Luo Zhao blinked.
The blink was quick—so quick it was like a butterfly fluttering its wings twice, then stilling.
Her expression didn't change at all, but her mind was racing.
What did Father mean by "rather well chosen"?
Did he think Cui Shifan had chosen well, or chosen poorly?
Was he in favor of this marriage, or against it?
It should be against it, surely—because what it meant that Cui Zilu was marrying Gu Chengyin.
Even she, as the heir apparent, knew exactly what that signified.
Luo Zhao just didn't know what her father truly thought once he'd found out.
Her father's mind, she could never fathom.
Not because she wasn't clever enough, but because her father was too clever.
Just like that Red Egg Gu Chengyin—the two of them were equals in deviousness.
Every expression, every word, every glance could have a dozen interpretations—or none at all.
The more you speculated, the more you erred.
The more you tried to understand, the less you understood.
Probably only Gu Chengyin himself could know what her father was really thinking.
So Luo Zhao stopped guessing.
She just sat there, quietly waiting, for her father to continue.
A little more time passed.
Emperor Luo tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest twice, then asked again:
"Zhao'er, what did you do?"
To this question, Luo Zhao answered honestly.
No hesitation, no deliberation, no scheming behind it.
Because she knew that before her father, any scheming was just playing smart.
Her father didn't need her to play smart—he only needed her honesty.
"Your son used the reason that Cui Zilu is not currently in the capital, and managed to defer the matter for now."
Her voice was steady—steady exactly as it was when she answered in court.
But inside, her heart was drumming.
Would her father be satisfied with this answer?
Would he find this excuse too flimsy?
Would he see the deferral as cowardice, or as wisdom?
But after all, even Gu Chengyin hadn't objected, so Father probably wouldn't either, right?
Hearing this, Emperor Luo set down the memorial in his hand.
His fingers left the paper and settled on the armrest.
The corners of his mouth curved slightly—with a hint of relief, and a hint of pride.
"Mmm. Well done."
Luo Zhao froze for a moment, surprise and bewilderment flickering in her eyes, along with a trace of flattered disbelief.
Father actually praised her?
He had never praised her like this even when she'd managed the Ministry of Civil Appointments in perfect order.
Though she felt a flutter of joy inside, Luo Zhao didn't show much of it.
Her expression shifted only slightly before returning to that cold, aloof demeanor befitting the heir apparent.
Emperor Luo looked away, then asked another question.
This question was entirely different from the previous one.
The previous one was a matter of the court—emperor to heir.
This one was personal—father to daughter.
"And what about Gu Chengyin and Jingzhe—do you know about that?"
Luo Zhao's fingers curled sharply inside her sleeve.
She squeezed so hard her nails dug into her palm, and her whole body trembled faintly from it.
Emperor Luo's question was direct—it referred to the relationship between Gu Chengyin and Lin Qingyan.
Not any ordinary relationship—the one between an aunt and her nephew-in-law.
Did she know?
Of course she knew.
But she didn't know how to answer.
Her lips parted slightly, and two voices were at war in her head.
One said: deny it—if you admit you knew, Father will think you're incompetent.
The other said: just admit it—you're incompetent anyway, why pretend otherwise.
The two voices fought for a while, until finally, Luo Zhao grew tired.
Not physically tired—emotionally tired.
She lowered her head, her voice small like a cat mewing after it's done something wrong.
"I know, Father."
Hearing this, Emperor Luo slowly narrowed his eyes.
His gaze rested on Luo Zhao's lowered head, on the hair neatly bound beneath the golden crown.
Then he asked:
"Since you knew, why didn't you stop it?"
His voice was calm—so calm, like he was asking a question he already knew the answer to, but still wanted to hear her say it aloud.
Luo Zhao's face flushed hot.
Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again.
She wanted to say: I tried to stop it, I told Auntie not to be with Gu Chengyin, I told Auntie that Gu Chengyin was mine.
But she couldn't say it.
Because she knew those words were just excuses.
Excuses couldn't change the outcome—and the outcome was that she hadn't stopped it.
It wasn't that she didn't want to stop it—it was that she had no way to stop it.
She was the heir apparent, but she had no authority over Lin Qingyan.
Lin Qingyan was her aunt, the person who'd watched her grow up, one of the people closest to her.
She could be spoiled with Lin Qingyan, could lose her temper at her.
But she couldn't change Lin Qingyan's mind.
It wasn't a lack of respect—it was that in matters of love, respect had no power.
Lin Qingyan loved Gu Chengyin, had loved him for a long time, had given so much.
Luo Zhao couldn't make her stop, didn't have the ability to make her stop.
So was that not stopping it?
It was—being unable to stop it!
As for Gu Chengyin, that went without saying.
At the thought of this, Luo Zhao's nose stung, her eyes turned red, and she almost couldn't hold it in.
But she did.
With all the strength in her body, she pushed the sting back down, forced the grievance away.
She swallowed the tears welling up in her eyes back down into her stomach.
She couldn't cry in front of her father.
She was already the heir apparent—she couldn't cry in front of her father.
But she also couldn't lie in front of her father.
Luo Zhao took a deep breath, and then she spoke.
Her voice was so small, like she was speaking a truth even she didn't want to face.
"It's not that I didn't want to stop it, it's that..."
"I can't control Gu Chengyin, and I can't control Auntie."
"Father... can you help me..."
When these words left her mouth, Luo Zhao's head dropped even lower, until her chin was nearly touching her chest.
So low that the tassels on her golden crown hung down, veiling half her face.
Her tone was like a young wife who, after being bullied by her husband, has run back to her father's house to ask for help.
Full of grievance and helplessness, with a hint of resignation, and yet a sliver of hope resting on Emperor Luo.
The warm chamber fell silent.
The smoke of aloeswood curled silently through the air, like an invisible snake slithering between father and daughter.
Emperor Luo looked at Luo Zhao, for a long, long time.
So long that Luo Zhao thought her father was going to be angry—so long that her heart was pounding so fast it felt like it might leap out of her chest—so long that her nails had dug so deep into her palm that it ached.
But Emperor Luo smiled.
Not a hearty laugh, not a cold smile.
A warm, gratified smile.
At Luo Zhao's answer, he was, of course, not surprised.
Because if she had been able to manage it, then Gu Chengyin and Lin Qingyan would never have been together in the first place.
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!
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.
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
