Lin Qingyan looked up at the bright moon hanging in the middle of the sky.
The moonlight shone quietly, as if watching an indifferent play.
Its light remained cold and clear, falling upon her face, illuminating the helpless smile clearly.
The situation now was clearly in Luo Zhao's favor, because she was hiding in the shadows.
Because she was the one striking, not the one being targeted.
She could stay behind the scenes, watching as Gu Chengyin was schemed against time and again, cornered time and again, forced to the wall time and again.
But this advantage was not significant.
Because once Gu Chengyin learned the truth, he would crush Luo Zhao with overwhelming force.
Lin Qingyan's gaze sharpened.
This man was too terrifying, too ruthless. When he didn't act, he was still; when he moved, it was like a thunderbolt.
He would calculate everything clearly and understand every heart thoroughly.
Then, using the simplest method, he would trample his opponent into the mud.
Luo Zhao had indeed learned a great deal from Gu Chengyin.
But whatever she could learn, Gu Chengyin mastered even more thoroughly.
And to prevent this one-sided situation from emerging,
Even Lin Qingyan had to help cover things up, or even lend a hand.
For this very reason, Luo Zhao had laid her cards on the table so bluntly.
When this thought surfaced, Lin Qingyan furrowed her brow.
Help Luo Zhao target Gu Chengyin?
Impossible.
She would never help someone else target Gu Chengyin.
But if she didn't help Luo Zhao, then Gu Chengyin would learn the truth.
If Gu Chengyin learned the truth, he would make a move against Luo Zhao.
If Gu Chengyin made a move against Luo Zhao, Luo Zhao would be defeated without a doubt.
Luo Zhao would be defeated without a doubt...
She was the only daughter of her elder sister.
The niece she had watched grow up since childhood.
Lin Qingyan took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
If she had known it would come to this, it would have been better not to come to the Crown Prince's palace at all.
If she hadn't come tonight, if she hadn't walked through this door,
If she hadn't spoken with Luo Zhao, if she hadn't heard those words,
Then she wouldn't know all this, and she wouldn't be caught in this dilemma.
Sure enough, there are some truths that are better left unknown.
Lin Qingyan felt even more helpless.
The moonlight shone quietly, the night breeze blew gently.
She stood there outside the bedchamber door, amidst all this cold silence,
Allowing her thoughts to churn, allowing the scales in her heart to swing back and forth.
On one side was Luo Zhao.
On the other side was Gu Chengyin.
In the middle was herself.
Lin Qingyan stood there for a very, very long time.
So long that the moon had imperceptibly shifted, so long that the night breeze had gradually taken on the chill of deeper night and heavier dew.
Then, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind.
This thought came so abruptly that even Lin Qingyan herself was stunned.
What if...
What if she let Gu Chengyin devour Luo Zhao?
As soon as this thought surfaced, Lin Qingyan's entire body stiffened.
Let Gu Chengyin devour Luo Zhao?
What did that mean?
Literally?
What... what was she thinking?
The tips of Lin Qingyan's ears suddenly grew hot.
That heat spread from behind her ears to her cheeks, tinged with a very faint blush under the moonlight.
Here she was, standing in the moonlight, outside the Crown Prince's bedchamber, and running through her mind was...
Let Gu Chengyin devour Luo Zhao?
Since when was this a win-win solution?
Since when was this a way to solve the problem?
This... this was clearly...
Lin Qingyan's heartbeat suddenly quickened a few beats.
But thinking about it carefully...
If Gu Chengyin devoured Luo Zhao, would Luo Zhao still hate him?
If Luo Zhao became Gu Chengyin's woman, would she still try every means to target him?
If Gu Chengyin had Luo Zhao in his grasp, would he still run?
Would he still defect to the Second Prince, still disappear from her sight?
No.
None of that would happen.
Luo Zhao wouldn't hate him anymore, because the hatred would turn into something else.
Gu Chengyin wouldn't run, because he would be even more unable to get away.
Trapped by Luo Zhao, how could he possibly escape?
And her...
Lin Qingyan's gaze suddenly darkened.
What about her?
If Gu Chengyin really did devour Luo Zhao, what would she do?
After all, she was Luo Zhao's aunt. If she really let Gu Chengyin devour Luo Zhao,
That would be letting Gu Chengyin off far too easily!
This thought came and went in a flash.
Lin Qingyan stood still, the blush on her face fading.
She shook her head, casting this absurd notion out of her mind.
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
Not to mention whether Luo Zhao would be willing, as it stood, Luo Zhao only felt hatred for Gu Chengyin.
That frenzied look in her eyes, that gnashing tone of her voice, that determination to drag Gu Chengyin into the mire—
It wasn't love; it was hatred, a pure, pathological, maddening hatred.
In such a state of mind, normal methods wouldn't even be feasible, let alone anything else.
And then there was whether Gu Chengyin would be willing. This man only felt respect for Luo Zhao.
The way he looked at Luo Zhao was no different from how he looked at anyone else in the world.
And he was extremely cautious. If Gu Chengyin were truly told to devour Luo Zhao,
This man would only wonder if there was some earth-shattering trap lying in wait.
So it was impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
Lin Qingyan told herself this.
But a small voice in her heart whispered from a corner.
What if it were possible?
If it really could be done, wouldn't everything be resolved?
Luo Zhao wouldn't have to hate, Gu Chengyin wouldn't have to run, and she wouldn't be caught in the middle, torn between both sides.
Everyone would be fine, nobody would get hurt, nobody would be sad.
Wasn't that a win-win? Wasn't that perfect for everyone?
Lin Qingyan took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
The night breeze blew, bringing a hint of chill.
That chill finally pulled her out of her wild thoughts and back to reality.
Absurd.
Too absurd.
How could she have such a thought?
She was Lin Qingyan!
She was Luo Zhao's aunt!
How could she...
How could she...
Lin Qingyan closed her eyes, letting the night breeze sweep over her.
The wind brushed across her cheeks, carrying away the last traces of warmth.
After a long while, she opened her eyes.
The cold clarity had already returned to the depths of her gaze.
No matter what, what had happened tonight needed careful consideration.
Luo Zhao's hatred, Gu Chengyin's predicament, and her own position—
These affairs were all tangled together like a ball of thread, needing to be slowly untangled.
As for that absurd thought... it was best to throw it away for now.
If worse came to worst, she could go back and ask Gu Chengyin, rather than standing here letting her imagination run wild.
What if Gu Chengyin didn't care about all this scheming at all, or even didn't take it seriously?
If that were the case, she might even have to go and help Luo Zhao,
To prevent this Crown Prince from being bullied into tears by Gu Chengyin.
Lin Qingyan took a step forward, heading back in the direction she had come.
The moonlight fell behind her, casting an extremely long shadow.
That shadow took a few steps, then suddenly paused.
Then, a voice so soft it was nearly inaudible, drifted away into the night breeze.
"What if...?"
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
