They kissed for who knows how long.
Maybe one incense stick’s time, maybe two. Shangguan Yunying herself couldn’t say.
All she knew was that when she finally managed to snap out of her dizzy haze a little,
the sky seemed just a shade darker than before.
That realization also made her aware that she’d been gone far too long.
Reluctantly, she pulled back from Gu Chengyin’s embrace, her cheeks still flushed with lingering heat.
Her eyes were moist and bright, like apricots fresh-washed by rain.
As she refastened her robe—somehow unbuttoned at some point—she murmured,
“I’ve been out too long.”
Her voice carried a note of reluctance and faint helplessness. “I really need to get back.”
Gu Chengyin looked at her as she was, then reached out to straighten her slightly rumpled collar.
Casually, he asked, “How is His Highness doing?”
Shangguan Yunying blinked, knowing he was asking about Luo Zhao’s hypnotic state.
“Nothing unusual,” she answered softly.
“Except for that time you were attacked in Luodu—His Highness seemed to have a conflict with His Majesty.”
“But I don’t know what happened inside the warm chamber.”
Gu Chengyin nodded. The answer didn’t surprise him.
Luo Zhao forcing the Luo Emperor to abdicate was, after all, a family scandal—bound to stay hidden.
As for other times, Luo Zhao acted almost exactly like his usual self, so Shangguan Yunying only needed to interact normally.
That clearly proved Luo Zhao was still under hypnosis.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t carry out the system’s commands so thoroughly.
If it had been the real Luo Zhao forcing the abdication, the result certainly wouldn’t have been as smooth.
He definitely wouldn’t have made the Luo Emperor withdraw his decree so cleanly.
Gu Chengyin silently downgraded the threat Luo Zhao posed.
At the end of the day, comparing him to a dog would almost be an insult to dogs.
“Mm, I understand.”
“Once I finish handling things, I’ll come find you.”
Hearing that promise, Shangguan Yunying’s eyes lit up instantly.
That light came so fast, so bright, it nearly lit up her whole being.
She looked up at Gu Chengyin, her gaze brimming with anticipation and joy, and said in a sweet voice,
“Pinky promise!”
She even held out her pinky. Gu Chengyin, seeing her delighted expression, couldn’t help but smile too.
He extended his own pinky and hooked it with hers. Shangguan Yunying’s smile grew even wider.
Gu Chengyin reached up and ruffled her hair again, and then the two of them walked side by side toward the exit.
Once outside, they stood in the open space before the Ten Thousand Phenomena Tower.
The Golden Guard stood at attention, eyes straight ahead, as if they had seen nothing.
Shangguan Yunying turned back to look at Gu Chengyin, her eyes filled with reluctance and a struggle to hurry herself away.
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, no words came.
Finally, she waved her hand, turned, and quickened her steps toward the Crown Prince’s Palace.
After a few steps, she looked back again. Seeing Gu Chengyin still standing there watching her,
she broke into a wide grin and waved once more.
Then she turned and disappeared, her steps light and swift.
Gu Chengyin watched until her figure vanished before withdrawing his gaze and heading toward the Ten Thousand Phenomena Tower.
The tower stood ahead—dark bricks, gray tiles, soaring eaves, and upturned corners, radiating a profound stillness.
In front of the tower stood the Golden Guard, aligned in two rows, holding long halberds, solemn and unmoving.
Gu Chengyin approached and produced the Crown Prince’s Token from his sleeve, offering it forward.
A Golden Guard stepped up to take it and scrutinized it carefully.
That was protocol: aside from the Emperor and the Crown Prince, anyone entering the tower had to show their token.
While the guard inspected it, Gu Chengyin asked casually, “Is Gu Xiaoli inside?”
The guard’s inspection paused almost imperceptibly. He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he lowered his head and continued checking the token, as if pondering something.
After a moment, he lifted his head, returned the token with both hands, and asked,
“Is Your Excellency, the Junior Preceptor, looking for someone?”
Gu Chengyin took the token and hummed in affirmation.
It was only then that the inspecting guard said,
“Then I’m afraid Your Excellency’s trip will be in vain. There’s no one in the tower at present.”
Gu Chengyin raised an eyebrow slightly and gave the guard another glance.
Though he hadn’t directly answered whether Gu Xiaoli was there, the phrasing made it essentially a no.
This was a clever man.
Knowing a direct reply might breach protocol, he’d offered a generalized answer.
This way, he avoided violating rules while doing the Junior Preceptor a favor.
A smile tugged at Gu Chengyin’s lips. “Thank you,” he said.
The guard’s expression remained unchanged. He gave a slight bow and returned to his post before the tower,
resuming his duties as if nothing had been said.
Gu Chengyin stood there for a moment, staring at the tower’s gate, frowning.
Gu Xiaoli wasn’t in the main hall, nor in the tower—so where was she?
Previously, she only ever went between those two places, occasionally dropping by to bother him.
Now both were empty…
Gu Chengyin suddenly blinked.
Wait.
Was he being an idiot?
Where Gu Xiaoli was, couldn’t he just ask Shangguan Yunying directly?
He’d been kissing and cuddling with her, being all lovey-dovey for so long,
and in the end, he’d completely forgotten to ask about the important matter. Instead, he’d stupidly headed straight for the tower.
Gu Chengyin shook his head, silently laughing at his own foolishness.
Of course, that was mostly because Shangguan Yunying’s charm was truly overwhelming.
Yes.
Truly overwhelming.
Overwhelming enough to make him forget his business entirely.
He didn’t dwell on it. Turning around, he prepared to head back to the Crown Prince’s Palace to ask Shangguan Yunying about Gu Xiaoli’s whereabouts.
But after just a few steps, he stopped abruptly.
At the entrance to a nearby corridor, a figure stood quietly.
She wore a plain white silk gown, her ink-black hair cascading like a waterfall, her face cold and pure.
An aura of faint frost and snow seemed to envelop her, sending a chill through anyone who saw her.
Lin Qingyan.
Back from the Luo Emperor’s place so soon?
Gu Chengyin’s brow shot up. He walked over quickly, speaking in a familiar, casual tone:
“Auntie, you’re back already?”
Lin Qingyan hummed flatly, her face still bearing that aloof indifference toward everything,
as if the whole world had nothing to do with her.
Gu Chengyin didn’t mind. He was getting used to her demeanor by now.
He figured it was actually convenient—she required little attention.
As for Lin Qingyan being summoned by the Luo Emperor under the name of the Grand Harmony… well, that was meant to cut the ground from under them.
And the result?
A slight curve lifted the corner of Gu Chengyin’s mouth.
The result was that his influence had soared yet again.
In fact, this level of leverage was even greater than that from the tribunal of the Three Ministries.
Lin Qingyan listened to him, and not to the Grand Harmony.
That fact was simply too earth-shattering.
Not just the hidden forces in the shadows—even the Luo Emperor himself was probably shaken to the core.
The Jingzhe of the Heavenly Master’s Court, ignoring the Grand Harmony’s orders, yet following a man who hadn’t even achieved the Golden Core…
What did that mean?
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.
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
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...
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!
