After Gu Chengyin asked this question, Luo Zhao's mind, hidden behind the consciousness puppet, instantly tensed up.
She was like a voyeur hiding behind a heavy curtain, carefully watching everything happening outside.
The question came too suddenly, making Luo Zhao almost think she had been discovered.
But in the next moment, she saw herself shake her head and answer with a hollow expression:
"I don't know."
After giving this answer, Luo Zhao's tense mind finally relaxed.
Only then did she remember that she had simply told Gu Xiaoli to come out of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Tower and instructed her not to be discovered by Gu Chengyin.
As for where the world-weary little girl ultimately went, she truly didn't know.
That cat always acted according to her own will; not going to Gu Chengyin was already considered obedient.
Luckily, Gu Chengyin had asked "Where did Gu Xiaoli go?" rather than "Was Gu Xiaoli called away by you?"
If it had been the latter, given the consciousness puppet's response mechanism, they would likely have been exposed.
After all, the consciousness puppet was absolutely obedient to Gu Chengyin. Faced with such a pointed question,
it would have honestly answered that Luo Zhao had called Gu Xiaoli away.
This left Luo Zhao secretly grateful.
After receiving the answer, Gu Chengyin didn’t think much of it.
He didn’t even spare Luo Zhao another glance. He simply nodded casually and turned his attention to Shangguan Yunying.
After all, in Gu Chengyin's mind at the moment, this magnificent Highness posed less threat than a dog—about the same level as a paramecium.
"Yunying, want to eat together?"
Gu Chengyin glanced at the sky outside. The dusk was deep, and the lanterns under the palace eaves had already been lit, their dim halos swaying in the twilight.
He figured that, no matter what, Gu Xiaoli couldn't possibly not come back even at night, right?
Even if she was a cat that liked nighttime activities, she wouldn't just disappear tomorrow, would she?
Gu Chengyin refused to believe he couldn’t catch that cat by waiting for her at the old haunt.
Hearing Gu Chengyin’s invitation, Shangguan Yunying’s eyes lit up instantly, their brightness so intense it nearly illuminated the entire hall.
She was about to agree when she suddenly remembered something and instinctively glanced at Luo Zhao, hesitating:
"I do have time... but Her Highness..."
Before she could finish, Gu Chengyin walked right up to Shangguan Yunying as if no one else were present.
He reached out, pulled her into his arms, and lowered his head to kiss her on the lips.
Nonchalantly, he asked, "What about Her Highness?"
This sudden assault caught Shangguan Yunying off guard. Her brain couldn’t process it in time.
By the time she came to her senses, her entire face had turned bright red, as if dusted with the finest rouge.
From her cheeks to her ears and even her neck, she was tinged with a faint pink hue.
Shangguan Yunying buried her head directly into Gu Chengyin’s chest, hiding her face against his torso, and muttered in a muffled voice:
"How can you be like this! Her Highness is still here!"
Her voice was so soft it could be squeezed out like water, carrying a hint of shyness and reproach yet laced with undisguised joy.
This scene of mutual affection caused two women to spit with disgust at the same time.
Lin Qingyan, hiding behind her inner demon, watched this scene with hatred gnawing at her teeth.
Despicable Shangguan Yunying!
If it weren’t for the fact that she had to pretend to be sugar-coated and maintain that persona, how would this woman ever get the chance to act coy and adorable in front of Gu Chengyin?
In looks, family background, and cultivation level, how could Shangguan Yunying compare to her?!
It was just a matter of being close enough to get in first!
Bide her time for now!
Bide her time for now!
Lin Qingyan silently recited these four words in her heart, desperately suppressing the impulse to rush out.
She couldn’t expose herself; she had to keep up the act.
She couldn’t let Gu Chengyin discover that she had deceived him time and again.
Meanwhile, behind the consciousness puppet, Luo Zhao watched this scene and nearly fainted from anger.
Before, there had at least been some pretense of testing her—showing intimacy in front of her but still maintaining some semblance of decorum.
Now, they weren’t even pretending. They were doing it right in front of her!
Embracing, kissing—what did they take her, the Crown Prince, for?
Air?
Furniture?
Gu Chengyin, you bastard!
When the day came to turn the tables, she would make sure he gets what he deserves!
And Shangguan Yunying! That was enough! She was the chief female officer, after all; couldn’t she have a little dignity!
Endure for now!
Endure for now!
Luo Zhao silently recited these four words in her heart, desperately suppressing the impulse to rush out.
She couldn’t expose herself; at least until she pulled Gu Chengyin down, she had to keep up the act.
This was the only chance to turn the tables and the only hope for a counterattack.
Two women, one older and one younger, with strikingly similar features, harbored different thoughts yet unanimously suppressed their impulses.
Meanwhile, Gu Chengyin had already taken Shangguan Yunying and started walking out without further ado.
"Her Highness isn’t dead. She can eat, drink, and sleep, so stop worrying about her."
Gu Chengyin’s voice drifted back, careless and indifferent.
"But... but..."
Shangguan Yunying wanted to say more, but her voice grew fainter and farther away.
Luo Zhao indeed wasn’t dead, but she was wide awake—wide awake and watching this scene unfold!
Shangguan Yunying, held tightly by Gu Chengyin as they walked out, felt quite uneasy.
While Gu Chengyin might be safe for now—since Luo Zhao was still biding her time and wouldn’t act rashly—she herself wasn’t safe!
What if Luo Zhao got angry and gave her some strange tasks to retaliate against Gu Chengyin?
Like forbidding him from touching her, as before? That would torment her!
She had worked so hard to get to this point with Gu Chengyin.
If it came to a critical moment and he wasn’t allowed to touch her, she would surely die of frustration.
But...
Shangguan Yunying thought again. Even if Luo Zhao issued tasks, it probably wouldn’t matter.
She could still defy them; Luo Zhao wouldn’t dare show her face before Gu Chengyin and couldn’t punish her much for it.
If the punishment were too severe, Gu Chengyin would surely notice.
Thinking this way, Shangguan Yunying felt much more at ease.
Since that was the case, she would definitely side with Gu Chengyin!
She immediately grew excited, looked up at Gu Chengyin’s profile, and asked with sparkling eyes:
"So what are we going to eat? I heard there’s a new restaurant in the Eastern Market."
"They say the roasted lamb there is especially delicious. Let’s go there, okay!"
A hint of a smile curled at the corner of Gu Chengyin’s mouth: "You’re well-informed."
"Of course!"
Shangguan Yunying lifted her chin proudly:
"I love eating the most. Wherever there’s good food, I’m the first to know!"
Their voices gradually faded away, and their figures disappeared beyond the palace door.
The hall fell silent again.
Luo Zhao sat behind the long table, watching the two leave with a hollow expression.
The consciousness puppet maintained its fixed posture, its gaze blank.
Its face was calm, as if it had no awareness of what had just happened.
Time ticked by one after another.
Footsteps came from outside. A female official arrived to report that the Junior Master Gu and the Chief Secretary had left the Crown Prince’s palace and were heading toward the Eastern Market.
Luo Zhao nodded and motioned for the official to withdraw.
The reporting official exited the hall and gently closed the door behind her.
Only Luo Zhao remained alone in the hall.
] [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!"
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!
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.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
