Do You Know Your Crime

After these words fell, the surroundings fell silent.

So silent that one could hear the night wind sweeping past the palace walls, so silent that one could hear the distant watchman striking his clapper.

Shangguan Yunying followed by Luo Zhao's side, completely dumbfounded.

She looked at Luo Zhao.

Looking at that face in the moonlight, as cold as if it had been quenched in ice.

Looking at those eyes staring fixedly ahead—eyes filled with fury, killing intent, and a gnashing hatred.

Just what exactly had Gu Chengyin done?

Countless thoughts raced through Shangguan Yunying's mind.

Pondering what could have made Luo Zhao this angry.

To the point of stirring her killing intent once again.

Subconsciously, Shangguan Yunying glanced to the left and right of the palace path.

It was completely deserted.

There was only the moonlight, the night wind, and the faint sound of the watchman's clapper in the distance.

After confirming no one was around, she closed the distance, lowered her voice, and asked cautiously,

"Your Highness, Gu Chengyin..."

"Did he do something to you?"

Did what?

In Luo Zhao's mind, the scene from the warm pavilion just moments ago instantly surfaced.

She had held a sword across her own neck.

With the blade pressed against her throat, she had said to Emperor Luo:

"If Imperial Father insists on taking Gu Chengyin's life, then after he dies, your daughter will die for love!"

Die for love.

These words surged up from her memory, like a basin of boiling oil poured onto the fire in her heart.

Luo Zhao's jaw suddenly clenched tight, her eyes locked dead ahead.

As if she could see Gu Chengyin's detestable face hovering right in front of her.

That damned bastard.

Those eyes that always calculated without missing a single detail.

Those lips that always carried a hint of a smile and profound depths.

That...

That bastard who made her say the words 'die for love' in front of her Imperial Father!

Gritting her teeth, Luo Zhao squeezed the words out through her teeth, one by one.

"That bastard gave me a command."

"He made the consciousness puppet use dying for love to force Imperial Father to retract his order."

Shangguan Yunying, "..."

She froze there, as if struck by a bolt of lightning.

It took her a long while to recover from her shock.

Then, Shangguan Yunying suddenly realized the crucial point in those words.

"Your Highness... you mean..."

Shangguan Yunying paused, cautiously confirming,

"The consciousness puppet obeys Gu Chengyin's commands?"

Luo Zhao closed her eyes and took a deep breath, suppressing a fraction of her surging fury.

When she opened her eyes again, she nodded.

"Yes."

"I was forcibly switched."

"It was only after Imperial Father promised to let Gu Chengyin go that I was switched back."

Shangguan Yunying's eyes suddenly widened.

She opened her mouth to say something, only to find her mind completely blank.

How could this be?

Wasn't Her Highness's hypnosis already lifted?

Why would it still...

She suddenly thought of someone.

Gu Xiaoli.

Luo Zhao and her hypnosis were lifted by Gu Xiaoli.

The consciousness puppet was also preserved by Gu Xiaoli.

Initially, they thought this was to allow them to maintain a disguise in front of Gu Chengyin.

But looking at it now, that was not the case at all!

"Your Highness."

Shangguan Yunying's voice was somewhat urgent.

"Gu Xiaoli!"

Luo Zhao nodded. Hearing this name, a calm look returned to her eyes.

"Once we get back."

"Bring Xiaoli to see me immediately."

Shangguan Yunying knew the gravity of the matter and immediately agreed,

"Yes."

Then she heard Luo Zhao continue,

"Also..."

Luo Zhao's gaze grew even colder than before.

"Gu Chengyin, that bastard."

"I will definitely kill him with my own hands!"

These words carried immense weight.

Every single word was laden with deep killing intent.

But hearing this, Shangguan Yunying was not as shocked as she had been about Gu Xiaoli.

Instead, she was somewhat used to it. She merely looked at Luo Zhao.

