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."
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!
] [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!"
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.
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
