He Doesn't Care About Her

Just as I thought. Luo Zhao instantly understood.

Only this kind of external interference could make Gu Chengyin act so abnormally.

His vigilance was mixed with scrutiny, and within his alienation lay an inexplicable tolerance.

Previously, Luo Zhao had simply assumed Gu Chengyin was testing the waters; after all, he treated everyone this way and never easily gave his trust.

But later, during their occasional encounters, that trace of tolerance became increasingly obvious, culminating on the night of the hypnosis.

"Xiaoli acted very well, but still couldn't eliminate brother's wariness."

Gu Xiaoli's voice pulled Luo Zhao back from her thoughts, and the girl's calm expression finally showed some change.

Her lips pouted slightly, like an aggrieved kitten robbed of its dried fish.

"Even though Xiaoli warmed brother's bed, I only went from being a personal maid to a younger sister."

Luo Zhao blinked.

Warmed his bed?

She suspected she had misheard, but Gu Xiaoli's expression was very serious, not looking like a joke at all.

"You warmed Gu Chengyin's bed? When did this happen? How come I didn't know?"

Gu Xiaoli tilted her head, seemingly recalling. "It was the night the mole was discovered. Xiaoli wanted to gain brother's trust."

"So I stripped naked and tempted him with warming his bed, but in reality, as long as brother got into bed, he would fall into an illusionary dream."

Luo Zhao was speechless.

"But even so, Xiaoli still failed."

Gu Xiaoli continued, a hint of frustration in her tone. "Brother found an excuse. It looked like he was persuading Xiaoli, but he was actually persuading himself, and then he succeeded in convincing himself."

"Wait." Luo Zhao raised a hand to interrupt. "Are you saying that him treating you as a younger sister was him setting up a psychological defense line for himself?"

"Mhm." Gu Xiaoli nodded. "In brother's perception, a brother and sister cannot sleep in the same bed."

"As long as he recognized Xiaoli as a sister, brother could use the bottom line of his principles to guard his true heart."

Luo Zhao looked at Gu Xiaoli's perpetually world-weary face, which now held a bit of childish grievance, and suddenly did not know what to say.

Half-step Nascent Soul.

This was a Half-step Nascent Soul.

In the entire Great Luo Dynasty, Golden Cores were already as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, and a Half-step Nascent Soul was something only heard of in legends.

Luo Zhao had once thought that such a cultivation level was enough to crush everything, including Gu Chengyin's monstrous calculations.

But the reality was...

Under the temptation of a world-weary loli, Gu Chengyin changed Gu Xiaoli's status from a personal maid to a younger sister.

And then used the bottom line of principles to guard his heart.

This was not deliberate calculation, but an instinctive construction of a psychological defense.

It was an intuitive stress defense made when encountering incomprehensible problems.

This was innate rationality, intuitive instinct, and killing intent perception.

"Although I couldn't trick brother into bed, it was also because brother treated Xiaoli as a sister."

"That Xiaoli finally found a chance to use illusions to guide brother's subconscious, making him temporarily forget Xiaoli."

Gu Xiaoli's voice sounded again, carrying a bit of rejoicing. "Otherwise, I definitely would have been caught by brother that night."

When she said this, she didn't look like a Half-step Nascent Soul cat demon, but rather like a younger sister showing off her successful mischief.

Pouting, her eyes brightened for a moment before quickly returning to their world-weary look.

"But even so, brother still guessed it was Xiaoli the very next day."

Gu Xiaoli's tone dropped again, and the light in her large eyes dimmed a bit:

"Brother is too smart. He is even smarter than Her Highness."

"Xiaoli really had no other way and could only use a poisonous oath to make brother believe."

Luo Zhao lowered her eyelashes, the moonlight casting a faint shadow on her face.

She finally understood why Gu Chengyin was so conflicted about Gu Xiaoli.

His innate caution made him guard against Gu Xiaoli.

The illusion of a Half-step Nascent Soul made him forget Gu Xiaoli.

Reason and illusion tore at each other in his mind, ultimately reaching a contradictory balance.

Did Gu Chengyin win?

No.

The night of the hypnosis, he forgot Gu Xiaoli in the illusion, allowing her to approach without the slightest defense.

For someone like Gu Chengyin, this was the most thorough defeat.

Did Gu Xiaoli win?

Neither did she.

Just the next day, Gu Chengyin forcibly deduced the truth.

