"Now that Her Highness has no more questions, it's my turn."
After saying this, Gu Chengyin didn't rush to speak.
Instead, he looked around and his eyes fell on an empty chair.
He walked over, carried the chair over, placed it in front of Luo Zhao, and then sat down.
The two of them were about an arm's length apart, looking into each other's eyes.
The candle flame flickered behind him, casting his shadow on the floor, which just happened to envelop Luo Zhao.
"Your Highness,"
Gu Chengyin spoke, his tone very serious, as if what he was about to say next was of utmost importance.
"No matter what my current identities are and how many there are, the one at the top of the list will always be the Young Master Tutor of the Crown Princess."
"So this also means that I'm a member of the Crown Princess Party, which is to say, I'm Your Highness's man."
"Regarding this point, do you agree?"
These words were spoken so straightforwardly that it was impossible to find any faults.
Luo Zhao calmly looked at Gu Chengyin sitting across from her. The moonlight and candlelight intertwined, outlining his handsome profile.
His eyes were as deep as an abyss, showing no signs of scheming.
She was silent for a moment and finally nodded.
It wasn't an acceptance but an agreement with this statement.
Because there was nothing wrong with this statement.
Regardless of how many grudges and love - hatred relationships there were between her and Gu Chengyin.
Regardless of how much she hated Gu Chengyin or how Gu Chengyin treated her.
In the eyes of outsiders, Gu Chengyin was undoubtedly a member of the Crown Princess Party.
He was the indisputable Young Master Tutor of the Crown Princess.
The interests of the two were firmly tied together, and no one could separate them.
Every move, every word, and every person Gu Chengyin met represented Luo Zhao's will.
This had never changed from Beihe City until now.
Seeing Luo Zhao nod, the corners of Gu Chengyin's lips twitched slightly.
Although this Crown Princess was still very inexperienced, she was indeed reasonable.
That was why she never made unreasonable demands.
As a woman, this was an extremely rare and excellent quality.
"In that case, how about putting aside our prejudices and working together?"
Gu Chengyin's tone became much more relaxed and he was no longer as aggressive as before.
"After all,"
He paused and looked at Luo Zhao meaningfully:
"Your Highness is only the Crown Princess for now."
Only the Crown Princess.
These words sounded completely different to Luo Zhao's ears.
She squinted her eyes slightly and carefully sized up Gu Chengyin's face.
She tried to see something from his eyes.
Why did she feel that there was something more to these words?
What did he mean by "only the Crown Princess for now"?
Wait a minute.
Luo Zhao's heart skipped a beat. It was like a bolt of lightning flashed through the darkness, illuminating a corner that she had always ignored.
What if...
What if she wasn't the Crown Princess?
Right now, she really couldn't outsmart Gu Chengyin.
Luo Zhao admitted this. She had no choice but to admit it.
Her hypnosis had been exposed, her puppet had been recognized, and the people around her were all on Gu Chengyin's side.
What did she have left in her hand?
Nothing.
But what if she ascended to the throne and took control of the entire Daluo Empire?
Surely she wouldn't be like this then?
She could learn, grow, reflect on and summarize experiences from countless failures.
So what if she had lost so many times?
She could keep losing, lose countless times.
But as long as she won once, she could win it all.
Including Gu Chengyin.
Luo Zhao's heart rate quickened a little.
She lowered her eyelids to hide the fleeting light in her eyes.
She had been patient when under hypnosis, and even now that Gu Chengyin had exposed her, she could still be patient.
Moreover, it could be an open - and - above - board kind of patience.
All Gu Chengyin wanted were status and power, and to obtain these, he had to get past her father, the emperor.
When two powerful forces like a dragon and a tiger fought, there would definitely be casualties.
Even Gu Chengyin couldn't come out unscathed when facing her unfathomable father.
He would surely have to pay a corresponding price.
So she could still reap the benefits of the fight between the two.
She couldn't defeat a fully - powered Gu Chengyin.
But couldn't she defeat a seriously damaged Gu Chengyin after she had learned and grown?
The corners of Luo Zhao's lips twitched into an extremely faint smile, which disappeared in an instant.
She looked up at Gu Chengyin, and her eyes were calm again.
"Okay, I trust you."
Without any hesitation, Luo Zhao immediately gave her promise.
Her straightforward attitude even made Gu Chengyin stunned for a moment.
He blinked his eyes, not expecting Luo Zhao to agree so readily.
After sizing up Luo Zhao for a while, Gu Chengyin nodded and said with some relief:
"It's naturally the best that Your Highness can trust me."
His gaze shifted from Luo Zhao to Shangguan Yunying and Gu Xiaoli beside her.
Gu Chengyin originally wanted Shangguan Yunying and Gu Xiaoli to keep an eye on Luo Zhao.
After all, there was no more hypnosis now, and he couldn't let the Crown Princess become the biggest mole in the Crown Princess Party.
He needed someone to watch her, and he needed someone to keep an eye on this scheming Crown Princess when he was not around.
Shangguan Yunying was delicate - minded and was best at observing people's words and expressions.
Gu Xiaoli was a cat demon with a high level of cultivation, almost reaching the Nascent Soul stage.
If they really wanted to watch someone, no one could escape.
It was just right for these two to stand on either side of Luo Zhao.
As for whether Shangguan Yunying and Gu Xiaoli would team up with Luo Zhao to deceive him, Gu Chengyin wasn't worried because countless experiences had proven that...
Luo Zhao's threat was really like a tiny thing by the roadside.
Just then, Lin Qingyan, who was standing beside, suddenly spoke.
"Zhao'er."
Her voice clearly reached everyone's ears.
Her tone didn't seem like a negotiation, nor like a suggestion. Instead, it was like stating an already - decided matter.
Luo Zhao looked up at her aunt.
Under the candlelight, there was no expression on Lin Qingyan's cold face.
But her eyes were looking at Luo Zhao, calm as a deep pool.
For some reason, Luo Zhao felt a little panicked when being looked at.
It was as if Lin Qingyan had seen through all her thoughts just now, those little thoughts about continuing to be patient.
It couldn't be, could it?
Did her aunt know how to read minds?
"It's of course the best that you can trust Chengcheng,"
Lin Qingyan's voice was unhurried, as if she was talking about something taken for granted.
"But we should always be prepared for the worst. You can never be too careful."
Lin Qingyan paused, and her gaze shifted from Luo Zhao to Gu Chengyin, then back to Luo Zhao.
"After all, Chengcheng is your Young Master Tutor, and whatever he does is for your own good."
"On this point, I believe no one will object, right?"
Shangguan Yunying and Gu Xiaoli nodded at the same time. Lin Qingyan was indeed right about this.
From Beihe City until now, Gu Chengyin's actions were obvious to all.
Although he couldn't be said to be a complete gentleman, most of his actions were traceable.
"So, to avoid any accidents and to prevent you from stabbing Chengcheng in the back again,"
Luo Zhao's heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously clenched the fingers in her sleeves.
At the same time, she widened her eyes, and a sense of foreboding welled up in her heart.
"Chengcheng, take Zhao'er as your own."
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
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?!
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!
