Forced Out

This made sense, after all, in Lin Qingyan’s dictionary, the word “endurance” simply did not exist.

So whether it was the way Lin Qingyan had pretended to be a heart demon or the reason she had been exposed,

it had all given Gu Chengyin a brilliant inspiration.

It allowed him to apply the same logic to Luo Zhao and form a hypothesis.

What if Luo Zhao hadn’t actually been hypnotized, but was only putting on an act, just like Lin Qingyan?

Then why couldn’t he detect a single flaw?

Gu Chengyin narrowed his eyes slightly.

Because Luo Zhao also had a hypnotized “heart demon.”

A puppet-like heart demon similar to Lin Qingyan’s, and the one who usually appeared before him was merely this puppet.

Meanwhile, the real Luo Zhao had been hiding behind this puppet all along, coldly observing everything.

Who had created this puppet?

Gu Xiaoli.

Gu Chengyin’s gaze once again drifted to Gu Xiaoli, who was nearby.

The reason Gu Xiaoli claimed that the hypnosis had not been lifted

was simply because it truly hadn’t been lifted.

She had merely awakened Luo Zhao’s consciousness and created a puppet instead.

To make matters worse, this puppet still followed her command completely.

Not by verbal orders, but by system commands.

As for Luo Zhao, her mind was fully alert.

So every time he had tested her, Gu Chengyin had faced nothing more than a hypnotized conscious puppet.

The real Luo Zhao only emerged after he left.

That explained why Shangguan Yunying, Lin Qingyan, and Gu Xiaoli had all displayed such unified attitudes toward him.

They were never particularly worried, as if Luo Zhao hadn’t been hypnotized at all but remained fully aware.

They hadn’t been acting independently—they were helping Luo Zhao cover her tracks.

Thinking this through, Gu Chengyin let his gaze sweep imperceptibly across the figures in the hall.

Shangguan Yunying was still circulating the Azure Cloud Art, Lin Qingyan remained absorbed in her insights,

and Gu Xiaoli had already finished her lamb skewers and was using some kind of spell to clean the grease off her lips.

But now, Gu Chengyin saw things in a different light.

Every time he had spent time with Shangguan Yunying, she had been far too relaxed, never showing any concern for Luo Zhao.

It was as if the hypnotized Luo Zhao were completely irrelevant.

Moreover, during their confrontation after the hypnosis was supposedly lifted, she had been too easily convinced.

It felt less like she had chased him down for Luo Zhao’s sake and more like she had come specifically to be talked around.

As for Gu Xiaoli, Gu Chengyin quietly shook his head inwardly. That cat had truly mastered the art of playing the fool.

There was simply no telling which words that fell from her mouth were false and which were true.

The only thing he could be sure of was Gu Xiaoli’s instinctive protectiveness toward Luo Zhao.

Which meant she must have used some method to keep Luo Zhao’s consciousness intact.

Without actually breaking the hypnosis, she had managed to fob him off while ensuring Luo Zhao’s safety.

He figured he would have to make that cat swear another poisonous oath not to lie again.

And as for Lin Qingyan...

Gu Chengyin turned his head slightly to glance at her, lost in her contemplation.

Given her unnerving intuition, was he really to believe she had no idea he had hypnotized Luo Zhao?

In any case, Gu Chengyin didn’t buy it. Lin Qingyan not only knew, she was probably helping to cover things up as well.

That was why she had proposed perceiving his techniques in front of Luo Zhao.

It showed she was fully aware that Luo Zhao was conscious.

She wanted to provoke the real Luo Zhao out of hiding, just like Gu Xiaoli had tried to do.

From that angle, Lin Qingyan’s position became increasingly ambiguous.

On one hand, she was shielding Luo Zhao; on the other, she wanted to flush out the true article.

