She stared blankly at the scene, her mind going completely blank.
Before she could recover her senses, Gu Chengyin's gaze had already fallen upon her.
"Shangguan Yunying."
The same strict tone, the same cold, emotionless voice.
Shangguan Yunying trembled all over.
She looked at Gu Chengyin cautiously.
Then she saw Gu Chengyin reach out and point to the empty space next to Lin Qingyan.
The meaning was self-evident.
Come here, kneel down, and admit your mistakes.
Shangguan Yunying's lips moved as if she wanted to say something.
But in the end, she said nothing.
Because she saw the look in Gu Chengyin's eyes.
There was no room for discussion, no compromise, and no bargaining.
There was only an unquestionable command.
Shangguan Yunying bit her lower lip and ultimately walked over obediently, kneeling down beside Lin Qingyan.
Two great beauties with completely different temperaments knelt side by side under the moonlight, right in front of Gu Chengyin.
One was aloof and elegant, the other stubborn.
One kept her head down, the other bit her lip.
One had obedience in her eyes, while the other's face was written all over with grievance.
But what they shared in common was that they were both kneeling.
Kneeling on the ground obediently and quietly.
Looking at the scene before him, the anger in Gu Chengyin's heart subsided slightly.
Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Mansion, the Golden Core fairy Lin Qingyan.
The Chief Female Official, the eldest lady of the Shangguan estate, Shangguan Yunying.
Two beauties who were usually high and mighty, whom everyone had to treat with the utmost respect.
At this moment, they were like two little girlfriends who had made a mistake, kneeling side by side in front of him, waiting to be punished.
This picture...
If outsiders were to see this, their jaws would drop in shock.
If those noble young masters in the Divine Capital were to see this, they would probably go crazy on the spot.
But Gu Chengyin didn't have any such strange thoughts.
Right now, he only wanted to teach these two a good lesson, letting them clearly know that he was the one in charge of everything.
Gu Chengyin looked down, his tone softening a bit:
"Do you know where you went wrong?"
Lin Qingyan raised her head, glanced at him, and quickly lowered it again.
Silence.
Gu Chengyin waited a moment but received no answer.
He frowned, his gaze falling first on Lin Qingyan.
"Lin Qingyan, you speak first."
Lin Qingyan pursed her lips and said in a low voice:
"I... shouldn't have knocked you out with lightning."
Her voice was very small, carrying a hint of a guilty conscience:
"It was wrong of me to attack you without your permission."
Gu Chengyin nodded and asked again:
"And what else?"
Lin Qingyan blinked, thought carefully for a moment, and added:
"I shouldn't have gotten angry at Chief Shangguan, and I shouldn't have tried to show off, and... and..."
"And what?"
Lin Qingyan's face flushed slightly as she muttered softly:
"Exaggerated the facts."
Seeing Lin Qingyan's embarrassed appearance, Gu Chengyin's anger dissipated a little more.
But he didn't show it. He just gave a faint grunt of acknowledgment and turned his head to look at Shangguan Yunying.
"What about you?"
Unlike Lin Qingyan's honesty, Shangguan Yunying wore a look of total innocence:
"I... I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"
Gu Chengyin raised an eyebrow and asked in return:
"You didn't do anything wrong?"
"Right!"
Shangguan Yunying said with self-righteous confidence:
"The one who knocked you out was Lady Jingzhe, not me. I was just watching from the sidelines."
Gu Chengyin's gaze grew dangerous, his tone turning unkind:
"Just watching?"
Shangguan Yunying felt a bit guilty under his stare, and her voice dropped:
"Well... I also said a few words..."
"What words?"
"Just... just..."
Shangguan Yunying's face also turned red, her voice growing quieter: "Asking Lady Jingzhe to compete with me..."
Gu Chengyin took a deep breath, closed his eyes helplessly, and asked:
"And then?"
"And then..."
Shangguan Yunying twisted her fingers together, her voice as quiet as a mosquito:
"And then it was because I wanted to prove that I am the woman you like the most."
"What else?"
"And..." Shangguan Yunying went completely silent.
Gu Chengyin looked at her and said seriously, word by word:
"Shangguan Yunying, running from the Divine Capital to the Luo Capital without authorization, did you ever consider the consequences?"
Shangguan Yunying was stunned.
"You are the Chief Female Official. Leaving your post without permission—if something happens to Her Highness, who will take responsibility?"
Shangguan Yunying's lips moved as if to speak, but she couldn't say a word.
"Also."
Gu Chengyin continued, "Why did you run to the Luo Capital?"
"It was to bring you news, to tell you about the imperial edict."
"That's true, but what about after you delivered the news?"
Gu Chengyin paused, his tone becoming even more severe:
"You threw all the important matters to the back of your mind. Let me ask you, how is Her Highness doing now?"
"What is the latest news from the Divine Capital? Does Cui Shifan have any follow-up moves? Have you thought about any of this?"
Shangguan Yunying was rendered completely speechless.
She lowered her head, her face flushing a deep red.
Although coming to the Luo Capital was Luo Zhao's order, and not a dereliction of duty.
But she couldn't tell Gu Chengyin that, and she indeed had her own selfish motives.
Even deliberately angering Lin Qingyan just now was the result of those petty motives at work.
So from a certain perspective, Gu Chengyin's scolding was indeed justified.
Lin Qingyan listened from the side, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
Although Gu Chengyin wasn't speaking to her, she knew these words were also aimed at her.
She clearly knew that what Gu Chengyin needed most right now was calm contemplation, she clearly knew the matter of the imperial edict was full of suspicious points, and she clearly knew Cui Shifan's motives needed to be scrutinized.
But what about her?
She was fighting out of jealousy with Shangguan Yunying, and even to prove something, she had directly knocked Gu Chengyin unconscious with lightning.
Not only was she not helping, but she was also causing more trouble.
Lin Qingyan lowered her head even further.
Gu Chengyin looked at the two women bowing their heads in admission of their mistakes, and his tone softened a bit:
"Do you know you were wrong?"
The two women nodded simultaneously and gave a soft hum of agreement.
"Do you know where you went wrong?"
They continued to nod and hummed again.
Gu Chengyin shook his head, his gaze sweeping across their faces.
This matter couldn't just be let go; he had to make them remember the lesson.
Especially Lin Qingyan—she hadn't hesitated at all when she shocked him.
Gu Chengyin cleared his throat and said in a serious tone:
"The two of you, remember this well."
Gu Chengyin first looked at Lin Qingyan, commanding her in a very serious tone:
"Lin Qingyan, you are not allowed to shock me with lightning again."
Lin Qingyan pursed her lips and nodded.
Then Gu Chengyin shifted his gaze to Shangguan Yunying, speaking in the same tone:
"Shangguan Yunying, you are not allowed to use me as some prop for a competition."
Shangguan Yunying also nodded.
"Furthermore,"
Gu Chengyin took a deep breath and then said:
"From now on, you will listen to me in everything."
"You will do whatever I tell you to do."
"No acting on your own, no petty jealousy, and no more causing trouble for me."
The two women exchanged a glance and then lowered their heads simultaneously.
"Understood?"
"Understood."
They spoke in unison, completely synchronized.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
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...
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
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!
