Possibility

The female cultivator had spent so many years at the Heavenly Master Residence, yet the number of times she had seen Lord Jingzhe could be counted on one hand, and the words she had exchanged with him numbered fewer than ten.

This time, it was only because the situation was rather special that she had made a dedicated trip, arriving early to wait patiently outside the Serenity Tower.

The female cultivator had believed herself to be just one of countless ordinary cultivators at the Heavenly Master Residence.

But Lord Jingzhe recognized her—this meant Lord Jingzhe remembered her!

Which meant her efforts had not been in vain! All of them had been seen by Lord Jingzhe!

For cultivators of the Heavenly Master Residence, being recognized and remembered by Lord Jingzhe was already the greatest honor imaginable.

The female cultivator now felt like the most fortunate soul in all the world.

She took a deep breath, suppressing the joy and excitement bubbling within her.

Without a moment's delay, she promptly handed over the paper in her hand.

Her fingers trembled slightly—whether from nervousness, excitement, or both, she couldn't tell.

"Lord Jingzhe, many things have happened today. I believe this requires your personal review."

Lin Qingyan took the paper from the female cultivator with a calm expression.

It was fine-grade rice paper, as thin as cicada wings, as smooth as a mirror, covered with neat small-script calligraphy.

Every stroke was upright and precise—horizontal lines level, vertical lines straight, sweeping strokes gracefully spaced.

As the Jingzhe of the Heavenly Master Residence, Lin Qingyan did not need to go out of her way to gather information.

There were people like the female cultivator who would collect and organize everything, then deliver it to her hands.

After taking the paper, Lin Qingyan signaled for the female cultivator to take her leave.

Then she unfolded the sheet in her hand, and the moment she saw the first entry—

Her gaze immediately turned sharp.

The first entry: Cui Shifan had been at the Crown Prince's Palace to propose a marriage between Cui Zilu and Gu Chengyin.

The time was this morning—during the very period when she had been resting.

Time, place, persons, event—all clear and unmistakable, without the slightest room for ambiguity.

Cui Shifan had gone to the Crown Prince's Palace himself, spoken the words himself, and made the proposal himself.

Not Cui Zilong, not anyone else from the Cui household—it was Cui Zilu.

Cui Shifan's only daughter, the legitimate daughter of the Cui clan.

And the person being proposed for marriage was Gu Chengyin.

Lin Qingyan narrowed her eyes.

In just one morning, Cui Shifan had already proposed a marriage between his daughter and Gu Chengyin?

And not only that—he had made it public.

For this piece of information to reach her hands, it meant it was no longer a secret.

The fact that Cui Shifan made the proposal at the Crown Prince's Palace had already spread.

It had reached the Heavenly Master Residence, reached the Divine Capital, reached the ears of every interested party.

As if they were afraid she wouldn't find out.

Lin Qingyan scoffed inwardly, but she didn't take it too seriously.

This entry was not the source of her instinctual unease, even if Cui Shifan was the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, even if the Qinghe Cui clan was a thousand-year-old aristocratic family.

Because unless she gave the nod, Cui Zilu couldn't marry Gu Chengyin—she couldn't even return to the Divine Capital at all.

Because she was Lin Qingyan.

She didn't need to battle wits with Cui Shifan in the imperial court, didn't need to fight with Cui Zilu in the Divine Capital, didn't need to do anything at all.

She only needed to say two words: No way.

Just two words.

Then Cui Zilu could forget about ever coming back to the Divine Capital.

If Cui Shifan had a problem with that, he was welcome to come see her personally.

Besides, Gu Chengyin only saw Cui Zilu as a younger sister.

On this point, Lin Qingyan had specifically asked Gu Chengyin herself.

His feelings toward Cui Zilu were not the feelings of a man for a woman, but the feelings of an elder brother for a younger sister.

So in Lin Qingyan's eyes, this marriage proposal didn't amount to anything at all.

In fact, the truth was already quite clear.

This was clearly that old fox Cui Shifan playing tricks.

Not a real marriage proposal, not a real alliance—but a probe.

Testing Gu Chengyin's stance, testing her reaction, testing Emperor Luo's bottom line.

Using Cui Zilu as bait, using the proposal as a net, casting it over everyone, then watching who moved first, who showed their hand.

Lin Qingyan didn't know what game Cui Shifan was playing, but she couldn't be bothered to care.

That was something Gu Chengyin could handle on his own; it was nowhere near her concern.

Lin Qingyan's gaze moved away from the first entry, landing on the second.

Then her eyes sharpened once more, and this time, she grew serious.

The second entry.

After Cui Shifan's proposal, Lü Fang had come with Emperor Luo's oral decree to the Crown Prince's Palace, summoning Luo Zhao to appear before the emperor.

This one wasn't odd.

Emperor Luo summoning Luo Zhao to the palace was a frequent occurrence.

Matters of the court, matters of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, matters of the Crown Prince, matters between father and daughter.

Luo Zhao went to the palace every few days—sometimes to report on work, sometimes to receive her father's admonitions, sometimes just to have a meal with him.

Besides, with Cui Shifan proposing a marriage to Gu Chengyin, the underlying significance was an alliance between the Cui clan and the Crown Prince's Palace.

So Emperor Luo was bound to react, and bound to summon Luo Zhao for an audience.

This entry, viewed in isolation, had no issues whatsoever.

But Lin Qingyan's eyes didn't stop at the second entry.

They landed on the third.

Compared to the ones before it, the third entry felt jarringly out of place.

So out of place that it didn't seem like gathered intelligence—rather, as if someone had deliberately slipped it in.

Because its wording was completely different from the first two.

The first two were objective, calm, emotionless statements—the mark of standard intelligence.

The third, however, was vague, sweeping, and indeterminate.

As if even the person who wrote it wasn't entirely sure of the matter.

The content was simple: The emperor might summon the Imperial Consort's husband.

Might.

No source, no reasoning, no logical chain.

With just that single word "might," it had found its way before her eyes.

Lin Qingyan closed her eyes.

Now she knew the origin of that ominous feeling in her heart.

It wasn't an inner demon, wasn't the environment, wasn't any of the possibilities she had considered before.

It was Emperor Luo.

That bastard sitting on the dragon throne, who appeared not to care about anything but actually cared about everything.

Who saw everything, calculated everything.

He had practically placed the words "summon the Imperial Consort's husband" right in front of her face—so who did she even need to guess that consort's husband was?

Lin Qingyan could guess with her little toe that it was Gu Chengyin.

Because what Emperor Luo wanted wasn't the Imperial Consort's husband—it was Lin Qingyan's reaction.

Summoning the husband was a pretense; forcing her hand was the truth.

Using Gu Chengyin as bait, using the title of Imperial Consort's husband as a net, casting it over her, and then watching what she chose to do.

This was Emperor Luo.

Every step stepped on someone's vital point, every move left people caught between a rock and a hard place.

Only this time, the target was Lin Qingyan herself.

Lin Qingyan didn't even need to think to know what Emperor Luo was going to do.

Not because she was particularly skilled at political intrigue, but because she understood that bastard Emperor Luo.

After all, the current Emperor Luo had been personally molded by her elder sister.

Lin Qingyan recalled many years ago, when her sister sat across from her and asked:

"Yan'er, what do you think of Congcong as a person?"

She had replied: "What do I think? He's just so-so."

In Lin Qingyan's eyes, Emperor Luo really was just so-so.