Looking at that face in the moonlight, cold as if quenched in ice.

Looking at those eyes staring fixedly ahead.

She suddenly realized she had seemingly heard these words many times before.

Luo Zhao wanting to kill Gu Chengyin had started from their very first meeting.

Back then, Her Highness said she wanted to kill Gu Chengyin.

Later, Her Highness also said she wanted to kill Gu Chengyin.

Even later, Her Highness still said she wanted to kill Gu Chengyin.

Up until now, Her Highness continued to say she wanted to kill Gu Chengyin.

But every time...

Gu Chengyin lived on perfectly fine.

Shangguan Yunying lowered her eyelashes, the corners of her lips curling into a slight smile.

She knew Her Highness was truly angry this time.

The killing intent was stronger than any previous time.

But... as long as the result was achieved, that was fine.

What was the result?

It was that Emperor Luo had retracted his execution order.

It was that Gu Chengyin was safe and sound.

For Shangguan Yunying, this was enough.

As for the rest...

Shangguan Yunying raised her head and looked at Luo Zhao's back.

As for whether Her Highness would actually kill Gu Chengyin...

That was a matter for the future.

Who knew what would happen in the future?

Right now, Gu Xiaoli was more important.

.......

The Crown Princess's bedchamber.

Luo Zhao had returned, but she did not change her clothes.

She did not wash up, and did not even sit on the soft couch.

She merely sat alone on the edge of the bed.

Moonlight seeped through the crevices of the carved window lattices, laying out fragmented silver patterns over her body.

Motionless, like a jade statue.

Luo Zhao was waiting.

Before long.

Footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by the faint noise of the door being pushed open.

Shangguan Yunying stepped into the bedchamber first, then stepped sideways to make way.

Moonlight flooded in from behind her, illuminating the person following.

Gu Xiaoli.

She wore moon-white inner garments, with an outer robe haphazardly draped over her.

Her eyes were half-squinted, and her short hair was somewhat messy, bearing the marks of being dragged out of a deep sleep.

So she looked a bit groggy overall.

But this grogginess did not diminish her beauty in the slightest.

Instead, it added an indescribable layer of languor to her already exquisitely sculpted, world-weary face.

The moonlight fell upon Gu Xiaoli's face.

Outlining her delicate features even more distinctly.

And in those half-squinted eyes, there was four parts bewilderment, three parts drowsiness, two parts languor, and one part world-weariness.

Luo Zhao looked at Gu Xiaoli.

Looking at this groggy appearance, freshly dragged out of slumber.

Originally, Luo Zhao had trusted Gu Xiaoli deeply, as it was Gu Xiaoli who had freed her from the second hypnosis.

But the events that transpired today forced Luo Zhao to reevaluate this world-weary loli.

Thinking of this, Luo Zhao's gaze darkened as she spoke coldly,

"Xiaoli."

Her voice was like ice shards falling onto a jade plate, crisp and laced with a chilling frost.

"Do you know your crime?"

Gu Xiaoli's eyelashes fluttered slightly.

Those half-squinted eyes slowly opened.

She looked at Luo Zhao, who sat on the edge of the bed enveloped in moonlight.

Looking at those eyes as cold as if quenched in ice.

Gu Xiaoli blinked. The grogginess gradually faded, replaced by a strange expression.

Not fear, nor panic.

But innocence.

Gu Xiaoli tilted her head, the movement somewhat adorable, like a kitten that had just woken up.

Then she spoke, her voice a bit hoarse, carrying the unique languor of someone newly awake.

"Your Highness..."

"What crime has Xiaoli committed?"

The corners of Luo Zhao's lips curled up slightly, the arc very cold.

"You do not know?"

Gu Xiaoli shook her head, shaking it very sincerely.

"Xiaoli does not know."

Luo Zhao's gaze grew even colder.

"Gu Chengyin can control my consciousness puppet."

"This matter."

"You couldn't possibly not know, could you?"