She was resigning from her position as Chief Female Official, choosing to be nothing more than Shangguan Yunying, the woman who belonged to Gu Chengyin.
Of course, if something more could happen along the way, that would be even better.
But then, Lin Qingyan had to show up.
The thought of it made another wave of nameless anger surge within Shangguan Yunying.
She clenched her back teeth, forcing the anger down, her face still appearing calm and composed.
It didn't matter.
Once she resigned as Chief Female Official, she would have more time to cultivate.
No longer tied down by tedious palace affairs, no longer distracted by trivial matters.
By then, she would be able to focus entirely on breaking through to the Golden Core stage.
With her talent and comprehension, breaking through was only a matter of time.
Because she had talent, resources, determination, the Qingyun Art that Gu Chengyin had taught her, and the immense wealth of the Shangguan family backing her.
She lacked nothing—only time.
The day she successfully broke through to Golden Core...
A faint smile curled at the corner of Shangguan Yunying's lips, and deep within her gentle eyes flashed a sharp, determined ambition.
By then, she would stand before Lin Qingyan and openly take possession of Gu Chengyin.
She would kiss him, hold him, even do more intimate things right in front of Lin Qingyan.
She wanted to watch that haughty 'Jingzhe' lord, to see that eternally cold and detached face twist with indignation and fury, to see her rage helplessly yet be unable to do a thing.
She would pay back every ounce of anger she had endured these days, with interest.
At the thought, the stifling frustration in Shangguan Yunying's chest eased slightly.
She lowered her lashes, hiding the sharpness in her eyes, and resumed her gentle, serene demeanor.
A little while later.
Outside the Crown Prince's palace, the Golden Core aura finally stirred.
Neither hurried nor slow, like someone taking a leisurely stroll.
Or perhaps deliberately giving those inside the last bit of time to prepare.
Footsteps approached from the distance, each step steady and measured.
Hearing the footsteps, Shangguan Yunying's fingers instinctively clenched within her sleeves for a moment, then slowly released.
Gu Chengyin, on the other hand, slightly raised his eyes, his gaze fixed on the direction of the palace gate, his expression calm and utterly unreadable.
Finally, Lin Qingyan's figure appeared at the doorway.
She wore a moon-white long dress today, the fabric as light as cicada wings.
It billowed gently with her steps, making her look like a celestial being—cold, elegant, and immaculate.
Actually, she was a celestial being by nature.
Lin Qingyan's gaze swept across the hall, lingered briefly on Shangguan Yunying, and then she turned away, her expression cold and indifferent.
Without hesitation, she walked straight toward Gu Chengyin.
When she reached his side, she sat down naturally, pressing close against him with not the slightest gap.
Seeing this, the corner of Shangguan Yunying's eye twitched slightly, but she held herself back.
After Lin Qingyan was seated, she raised a hand and, as if unintentionally, undid a button at her collar.
Her neckline loosened accordingly, revealing a pale, slender neck.
Her skin was as fine as congealed cream, yet what drew the eye was not the skin itself.
It was the scattered 'hickeys' upon it.
Some deep, some light, scattered purposefully—clearly the marks left behind by forceful sucking and kissing.
They stood out starkly against her snowy skin, both shockingly conspicuous and fiercely suggestive.
Lin Qingyan's gesture was perfectly natural, as if she merely found the collar a little tight and so she freed it slightly.
Once the button was undone, she paid it no further attention.
Her face remained that same cold, distant expression, even her tone of voice unchanged as she spoke:
"Chengcheng, I just received a few messages."
Meanwhile, Shangguan Yunying's gaze froze the moment she saw the 'hickeys' on Lin Qingyan's neck.
Her pupils dilated suddenly, and a storm raged within her eyes.
Is that...?
Is that—!
Shangguan Yunying's breath hitched. She felt a surge of hot blood rush straight to her scalp.
Her vision darkened, her ears rang, and she nearly fainted on the spot from fury.
You... Lin Qingyan!
Shangguan Yunying gritted her teeth and silently repeated the name.
Lin Qingyan was definitely doing this on purpose!
Deliberately releasing her aura outside, deliberately giving her and Gu Chengyin time to compose themselves.
Deliberately walking in at a leisurely pace, deliberately sitting down beside Gu Chengyin.
Deliberately unbuttoning that button, and deliberately letting her see those 'hickeys'.
It was all intentional!
From start to finish, Lin Qingyan's goal had only ever been one thing: to stake her claim.
Shangguan Yunying took a deep breath, then another, forcing the raging flames in her chest down.
After years of serving Luo Zhao, if there was one thing she had learned, it was the art of forbearance.
If she exploded now, she'd be playing right into Lin Qingyan's hands.
So, in the end, Shangguan Yunying shot a hateful glare at Gu Chengyin.
That glare was sharp as a blade, laden with accusation and reproach, as if to say:
Look at what you've done! I'll have words with you later!
Gu Chengyin had obviously also noticed Lin Qingyan's seemingly careless gesture.
His gaze rested on those 'hickeys' for a moment, then shifted away as if nothing was amiss.
He was completely unshaken by Shangguan Yunying's dagger-like stare, merely lowering his lashes slightly, as if he hadn't seen it at all.
After shooting that glare, Shangguan Yunying withdrew her gaze.
She lowered her lashes, folding away all the emotion in her eyes, and let a gentle, serene smile resurface on her face.
As if she had seen nothing, as if nothing had happened, her posture graceful and unhurried.
At the same time, she forced her thoughts away from those damned 'hickeys' and onto what Lin Qingyan was saying.
Lin Qingyan was speaking.
She said she had received a few messages.
She said that Emperor Luo might summon Gu Chengyin to become the Imperial Consort.
Shangguan Yunying listened, one brow gently furrowing.
Imperial Consort?
Gu Chengyin?
Wouldn't that make him His Highness's husband?
Her thoughts gradually pulled away from those 'hickeys' as she began to seriously consider the matter.
As Lin Qingyan spoke, she casually and deliberately observed Shangguan Yunying's reaction.
She saw the storm that churned in Shangguan Yunying's eyes when her gaze landed on her own neck.
She saw Shangguan Yunying swallow her fury and forcibly reclaim her calm.
Somewhat disappointingly, Lin Qingyan chose to stop pressing the matter.
She had wanted to savor Shangguan Yunying's indignation a little longer.
But Shangguan Yunying recovered too quickly.
So quickly that her regret barely had time to take shape before it was no longer necessary.
So Lin Qingyan withdrew her gaze and stopped looking at Shangguan Yunying.
Instead, her eyes settled on Gu Chengyin's face. She had finished relaying the messages she'd received.
Now all she had to do was wait—wait for her man to decide, and then tell her what to do.
Gu Chengyin did not disappoint her. After a moment of thought, he asked the one question that struck at the very heart of the matter.
"Little Aunt, Yunying, setting aside the Emperor for now..."
"Would His Highness actually agree to it?"
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
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.
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!
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.
