When Gu Chengyin stepped through the night and arrived at the bedchamber once again, most of the palace lanterns had already been extinguished.
The doors to the Crown Princess's bedchamber were left slightly ajar, with dim yellow candlelight spilling through the crack.
As expected, there was not a single female official on duty.
Gu Chengyin gently pushed the door open. The candlelight from within poured out, casting a warm yellow halo on the ground.
Having gained experience from last time, Gu Chengyin did not bother checking the side hall and headed straight for Luo Zhao's inner chamber.
Passing through the outer hall, the scene of the inner chamber came into view.
The furnishings were as familiar as ever, but Gu Chengyin's footsteps came to a halt three feet away from the bed.
He blinked, thinking he had seen it wrong.
He blinked again.
The scene remained unchanged.
Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying were lying side by side on the bed.
This in itself was not a problem, but the issue was...
Why were they wearing the exact same nightgowns?
The moon-white cloud brocade was soft and form-fitting, with necklines cut slightly lower than everyday wear and sleeves as wide as clouds.
Under the candlelight, the fabric shimmered with a gentle luster, looking like silk woven from condensed moonlight.
Furthermore, both of them had long hair cascading over their shoulders, spreading across the pillows like black waterfalls.
They shared the same unparalleled beauty and the same peaceful sleeping expressions.
Gu Chengyin stood by the bed, his gaze shifting back and forth between their faces. For a moment, he could hardly tell which was Luo Zhao and which was Shangguan Yunying.
Luo Zhao's features were more delicate, her contours deeper; even in sleep, she carried an innate noble air.
Shangguan Yunying's brows and eyes were softer, her lines gentler; her sleeping form resembled a defenseless little kitten.
But at this moment, as they lay side by side, the candlelight cast similar shadows across their faces, and the rhythm of their breathing was almost synchronized.
Gu Chengyin fell silent.
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
Wasn't Shangguan Yunying supposed to be waiting for him? Why was she asleep now?
Moreover, why was she wearing the same nightgown as Luo Zhao?
What kind of game was this?
Gu Chengyin furrowed his brows slightly.
His main purpose for coming tonight was to coax Shangguan Yunying, considering how angry she had seemed during the day.
But looking at it now, Shangguan Yunying was sleeping so soundly that she didn't seem to need any coaxing.
Since that was the case, he might as well go back and cultivate.
At this thought, Gu Chengyin decisively turned around, ready to slip away.
He had just lifted his foot, not yet letting it fall.
"Gu Chengyin?"
A sleepy, somewhat groggy voice sounded from behind him.
Gu Chengyin's figure abruptly halted.
He froze in place with his back to the bed, momentarily unsure whether to keep walking or turn around.
Three breaths later, Gu Chengyin resigned himself to his fate and turned around.
On the bed, Shangguan Yunying had already sat up.
She was rubbing her eyes, her movements natural, as if she really had just been woken up.
The moon-white nightgown slipped off her shoulder with her movements, revealing a small patch of fair skin and delicate collarbones.
With her long hair draped loosely, she subconsciously raised a hand to brush it aside, her eyes still a bit hazy.
"It is me."
Gu Chengyin walked back to the bed, keeping his voice very soft.
He glanced at Luo Zhao beside her. The latter was still sleeping quietly, her breathing steady, her eyelashes not even fluttering once.
"How is Lady Jingzhe?" Shangguan Yunying asked casually.
Gu Chengyin answered truthfully, "She said her inner demons have weakened quite a bit. It was very effective."
Shangguan Yunying nodded gently, a relieved expression appearing on her face, and then... there was no then.
She sat on the bed, her hands absentmindedly gripping the brocade quilt, her gaze wandering as if she were thinking about what to say next.
Gu Chengyin waited for three breaths. Seeing that she still had no intention of speaking, he had to take the initiative to break the silence:
"Are you... still angry?"
The moment he asked this, Shangguan Yunying's eyes visibly lit up.
But she quickly covered it up.
Then she puffed out her cheeks, crossed her arms over her chest, and turned her head away, showing her profile to Gu Chengyin as she put on an adorable appearance of still being mad.
In reality, only Shangguan Yunying herself knew that she was not angry to begin with.
Or rather, whatever little anger she had felt had dissipated the moment Gu Chengyin explained things clearly.
She had just been purely displeased seeing Lin Qingyan being so intimate with Gu Chengyin.
But now that Gu Chengyin was here, it proved that he cared about her in his heart.
For Shangguan Yunying, this was enough.
After all, Gu Chengyin was not flirting with Lin Qingyan; he was handling official business!
Even if this official business was a bit improper, it was still official business!
Gu Chengyin crouched by the bed, bringing his line of sight level with Shangguan Yunying as she sat there.
This action made Shangguan Yunying pause slightly, but she did not turn her head, only glancing at Gu Chengyin from the corner of her eye.
She saw Gu Chengyin raise a hand, holding up four fingers, and say with an incredibly serious expression:
"Yunying, I swear."
"My little aunt and I are completely innocent. There is absolutely nothing going on between us."
Shangguan Yunying's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
She secretly turned her head and stole a glance at Gu Chengyin.
The moonlight filtered in through the window lattice, shining on Gu Chengyin's face and making his features look exceptionally clear in the interplay of light and shadow.
Those eyes were full of sincerity.
He was afraid she would misunderstand.
He cared about her.
This realization made a surge of warmth rise from the bottom of Shangguan Yunying's heart.
But she immediately turned back around, maintaining her angry posture, and spoke at the same time:
"I... I am not someone who makes a scene over nothing."
"As long as you kiss Her Highness once, I will forgive you."
Gu Chengyin nodded immediately:
"Alright."
One word, without the slightest hesitation.
Then he stood up and prepared to lean over and kiss Shangguan Yunying, but halfway through the motion, his entire body froze.
He blinked.
He blinked again.
His mind rapidly replayed the sentence he had just heard.
"...As long as you kiss Her Highness once."
Her Highness?
Luo Zhao?
Gu Chengyin slowly turned his head to look at Luo Zhao, who was still fast asleep beside them.
He then turned back to look at Shangguan Yunying.
The latter still had her face turned away, but the corner of her eye was clearly stealing glances at him. Her lips were slightly pursed, as if she was holding back a smile?
"You..."
Gu Chengyin opened his mouth, his voice a bit dry:
"Who did you just say to kiss?"
Shangguan Yunying finally could not hold it in anymore and burst into a fit of giggles.
But she quickly put on a straight face again, turned her head back, looked straight into Gu Chengyin's eyes, and repeated word by word:
"Kiss, Her, Highness."
She then pointed at Luo Zhao beside her:
"You are not allowed to kiss me. Kiss Her Highness once, and I will forgive you."
Gu Chengyin: "..."
He looked at Shangguan Yunying, then at Luo Zhao, his mind in a state of utter chaos.
What was this?
A punishment?
A perk?
Or was Shangguan Yunying playing some new trick?
"Yunying..."
Gu Chengyin tried to reason with her:
"Even if I hypnotized Her Highness, I cannot keep bullying her."
"Otherwise, when she wakes up, she will definitely fight me to the death."
"She will not."
Shangguan Yunying said with absolute certainty:
"It is not like I have never been hypnotized by you before. I do not remember a single thing that happened."
"As long as you do not tell, and I do not tell, who would know?"
Gu Chengyin: "..."
He stared at Shangguan Yunying for three breaths, trying to find a flaw in her expression.
But Shangguan Yunying's expression was incredibly serious, and her eyes even carried a hint of encouragement?
"Are you serious?"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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.
