Moonlight cascaded like water onto the glazed tiles of the Crown Prince's residence, casting a cold, silvery glow upon the scene.
Inside the bedchamber, candlelight flickered, stretching and shortening the shadows of several figures.
The air still carried the lingering fragrance of roasted lamb, mingled with the greasy aroma of the lamb skewers in Gu Xiaoli's hand, drifting faintly through the silent hall.
Luo Zhao sat upright on the bed, having listened to Shangguan Yunying's account, her brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
She never imagined that in the span of a single meal, so many things could happen.
Gu Chengyin had actually managed to gain control over Lin Qingyan?
Although it ultimately failed, and Gu Xiaoli had even provoked him into revealing himself, the news still weighed heavily on Luo Zhao's heart.
She had made similar inferences before, and now it seemed she had been right.
Lin Qingyan had lost control, prompting Gu Chengyin to act against her.
Fortunately, Lin Qingyan's cultivation was high enough that he hadn't succeeded.
Otherwise, if Lin Qingyan were completely under Gu Chengyin's control, who in the Great Luo Dynasty could rival him?
Thinking about this sent a shiver of fear through Luo Zhao.
But soon, her attention shifted to another matter.
Her gaze fell on Gu Xiaoli, who was busy gnawing on a lamb skewer nearby.
This cat had not only broken Lin Qingyan's composure but also declared in front of everyone that she wanted to be Gu Chengyin's bride.
Luo Zhao squinted, a swirl of complex emotions stirring within her.
This was her cat!
After all the effort she’d put into getting Gu Xiaoli to agree, now—just as Gu Chengyin appeared—the cat was about to betray her?
No, she had to get to the bottom of this.
“Xiaoli.”
Luo Zhao spoke, her voice soft but carrying a tone of seriousness.
Gu Xiaoli was munching on a skewer, her mouth glistening with oil, her cheeks bulging.
Hearing Luo Zhao call her, she looked up, tilting her head, her big eyes full of confusion.
“Your Highness?”
She mumbled back, a trace of grease still clinging to the corner of her mouth.
Luo Zhao gazed at Gu Xiaoli’s innocent face and asked with a serious expression,
“If Gu Chengyin insists on making you his cat, would you agree?”
At this, the atmosphere in the room stiffened.
Shangguan Yunying also turned her head, her gaze fixed on Gu Xiaoli, a hint of tension flickering in her eyes.
Now that she knew Gu Xiaoli was a cat demon at the half-step Nascent Soul stage, she understood why Gu Chengyin wanted the cat.
Who wouldn’t want such a powerful asset?
That Gu Chengyin would eventually try to claim Gu Xiaoli was almost an open secret.
Gu Xiaoli blinked, replying nonchalantly, “Big Brother wouldn’t do that.”
Her tone was resolute, as if stating an indisputable fact.
Luo Zhao was taken aback.
She hadn’t expected Gu Xiaoli to answer so bluntly and so firmly.
So firmly that she had no idea why the cat was so certain.
“Why?” Luo Zhao pressed.
Gu Xiaoli nibbled at her skewer and said matter-of-factly, “Because Xiaoli doesn’t want to be Big Brother’s cat.”
She said it as if it were the simplest, most obvious reason in the world.
Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying exchanged glances, both wearing puzzled expressions.
Doesn’t want to, so it won’t happen?
Since when did Gu Chengyin ever care about what others wanted?
Whenever he desired something, didn’t he always find a way to get it?
Shangguan Yunying couldn’t help asking, “Xiaoli, you don’t really want to be Gu Chengyin’s…”
She didn’t finish the sentence, but her meaning was clear.
Gu Xiaoli nodded matter-of-factly.
“Exactly!”
She put down the skewer and earnestly explained to the two,
“Both you, My Lady, and Her Highness are family to Xiaoli, so it’s fine to be your cat.”
Gu Xiaoli paused before continuing, “But not Big Brother.”
Luo Zhao raised an eyebrow.
“Why not?”
Gu Xiaoli tilted her head and replied with childlike seriousness, “Big Brother once said that a brother and sister can’t sleep in the same bed.”
Her tone bore a kind of innocent gravity, as if this were the most important rule in the world.
“If I were Big Brother’s cat, he definitely wouldn’t let me sleep in his bed.”
A determined look crossed Gu Xiaoli’s face. “So I can’t be Big Brother’s cat.”
Her words left silence in their wake.
Luo Zhao froze.
She stared at Gu Xiaoli’s earnest little face, and suddenly, everything clicked.
Finally, she understood why Gu Xiaoli had agreed to be her cat.
In Gu Xiaoli’s world, both the Empress and she were family.
Like cousins or aunts—relatives, just without blood ties.
So Gu Xiaoli felt familial love for her.
But Gu Chengyin was different.
In Gu Xiaoli’s heart, Gu Chengyin wasn’t a relative.
Not bound by any relationship defined by family.
That was why she didn’t want to be his cat.
Because Gu Chengyin had said that a brother and sister couldn’t share the same bed.
That sentence had stuck with Gu Xiaoli, becoming an unshakable truth.
Not becoming his cat to avoid that rule was one thing; wanting to share a bed was another.
And wanting to share a bed meant…
Luo Zhao took a deep breath.
This meant Gu Xiaoli didn’t dislike Gu Chengyin.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
Her feelings for Gu Chengyin were not the familial kind, but rather the same kind Lin Qingyan had.
Luo Zhao felt dizzy just thinking about it.
This was even worse than letting Gu Xiaoli be Gu Chengyin’s cat!
As a cat, at least they’d still be family, and she could still intervene.
But now, Xiaoli wanted to be his bride.
That changed everything completely!
No matter how strong familial bonds were, they could never outweigh romantic love.
Just look at Shangguan Yunying. If Gu Chengyin ever clashed with Shangguan Yuan, who would she side with?
There was no need to guess—she would definitely support Gu Chengyin.
If Gu Xiaoli turned out that way too...
Even as her cat, Gu Xiaoli would still choose Gu Chengyin.
Luo Zhao dared not think further.
She gazed at Gu Xiaoli’s innocent little face, her heart aching bitterly.
This cat seemed clueless and carefree, yet deep down she kept a ledger more precise than anyone else’s.
She knew what kinship was, knew what love was.
She knew whose cat she could be, and whose she couldn’t.
She knew who she could sleep with, and who she couldn’t.
She knew everything.
For a moment, Luo Zhao had no idea how to change Gu Xiaoli’s mind.
Though Gu Xiaoli appeared soft and easygoing, deep down she was stubborn to the core.
Once she set her mind on something, not even ten oxen could drag her back.
Like back when she fought with her younger aunt for the title of Empress Dowager—so many arguments.
Did she ever give in? Did she ever bow her head?
No. Not once.
Luo Zhao sighed inwardly.
The only silver lining was that Gu Xiaoli was still her cat.
Even if her heart belonged to Gu Chengyin, at least in name, she was hers.
As long as Gu Chengyin hadn’t stolen her away yet, there was still a chance.
Luo Zhao shifted her gaze from Gu Xiaoli to Shangguan Yunying.
At that moment, the chief female official was staring at Gu Xiaoli, who was eating lamb skewers.
A hint of hidden vigilance flickered in Shangguan Yunying’s eyes.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
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!
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
