Lin Qingyan closed her eyes, her brows slightly furrowed, and her lips pressed tightly together.
That usually aloof face looked exceptionally vivid at this moment due to her intense concentration.
After a long while, Lin Qingyan slowly opened her eyes.
A flash of confusion passed through her eyes, quickly turning into deeper doubt.
"When my sister passed away... I was by her side the whole time. I didn't see her entrust her dying wishes to anyone."
"Let alone... entrusting someone to protect Zhao'er."
She said this with absolute certainty.
Gu Chengyin raised an eyebrow.
"Then have you seen Xiaoli? Gu Xiaoli is the name I gave her."
"She used to be called Li'er, and was entrusted to me by Lyu Fang."
Lin Qingyan fell into her memories once more.
She tried to search her memory for the name Li'er, or any face associated with it.
She recalled one by one the maids, wet nurses, eunuchs around her sister, and even the female relatives who occasionally entered the palace to pay their respects.
But...
Nothing.
She had absolutely no impression of Gu Xiaoli.
Finally, Lin Qingyan shook her head, her tone firm:
"I have never seen her by my sister's side."
She then added a sentence, with a bit of self-doubting hesitation:
"At least not in my memory."
Gu Chengyin narrowed his eyes.
"If that's the case..."
Gu Chengyin spoke slowly, with a profound and playful tone: "Then things just got interesting."
Interesting?
Lin Qingyan's heart skipped a beat.
She suddenly realized that Gu Xiaoli was far more than just a simple confidante.
If Gu Xiaoli was the person her sister entrusted on her deathbed, why did her sister never mention it to her, her own biological sister?
If Gu Xiaoli grew up by her sister's side, why did she, who frequented the inner palace all year round, have no impression of her at all?
Either Gu Xiaoli was lying.
Or something was being deliberately covered up.
Lin Qingyan's face gradually darkened, and her eyes grew more solemn:
"This Gu Xiaoli... wouldn't be a threat to Zhao'er, right?"
This was her biggest worry.
Luo Zhao was the only bloodline left by her sister, and the person she cared about most besides Gu Chengyin.
Any existence that might threaten Luo Zhao's safety would touch her most sensitive nerve.
Gu Chengyin did not answer immediately, his fingers unconsciously rubbing his chin.
He looked out the window at the rapidly retreating scenery, as if weighing something in his mind.
Finally, he slowly shook his head and said:
"Although I don't know what Xiaoli's true intentions are."
"But the part about protecting Her Highness's safety... should be true."
Gu Chengyin spoke very slowly, each word seemingly carefully considered:
"I can feel... she has an instinctive desire to protect Her Highness."
"That cannot be faked."
Lin Qingyan stared at him: "Are you sure?"
Gu Chengyin turned his head back, meeting her gaze:
"I am sure."
"As for why Xiaoli would fabricate a reason, perhaps she has her difficulties, or perhaps there is some inside story we don't know about."
He spoke ambiguously.
But Lin Qingyan understood what Gu Chengyin meant.
Gu Xiaoli might not harbor malicious intent toward Luo Zhao, but her origins and purposes were definitely not simple.
This made Lin Qingyan breathe a slight sigh of relief, but the doubts in her heart did not completely dissipate.
She leaned back into Gu Chengyin's embrace, burying her face in his shoulder, her voice muffled:
"When we get back, I will keep an eye on this Gu Xiaoli."
This was a promise, and also a declaration of her stance.
She would personally investigate, to dig into Gu Xiaoli's background and her motives.
To investigate whether her sister really left behind some backup plan she didn't know about.
Gu Chengyin gently patted her back as a comfort.
After all, they were already out now; they couldn't possibly turn back just to investigate Gu Xiaoli.
As for Luo Zhao's safety, there was even less need to worry.
With Emperor Luo, that old fox, around, who could possibly harm Luo Zhao?
Lin Qingyan was also very clear about this, so she only had doubts but was not overly worried.
Therefore, for Gu Chengyin right now, the most troublesome matter was the next person he had to explain.
Shangguan Yunying.
Cui Zilu could be brushed off as a young girl's infatuation, and Gu Xiaoli could be used to divert focus due to her unknown origins.
But not Shangguan Yunying.
She was the Chief Female Official, a person by Luo Zhao's side, and someone he had undeniable intimate contact with.
Furthermore, Shangguan Yunying's feelings for him had long exceeded the scope of mere cooperation.
Gu Chengyin could lie to Lin Qingyan, but he couldn't lie to himself.
"Yunying... she is a good girl."
Lin Qingyan didn't speak, just quietly looked at him.
"She is the Chief Female Official, absolutely loyal to Her Highness."
"My relationship with her is rather special. In the beginning, we were actually hostile to each other."
"But later... things slowly changed."
"How did they change?" Lin Qingyan asked.
Gu Chengyin felt a bit helpless:
"I don't know either. Maybe it's just from spending so much time together."
His words were vague, but Lin Qingyan understood.
Affection was just like that, starting at an unknown time, born from unknown events.
By the time one realized it, they were already deeply sunk into it, unable to extricate themselves.
"Then what about you towards her?" Lin Qingyan pressed, her eyes sharpening. "What are your feelings for her?"
This question was very lethal.
But Gu Chengyin did not avoid it. Instead, he said frankly:
"I do like her, but it's mostly guilt."
"Guilt?" Lin Qingyan raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." Gu Chengyin nodded. "I once used her feelings, used her loyalty to Her Highness, to make her do things for me."
This sounded very strange. Given Shangguan Yunying's status and intelligence, who could use her, and who would dare to use her?
But Lin Qingyan knew that Gu Chengyin could, and Gu Chengyin dared to.
Moreover, he truly had the ability to do it, and he truly would scheme against everyone.
Even she, Jingzhe of the Heavenly Master Mansion, Gu Chengyin dared to use, let alone Shangguan Yunying.
And precisely because she had experienced this firsthand.
Lin Qingyan somewhat understood why Shangguan Yunying would like Gu Chengyin.
After all, compared to Gu Chengyin.
Everyone else seemed too weak, too useless. It wasn't about strength.
It was a combination of courage, temperament, methods, boldness, confidence, and so on.
However, even knowing that Shangguan Yunying liked Gu Chengyin, Lin Qingyan didn't care.
She was Jingzhe of the Heavenly Master Mansion.
A Golden Core cultivator.
As long as she wanted him, who could snatch him away from her?
Therefore, by asking these questions, what Lin Qingyan really wanted to see was Gu Chengyin's attitude.
She wanted to see if Gu Chengyin would lie to her.
Now, Lin Qingyan had seen it.
That was enough.
"I understand."
Lin Qingyan buried her face in Gu Chengyin's shoulder, her voice muffled:
"I won't ask anymore."
The carriage fell quiet again.
But this quietness only lasted for a moment.
Just when Gu Chengyin thought Lin Qingyan really wasn't going to ask anymore.
This aloof Golden Core fairy acted as if she hadn't said anything at all.
She suddenly raised her head, her cold eyes staring straight at Gu Chengyin again.
The relief in her eyes from a moment ago was gone, replaced by an even sharper scrutiny.
She opened her mouth, her voice very light this time:
"What about Zhao'er?"
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
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...
