Obviously, Shangguan Yunying also understood the implication behind Gu Xiaoli’s words.
Not wanting to be a cat meant she was trying to compete with her for someone.
How could Shangguan Yunying not take that seriously?
"Yunying."
Shangguan Yunying turned her head at the call and looked at Luo Zhao.
Luo Zhao’s expression grew serious:
"Just now, you said that Gu Chengyin has started doubting me again because of Little Aunt?"
Shangguan Yunying nodded gravely:
"Though he didn’t show it overtly, I could sense it."
She paused, then added:
"But Lord Jingzhe said she needed to meditate on the way of immortality, so he probably won’t come tonight."
Luo Zhao nodded, her expression calm.
"I see. I’ll keep that in mind."
She pondered for a moment, then said slowly:
"As long as the consciousness puppet is in place, it doesn’t matter if Gu Chengyin grows suspicious again."
"Someone like him can only doubt unless he sees proof with his own eyes."
Having said that, Luo Zhao suddenly remembered something and turned to Gu Xiaoli.
"Xiaoli, does this consciousness puppet have to obey Gu Chengyin’s commands? Can it be modified?"
Gu Xiaoli was just munching on a skewer of lamb. She set it down, thought carefully, and then shook her head.
"It’s not that Xiaoli doesn’t want to—it’s that I can’t."
Luo Zhao frowned.
"Can’t?"
"Yeah."
Gu Xiaoli nodded, her little face serious.
"Big Brother’s hypnosis is very powerful. To completely evade it, only Her Highness’s bracelet could do that."
"Xiaoli’s cultivation level and skill aren’t high enough. Doing this much is already the limit."
Luo Zhao was silent for a moment, then nodded.
She didn’t doubt Gu Xiaoli’s words.
After all, Gu Xiaoli was only at the half-step Nascent Soul stage. If she could do something that even an immortal-grade artifact couldn’t achieve, that would be utterly astonishing.
Creating a consciousness puppet to fool Gu Chengyin was already beyond expectations.
To totally circumvent Gu Chengyin’s commands was indeed beyond her ability.
Luo Zhao sighed inwardly.
It seemed she’d have to keep playing along with Gu Chengyin.
So be it—she had been pretending for so long anyway; a little longer wouldn’t matter.
As long as she could stall and keep Gu Chengyin from discovering the truth, there was still a chance to turn things around.
Just as Luo Zhao was thinking this, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the hall.
A female official rushed in, her expression tense, and bowed to report:
"Your Highness, Junior Preceptor Gu and Lord Jingzhe are heading toward the Crown Prince’s Palace."
As her words fell, the atmosphere in the hall immediately tightened.
Luo Zhao and Shangguan Yunying were both startled.
Wasn’t Gu Chengyin supposed to go to Lin Qingyan’s place? Why was he coming to the Crown Prince’s Palace?
Shangguan Yunying had just said that Lin Qingyan wanted to meditate on the way of immortality, so Gu Chengyin wouldn’t come tonight.
But now, the two of them were arriving together?
A bad feeling crept into Luo Zhao’s heart.
Gu Chengyin was suspicious of her again, Lin Qingyan wanted to meditate on immortality, and now both of them were heading to the Crown Prince’s Palace.
Could it be…
They wanted to meditate on immortality right in front of her?
Luo Zhao took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Knowing these two as well as she did, they really might do something like that.
After all, their first kiss had happened while hiding behind her.
Shangguan Yunying also realized what was happening, and her face changed slightly.
"Didn’t Lord Jingzhe tell Gu Chengyin to come to her place? Why are they coming to the Crown Prince’s Palace…"
She turned to Luo Zhao and asked:
"Your Highness, should Xiaoli and I step aside?"
Her tone was cautious, clearly she, too, had guessed at the possibility.
"No."
Luo Zhao opened her eyes, her gaze dark and heavy.
"You both stay right by my side. Don’t go anywhere."
If Lin Qingyan and Gu Chengyin were planning to meditate on immortality in front of her, and she were alone, who knew what might happen? What if their meditation turned into something on her bed?
She couldn’t just stand by and watch her Little Aunt and that bastard Gu Chengyin do something like that in front of her.
Thinking this, Luo Zhao’s face turned grim.
That’s why Shangguan Yunying and Gu Xiaoli couldn’t leave.
As long as they were here, no matter how deep the meditation went, it wouldn’t go too far.
Even if Gu Chengyin was thick-skinned, he wouldn’t dare do anything inappropriate in front of Shangguan Yunying and Gu Xiaoli.
And even if Lin Qingyan was bold, she wouldn’t lose face in front of her juniors.
Having made up her mind, Luo Zhao took another deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
She glanced at Shangguan Yunying, then at Gu Xiaoli.
Shangguan Yunying understood and sat down on a chair nearby.
Gu Xiaoli, though not fully grasping the situation, saw Luo Zhao’s expression and obediently sat down, still clutching the last half of her lamb skewer.
She took occasional bites, chewing with her cheeks puffed out.
Luo Zhao sat upright on her bed, smoothed her dress, and composed herself.
She would see exactly what Gu Chengyin and Lin Qingyan intended to do.
Time passed, second by second.
Footsteps sounded outside the hall.
They drew closer unhurriedly, each step steady.
Luo Zhao’s eyes fixed on the hall’s doors. Her face was calm, but inside she had already braced herself for the worst.
At the entrance to the bedchamber, two figures appeared side by side.
One wore a moon-white robe, graceful and otherworldly—Gu Chengyin.
The other was dressed in blue like smoke, cool and frosty—Lin Qingyan.
They walked in together, one in white, one in blue, looking oddly harmonious under the candlelight.
Luo Zhao’s gaze swept over them, and she thought to herself.
From the looks of it, Lin Qingyan had completely dropped the act?
By now, Luo Zhao had retreated behind the consciousness puppet.
She rose to her feet, her expression one of well-practiced surprise.
"Junior Preceptor Gu? Little Aunt? Why have you come at this hour?"
Her voice carried a hint of confusion and concern, revealing no abnormality.
Gu Chengyin stepped forward and bowed slightly.
"Your Highness."
He lifted his head, his eyes landing on Luo Zhao’s face.
"I apologize for disturbing you so late."
Luo Zhao smiled faintly.
"Junior Preceptor Gu is too polite. May I ask why you have come so late?"
Gu Chengyin didn’t answer immediately.
His gaze slowly swept across the room, from Luo Zhao’s face to Shangguan Yunying’s, then to Gu Xiaoli’s.
Finally, it returned to Luo Zhao’s face.
There was a meaningful quality to his gaze, as if he was trying to see through her.
Though Luo Zhao was hidden behind the consciousness puppet, her heart tightened slightly. Fortunately, her emotions wouldn’t show.
What was Gu Chengyin looking for?
What was he confirming?
Or was he testing her?
Gu Chengyin watched Luo Zhao for a moment, then suddenly smiled—a smile that made Luo Zhao feel uneasy.
"It’s nothing major."
"I just suddenly remembered something I’d been meaning to confirm with you, Your Highness."
Luo Zhao’s heart skipped a beat. "What is it?"
Gu Chengyin looked at her, speaking slowly, word by word:
"Have you been feeling unwell lately, Your Highness?"
Luo Zhao replied:
"Unwell? No, I haven’t. Why do you ask, Junior Preceptor Gu?"
Gu Chengyin’s gaze deepened as he nodded.
"That’s good to hear."
"I’ve only recently heard rumors that Your Highness’s health has been off, so I was worried."
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?!
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
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!
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