Gu Chengyin had no idea whether Lin Qingyan was acting for his sake, for Luo Zhao’s, or for her own.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Gu Chengyin’s lips. Even though every single one of them had been covering for Luo Zhao,

he didn’t actually feel all that outraged.

Rather, he found it rather amusing.

Because when you thought about it, Lin Qingyan, Shangguan Yunying, and Gu Xiaoli were naturally on Luo Zhao’s side.

It was Gu Chengyin himself who was the outsider—that was the normal logic of things.

So the real issue now was not whether Luo Zhao had been hypnotized or not.

It was whether or not he ought to force the true Luo Zhao to emerge.

Gu Chengyin weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

The last time Luo Zhao had broken free from hypnosis, he had merely been a minor Chief of the Imperial Household Department—without status, without power.

Back then, Gu Xiaoli had still been playing the fool, Shangguan Yunying’s relationship with him was distant, and he hadn’t even known Lin Qingyan.

That was why he had been forced to re-hypnotize Luo Zhao—otherwise, he was either looking at flight or death.

But things were different now.

Now, he was Tutor to the Crown Prince, Steward of the Imperial Household, soon to succeed the Minister of Rites, and he had obtained the position of Grandmaster of the Azure Sword Sect.

At court, both the aristocratic families and the common-born scholars recognized him.

Those among the Crown Prince’s camp all revered him like a personal patriarch.

Lin Qingyan was his sister-in-law—technically, though their actual relationship might be far more intimate—but that was the official title.

As for Shangguan Yunying, her connections—through both Shangguan Yuan and Jiang Qingshan—ran deep.

And Gu Xiaoli...

Gu Chengyin silently assigned her a role in his mind. For now, let’s call her his cat.

Even if the cynical girl insisted she didn’t want to be his cat, whatever the relationship, she still belonged to him.

So now, the one who truly stood alone, isolated, and cut off from all ties,

was Luo Zhao herself.

Even though she was the crown princess, the entire faction loyal to the crown princess listened to Gu Chengyin.

Even though she was Her Highness, the nobles of the divine capital recognized him more, the Imperial Tutor.

She had her aunt, her female officials, and her cat—but they were also his aunt, his female officials, and his cat.

From this perspective, there seemed to be no pressing need to force Luo Zhao out into the open.

Let her keep up the act, continue pretending to be hypnotized—he would just go about his business as usual.

After all, Luo Zhao could hardly stir up any trouble.

Gu Chengyin was pondering this when two decrees suddenly flashed through his mind.

One was an imperial edict.

The other was an oral command.

During the inspection tour of the sects, Emperor Luo had issued an imperial edict branding him as a criminal of the court.

At the time, Gu Chengyin had suspected something but hadn’t given it much thought.

Later, that oral command had ordered him to stand trial before the Three Judicial Departments, and Gu Chengyin initially believed Cui Shifan was behind it.

So he had focused all his attention and strategies on Cui Shifan.

As long as Luo Zhao was hypnotized, he wouldn’t suspect the source of these decrees.

If Emperor Luo wanted to issue a decree, who could stop him?

But if Luo Zhao wasn’t hypnotized—if she had been acting all along—then the answer to who had sent those two decrees became painfully obvious.

Luo Zhao herself.

She had been quietly scheming behind the scenes.

This realization darkened Gu Chengyin’s gaze.

He was not the same man he used to be.

He could tolerate Luo Zhao playing harmless, he could tolerate her having her own little schemes.

As long as they didn’t affect the bigger picture, he couldn’t be bothered to care.

After all, Luo Zhao’s threat amounted to less than that of a stray dog on the roadside.

But the problem was, if Luo Zhao could issue imperial edicts and oral commands, she wasn’t just playing petty games—she was actively undermining him.

If, at a critical moment in dealing with Emperor Luo, this biggest traitor within the crown princess’s faction stabbed him in the back…

Gu Chengyin dared not even think further. He took a deep breath and made a decision in his heart.

He had to force Luo Zhao out into the open.