Lin Qingyan Is the Other Woman

So Luo Zhao and Gu Chengyin were, by all accounts, a recognized couple.

They were the couple everyone talked about, everyone spread rumors about, everyone relished discussing.

They were the couple that the Imperial Household Department couldn't stop by sealing teahouses, arresting storytellers, or banning romance novels.

Gu Chengyin's so-called declaration of love wasn't about confirming his status.

To be precise, confirming his status was just a convenient side effect.

Even without a declaration of love, he had countless other ways to solidify his position.

But he chose the declaration of love. He chose to stake her reputation on it.

Gu Chengyin was using her reputation as a chess piece, and the gaze of the court as the chessboard.

He was using the whispers of the realm as the rulebook, playing a game he had long since set in motion.

The endgame of this chess match was not to make her fall in love with him, nor to make her his.

It was to make the whole world believe Luo Zhao was already his.

To turn the understanding that Luo Zhao and Gu Chengyin were a couple into a common sense carved into everyone's minds.

Before today, Luo Zhao had only seen this common knowledge as a burden, a nuisance, a trap Gu Chengyin had dug for her.

But today, at this very moment, she suddenly realized this common knowledge had become her greatest weapon.

Because everyone in the world was saying Luo Zhao and Gu Chengyin were a couple.

Because it was an open secret, an acknowledged fact, a nationwide gossip even the Imperial Household Department couldn't suppress.

So if, at this moment, she were to announce that she was summoning Gu Chengyin as her imperial consort, it wouldn't cause much of a stir.

Because in everyone's eyes, this was merely acknowledging an open secret.

It was like two people who had been together for a long time—everyone knew they were together—and then one day they suddenly announced, "We're getting married."

No one would be surprised. No one would be shocked. No one would ask what was going on.

People would just say: "Oh, they finally made it official."

Then they'd go back to their tea, their meals, and their other conversations.

But if, at this same moment, Lin Qingyan were to snatch Gu Chengyin away, the meaning would be completely different.

Because in the eyes of the world, Luo Zhao and Gu Chengyin were a match made in heaven.

And Lin Qingyan, who suddenly stole Gu Chengyin away—

She would be the other woman!

"So... Aunt..."

Luo Zhao didn't finish her sentence.

She suddenly realized she didn't need to.

Since her father had already brought up summoning an imperial consort, since he had already pointed out Gu Chengyin's declaration of love—

That meant her father had already figured out how to deal with Lin Qingyan.

Her father never fought a battle without preparation.

If he said it, it meant he already had a complete plan.

And that plan included how to handle Lin Qingyan.

Emperor Luo didn't directly answer Luo Zhao's question.

Instead, he asked a seemingly unrelated question—though every word pointed straight at the heart of the matter.

"Zhao'er, do you remember the declaration of the Celestial Master's Residence?"

Luo Zhao froze.

Declaration?

The Celestial Master's Residence's declaration?

Of course she remembered. Every cultivator, upon joining the Celestial Master's Residence, had to swear a solemn oath.

The content of this oath was simple—just four lines.

Emperor Luo's voice drifted up slowly, as if reciting a text he had long since memorized by heart.

"To ordain conscience for Heaven and Earth, to secure life and fortune for the people, to continue lost teachings for past sages, to establish peace for all future generations."

Four lines. Light. Plain. Spoken as if they were offhand.

But those four lines landed in Luo Zhao's ears like four mountains.

One after another, they pressed down until her whole body trembled.

These four lines represented the duty and obligation of every cultivator at the Celestial Master's Residence.

Including Lin Qingyan.

But when Lin Qingyan swore this oath, she did so under the identity of Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Residence.

Not under the name Lin Qingyan, but as Tian Shi Fu Jingzhe.

This was the usual rule of the Celestial Master's Residence.

So this oath didn't bind Lin Qingyan as a person—it bound Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Residence.

But as long as Lin Qingyan remained Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Residence, she had to uphold this oath.

She had to ordain conscience for Heaven and Earth, secure life and fortune for the people, continue lost teachings for past sages, and establish peace for all future generations.

She could not, for personal emotional reasons, do anything that would damage the reputation of the Celestial Master's Residence or harm the common people of the world.

Because Lin Qingyan was Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Residence—every move she made represented the Celestial Master's Residence.

Sure, she had smashed the warm pavilion, but she had only broken things—she hadn't razed the whole building to the ground.

So that was private conduct, a personal dispute within the bounds of emotion.

But it couldn't be made public. It couldn't be brought into the open — that would be a matter of political stance.

Lin Qingyan couldn't do that. No matter how furious she was, she couldn't.

She couldn't drag the Celestial Master's Residence's millennia-old reputation into the dirt over Gu Chengyin.

She couldn't let her own feelings make every cultivator in the Celestial Master's Residence take the fall for her.

Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Residence could not.

But what if Lin Qingyan was no longer Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Residence?

What if she voluntarily gave up that identity?

Then the oath would no longer bind her.

Because the oath bound Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Residence, not Lin Qingyan.

Without that identity, she was just Lin Qingyan—an invincible Golden Core cultivator.

But even if Lin Qingyan gave up her identity, that didn't mean she could run wild.

If one Golden Core couldn't defeat her, what about ten?

Twenty?

What if the Celestial Master's Residence deployed every Golden Core cultivator?

What if the Golden Core cultivators in the cultivation world who held grudges against Lin Qingyan joined forces?

Lin Qingyan might no longer be Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Residence.

But Emperor Luo was still Tai He of the Celestial Master's Residence.

By that point, even if Lin Qingyan wanted to turn hostile, she wouldn't have the capital to do so.

Luo Zhao understood.

She understood everything now.

Ostensibly, summoning an imperial consort was to prevent the marriage alliance between the Cui Clan and the Crown Prince's Palace.

In reality, it was to force Lin Qingyan to willingly give up the identity of Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Residence.

Because Gu Chengyin's greatest pillar of support right now—

Was Lin Qingyan.

This idea matched what Luo Zhao had thought before.

She had once considered stripping Lin Qingyan of her identity, but she hadn't figured out how.

For example, she could make Lin Qingyan commit a mistake, have the Celestial Master's Residence's stewards impeach her, or have her father issue an edict to dismiss her.

But all these methods carried risks—they might hurt Lin Qingyan.

So Luo Zhao didn't do it.

But now, her father had made his move.

One single move, and the entire situation was brought to life.

He wasn't forcing Lin Qingyan to give up her identity. He wasn't crushing her with power. He wasn't threatening her with force.

He was letting her choose.

Forcing Lin Qingyan to choose between being Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Residence and being with Gu Chengyin.

If she chose her identity, she would have to watch Gu Chengyin become the imperial consort, become Luo Zhao's husband.

If she chose Gu Chengyin, she would voluntarily give up her identity as Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Residence and become nothing more than an ordinary—if invincible—Golden Core cultivator.

No matter what Lin Qingyan chose, Emperor Luo would win.

Because if she chose her identity, then Gu Chengyin would truly become the imperial consort.

The marriage alliance between the Crown Prince's Palace and the Cui Clan would collapse on its own, and the balance of the court would return to Emperor Luo's hands.

If she chose Gu Chengyin, then the Celestial Master's Residence would get a new Jingzhe, and Lin Qingyan would just be a Golden Core immortal.

Both outcomes were what Emperor Luo wanted.

In fact, one could even say Emperor Luo would prefer Lin Qingyan to choose Gu Chengyin.

Because a Lin Qingyan who was no longer Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Residence would be far easier to deal with.