He Became the Victim

Are we even now?

What did he owe her?

What did he owe her? A period of being controlled? Or those days and nights of walking on eggshells?

Gu Chengyin said he owed her, so she stabbed him, and now they're even?

Luo Zhao wanted to laugh, but the corners of her mouth wouldn't lift.

She wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't fall.

Only when she finally came back to her senses did she release her grip on the knife handle.

The dagger remained stuck in Gu Chengyin's chest, the handle trembling slightly, casting a cold gleam in the candlelight.

Luo Zhao stepped back two paces, her steps unsteady, as if treading on cotton.

She no longer knew how to react.

Nor did she know how to face Gu Chengyin.

Shangguan Yunying hurried forward to support Luo Zhao, her arm firmly around her shoulder, as if afraid she might collapse.

Luo Zhao leaned against Shangguan Yunying, her whole body weak, barely able to stand.

Lin Qingyan approached Gu Chengyin, frowning as she stared at the dagger.

She carefully examined the area around the wound, and only relaxed a little after confirming it hadn't struck any vital spot.

"Chengcheng, you...?"

She hesitated to ask, her eyes full of concern.

Gu Chengyin's expression remained calm, as if what was stuck in his chest weren't a dagger but some insignificant twig.

"I'm fine."

He reached up, grasped the handle, and pulled the dagger out in one fluid motion.

The blade made a faint sound as it scraped against flesh and blood, and crimson gushed out, staining his moon-white robe a large patch of red.

In the next moment, the wound stopped bleeding, and the flesh healed at a visible speed.

Within moments, only a faint red mark remained.

At Gu Chengyin's current level of cultivation and realm, this injury was no different from a minor scrape.

Even a fatal wound would heal in an extremely short time.

Unless he was instantly slain outright, Gu Chengyin could basically recover from anything.

After Lin Qingyan confirmed he was fine, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

She glanced at Luo Zhao, whose face was pale and still speckled with blood.

Then she looked back at Gu Chengyin, and finally voiced the doubt in her heart:

"Did you cancel your hypnotic control over Zhao'er?"

Gu Chengyin nodded, speaking frankly:

"Yeah. Testing and probing were just too troublesome."

He looked at Luo Zhao, his gaze meaningful.

"After all, I now have the strength to flip the table."

The words were spoken casually, but everyone present knew what they meant.

Gu Chengyin had never lacked the courage to flip the table; he had only lacked the strength to do so.

Now that he had enough power, there was naturally no need to keep up pretenses.

Luo Zhao's face turned even paler.

She understood.

Gu Chengyin was telling her that all the past tests, subterfuge, and mutual play-acting had been because he lacked absolute certainty.

But now, things were different. The court recognized him, and the Crown Prince's faction revered him as their guiding light.

Lin Qingyan, Shangguan Yunying, and Gu Xiaoli all protected him.

He no longer needed to probe, nor to read anyone's expressions.

Not even hers, the Crown Prince's.

Luo Zhao gritted her teeth. The anger she had suppressed flared up again.

She turned to Shangguan Yunying, pointing at Gu Chengyin, her voice trembling with fury:

"Yunying! I command you! Arrest Gu Chengyin immediately!"

Shangguan Yunying blinked. After confirming Luo Zhao was serious, she hesitated:

"Your Highness."

She chose her words carefully:

"Please think twice. After all, Gu Chengyin is your Royal Tutor."

"If you arrest him, it would be a loss to yourself."

Luo Zhao's eyes widened. She felt as if Shangguan Yunying had become a stranger.

Royal Tutor? She was talking about Royal Tutor now?

She was the Crown Prince! She ordered her chief female official to make an arrest, and all she got in return was "Please think twice"?

Luo Zhao shook with rage.

She turned to Gu Xiaoli and shouted again:

"Xiaoli!"

Before she could finish, Gu Xiaoli looked away.

Those big, dark eyes drifted elsewhere, her lips pouting as she mumbled:

"Your Highness, Xiaoli can't beat Qingyan-jie."

At least this time she didn't tell her to think twice; she'd come up with an excuse.

Luo Zhao's lips trembled, unable to utter a word.

Can't beat her? You're a half-step Nascent Soul! Of course you can beat her—you just don't want to fight!

Luo Zhao took a deep breath, pinning her last hope on Lin Qingyan.

But before she could speak, Lin Qingyan suddenly raised her hand.

She gently turned Gu Chengyin's chin and then kissed him on the lips.

The movement was natural, flowing like water, as if she had done it a thousand times.

This scene nearly made Luo Zhao faint from fury.

She pointed at Lin Qingyan, her finger shaking like a sieve, her voice distorting:

"Little Aunt! Whose little aunt are you, anyway!"

Lin Qingyan released Gu Chengyin's chin and turned to look at Luo Zhao.

She lifted her hand, lightly pressing a fingertip against the spot on Gu Chengyin's chest where she had stabbed—where a faint red mark still remained.

"Chengcheng already let you stab him, didn't he?"

Lin Qingyan's tone was dismissive, as if Luo Zhao's anger were no more than a child's tantrum.

"Zhao'er, you can't be too greedy."

Between every word and line, everything favored Gu Chengyin.

Shangguan Yunying and Gu Xiaoli nodded simultaneously beside her.

From their gazes, not only did they have no sympathy for Luo Zhao, but they seemed somewhat dissatisfied with her.

Those looks clearly said: Your Highness, you went too far.

Luo Zhao stared at those three faces, at the bias and dissatisfaction in their eyes, and suddenly understood everything.

She understood why Gu Chengyin had let her stab him.

That red egg had done it on purpose!

He was retreating to advance!

Originally, she—just freed from mind control—was the victim.

She had been controlled, hypnotized, and toyed with for months. She was the one who should be angry, wronged, and demanding answers.

But now? Because she stabbed him, because the blade struck home, because she refused to let it go even afterward, she had become the aggressor.

And Gu Chengyin...

He had become the victim!

That single stab cleared all the debts.

Luo Zhao looked at Gu Chengyin, the traces of blood still on his chest, and felt a chill climb from her feet to the crown of her head.

She had lost again.

Lost so thoroughly.

From start to finish, she had always been in the palm of Gu Chengyin's hand.

She thought he was testing her, but he was laying down strategies.

She thought he was yielding, but he was biding his time.

She thought she had won by stabbing him, but that stab was actually the last move he had set for her.

Luo Zhao closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

When she opened them again, the hatred and resentment in her eyes were gone, replaced only by exhaustion.

"Gu Chengyin."

Her voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping wood.

"What exactly do you want?"

Luo Zhao didn't look at Gu Chengyin. Her gaze fell on her own hand, stained with blood.

The blood had already dried, forming dark red scabs.

They stuck in the cracks between her fingers, no matter how she tried, she couldn't clean them off.