Cui Shifan's marriage proposal was an excellent opportunity. In the face of the prince's faction, which represented an emerging power, a marriage alliance between the Cui family and the crown prince's faction was no longer so unacceptable.
But marriage alliance was inherently in conflict with the Emperor's son-in-law status.
Therefore, as long as the news of Shangguan Yunying resigning from her position as Chief Female Official spread, the imperial decree would never be issued.
Not because they didn't want to issue it, but because they couldn't.
Issuing it would not have suppressed Gu Chengyin, but rather Luo Zhao.
Lin Qingyan looked at Gu Chengyin, a glint of admiration flashing in her eyes.
Gu Chengyin's countermeasure was too ruthless.
Using Shangguan Yunying to restrain the imperial decree, using the crown prince's faction to pressure Emperor Luo — every step was interlocked, every move carefully planned.
Lin Qingyan could now be certain that Shangguan Yunying's resignation as Chief Female Official, which appeared voluntary, was in fact deliberately orchestrated by Gu Chengyin.
Though she didn't know whether Cui Shifan was working in coordination with Gu Chengyin, it was clear that Gu Chengyin staying at the Silent Tower last night was obviously meant to provoke Shangguan Yunying, pushing her to make the "right" choice on her own.
So from beginning to end, Gu Chengyin's biggest trump card against Emperor Luo was not her, Lin Qingyan — it was Luo Zhao.
This realization struck Lin Qingyan like a thunderbolt.
She had thought she was Gu Chengyin's greatest reliance, that he dared to challenge Emperor Luo because he had a Golden Core invincible like her backing him up.
But now she saw that she was wrong.
Gu Chengyin had never gambled everything on a single person.
Luo Zhao was the most crucial piece.
No — not a piece.
Lin Qingyan corrected her own wording.
Luo Zhao wasn't a piece; she was the greatest card hidden in Gu Chengyin's hand.
She was the soft spot that Emperor Luo absolutely could not ignore.
Gu Chengyin had seen through this.
And so he had always worked around Luo Zhao to counter Emperor Luo.
This move was, without a doubt, vicious. Without a doubt, poisonous.
Just then, rapid and light footsteps sounded from outside the hall.
A young female official appeared at the threshold — plain-featured but dignified, her expression respectful.
She lowered her head, stepped hurriedly into the main hall, and came to a stop about five paces from the three of them.
She bowed respectfully, and her crisp voice rang out:
"Her Highness has returned."
At these words, the three of them rose to their feet at the same time.
Luo Zhao's figure soon appeared at the door.
She crossed the threshold, her gaze sweeping across the hall.
First she saw Shangguan Yunying — the first person she laid eyes on after entering.
Then, Luo Zhao's gaze continued its drift and settled on Lin Qingyan.
Though Lin Qingyan's appearance was somewhat unexpected, it wasn't surprising.
But then, Luo Zhao suddenly paused. Those phoenix eyes narrowed to a squint, her pupils contracting for a moment.
Her gaze fixed on Lin Qingyan — more precisely, on Lin Qingyan's neck.
The collar of her robe was slightly askew, exposing a length of pale, delicate neck.
The skin on that neck was as fine as congealed cream, yet what drew Luo Zhao's attention wasn't the skin itself.
It was the "strawberries" scattered across it.
Deep and shallow, overlapping and scattered — all of it openly declaring a certain intimacy.
A corner of Luo Zhao's mouth twitched.
She recognized those marks — not because she'd seen them before, but because she knew what the relationship between Lin Qingyan and Gu Chengyin meant.
She was fully aware of what those marks signified.
Luo Zhao's gaze lifted from Lin Qingyan's neck and flicked toward Gu Chengyin.
That one look was filled with sheer contempt and disgust, but in the end she said nothing.
Her expression remained cold and aloof as ever.
She turned back to Lin Qingyan, gave a slight nod, and said:
"Aunt is here."
Lin Qingyan nodded back in acknowledgment.
After greeting her, Luo Zhao's attention finally settled on Gu Chengyin.
The contempt in her phoenix eyes grew even heavier — almost openly reproachful.
She looked him up and down, her gaze lingering a moment on his lips — which were faintly reddened, still bearing traces of being kissed — and then she looked away, even more disgusted.
The meaning was crystal clear: "You, you red egg, are corrupting my Yunying again."
Gu Chengyin received that dagger-like glare. Far from showing any guilt, he merely curved his lips upward slightly and smiled with calm ease.
Luo Zhao couldn't be bothered to wrangle with him. She withdrew her gaze, strode boldly toward the main seat, and flared out the hem of her robe, sitting down with smooth and effortless grace — her movements carrying the natural nobility she was born with.
Once seated, she lifted her chin slightly, her phoenix eyes sweeping over the three in the hall.
Her expression was grave, and with no greetings whatsoever, she came straight to the point:
"Father wants to summon the Emperor's son-in-law."
Luo Zhao said it plainly, with no concealment and no testing of the waters.
Having spoken, she looked at Gu Chengyin and the others, waiting for their reactions.
Then she froze.
Because Gu Chengyin's face betrayed not a trace of surprise.
Neither did Lin Qingyan's.
Neither did Shangguan Yunying's.
The expressions of all three remained calm as still water.
Luo Zhao blinked. Confusion flickered through her phoenix eyes. She looked at Gu Chengyin, then at Lin Qingyan, then at Shangguan Yunying, and confirmed she hadn't misread them.
They truly weren't surprised. Not even a little.
"Why aren't you surprised?"
Luo Zhao couldn't help asking aloud, her voice tinged with confusion, with bafflement, with a hint of frustration.
She had imagined this news would shock them, panic them, leave them at a loss.
She had even rehearsed in her mind how Gu Chengyin would react when he heard it.
He'd probably frown, ponder, ask question after question, then flash that smile she loathed.
But reality was — Gu Chengyin hadn't even twitched an eyebrow.
This left Luo Zhao feeling like she'd punched a wad of cotton — deeply deflating.
Lin Qingyan glanced at Gu Chengyin, then explained the reason.
Luo Zhao listened, and comprehension dawned.
She nodded, her lips parted slightly as if about to say something, then she held back.
Her gaze shifted from Lin Qingyan to Gu Chengyin, wanting to ask his opinion. After all, he was the one party involved, and Luo Zhao wanted to know how he planned to respond.
But before she could speak, Gu Chengyin preempted her.
"Your Highness, Yunying has made a very important decision."
Luo Zhao blinked. Instinctively, she sensed a certain wrongness in the air.
Shangguan Yunying had made a very important decision?
What decision could be so important?
And why was it Gu Chengyin speaking instead of Shangguan Yunying herself?
A nameless unease suddenly rose in Luo Zhao's heart.
She turned to look at Shangguan Yunying, her gaze full of questioning and hidden worry.
"Your Highness."
Shangguan Yunying looked at Luo Zhao with great seriousness, and said with utmost gravity:
"I have decided to resign from the position of Chief Female Official."
The moment these words landed, the hall fell utterly silent.
Luo Zhao's eyes flew wide.
Those phoenix eyes, ordinarily so haughty and alone, now bulged open — the corners faintly reddening, a great storm surging in the depths of her pupils.
She stared fixedly at Shangguan Yunying, her lips opening and closing, then closing and opening again.
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!
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
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?!
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
