Moreover, Gu Chengyong was a man who always acted with great discretion.
He had bullied her, but never embarrassed her in public.
He controlled her, but never touched her foundations.
The crown prince's position, the respect of the court officials, the royal family's dignity—he left none of them compromised.
He would even, when Luo Zhao was at a loss, guide her in the right direction like a true young tutor.
Luo Zhao knew this was because Gu Chengyong had his own bottom line and principles.
Not killing the innocent unnecessarily, not taking advantage of others in distress, not bullying the weak.
This was the conclusion Luo Zhao had drawn through cold, detached observation since she first met Gu Chengyong.
What left the deepest impression on her was the kitchen maid, Aunt Zhang, from the Crown Prince's Palace.
Because her entire family had been kidnapped, she had been forced to try stealing a sandalwood box.
Even though getting caught would have only made things worse.
But what did Gu Chengyong do? He didn't hold it against Aunt Zhang.
Although after this incident, she was inevitably dismissed and even subjected to investigation by the Imperial Household Department,
Gu Chengyong still personally ordered Cui Shifan to release Aunt Zhang's family.
In truth, he didn't have to say a word for Aunt Zhang.
A lowly kitchen maid like her—even if her entire family died, no one would care.
No one would blame Gu Chengyong for it.
Yet Gu Chengyong still spoke up, because to him, it was simply a matter of a single sentence.
Thus, even Luo Zhao had to admit that Gu Chengyong truly possessed a certain charm.
Not in cultivation, not in intelligence.
But in the charisma of his character.
His strength was used to protect, not to bully.
His cleverness was used to observe, not to scheme.
When he held power, he didn't act arrogantly; when he lost it—
Luo Zhao had never seen him lose power.
But she imagined that, given Gu Chengyong's nature, he probably wouldn't panic.
Like an ancient tree rooted for a thousand years, when storms came, only the branches swayed while the trunk remained unshaken.
A person like that truly deserved to be liked.
No wonder Lin Qingyan and Shangguan Yunying both adored him so much.
Luo Zhao bit her lower lip, an inexplicable emotion surging in her heart.
She hated him—that was beyond doubt.
These feelings of hatred were like a red-hot branding iron, searing deeply into her heart.
Every time she thought of it, it hurt anew.
But...
She hesitated.
Hesitated over whether to take this opportunity to have Lin Qingyan teach Gu Chengyong a lesson.
And the most terrifying thing was that Luo Zhao realized she didn't want to.
She dared not dwell on it further.
Yet that hesitation, that delay, those inexplicable emotions—
They wound around her heart like vines, tightening and tightening, impossible to shake loose.
This forced Luo Zhao to start looking for excuses.
For instance... what if?
What if Lin Qingyan's lesson made Gu Chengyong detect her disguise?
Then hadn't all these days of endurance been wasted?
Hadn't the advantages Gu Chengyong taken from her all been given in vain?
After finding that excuse, Luo Zhao finally shook her head.
"No," she said, striving to make her voice sound sincere:
"Although Gu Chengyong is no human being, with a rotten moral character,
he never bullied me."
Lin Qingyan stared at Luo Zhao's eyes.
Her gaze was as sharp as a blade, capable of piercing through any disguise and reaching the depths of the heart.
Luo Zhao felt uncomfortable under that stare, but she forced herself not to look away.
Just then, Lin Qingyan precisely caught a fleeting flash of guilt in Luo Zhao's eyes.
The guilt came and went quickly, like a bird darting past—gone in an instant.
But for Lin Qingyan, that was enough.
She didn't expose it. Instead, she nodded, her tone still calm:
"That's good."
Luo Zhao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
She was about to say something when Lin Qingyan asked again:
"Then what are you going to do next? Continue to endure? Until you bring Gu Chengyong down?"
Luo Zhao blinked, thinking Lin Qingyan was asking to stop her.
After all, Lin Qingyan's relationship with Gu Chengyong was far from shallow.
Luo Zhao was about to explain when Lin Qingyan continued:
"In that case, Zhao'er, let's cooperate."
"Ah?!"
Luo Zhao was stunned.
This sudden twist left her bewildered.
Cooperate?
Lin Qingyan said she wanted to cooperate with her?
Wait, wasn't it yesterday that she personally confessed she loved Gu Chengyong?
The tone and expression had been unmistakably that of someone falling in love.
And now, all of a sudden, she wanted to work together to bring Gu Chengyong down?
What happened in between?
Luo Zhao's mind raced, trying to piece together the logic.
She recalled just now how Gu Chengyong had acted intimately toward Shangguan Yunying.
Given Lin Qingyan's personality, she would never tolerate Gu Chengyong hugging and kissing another woman in front of her.
Yet Lin Qingyan not only didn't stop him, she didn't even show herself.
Instead, after Gu Chengyong left, she sneaked around to meet Luo Zhao.
This meant...
Luo Zhao's eyes faintly lit up, carrying hope and anticipation.
She tentatively probed:
"Little Aunt, did you two break up?"
Lin Qingyan's expression stiffened slightly at the words.
The stiffness lasted only a moment before she quickly masked it.
But Luo Zhao had been staring intently at her face—how could she miss such a subtle change?
"No," Lin Qingyan replied, her voice still calm, yet tinged with an indefinable nuance:
"I still love him."
Luo Zhao blinked.
She believed that Lin Qingyan loved Gu Chengyong.
But what about the second half?
Shouldn't there be a second half?
Could it be...
Gu Chengyong didn't love Lin Qingyan?
So it was actually Lin Qingyan pursuing him unilaterally?
No, no.
Luo Zhao shook her head, tossing these chaotic thoughts aside.
Now wasn't the time to dwell on that. What mattered most was understanding why Lin Qingyan wanted to cooperate with her.
"Little Aunt," Luo Zhao weighed her words carefully, "What do you mean by cooperation just now?"
Lin Qingyan's gaze deepened, her tone quiet and mysterious:
"Exactly what it sounds like."
She spoke slowly: "You hate Gu Chengyong and want to bring him down.
I have my reasons. Since our goals are the same, why can't we work together?"
"But..." Luo Zhao hesitated, "Earlier, you said..."
"Earlier was earlier; now is now."
Lin Qingyan cut her off, saying, "People always change, Zhao'er. Haven't you changed too?
From the proud princess you once were to the crown prince you are now."
Luo Zhao fell silent.
Lin Qingyan was right; people always changed.
Wasn't she the best example?
The old her would never have tolerated being humiliated like this.
The old her would have jumped up and fought Gu Chengyong to the death.
"Then..." Luo Zhao lifted her head and asked, "How does Little Aunt want to cooperate?"
Lin Qingyan shifted her gaze to the window, her voice light as if talking to herself:
"First, you must restrain Shangguan Yunying.
At the very least, don't let her take things further with Gu Chengyong."
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!
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
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.
