him this opportunity.
If he did nothing, wouldn't that make him worse than a beast?
Therefore, Gu Chengyin felt that as a person, it was better to be a bit beastly.
At least it would give him peace of mind.
However, Shangguan Yunying had still made a request: he could not cross the final bottom line.
This was something Gu Chengyin could accept.
This kind of thing wasn't limited to just one aspect anyway.
If he couldn't go below, there was still above.
Gu Chengyin reached out his hand and gently lifted Luo Zhao's chin.
This movement was done very slowly, the force of his fingertips extremely light, as if touching a fragile piece of porcelain.
Moonlight shone in from the window, illuminating Luo Zhao's breathtakingly beautiful face clearly.
Eyelashes, eyebrows, the bridge of her nose, her lips...
Every single detail was thrillingly beautiful.
Gu Chengyin's gaze ultimately settled on her lips.
The delicate, bright red lips shimmered with a moist luster under the moonlight.
The shape of her lips was exquisite, the corners naturally curving upward, carrying an inherent noble arc even without any expression.
Meanwhile, Luo Zhao, who was currently hiding behind her consciousness puppet.
Found her mind completely blank.
Through the vision of the consciousness puppet, she clearly saw Gu Chengyin walk up to her.
Clearly saw his hand reach out, and clearly felt his fingertips touch her chin.
The temperature of those fingertips was like a bolt of electricity, instantly surging through her entire body.
She could even clearly see the look in Gu Chengyin's eyes.
In those deep eyes, there was no tenderness, no lust, nor any lewd gaze.
There was only a cold, scrutinizing, observant calmness.
He was observing her.
Using those sharp eyes to scrutinize her inch by inch.
As if analyzing an object, dissecting a prey, or verifying a hypothesis.
This was a rational gaze.
Luo Zhao breathed a slight sigh of relief.
At least, Gu Chengyin was still rational right now.
He probably wouldn't do anything too out of line, right?
But just as this thought arose...
His very next action instantly made Luo Zhao lose all her rationality.
Gu Chengyin.
He was actually undressing?
Luo Zhao watched helplessly as Gu Chengyin raised his other hand and rested it on his own collar.
His long, slender fingers hooked the edge of his collar, and then, unhurriedly, he began to undo the top frog button.
One.
Two.
His garments gradually opened with his movements, revealing the white inner robes beneath, and further in, his faintly visible collarbones and chest.
This action was done very slowly.
Slow enough for Luo Zhao to see every detail clearly.
Slow enough to make her heartbeat completely lose control in this instant.
This bastard...
What was he trying to do?!
Was he really going to violate her?!
Didn't Shangguan Yunying say he couldn't cross the final bottom line!
No.
Luo Zhao suddenly remembered Gu Chengyin's action just a moment ago.
He had lifted her chin and focused his gaze on her lips.
A terrifying thought slowly surfaced from the depths of her heart.
Could it be that Gu Chengyin wanted to...
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!
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
] [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!"