From those erased memory fragments, from the subtle flaws left by the illusion.

He found Gu Xiaoli bit by bit.

This was a seemingly lose-lose situation.

But as Luo Zhao looked at Gu Xiaoli, looking at that perpetually world-weary face.

She keenly caught a detail.

Gu Xiaoli was too partial to Gu Chengyin.

Logically speaking, with Gu Xiaoli's cultivation, she didn't need to care about Gu Chengyin's feelings at all.

She only needed to use absolute power to ruthlessly possess him.

"Why are you so good to him?"

So Luo Zhao asked very bluntly, without beating around the bush, without probing.

Because she found that the twists and turns of political maneuvering were meaningless in front of Gu Xiaoli.

A cat's logic was very simple, so simple that it left no room for calculation.

Hearing this question, a ripple appeared in Gu Xiaoli's large eyes.

"Because Xiaoli awakened Your Highness and betrayed brother."

Luo Zhao was startled.

Gu Xiaoli continued, her voice very calm, so calm it didn't seem like she was talking about herself:

"Betrayal is betrayal. No matter how many reasons there are, to brother, it is betrayal."

She paused and lowered her eyelashes: "Therefore, Xiaoli wants to compensate brother."

The bedchamber fell quiet.

Luo Zhao stared blankly at Gu Xiaoli, that sentence echoing repeatedly in her mind.

Betrayal is betrayal, no matter how many reasons there are.

Indeed.

No sacrifice is too great to accept, and no betrayal is too small to forgive.

In order to fulfill Empress Lin's dying wish, Gu Xiaoli chose to awaken Luo Zhao.

But for Gu Chengyin, no matter how many legitimate reasons there were for this choice, no matter how much helplessness lay behind it.

It was all betrayal.

That was why Gu Xiaoli was partial to Gu Chengyin.

That was why she would rather swear a poisonous oath just to make Gu Chengyin stay.

Luo Zhao's gaze unconsciously shifted to her side.

In the inner room, half-hidden by gauze curtains, the brocade quilt was slightly raised, and Shangguan Yunying lay quietly, her brows relaxed and her breathing steady.

She was still unconscious, and it was unknown when she would wake up.

But looking at that familiar face, Luo Zhao suddenly understood.

She understood why Shangguan Yunying, just like Gu Xiaoli, had started to favor Gu Chengyin.

She had thought Shangguan Yunying did it for love.

But at this moment, Luo Zhao realized it wasn't like that.

It was because Shangguan Yunying had betrayed love for the sake of loyalty.

So she was also compensating.

Using those little schemes, using time and time again of giving herself away for nothing to compensate Gu Chengyin.

Because Shangguan Yunying was the Chief Female Official, her loyalty to Luo Zhao would always come first.

But because of this, her affection for Gu Chengyin could only be placed second.

So Shangguan Yunying began to favor Gu Chengyin.

Even if she wouldn't be forgiven.

Luo Zhao's fingers unconsciously tightened, gripping the fabric of her cuff.

She couldn't help but begin to reflect.

Reflecting on what the true root cause of all this was.

Was it her hatred for Gu Chengyin?

But why did she hate him?

Because Gu Chengyin controlled her?

Luo Zhao furrowed her brows and thought carefully.

Initially, yes.

That anger of being manipulated, that humiliation of discovering she was nothing but a puppet, made her wish she could kill Gu Chengyin with her own hands.

But what about later?

Later, Gu Chengyin revealed his capabilities, his methods, and his devilish scheming.

He proved in his own way that his control was not reckless tyranny, but rather...

But rather what?

Luo Zhao could not find the right words.

Yet she knew that, from a certain moment onward, she no longer minded being controlled.

Or rather, she was willing to be.

Was it because Gu Chengyin had bullied her?

Luo Zhao pondered for a long time before finally shaking her head.

Gu Chengyin had indeed bullied her, in the most absurd of ways.

But Luo Zhao knew it was because she had been too disobedient.

If she had simply done nothing, honestly playing the role of his puppet and obediently letting him manipulate her, Gu Chengyin would not have even given her a second glance.

This man never cared about useless people.

At this thought, Luo Zhao suddenly froze as something began to surface from the depths of her heart.

It was the truth.

The truth of why she hated Gu Chengyin.

It was not because of his control, nor was it because of his bullying.

It was because...

He did not care about her.