From a logical perspective, whether it was Emperor Luo or Cui Shifan, the probability was higher than it being Luo Zhao.
However, because of the actual contents of the imperial edict, Gu Chengyin did not completely rule out Luo Zhao, but rather temporarily placed her in third place.
Unless there was evidence to prove that this edict was neither brokered by Cui Shifan nor issued by Emperor Luo, then Luo Zhao would be the only remaining possibility.
But he certainly couldn't share this deduction with Lin Qingyan.
She still didn't know that he had Luo Zhao under his control.
Gu Chengyin analyzed in an unhurried voice:
"No matter what, I am still the Junior Preceptor to the Crown Princess."
"If Her Highness had issued this edict, it would be damaging her own prestige and slapping her own face."
"There is absolutely no need for that."
The logic was sound.
Listening to him, Lin Qingyan nodded as well.
Logically speaking, Luo Zhao was indeed the most unlikely candidate.
She was the Crown Princess.
The future Empress.
Someone who needed to establish her authority in the royal court.
What benefit would she gain from issuing such an edict, forcing Gu Chengyin to return to the capital as a state criminal?
None.
Absolutely none.
Yet, deep down, Lin Qingyan still had a strong premonition.
That edict was issued by Luo Zhao.
As for the reason.
She didn't know.
Because it was purely her intuition.
It lacked any logical support, let alone any reason.
But Lin Qingyan just felt that only Luo Zhao would issue such an edict.
Even if this edict would damage her face as the Crown Princess.
Luo Zhao still issued it.
Such a contradictory logical conflict made Lin Qingyan involuntarily furrow her brows.
She recalled the Luo Zhao she had seen before departing on her sect inspection.
This Crown Princess who was as docile as a kitten by Gu Chengyin's side.
This Highness who was cold, arrogant, isolated, and kept everyone at arm's length on the outside.
Yet, this niece whose eyes always seemed to flicker with something whenever she looked at Gu Chengyin.
A thought suddenly flashed through Lin Qingyan's mind.
What if Luo Zhao was faking it?
What if she was deliberately pretending to be docile, deliberately pretending to be obedient?
Lin Qingyan's pupils suddenly shrank.
She remembered how she had first noticed Gu Chengyin.
It was because of Luo Zhao.
It was because, in Luoshui Commandery, she had seen a completely different Luo Zhao when she was beside Gu Chengyin.
That look in her eyes, that posture, that expression...
were exactly the same as how she behaved around Gu Chengyin now.
If Luo Zhao liked Gu Chengyin, then the docility she showed around him would be genuine.
But what if... Luo Zhao was faking it?
What if all that docility, that obedience, those flickering looks she gave Gu Chengyin, were all an act?
Then what did she want?
What did she want to get from Gu Chengyin?
Or rather, what did she want to do to him?
Lin Qingyan's brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
She thought of Luo Zhao's identity and status.
Would someone of such standing truly submit to a person without reservation?
Would a Crown Princess really fall in love with someone?
Would she?
Lin Qingyan wasn't sure.
She only knew that she herself was someone who wore masks in front of others.
Cold and aloof, keeping people at a distance—those were her masks.
Only in front of Gu Chengyin could she take off these masks and reveal her truest self.
What about Luo Zhao?
Was Luo Zhao's docility in front of Gu Chengyin the result of taking off her mask.
Or was she wearing another one?
Take, for example, this imperial edict that ordered her, Jingzhe of the Celestial Master Mansion, to personally arrest Gu Chengyin and bring him back to the capital.
If this edict really was issued by Luo Zhao.
Then what exactly was Luo Zhao's goal?
To have her personally arrest Gu Chengyin?
To make Gu Chengyin return to the capital as a state criminal?
To sweep away the prestige of the entire Crown Princess faction?
To...
Lin Qingyan's pupils slightly shrank.
To make the whole court and country believe that Gu Chengyin had fallen from power?
To make Gu Chengyin lose all his backing?
To make Gu Chengyin fall out of favor?
To make Gu Chengyin...
rely solely on her, Luo Zhao?
As soon as this thought surfaced, Lin Qingyan's heart skipped a beat.
But if this were really the case, if Luo Zhao was truly targeting Gu Chengyin.
What should she do?
Luo Zhao was her niece.
The biological daughter of her older sister, the Empress.
The Crown Princess.
The future Empress.
And Gu Chengyin was her...
Her what?
Lin Qingyan bit her lower lip.
Gu Chengyin was her Chengcheng.
The person she liked.
The person she wanted.
The person she wanted to protect.
If Luo Zhao really wanted to target Gu Chengyin...
To use an imperial edict to erase Gu Chengyin's status and power.
What should she do?
Who should she help?
How should she choose?
Lin Qingyan's mind was a tangled mess.
She excelled at fighting, not at these trivial matters.
Especially the kind that required weighing options, calculating, and making choices in complex relationships.
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became, and the more confused she became, the less she knew what to do.
Finally, after thinking it over, she decided to just ask Gu Chengyin.
After all, Gu Chengyin's brain was far more useful.
No matter how complex the situation, he could always find the essence through logical deduction.
Lin Qingyan opened her eyes and looked up.
Gu Chengyin was gazing out the window, the moonlight casting faint shadows on his face, highlighting his sharp features and calm expression.
He seemed to be deep in thought.
After watching him for a while, Lin Qingyan spoke softly:
"Chengcheng."
Gu Chengyin snapped back to reality and looked at Lin Qingyan.
"Hmm?"
Meeting Gu Chengyin's gaze, Lin Qingyan asked cautiously,
"How is your relationship with Zhao'er?"
Hearing this question, a hint of confusion flashed in Gu Chengyin's eyes.
Hadn't Lin Qingyan asked this question before?
His answer back then had been very straightforward: he respected Her Highness, and that was it.
Or did Lin Qingyan mean to ask about Luo Zhao's opinion of him?
Well, she would definitely have to ask Luo Zhao to know that.
Lin Qingyan seemed to see through Gu Chengyin's confusion and added,
"What I mean is..."
She paused, carefully weighing her words.
"Is there some kind of misunderstanding between you two?"
Misunderstanding?
The confusion in Gu Chengyin's eyes deepened.
What misunderstanding could there possibly be between him and Luo Zhao?
On the surface, they were the Crown Princess and the Junior Preceptor to the Crown Princess.
One was responsible for teaching and training, and the other for receiving the teaching and training.
In secret, one was a hypnotist, and the other the hypnotized.
Still, one was responsible for teaching and training, and the other for receiving it.
What a simple and pure relationship.
How could there be any misunderstanding?
Gu Chengyin looked closely at Lin Qingyan and noticed the earnest expression in her eyes.
He suddenly realized that Lin Qingyan wasn't just asking casually.
She had genuinely sensed something, just as she had sensed his true intentions.
After all, Lin Qingyan could sense the electricity in people.
Even without any logic or reason, she could skip the deduction process entirely and arrive straight at the correct answer.
Therefore, Lin Qingyan must have noticed something.
And from that final answer, she was working backward, trying to construct the entire logical chain.
Gu Chengyin thought for a moment before asking straightforwardly,
"Auntie, if you have something to say, just say it directly."
"I trust your intuition."
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
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!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
