She raised her head, glanced at Gu Chengyin, and then quickly lowered it again.
Her gaze darted around the carriage, drifting to Lin Qingyan, then back, and then over to Lin Qingyan once more.
Finally, Shangguan Yunying muttered softly,
"With Lady Jingzhe here, how could you possibly do anything to harm Her Highness?"
Her voice was so light it sounded like she was talking to herself, but Gu Chengyin heard it loud and clear.
Shangguan Yunying paused, then muttered again, "If you really did mean any harm, that would be Lady Jingzhe's problem anyway."
"I am just a lowly Chief Court Lady. What could I possibly do?"
Hearing this, Lin Qingyan, who had been helping out, froze.
She could not help but shoot Shangguan Yunying a strange look.
Was she trying to shift the blame onto her?
If Gu Chengyin really did something detrimental to Luo Zhao, it would somehow be the fault of her, the aunt?
Although the logic made some sense—after all, she was Luo Zhao's aunt.
If Gu Chengyin actually did anything to Luo Zhao, she truly could not absolve herself of the blame.
But she could not just shove all the responsibility onto her, could she?
Lin Qingyan originally wanted to retort, but unfortunately, she was currently in no position to speak.
Watching this scene unfold, Gu Chengyin could not help but chuckle dumbly.
He had not expected Shangguan Yunying to actually start shirking responsibility.
But thinking about it carefully, it was not that surprising.
After all, a wise person submits to circumstances.
If something really were to happen, facing the combination of Gu Chengyin and Lin Qingyan...
What could a mere Chief Court Lady do?
Resist? She lacked the strength.
Stop them? She could not stop them.
So she might as well just lie back and enjoy it.
Gu Chengyin could not help but tease,
"I did not expect you to be so practical, Yunying."
Shangguan Yunying looked up and rolled her eyes at him.
That glance carried a bit of resentment, a bit of grievance, and a trace of some indescribable emotion.
"With Lady Jingzhe here, even if you did plot against Her Highness, it would be your family matter."
"How would a lowly court lady like me dare to interject?"
At this point, Shangguan Yunying paused, her voice dropping even lower:
"You will not even let me speak, so what else can I do?"
Hearing this, the smile in Gu Chengyin's eyes deepened.
The grievance and resentment in those words were so thick they could not be dissolved.
She was clearly accusing him of what he had just done, clearly stating how miserably he had bullied her.
But this was as far as Shangguan Yunying dared to take her complaints.
Looking at Shangguan Yunying's current state, Gu Chengyin suddenly felt a surge of tender affection.
He reached out and pulled the Chief Court Lady into his embrace.
Shangguan Yunying's body stiffened for a moment, but quickly softened.
Leaning against Gu Chengyin's chest, breathing in his scent, she suddenly felt her nose tingle with the urge to cry.
The experience just now had been truly terrifying, and it had happened right in front of Lin Qingyan.
She had never suffered such a grievance in her entire life.
But...
But being held in Gu Chengyin's arms, Shangguan Yunying felt as if she was not so aggrieved after all.
How strange.
Gu Chengyin held her, his hand gently stroking her back as if comforting a frightened kitten.
His voice was very gentle as he comforted her:
"Yunying, you cannot say that."
"Do not forget, I am now the Sect Master of the Azure Sword Sect, and the Vice Sect Master is your grandfather."
Hearing this, Shangguan Yunying's eyes instantly lit up.
That is right!
How could she have forgotten about that!
Although she was Luo Zhao's Chief Court Lady, that was not her only connection to Gu Chengyin.
Her grandfather was Jiang Qingshan, the person who actually managed the Azure Sword Sect.
Although Shangguan Yunying did not know why Gu Chengyin had become the Sect Master of the Azure Sword Sect.
But based on her understanding of Gu Chengyin, this identity must be extremely important to him.
In other words, she, Shangguan Yunying, was naturally also very important to Gu Chengyin!
In terms of status, she was actually on the same level as Lin Qingyan, or even Luo Zhao!
Shangguan Yunying's eyes grew brighter and brighter, like two dazzling stars.
The grievance and resentment from earlier were swept away, replaced by brimming excitement.
Shangguan Yunying originally thought her advantage was very small. After all, Lin Qingyan was Luo Zhao's aunt and the Jingzhe of the Celestial Master Mansion.
While she was just a lowly Chief Court Lady.
But looking at it now, her advantage was not small at all; it was incredibly huge!
So huge that Shangguan Yunying was so happy she felt like she could fly.
She no longer cared about what Lin Qingyan was doing right now. She immediately threw herself into Gu Chengyin's embrace and rubbed affectionately against him.
After snuggling against him for quite a while, she finally raised her head, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Gu Chengyin:
"Master~"
Her voice was soft and delicate, so sweet it could drip water.
Shangguan Yunying blinked her eyes, smiling like a little fox that had just stolen a treat:
"Can I join Lady Jingzhe, please?"
Gu Chengyin raised an eyebrow slightly.
Join her?
What did that mean?
His gaze fell upon Shangguan Yunying's smiling face, and he suddenly understood the implication.
Join her.
It meant exactly that.
Together with Lin Qingyan.
Gu Chengyin's gaze involuntarily drifted toward Lin Qingyan.
Lin Qingyan still had her head lowered, but her thoroughly flushed ears and slightly trembling shoulders indicated that she had heard everything.
Yet she had no reaction, she neither refused nor agreed.
She just kept her head down and continued earnestly doing her own thing.
Gu Chengyin withdrew his gaze and looked back at the beaming Shangguan Yunying.
Her sparkling eyes were filled with anticipation and slyness; she was clearly waiting for his answer.
Gu Chengyin remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking:
"Yunying."
"Hmm?"
Shangguan Yunying blinked her eyes.
Gu Chengyin's gaze was profound: "Do you know what you are saying?"
Shangguan Yunying tilted her head, smiling with innocent purity: "I know~"
Gu Chengyin's eyebrow twitched.
He knew Shangguan Yunying was not truly innocent.
This Chief Court Lady was incredibly shrewd, shrewder than anyone else.
She was testing his bottom line, testing his attitude toward Lin Qingyan, and testing her own weight in his heart.
If he agreed, Shangguan Yunying would gain massively.
Not only would her status be affirmed, but she would also be on equal footing with Lin Qingyan, perhaps even more.
If Gu Chengyin refused, Shangguan Yunying would lose nothing.
She had already made her stance clear and let him know what she wanted anyway.
No matter how you looked at it, she would not lose out.
Looking at Shangguan Yunying's smiling face, Gu Chengyin suddenly felt an itch in his teeth.
This little vixen disguised in the skin of a court lady.
Just a moment ago she had been taught such a lesson that she could not even speak, and now that she had recovered, she was stirring up trouble again.
Gu Chengyin thought that he ought to refuse.
But the dam of reason had already been washed away by the instincts of desire.
Therefore, the words of refusal simply could not leave his mouth.
Besides...
Gu Chengyin's gaze drifted back to Lin Qingyan, and after confirming that this fairy-like woman showed no signs of resistance,
He finally withdrew his gaze and looked back at Shangguan Yunying.
Meeting his eyes, Shangguan Yunying blinked and smiled even sweeter:
"Master~ Please?~"
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...
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
