The Crown Prince's Palace.
Shangguan Yunying's words landed with weight, and when her voice faded, her eyes still held a lingering resolve.
Gu Chengyin was about to respond when he suddenly blinked.
His gaze shifted away from Shangguan Yunying's face and turned toward the door.
The door was shut tight, revealing nothing.
But Gu Chengyin's gaze pierced through the door, through the corridor, through the palace walls of the Crown Prince's residence, landing somewhere far beyond.
Shangguan Yunying watched Gu Chengyin turn his gaze away. She was briefly taken aback, then she sensed it too.
"Auntie's here."
"Mm."
Shangguan Yunying let out a sulky hum and buried her face against his chest, rubbing against him hard.
"She releases her presence from that far away, as if she's afraid we wouldn't notice."
When she said this, her tone rose slightly at the end, carrying a hint of gritted teeth.
Gu Chengyin raised a hand and patted her back gently—both a comfort and a warning.
There was no help for it. Lin Qingyan's aura was too obvious.
It drifted over from beyond the Crown Prince's Palace, completely unguarded, even brazenly so.
As if announcing: I don't care what you two were doing before, but I'm here now.
So you'd better pull yourselves together quickly, and don't let me catch any slip-ups.
Domineering.
Headstrong.
Unreasonable.
But that was precisely Lin Qingyan.
Shangguan Yunying bit her lower lip, her cheeks puffed up, her gentle, beautiful face written all over with defiance.
She nuzzled against Gu Chengyin's chest again, wrapping her arms and legs around him like an octopus clinging to him.
"Yunying."
Gu Chengyin called out helplessly, his voice laced with doting indulgence.
"I know! I know!"
Shangguan Yunying said in a muffled voice, but her small hands gripped his lapels even tighter:
"Just a little longer. Just a little!"
"She's still outside the palace, right? She has to walk a few steps, doesn't she? It's not like she's flying in!"
Gu Chengyin said nothing more, only tightened his arms, pulling Shangguan Yunying even closer.
Outside the Crown Prince's Palace, that golden-core presence stood steady.
Extremely patient, extremely proud, clearly waiting.
Shangguan Yunying naturally knew what Lin Qingyan was waiting for.
This Lady Jingzhe had always carried herself this way.
She could have come right in, but instead released her presence from outside, giving plenty of time, plenty of warning.
And still pretending to be aloof and distant.
But if she truly didn't care, why go through all this trouble?
"She's doing this on purpose!"
Shangguan Yunying said in a muffled voice, finally lifting her head from Gu Chengyin's chest.
Her bright eyes were misty, the rims faintly red—whether from anger or something else, it was hard to tell:
"She knows I'm here with you, so she deliberately came to stir things up."
Gu Chengyin raised his hand, his fingertip lightly brushing the corner of her eye. He didn't deny it.
Because Shangguan Yunying was right.
Lin Qingyan was doing it on purpose.
With a golden-core immortal's perception, she naturally knew what was happening inside the Crown Prince's Palace at this moment.
Shangguan Yunying sighed again, this time longer and heavier than before, as if trying to expel all the resentment in her chest.
She tilted her head to look at Gu Chengyin, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment.
Then she suddenly reached out, cupping his face with both hands, her thumbs gently stroking his cheekbones—a tender, lingering gesture.
"Gu Chengyin."
"Hm?"
"Everything I said just now—did you take it all in?"
"Of course."
"So do you accept it or not?"
Shangguan Yunying blinked, her eyes holding both cunning and sincerity.
Without a moment's hesitation, Gu Chengyin said solemnly:
"Whatever Yunying says, that's what it is."
Hearing this, Shangguan Yunying's eyes instantly lit up, like fireworks bursting open in the night sky, so dazzling it was hard to look away.
The corners of her mouth curved up, her eyes crinkling into smiles, yet she deliberately put on a stern face and scolded:
"Well, that's settled then. No backing out later."
"I won't back out, ever."
Having received his promise, Shangguan Yunying leaned in and planted a big kiss squarely on Gu Chengyin's lips.
It was a kiss heavy and loud, laced with a hint of petulance—their lips even made a smacking sound on contact.
After the kiss, Shangguan Yunying felt it wasn't enough, so she pressed down harder, grinding.
Only when Gu Chengyin's lips were worn slightly red did she pull back, satisfied.
"Hmph!"
She let out a huffy snort, cheeks puffed up like a little pufferfish.
But her eyes sparkled, full of determined light:
"Once I break through to golden core! I'm going to do it right in front of her! And it'll kill her!"
When Shangguan Yunying said this, her voice was crisp and resolute.
As if she had sworn some mighty oath, her whole being radiated a refusal to lose.
That spirit carried her grudge against Lin Qingyan, her hunger for power.
But most of all, it was a near-obsessive possessiveness.
Gu Chengyin wasn't stupid; he knew this was the time to go along with Shangguan Yunying.
He raised his hand to tidy the stray strands of hair at her temple, his voice gentle:
"Yunying is the most capable. I believe you'll do it."
Just one simple sentence, yet it warmed Shangguan Yunying's heart.
She knew that her current cultivation was far beneath Lin Qingyan's, knew how difficult the path to golden core was.
She knew that even if she broke through to golden core, she might not necessarily get the better of Lin Qingyan.
But Gu Chengyin said he believed she could do it, so she would.
"That's more like it."
Shangguan Yunying curved her lips, sat up from his embrace, and idly smoothed her rumpled dress.
What needed tidying was tidied, what needed fixing was fixed.
The two emerged from the small chamber. Gu Chengyin found a brass basin, scooped up some cold water to wash his face, then straightened his robes and cap before the bronze mirror.
Shangguan Yunying slipped behind the folding screen and carefully adjusted her appearance.
She checked herself in the mirror, confirming that her makeup was flawless and her dress was neat.
Then she took a deep breath, letting go of all the coquettish pouts and displeasure from moments ago, replacing them with a gentle, dignified expression.
When she stepped out from behind the screen, Shangguan Yunying had already reverted to her usual bearing as chief female official.
Her steps were composed, her demeanor natural, her brows carrying a perfectly measured smile—neither too warm nor too distant.
As if the woman who had just clung to Gu Chengyin like a spoiled child had been nothing but an illusion.
Gu Chengyin glanced at her, secretly admiring her skill.
Shangguan Yunying had indeed trained under Luo Zhao for years—if nothing else, she had mastered that ability to conceal her feelings to perfection.
"Let's go."
Shangguan Yunying said softly, taking the lead toward the main hall.
Gu Chengyin walked alongside her, his steps unhurried.
Inside the main hall, the two took their seats.
Gu Chengyin sat in the master's seat, while Shangguan Yunying sat across from him, a low table between them.
To any outsider, they would appear to be nothing more than the Crown Prince's tutor and the chief female official engaged in routine business—no fault to be found.
Shangguan Yunying lowered her eyes, her fingertips quietly rubbing together hidden in her sleeve, her mind turning over and over what had just happened.
She had told Gu Chengyin her decision.
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
